Big Joe Fitz
As these April showers continue to prep us for those May flowers, a transitional spring mix of virtual and in-real-life events continues to bloom all around us.
Unison Arts Reopens for New Season | April 16
Let’s hear it for first and safe steps. New Paltz’s integral Unison Arts center recently announced its return to in-person events programming this month. The 2021 season kicks off with a limited-attendance (30 guests), Unison members-only indoor concert by local blues kings Big Joe Fitz and the Lo-Fi’s on April 16 at 7pm; a members-only Chilean wines tasting takes place on April 17. From there, Unison’s outdoor stage begins welcoming public audiences (60 persons maximum; advance ticket purchase required), commencing with a swing dance featuring the Bernstein Bard Trio on April 24 at 5pm. Tickets are $15.
Jenny Morgan, Entering the Field At Night
Jenny Morgan s paintings are a striking combination of realism and surrealism––creating mesmerizing female faces on canvas. I think painting is a kind of magic, Morgan says. In her upcoming solo exhibition, To Bathe the World in a Strange Light at Mother Gallery in Beacon––opening on April 17––Morgan explores the notion of a mental landscape playing with different sides of femininity like witchcraft and spirituality. I am looking for that spirit and ghost in people, that emotion and that invisible energy, Morgan says. Morgan painted
Entering the Field at Night during March and April of last year, just as the lockdown began. I worked on this piece deep into the new orb of isolation, she says. Living in the city is isolating in itself, and I think that many people turn to painting landscapes because we crave it. There s the idea of being in a field in this sort of
Bearsville Theater Last month marked a full year since the lockdown went into effect in New York State, putting a freeze on musical performances as part of the overall effort to help slow the spread of COVID-19. But on March 3, the governor s office announced that arts, entertainment, and events venues statewide could reopen on April 2. The resumption carries with it some strict regulations: Until further notice, venues can only operate at 33 percent of their usual indoor capacity, with a limit of 100 people indoors or 200 people outdoors, and all attendees must wear masks and maintain social distancing. (Admission limits would be increased to 150 indoors or 500 outdoors if all audience members have tested negative before entering.) We checked in with several Hudson Valley venues to see how they ve been holding up and how they plan to negotiate the restriction easements.
Paris Review, and many other journals. He s published eight books of photos. Yet at first one might mistake his pictures for snapshots.
Hank at Dougrey s Hall shows a man and his dog on scaffolding next to a building in Troy with a huge Biden banner. The handmade sign is reminiscent of a castaway on a desert island writing HELP! in giant letters, for a stray airplane to see. Many of us felt this sort of desperation during the last election. The rickety wooden platform emphasizes the precariousness of Hank s plight. (In fact, this platform is a homemade balcony. Hank is an artist who has lived in this house which was once an Irish social club for 25 years.)