Thursday, September 10, 2009

Yehudi Menuhin


Yehudi Menuhin was born in New York City, New York, to Bielorussian Jewish parents from what is now Belarus. His sisters were the concert pianist and human rights worker Hephzibah Menuhin and the pianist, painter, and poet Yaltah Menuhin. Through his father Moshe Menuhin, a former rabbinical student and anti-Zionist writer, Menuhin was descended from a distinguished rabbinical dynasty.
Menuhin began violin instruction at age three under violinist Sigmund Anker; his parents had wanted Louis Persinger to be his teacher, but Persinger refused.[2] He displayed extraordinary talents at an early age. His first solo violin performance was at the age of seven with the San Francisco Symphony in 1923. Persinger then agreed to take Menuhin as a student. When the Menuhins went to Paris, Persinger suggested Yehudi go to his own teacher, Eugène Ysaÿe. He did have one lesson with Ysaÿe, but did not like his method or the fact that he was very old.[2] Instead, he went to the Romanian composer and violinist George Enescu, after which he made several recordings with his sister Hephzibah. He was also a student of Adolf Busch. When a child and an adolescent, his fame was phenomenal. In 1929 he played in Berlin, under Bruno Walter's baton, three concerti by Bach, Brahms and Beethoven. Albert Einstein is said to have exclaimed at the end of the concert, "Now I know that there is a God!" In 1932, he recorded Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor for HMV in London, with the composer himself conducting.
Yehudi Menuhin performed for allied soldiers during World War II, and went with the composer Benjamin Britten to perform for inmates of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, after its liberation in April 1945. He returned to Germany in 1947 to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler as an act of reconciliation, becoming the first Jewish musician to do so following the Holocaust. He said to critics within the Jewish community that he wanted to rehabilitate Germany's music and spirit. After building early success on richly romantic and tonally opulent performances, he experienced considerable physical and artistic difficulties caused by overwork during the war as well as unfocused and unstructured early training. Careful practice and study combined with meditation and yoga helped him overcome many of these problems. His profound and considered musical interpretations are nearly universally acclaimed. When he finally resumed recording, he was known for practising by deconstructing music phrases one note at a time.
He and Louis Kentner (his second wife Diana's brother-in-law) gave the first performance of William Walton's Violin Sonata, at Zürich on 30 September 1949.
Menuhin continued to perform to an advanced age, becoming known for profound interpretations of an austere quality, as well as for his explorations of music outside the classical realm.
Menuhin regularly returned to the San Francisco Bay Area, sometimes performing with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. One of the more memorable later performances was of Elgar's Violin Concerto, which Menuhin had recorded with the composer in 1932.
On 22 April 1978 along with Stéphane Grappelli, Yehudi played Pick Yourself Up, taken from the Menuhin & Grappelli Play Berlin, Kern, Porter and Rodgers & Hart album as the interval act at the 23rd Eurovision Song Contest for TF1. The performance came direct from the studios of TF1 and not that of the venue (Palais des Congrès) from where the contest was held.
He also hosted the PBS telecast of the gala opening concert of the orchestra from Davies Symphony Hall in September 1980.
During the 1970s, '80s and '90s, he made jazz recordings with Stéphane Grappelli, classical recordings with L. Subramaniam and albums of Eastern music with the great sitarist Ravi Shankar. In 1983 he founded the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists in Folkestone, Kent.
His recording contract with EMI lasted almost 70 years and is the longest in the history of the music industry. He made his first recording at age 13 in November 1929, and his last in 1999 at age 82. In total he recorded over 300 works for EMI, both as a violinist and as a conductor.
In 1990 he was the first conductor for the Asian Youth Orchestra which toured around Asia, including Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong with Julian Lloyd Webber and a group of young talented musicians from all over Asia.
Yehudi Menuhin was married twice. He first married Nola Nicholas, daughter of an Australian industrialist, and sister of Hephzibah Menuhin's first husband Lindsay Nicholas. They had two children, Krov and Zamira. Following their divorce in 1947, he married the British ballerina and actress Diana Gould, whose mother was the pianist Evelyn Suart (who had played with artists such as Eugène Ysaÿe and Karel Halíř), and whose stepfather was Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt. Menuhin and Gould had two sons, Gerard and Jeremy, a pianist. Another child died shortly after birth.
The name Yehudi means 'Jew' in Hebrew. In an interview published in October 2004, he recounted to New Internationalist magazine the story of his name: it is a variation of the name Yehudah, a name given by Jacob, and one of the tribes of Israel. It means "Thanks to God".
Lord Menuhin died in Berlin, Germany following a brief illness, from complications of bronchitis.
Soon after his death, the Royal Academy of Music acquired the Yehudi Menuhin Archive, one of the most comprehensive collections ever assembled by an individual musician.

Sophie Jodoin







Sophie Jodoin's Artist Statement:

"The subjects of my work are often difficult and challenging: little people, the elderly, the wounded. Equally conceptual and representational. I develop drawn series which can take up to two years to realize. Since 2003, each work is exclusively in black and white, on paper and mylar, and done over the course of one day.

Exhibited in very minimal and stark style; the series are shown as large wall installations and are often indivisible. Recently, thematically-similar video components echo and resituate the drawing works. This results in hybrid exhibits: traditional drawing mixed with multimedia. "

Milena Canonero







Milena Canonero (born c. 1946) is an Italian-born three-time Academy Award winning costume designer. She has been nominated eight times for her work in film.

Born in Turin, Italy, Canonero studied art, design history and costume design in Genoa. She then moved to England, where she began working in small theatre and film productions. While designing for commercials in London, she met many film directors.

