notes from the weekend

• I'd never attended a SPARC Theater production before but the chance to see Lauren Gunderson's Silent Sky, about the women at Harvard who made important contributions to the field of astronomy, under the canopy of the actual night sky in Livermore was just too good to pass up. And both the idyllic outdoor location at Darcie Kent Vineyards and the production itself, focusing on the brilliant Henrietta Leavitt as played by Elena Wright and full of Gunderson's trademark firecracker dialogue, was well worth the schlep.
• As I'd hoped, I was able to visit many galleries on Saturday and started with McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, where their What Are Words Worth? group show is their last exhibition before the space closes for good (sigh). The curators chose work from the McEvoy collection that utilizes text in sculpture, photography, collage, neon, you name it, and with one whole gallery dedicated to the work of German conceptual photographer Natalie Czech of whom I am now a new fan. Thank you for all the great exhibitions, McEvoy!
• Meanwhile over at Creativity Explored, one of my fave writers Hilton Als curated a beautiful show called Figuratively Speaking: Art in Advertising, Writing in Art. Primarily featuring the work of Douglas Sheran and his transformations of magazine print ads into subtle pieces of abstract art, the exhibition also includes a single artwork each by Bertha Otoya and Roland Record to create some thought-provoking juxtapositions.
• And Jessica Silverman has not one but two fabulous shows up right now, the first being Jeffrey Gibson's Once More With Feeling featuring a series of his mesmerizing mixed-media collages. Gibson freely incorporates elements of his Native heritage including beadwork and pattern and then throws in song lyrics besides, creating a riot of color and reference, and I could stare at any one of these pieces for an hour.
• The other exhibition, Isaac Julien's Once Again...(Statues Never Die), is a complete showstopper as it conjures scenes out of Black history and culture filtered through Julien's sharp eye. Julien is referencing specific figures from the past but you don't have to know that to appreciate how he reframes the narrative and shifts our collective gaze.
• Last but definitely not least I took myself out to the Concord Pavilion last night for the Hot Summer Nights tour and specifically to see my girls En Vogue and TLC. I can't remember the last time I'd been at a show that large and certain aspects of the experience were absolutely ridiculous but also I danced like I was 16 again.