Bonny Wolf, NPR commentator and author of the book "Talking With My Mouth Full"
@ National Harbor
Q:What's your favorite food TV show or host?
A:"I like 'Top Chef.' They're serious about food, and have personality."
BOB MARLEY'S MESSAGE was a timeless one of revolution and social change that sprang from his life experiences.
Most fans receive his message through his music and brief glimpses of his life through articles, stories and lyrics. Photographer David Burnett opens another chapter of the reggae master's life with his new book of never-before-seen photographs, "Soul Rebel," some of which are also on display at Govinda Art Gallery's National Harbor location.
Burnett barely knew who Marley was when he traveled to Jamaica for Time magazine in 1976. While there, he photographed legends Peter Tosh and Lee "Scratch" Perry — those pictures are also on display — and Marley himself. Burnett ended up shooting Marley's 1977 "Exodus" tour of Europe for Rolling Stone.
Continue Reading "Reggae's Vital Heart: David Burnett's Bob Marley Photographs" »
THIS WEEK: When you think of landscape photography, you're not thinking of the same bleak, almost alien vistas that inspire Terry Falke. His photos, now on display at the National Academy of Sciences in "Observations in an Unoccupied Wilderness," show a side of the American West that only the quirkiest cowboys sing about with nostalgia.
» National Academy of Sciences, 2100 C St. NW, Upstairs Gallery; through July 15, free; 202-334-2436. (Foggy Bottom)
AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY IS something we take for granted. But the National Gallery of Art show "Jaromir Funke and the Amateur Avant-Garde" reminds us of an era when being a shutterbug was about more than re-creation.
Enter Jaromir Funke, the artist represented in the exhibition whose work in the Czech photography movement after World War I has largely been overlooked.
"His art has gained increasing attention in the marketplace and among lovers of photography privately," says the show's curator, Matthew Witkovsky (who recently left for the Art Institute of Chicago). "It was time to make him the center of an exhibition."
Continue Reading "A Rule-Breaker's Unique Vision: Jaromir Funke" »
STARTING ON FRIDAY, the Navy Yard is getting a booster shot of energy, as Artomatic takes on the burgeoning neighborhood. Through July 5, the whirlwind, nomadic event, with its 1,500 artists and performers in tow, is filling a brand-new, 275,000-square-foot office building with all Washington's creative types have to offer.
In its 10-year history, Artomatic has become a D.C. institution. It's provided an alternative venue for local artists, offering a festival that's part art fair, part circus. And since it lacks judges, curators or hierarchy, Artomatic is as democratic as an art show can get.
This mix of participants, for board chair George Koch (who is also an artist), is exactly what makes Artomatic work. He compares the event to the DUMBO arts district in Brooklyn, where artists, dancers, designers and creative types rub shoulders on a day-to-day basis. "In Washington, in the metropolitan area, that's hard to re-create. We don't have the synergy of a neighborhood like DUMBO," says Koch. "Artomatic, in reality, is a substitute for that."
Since more than 50,000 attendees are expected, visitors may be forced to get a little cozy. "It's a densely programmed event and that creates a whole lot of energy throughout the building," says Artomatic president Veronica Szalus, who is also an industrial designer. "It brings everyone in the community together, revolving around the arts, but you don't have to be an artist to be part of Artomatic."
THIS WEEKEND: In Transformer Gallery's "Domesticated: Men and the Domestic Interior," four artists study the masculine animal's relationship to the home. Photographers Yolanda del Amo, Dru Donavan, Amy Elkins (a detail of whose work is above) and Jamil Hellu evoke complex responses from their images of men behind closed doors. Hirshhorn's Al Miner curates this thought-provoking exhibition and will give a talk on the show on Saturday, the day of its opening.
» Transformer Gallery, 1404 P St. NW; opens Sat., May 16, through June 20, free; 202-483-1102. (Dupont Circle)
Written by Express' Arion Berger
THIS WEEK: Throngs of tourists and general chaos aside, President Obama's inauguration was a monumental moment in American history. From the thousands who lined the National Mall to the weeks' worth of inaugural celebrations, it was an event that will be remembered for many years to come.
Well, that remembrance starts now, 100 days after President Obama's official oath of office, with the opening of National Museum of American History's "I Do Solemnly Swear: Photographs of the 2009 Inauguration." The exhibit features 50 framed color and black-and-white photos documenting the event.
Seems like just yesterday that you spent a morning freezing your feet off on the Mall, right?
» National Museum of American History, 14th Street and Constitution Ave.; through July 12, free; 202-633-1000. (Smithsonian)
Written by Express' Brian Austin
Photo by Paul Morse
THE FIRST TIME I saw Satyricon play was in Aug. 2005. The Norwegian band commanded the main stage at the outdoor Oya festival, held annually in August in Satyricon's hometown of Oslo. The group played opposite Annie, creating a whiplash effect for those of us equally interested in black-metal mayhem and disco-pop cuties.
But it only took a handful of Satyricon songs to convince me that Annie is best heard in a club and black metal is best heard live and loud — even in the middle of the day. (Check some photos from that performance here.)
The second time I saw Satyricon was on Feb. 26, 2009, when it opened for Cradle of Filth in Baltimore, and things had changed significantly for the band.
IT'S BEEN FOUR YEARS since 1349 unleashed the "Hellfire" album, a primitive blast of furious black metal. But if the new songs the band played at Jaxx on March 1 are any proof, the musicians in 1349 didn't spend the last 1,000-plus days learning chromatic chords progressions and studying the canonical works of transcendentalism.
All indications are that 1349's forthcoming CD, "Revelations of the Black Flame" (Candlelight), will still sound like Satan hammering on a ax borrowed from Dimebag Darrell, as vocalist Ravn screeches all manner of abomination and apocalypse.
The group's corpse paint looked like it was imitating the mangled face of a cat, and Ravn stalked the stage like piss-off panther ready to pounce.
In other words, it was fantastic (if a bit too short; 1349 were the openers for Satyricon; see photos from their set here).
More 1349 photos below:
Continue Reading "Revelations of the Black Flame: 1349 at Jaxx" »
THIS WEEK: You can actually feel the warmth of Africa (which is welcome in a miserable February like this one) when you see the photographs of Dereck and Beverly Joubert. These two take pictures of big cats, and their documentation of the lives of leopards and lions is like nothing you've ever seen. If you like cats or have an urge to safari, take a peek into Explorer's Hall. If anyone knows how to photograph wildlife, it's National Geographic.
» National Geographic Explorer's Hall, 1145 17th St. NW; through Oct. 4, free; 202-857-7588. (Dupont Circle)
Photo courtesy National Geographic
THIS WEEK: As the closing of Guantanamo Bay draws near, photographer Christopher Sims was able to capture some final, lasting images of the infamous prison, from humdrum desktops to office clocks like the one pictured above.
» Civilian Art Projects, 406 7th St. NW; Feb. 13-March 14, free; 202-347-0022. (Gallery Place)
Written by Express' Eric Anderson
Photo courtesy Civilian Art Projects
Addison Road