Engineer's Daughter

show 478

playlist

notes from the weekend

• It's always a joy to drop in at NIAD on a weekday when the artists are working away in their studios and a lively buzz fills the air. Curated by artist Fernanda Martinez, their current group show Radiant Souls is also a burst of energy, and if you saw the extraordinary Into the Brightness exhibition at OMCA you will definitely recognize a few of the artists Martinez includes here.
• CCA already has the first half of its annual MFA exhibition up at the Wattis for a short two weeks, and I highly recommend heading in to see what the students are up to. This initial display of work is extremely solid, and I was especially impressed with the sculpture, though there was some great paintings and photography and multimedia artworks too. Looking forward to round 2!
• I avoided all green beer yesterday afternoon and instead joined The Joffrey Ballet at Zellerbach Hall for an exquisite performance of Anna Karenina, a full-length interpretation of Tolstoy's classic tale set to music by Ilya Demutsky and choreographed by Yuri Possokhov. Anna and Vronsky had a pas de deux on and around a divan as they were beginning their affair that was one of the hottest things I've ever seen on stage.

matokie mix 03.18.24

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notes from the weekend

• I never miss an opportunity to mention that I named my late great Cardiff-cat after artist Janet Cardiff, who has been one of my faves for decades now. So of course I had to squeak in her latest show with her husband George Bures Miller on its closing day at Fraenkel Gallery. Titled Ambient Jukebox & Other Stories, the exhibition featured many buttons to push and earphones to listen to in a delightfully analog outing for the artists. While it was wonderful to hear the familiar tones of Cardiff's voice in many of the pieces, I also thoroughly enjoyed the ambient jukebox of the title that played drone-like compositions off of actual records and the "cosmic disco" room that recreated the literal music of the spheres.
• Central Works has another winner in Gary Graves's Boss McGreedy, a play that cleverly finds parallels between Gilded Age New York and our current political crooks. Michael Ray Wisely is fantastic as the main character you love to hate, with excellent performances from Anna Ishida and Brian Herndon as well. I am always amazed at what Central Works can do with a good script, a few actors, and a small room in Julia Morgan's Berkeley City Club.

matokie mix 03.11.24

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ki moun ou ye

I felt very lucky to catch Nathalie Joachim and her ensemble (Yvonne Lam on violin, Cameren Anai Williams on viola, Izzy Lepanto Gleicher on flute, Daniel Villareal-Carrillo on drums and percussion) at Zellerbach Playhouse last night in an audience where Haitian Kreyòl buzzed in the air. Blending her voice with pre-recorded electronics and playing flute herself, Joachim performed entrancing songs off her new album Ki moun ou ye, a phrase that means "Who are you?" but so much more: Who are your people? Where are you from? She spoke about how this music is her way of integrating her Caribbean heritage, paying tribute to her Haitian ancestors, moving toward healing. And her music itself is just wonderful, incorporating island rhythms for sure but also computer wizardry, dance beats, avant-garde atonality, and lilting classical beauty. This is the cross-boundary musical future I want to live in.

Masking? A nice amount.

my soft machine

I've been a fan of Arlo Parks for a few years now and just love the sweetness of her voice and how it contrasts with the toughness of her lyrics, how she can glide effortlessly from hip hop to R&B to indie pop and back again. I just looked up her age and was shocked that she's only 23, as she was confidence incarnate at her show at the Fox last night. From my vantage point in the loge I watched her use the entire stage as she performed, often bursting into joyful dance moves or at one point absolutely shredding on a guitar she used on a couple songs (otherwise the backing music was provided by her live band). The audience of youngs, many accompanied by their parents, screamed their appreciation and sang along, and I was quite moved myself when Parks took a moment to talk about how "Black Dog" was hard to perform every night with its reference to mental health struggles. She is so powerful in her vulnerability. Opener Chloe George was also great, adorably gobsmacked to be opening in her own hometown of Oakland and with many from her family in attendance. And I'm not embarrassed that at this phase of my life I love to see shows at the Fox from a cushy balcony seat.

Masking? Quite a few people in masks actually, and way more than I'm used to seeing at a rock show.

notes from the weekend

• Curated by Nancy Lim, the Alicia McCarthy and Harry Dodge dual show at the SFAC Main Gallery right now is a genuine conversation between two artists who have been friends for years but who deliberately didn't talk about what work they were bringing to the exhibition until they were doing the install. Dodge's maximalist sculptures in no way threaten to overwhelm McCarthy's more sparing lines and patterns of color, and instead both artists invite you to move closer and find the cool little details in their work.
• Color and thoughtfully-deployed geometries also figure prominently in Adia Millett's solo show at Haines, Reflections in Black, where you might find lilypads and mushrooms suggested in her abstract paintings and glass pieces. Millett is not afraid of unconventional canvas shapes, working with triangles and octagons, and I also loved the bursts of glitter she uses here and there and that contrast joyfully against her darker backgrounds.
• Though I've grown a lot more ambivalent toward Thurston Moore since he split with Kim Gordon, I still wasn't going to miss one of my long-time favorite musicians noodle on a prepared guitar for an hour in a duet with legendary percussionist William Winant at Mills Saturday night. It was silly, it was sublime, and I am just so, so, so glad they're still doing concerts in the beautiful Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Concert Hall.

matokie mix 03.04.24

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