Nunscape at Manzanillo, 1956, oil on canvas. Private collection.

Visual Arts Review: “Leonora Carrington: Dream Weaver” — Surrealist Sorcery

Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions: March 30 Through April 14 — What Will Light Your Fire

Our expert critics supply a guide to film, visual art, theater, author readings ,television, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.

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The Arts Fuse Currents

Music

Festival Review: Ten Highlights from Big Ears 2025

By Noah Schaffer | April 6, 2025

Despite – or maybe because of – all the global turmoil, an awful lot of compelling music was heard at Big Ears.

Visual Arts

Visual Arts Review: “Leonora Carrington: Dream Weaver” — Surrealist Sorcery

By Lauren Kaufmann | April 7, 2025

Reluctant to explain the meaning of her art, Leonora Carrington chose to let the magic and mystery of her inner life reveal itself through the imaginary animal/human creatures and fantastic landscapes of her paintings.

Film

Film Review: Trans Valuation at Wicked Queer 41

By Peter Keough | April 4, 2025

Director Victoria Verseau’s Trans Memoria is an oneiric, brutally frank meditation on the pains and rewards of transgender surgery.

Books

Children’s Book Reviews: The Freedom to Read

By Cyrisse Jaffee | April 5, 2025

 Kudos to Delacorte Press for publishing not one but two middle-grade books about the dangers of book banning.

Poetry at The Arts Fuse

Weekly Feature: Poetry at The Arts Fuse

April 3, 2025

This week’s poem: Calla MacGillivray’s “ORINOCO FLOW!”

Dance

Dance Review: United Dance Company — Breaking Down Barriers, Beautifully

By Jessica Lockhart | March 11, 2025

The five performers with Down syndrome danced along with three professionally trained dancers without disabilities — and they all looked wonderful.

Theater

Theater Review: “Carousel” — One More Spin of the Wheel

By Robert Israel | April 6, 2025

Despite all the Boston Lyric Opera pageantry and talent, “Carousel”‘s trip to the 21st century turns out to be bumpy.

Television

Television Review: “The Studio” — The Kool-Aid Man Cometh

By Sarah Osman | March 29, 2025

The current state of Hollywood — terminal banality — is concerning. But that’s what makes it so perfect for a dose of acidic satire.

Podcasts

Short Fuse Podcast #70: Reading and Talking Film — Sonya Chung, Film Forum

By Elizabeth Howard | February 27, 2025

In this engaging conversation, Elizabeth Howard speaks with Sonya Chung, the director of Film Forum in New York, about the intersection of film and literature, the relevance of the Oscars, and the impact of independent films.

Short Fuses

April Short Fuses — Materia Critica

By Arts Fuse Editor | April 1, 2025

Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.

Spotlight

Arts Commentary: Time to Step Off the “Carousel” of Denial

By Bill Marx | March 31, 2025

We desperately need plays and musicals — produced by local companies with courage and nerve — that acknowledge that the cancer of autocracy is here, today, and becoming stronger. That is the demand — will any answer the call?

About the Arts Fuse

The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication's over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. Support arts coverage that believes that culture matters.