Maureen Andary of The Sweater Set
@ Fort Reno
Q:What's your song for summer?
A:"Our song about summer love. The lyrics are 'Oh, you're just for fun, don't you know. I only want you for summer months.'"
SUNDAY: Want some Flying V guitar riffs, unruly hair and headbanging to finish off your week? Man, the universe was looking out for you.
With simple lyrics and a Ramones-inspired breakneck drive, Jay Reatard brings sweaty garage punk back to D.C. in just the right way — loud, fast and hard. Just listen to his hit "See Saw" off of "Matador Singles '08." Honestly, it's nothing you haven't heard before from the kids down the street, but it's still a rush.
His latest album, "Watch Me Fall" is due out August 18, his first actual album release since 2006's "Blood Visions." You can download the first single off of his lastest, "It Ain't Gonna Save Me," off of his Web site.
» Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW; with TV Smith, Sun., July 5, 9 p.m., $12; 202-667-4490. (U St.-Cardozo)
Written by Express' Nicole Ocran
Photo courtesy Jay Reatard
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORERS-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert have spent nearly three decades researching and documenting the lives of lions and leopards in Africa, and their colorful photographs and videos are on display at the National Geographic Museum in "Lions and Leopards: The Work of Dereck & Beverly Joubert." The couple were in D.C. recently, and chatted about their work and passion for conservation in Africa.
» EXPRESS: What drew you to working in Botswana?
» BEVERLY: We're from South Africa, and 28 years ago we left and went to Botswana for an adventure. We fell in love with the wilderness of Botswana and decided that was where we wanted to live and work.
» DERECK: I think we both had the desire to leave the city and go out and do something extraordinary. We had a passion not only for each other, but for life, for nature, to do things outdoors.
» EXPRESS: What about working with wildlife and the environment is so fulfilling?
» DERECK: We use our work as conversation, as a way to talk to people about the things we care deeply about. Right now, we're giving the majority of stress to big cats, and the books, films, everything we do at the moment is about getting the message out that big cats are endangered.
» BEVERLY: Our workplace changes, so we never get bored like in an office. We move from one area to the next, and each area is different — one is a desert, one a semi-desert, one a delta. So we are constantly stimulated by landscape changes, and the animals interact in a different way in each area. And the more we have climactic change, the more we are going to see the animals forced into situations that perhaps no one has seen before.
Continue Reading "Where the Wild Things Are: Dereck and Beverly Joubert" »
THE JACKSON POLLOCK painting hanging on the back wall turns out to be the key to "The Year of Magical Thinking."
What originally looks like typical set dressing for an elegant New York apartment is puzzling at first. After all, Pollock's abstract, paint-splattered canvasses mean something different to each person who sees them.
And there's no doubt about what "The Year of Magical Thinking" means.
The one-woman play, based on the memoir of the same name, is a first-person account by essayist Joan Didion of the sudden deaths of her husband and daughter. Well, perhaps it is less about their deaths and more about the ways we cope with unimaginable grief, the tiny lies that we invent to stave off true mourning.
Continue Reading "The Patterns of Grief: The Year of Magical Thinking" »
THERE'S NO EASY way to categorize street art. Or exhibit it, for that matter. But despite the vagueness of the term, it can be defined in part by its intention: It allows artists to use the city and its streets as their canvas.
Washington is loaded with its own examples, such as the Shepard Fairey mural with his famed Obama image on 14th Street NW. Now, there's another street-art destination, located in an alley off P Street NW, behind Irvine Contemporary.
The outdoor installation is part of "Street/Studio," which includes street-art biggies such as Fairey, with his Soviet Socialist Realist-style graphics, and Swoon, with her lyrical, silhouetted portraits. But what sets this show apart is that it offers both sides of the street art practice.
Continue Reading "Irvine Paints the Town: 'Street/Studio'" »
NEVERLAND DOESN'T EXIST for punk rockers — but Memphis does.
Even though longtime garage-thrasher Jay Reatard may have been fighting the onslaught of maturity since he first took the stage at 15, Peter Pan never grew up in the depressing poverty of the heat-scorched South, never dropped out of high school, and never binge-drank himself to the point where planting a foot-longish flower in his lower extremities seemed like a good idea — onstage in front of 20,000 people.
Call it a punk-rock move, but the spectacle in Chicago at Pitchfork Fest '08 provided a retina-scarring onstage climax for the rocker from Tennessee, and another violent chapter in the legend of his live performances.
CAPITOL HILL
Condo: Bryan School Lofts
1315 Independence Ave. SE, #3
» $519,000: A few blocks northeast of Eastern Market, this airy 1,250-square-foot loft condo — housed in a 1906 elementary school converted by Jim Abdo into 20 luxury units — will make creative reuse buffs geek out. Enter through stone columns with the original "Girls Entrance" carved above the door, then head downstairs to the corner unit, a warm space with 13-foot ceilings, some exposed brick walls, cherry floors and Italian granite counter tops. An added perk: The reseller is a handyman builder who made custom upgrades such as a walled-off bedroom nook, tiny wood-burning fireplace and pendant lighting. An open floor plan leaves endless possibilities for arranging (and, er, minimal privacy). Storage unit and uncovered parking spot included. (Listed through Urban Pace Fine Homes.)