Her first major film work as a costume designer was in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971). She worked with Kubrick again in Barry Lyndon (1975), for which she won her first Oscar, together with Ulla-Britt Söderlund. Her second win was for Chariots of Fire (1981), directed by Hugh Hudson.

She is married to actor Marshall Bell.

Canonero has also designed the costumes for several operas directed by Otto Schenk, such as Il trittico (Puccini, Vienna State Opera 1979), As You Like It (Shakespeare, Salzburg Festival 1980), Die Fledermaus (Strauss, Vienna State Opera 1980), Andrea Chénier (Giordano, Vienna State Opera 1981), and Arabella (Strauss, Metropolitan Opera 1983).

In 2001, Canonero received the Career Achievement Award in Film from the Costume Designers Guild. She won her third Oscar for Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006).

Burberry







Burberry was founded in 1856 when 21-year-old Thomas Burberry, a former draper's apprentice, opened his own store in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. By 1870, the business had established itself by focusing on the development of outdoors attire. In 1880, Burberry invented gabardine, a hardwearing, water-resistant yet breathable fabric, in which the yarn is waterproofed before weaving. The Gabardine was patented in 1888. Burberry was the original name, but then the company soon switched to using the name Burberrys, after many customers from around the world began calling it Burberrys of London. This name is still visible on many older Burberry products.
In 1891 Burberry opened a shop in the Haymarket, London, which still exists and is the site of Burberry’s corporate headquarters.
In 1901, the Burberry Equestrian Knight Logo was developed containing the Latin word "Prorsum", meaning forwards, and registered as a trademark. In 1911 they became the outfitters for Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole, and Ernest Shackleton, who led a 1914 expedition to cross Antarctica.
In 1914 Burberry was commissioned by the War Office to adapt its officer's coat to suit the conditions of contemporary warfare, resulting in the "trench coat". After the war, the trench coat became popular with civilians. The iconic Burberry check was created in the 1920s and used as a lining in its trench coats.
Burberry also specially designed aviation garments. A. E. Clouston and Mrs. Betsy Kirby Green made the fastest flying time to Cape Town from London in 1937 and were sponsored by Burberry.
Burberry was an independent company until 1955, when it was taken over by Great Universal Stores (GUS). Burberry Group plc was initially floated on the London Stock Exchange in July 2002. GUS divested its remaining interest in Burberry in December 2005.
In 2006 Rose Marie Bravo, who as Chief Executive had led Burberry to mass market success, retired. She was replaced by current CEO Angela Ahrendts.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Noriko Ambe






Japanese paper artist Noriko Ambe will be showing her fantastic terramorphic topographic sculptures at Scai The Bathhouse Gallery in Tokyo beginning this Friday. Ambe goes about her work by making precise cut-outs in books, magazines and other forms of paper. In these selected works she uses a synthetic paper called YUPO, made of 100% recyclable materials.

Paul Matosic





SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

2009 Lost and Found, the Light Box, Woking.
2008 The Carlisle Collection: 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe
2008 Lost and Found. Derby Museum and Art Gallery
2008 Cutting edge. Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
2007 A+B=CC Object Map. Bonington Gallery. Nottingham.
2007 Talking Points. Cooper Gallery. Barnsley.
2006 Multipli City. Context Gallery. Londonderry.
2000 City Sites. (Tales of the City) Nottingham Castle Art Gallery.
1994 Subject To Change . Prema Arts Centre.Gloucestershire.
1990 The Shape of Things. Oldknows Gallery. Nottingham.
1984 Shattered Land. Salamander Gallery. Bolton.

COLLABORATIONS:

2006 Yes I said Yes I will Yes. Future Factory. Nottingham.
2004 Sin Dex. Herbert Art Gallery. Coventry.
2003 YAH Arts Festival. Bonington Gallery . Nottingham.
1999 Used Future. South Hill Park Arts Centre. Bracknell.
1998 Redundant Array. Redundant Technology Initiative. Sheffield.

Holly Andres




HOLLY ANDRES
Born Missoula, Montana, 1977
Lives and works in Portland, Oregon
www.hollyandres.com
EDUCATION
2004, M.F.A. Portland State University, Oregon
2002, B.F.A. The University of Montana, Missoula
1998, The Art Institute of Seattle, Washington

Ken Newman



Ken Newman wins many awards for his spectacular wildlife sculpture but he also does some very emotional and award winning figurative bronzes.

His bronze titled, “Well Worn”recently won the Founder’s Award at the Wallowa Valley Art show in Joseph, Oregon. Here is a comment from the Wallowa Valley newspaper describing his most recent award:

“Well Worn”was sculpted to reflect exhaustion and its presence in our lives. What fascinates and inspires me is the individual who possesses this strength of character. When completely exhausted, what enables one to continue, Responsibility? Dependability? Commitment? Each are components to the foundation for success, and these are characteristics that I have the utmost respect for. Sacrifice, another critical element, is subtly suggested by the missing digit and it is often this unspoken sacrifice that grounds and creates a strong individual.”, says Newman

Rene Gruau







Famous French fashion illustrator René Gruau was born in Rimini, Italy, in 1910 as Renato Conte de Savagli-Ricardelli. His French mother separated from his father when he was two or three years old, often moved and traveled, and he accompanied her. In the late 1920s, they moved to Paris, France, and he started his career as an illustrator for fashion magazines. From 1955 onwards, photography took over illustrations and fashion drawings in several newspapers and fashion magazines. From this time on, most of Gruau's work concerned fashion advertising (fashion accessories, gloves, perfume, cosmetics, lingerie,fabrics etc.) In 1989, a René Gruau Exhibition was held at the Musée du Costume at the Palais Galliera in Paris. To this day, he continues to work for advertising, and has started drawing for fashion magazines again: Elle, Madame Figaro, Vogue, L'Officiel de la Couture.