Year: 2006
By Ken George View Gallery BOSTON, Mass.—John Ashcroft once had statuary at the Justice Department clad in thousands of dollars worth of drapery. An unruly aluminum breast had apparently unnerved the then attorney general, an assiduously religious man. Chalk it up to residual Puritanism, the ascendancy of the religious right, political correctness run amok or…
Read MoreThe subjects of David Hockney’s portraits have been totally absorbed into his art and autobiography. “David Hockney Portraits” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA By Peter Walsh BOSTON, Mass.— The biggest crowds at the MFA’s “David Hockney Portraits” hover near a wall of large-format etchings titled “A Rake’s Progress” (1961-63). Based on a…
Read MoreA Mark Morris world premiere is turning the attention of the national press to the state of the Boston Ballet Company under new director Mikko Nissinen. By Debra Cash Choreographer Mark Morris once said something to the effect that after George Balanchine died, people started to believe that every work Balanchine had ever choreographed was…
Read MoreTwo excellent books, one by Boston rocker Jen Trynin, plumb the insides of the worlds of jazz and rock ‘n’ roll.
Read MoreBy Lindsey McCormack View Gallery The acclaimed photojournalist Antonin Kratochvil delivered an afternoon talk at Harvard University recently, as black and white images of war zones and industrial wastelands flashed across a screen behind him. Few photographers alive have created such stunning chronicles of the global scope of war and environmental destruction. Yet what makes…
Read MoreOld timers Ray Davies, an ex-Kink, and Donald Fagen, ex-Steely Dan, have released surprisingly youthful solo albums. “Morph the Cat” (Reprise); “Other People’s Lives” (V2) By James Marcus “Hope I die before I get old,” declared The Who’s Pete Townshend in 1965, and certainly there have been times, during his drink-and-drug-addled middle decades, when he…
Read MoreThe indispensable octogenarian, Doris Lessing, continues to astonish with her latest books. “Time Bites: Views and Reviews” (HarperCollins) and “The Story of General Dann and Mara’s Daughter, and Griot and the Snow Dog” (HarperCollins) by Doris Lessing. By Harvey Blume When I interviewed Doris Lessing several years ago apropos “Walking in the Shade: 1949-1962,” the…
Read MoreTwo new films explore the provocative premise that slavery in America didn’t end after the Civil War.
Read MoreBy Liza Weisstuch An illuminating new book suggests that, post-Holocaust, the question is no longer whether Jews should live in Germany but how they should live there. Being Jewish in the New Germany by Jeffrey Peck. (Rutgers University Press) Read an excerpt from “Being Jewish in the New Germany.” Last year marked the 60-year anniversary…
Read MoreMary Gaitskill’s fine novel “Veronica” explores the links between beauty and ugliness.
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Music Review: The Beatles are Still Here, There, and Everywhere