U STREET CORRIDOR
Condo: The Flats at Union Row
2125 14th St. NW, #224
» $509,900: This ship-like fortress of a contemporary mixed-use condo building — complete with Yes! Organic Market — is docked a block north of the nexus of busy 14th and U streets. The new 1,135-square-foot condo offers "loft-style" nine-foot unfinished ceilings and exposed ductwork but also a snug pentagon-shaped bedroom and den behind closed doors. If the cove-like den had windows and a bigger closet, the place could be called a two-bedroom. Nearly floor-to-ceiling windows face east and open onto handsome landscaping and an inviting terrace. Residents can grab free coffee from the lobby lounge on the dash out each morning and unwind after work on the eighth-floor terrace, cozied up to the gas fireplace while peering down on the courtyard below. (Listed through PN Hoffman Realty, LLC.)
Written by Express contributor Katie Knorovsky
Photos courtesy Bryan School Lofts, the Flats at Union Row
SATURDAY: Popular in the '90s with songs like "My Drug Buddy" and "Big Gay Heart," the Lemonheads are back. Their music is the same -- alt-pop with a twist.
After touring solo for a bit, founder and frontman Evan Dando reformed the band in 2006. Their latest endeavor, a covers album entitled "Varshons," features actress Liv Tyler performing a duet on Leonard Cohen's "Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye." Even model Kate Moss gets in on this action, singing over Arling & Cameron's "Dirty Robot." Check out our review here.
If ever you were in need of a good mix, we'd recommend you start here. And then head to the Black Cat.
» Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW; Sat., June 27, 9 p.m., $15; 202-667-4490. (U St.-Cardozo)
Written by Express' Nicole Ocran
Photo courtesy Bar None Records
FOODIES AND CRAFTERS rejoice, because Eastern Market, which was damaged in April 2007 in a fire, reopens in a newly renovated space this weekend.
Built in 1873, Eastern Market is a spot to find daily produce, meat, cheese, bakery vendors and craft vendors, as well as a weekend farmers market. During the $22 million renovation, many vendors continued to set up shop outside the building, but displaced vendors are eager to move back inside during this weekend's opening celebrations.
Kim Downes of Aurora Bath and Jewels has been a vendor at Eastern Market for 15 years. She sells a variety of items, from bath products and jewelry to Capital Cherry Blossom soaps and candles. "The windows were plastic and melted in the fire, so now there are beautiful huge new windows," she said. "And the streetscape is all cobblestone. It still looks like Eastern Market, but Eastern Market with a face-lift."
This Friday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony will officially open the new space, and Saturday will feature an opening celebration. Activities on Saturday will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and there will be four musical groups playing over the course of the day, along with regular vendors, face painting and mehndi artists. The North Hall will feature an exhibit tracing the market's history and highlighting the impact of the fire and the reconstruction.
Other renovations included adding modern heating and air conditioning, new restrooms, sprinklers and access ramps. In the North Hall, there will be a movable stage and gallery walls.
Besides work on the buildings, renovations included the construction of a new streetscape in front of the market with upgrades of the roadway and roadbed, new brick sidewalks and granite curbs.
» 7th Street & North Carolina Avenue SE. (Eastern Market)
Written by Express contributor Amy Cavanaugh
Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post
Bargain Redemption
An edgy stop-motion animated feature that explores the meaning of life is not kiddie fare, unless your toddler has been asking what it's all for. "$9.99" takes audiences on a wild ride with a 28-year-old slacker who finds an ad that promises a booklet that will explain his reason for being. The cost? $9.99. The angel that comes with it? Priceless.
» E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW: opens Fri., June 26, 202-452-7672, (Metro Center)
Hold the Martini
The International Spy Museum screens the film debut of the popular kids' book series "Stormbreaker" as part of its KidSpy program on Thursday. The film follows Alex Ryder from prep-school lad to super-spy when his uncle disappears. The $7 ticket price includes a debriefing from a former spy.
» International Spy Museum, 800 F St. NW; Thu., June 25, 1-3 p.m., $7; 202-393-7798. (Gallery Place-Chinatown)
Continue Reading "Indies & Arties: Meaning of Life Comes at a Price" »
"PAINT MADE FLESH," the Phillips Collection's new show, looks at post-World War II figure paintings from Europe and the U.S. to suggest that paint is the best medium for conveying the cultural significance of flesh. Among works by Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud are paintings by John Currin, an American painter known for his provocative works depicting the human body. Currin will be at the Phillips on Thursday to discuss his work.
» EXPRESS: "Paint Made Flesh" suggests that paint's material properties make the medium well-suited to conveying metaphors for human vulnerability. How accurate do you think that is for your own work?
» CURRIN: I suppose that there's an obvious metaphor between the surface of oil paint and flesh. It's vulnerable the same way that flesh is, and it was probably invented in order to render flesh. I certainly subscribe to that, and the most exciting and difficult part of painting is rendering flesh. It's not a specific color, so it's a mystery how to get it right.
» EXPRESS: The majority of your work is of the female figure. Why is that?
» CURRIN: The simple answer is that I enjoy looking at women more than I enjoy looking at men, but the more pretentious answer is that I find it easier to think of metaphors and allegories when I'm using women in paintings.
Continue Reading "'Paint Made Flesh': Figurative Painter John Currin" »
Addison Road