ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

PEOPLE

Producer Woody Fraser, Who Created Some Of 20th-Century America’s Most Influential TV Shows, Is Dead At 90

He has remained one of the most successful TV producers in entertainment history, specifically in the talk, news and variety programming genres, over a five-decade career. Most notably, he co-created The Mike Douglas Show in 1961 and ABC News's Good Morning America in 1975. - Variety

Exploring The Art Of The “Art Monster”

Some creative geniuses make the world richer because of their work. Others have used their cultural impact as an excuse not to treat others with basic respect. The latter group brings to mind a truly notorious kind of “art monster” - The Atlantic

Ballet Genius/Putin Superfan/Notorious Train Wreck Sergei Polunin Says He’s Leaving Russia

The Ukrainian-born dancer, who has three tattoos of Putin (despite the Russian military's near-obliteration of his hometown, Kherson), now says "My time in Russia ran out a long time ago … I've fulfilled my mission here." Last week he posted a message calling for peace negotiations and promptly lost his job. - CBS News

Jennifer Homans Remembers Arlene Croce

She had always insisted that what she was reviewing was not a dance itself but an “afterimage” imprinted in her mind, something personal and partial to throw “out there” into the cultural conversation, whatever that might be. Which is why, even when I disagree with Croce intensely, I often find myself in conversation with her. - The New Yorker

Did Shakespeare Commit Suicide? A Scholar Makes The Case

Larry Lockridge, professor emeritus at NYU: "I’ll air my conviction that death by suicide is more probable than the notion that Edward de Vere, Francis Bacon, William Stanley, Christopher Marlowe or Queen Elizabeth wrote those plays — still only plausible, yet unsettling and maybe instructive to ponder." - The Hedgehog Review

Marisa Paredes, Almodóvar Diva And Grande Dame Of Spanish Cinema, Has Died At 78

While she appeared in 75 movies by directors ranging from Francisco Trueba to Guillermo del Toro, she's best known outside the Spanish-speaking world for her performances in Almodóvar's Dark Habits, High Heels, The Flower of My Secret, All About My Mother, and The Skin I Live In. - Variety

What Baryshnikov Has Done With His Fame

It is not absurd to imagine another world in which he might have followed that fame toward full-time Hollywood stardom, or guest appearances on “Dancing With the Stars,” or serving as a spokesman for some topical pain-relief brand. And yet he has always been stubbornly devoted to art-making itself. - The New York Times

Dance Critic Arlene Croce, 90

Croce was loved for her wit — but not by those she skewered. Her criticism could be wicked, even merciless. She once described the feet of the ballerina Carla Fracci as “flapping along the floor like a loose mudguard.” The choreography of Gerald Arpino, she wrote, was a “love letter from an illiterate all in capitals.” - The New York Times

Ozy Media Founder Carlos Watson Gets Nearly 10 Years’ Imprisonment For Fraud

"Prosecutors accused the former cable news commentator and host of playing a leading role in a scheme to deceive Ozy investors and lenders by inflating revenue numbers, touting deals and offers that were nonexistent or not finalized, and flashing other false indications of Ozy’s success." - AP

Artist Lorraine O’Grady Dead At 90

"O’Grady developed a loyal following for artworks that often proved unclassifiable. She produced photographs, collages, and performances, and wrote frequently. … Her art critiqued racism, misogyny, and privilege, but it did so using methods that were ambiguous and occasionally even tough to interpret." - ARTnews

Peter Schjeldahl’s Death Marked The End Of An Era

Schjeldahl’s death was not just the death of a person but of a whole approach to writing about art. It was an approach that many people loved and that some people hated, because, on the surface, it seemed like he had turned art and language into one large epicurean buffet.  - The Nation

Zakir Hussain, 73, Master Of Indian Classical Drumming And World-Music Fusion

Son of legendary tabla player Alla Rakha, who was drummer of choice for Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, Hussain grew up playing alongside those superstars. He was considered the greatest tabla player of his generation and collaborated widely with musicians in other genres, from Yo-Yo Ma to Mickey Hart. - BBC

Martial Solal, Perhaps France’s Greatest Jazz Pianist, Has Died At 97

Best-known to the wider public for his score to Godard's film Breathless, he was one of the first European jazz musicians to get enthusiastic support from the likes of Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson, and he went on to a nearly seven-decade career of world renown. - The Guardian

Jerome Kohn, Who Guarded The Legacy Of Hannah Arendt, Has Died At 93

Kohn “devoted his career to decoding, defending and disseminating the work of Hannah Arendt,” ensuring her work was in the public eye even as totalitarian ideas began to rise again. - The New York Times

Rick Steves Still Loves Getting Out Into A World That He, Yes, Still Loves

“Culture shock is a constructive thing. It’s the growing pains of a broadening perspective. ... I want to go home a little bit different, a little less afraid, a little more thankful, a little better citizen of the planet.” - The New York Times

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss

function my_excerpt_length($length){ return 200; } add_filter('excerpt_length', 'my_excerpt_length');