If you’ve been waiting for the right time to check out what’s up at the UVA Art Museum (which is currently undergoing a $250,000 renovation to make its Rugby Road entry more welcoming) the museum offers two good reasons, starting today.
The first is "Society Portraits," a selection of some 150 Andy Warhol works that UVA acquired in 2009 as "part of the Andy Warhol Foundation’s Photographic Legacy Project, which sent tens of thousands of photographs to university and college art collections across the country," according to a release. Among those now part of the museum’s collection are images intended to be used later as source material for more formal portraits, and "party portraits." Included are images of Truman Capote, Wizard of Oz witch Margaret Hamilton, Sly Stallone and…Wayne Gretzsky. (Now that‘s what I call a party.)
Also on view there starting today is "Southern Views/Southern Photographers," a collection of photographs that explore Dixie. The show includes works by relatively big names like Sally Mann, (UVA’s own) Pamela Pecchio and Emmett Gowin. Says curator William Wylie in the release, "If, as it has been said, the task of the artist is to represent the world without diminishing its complexity, these six artists beautifully fulfill the charge."
Two new exhibits open today at the UVA Art Museum: "Southern Views/Southern Photographers" (left, "On Longing," by Pam Pecchio) and "Society Portraits: Andy Warhol’s Photographic Legacy" (right, an untitled Warhol photo of Margaret Hamilton)
There was some speculation that, with the shuttering of sometime comedy host 12th Street Taphouse, the tears (of laughter) would dry up. Well, fret not. The National Stand-up Comedy Series returns for the fifth time with Eric Frost, as seen on HBO’s "Comedy Underground," a three time appearance on the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Tour, Comcast On Demand and, says the release, "some of the toughest comedy clubs in New York City."
Eric Frost returns to Charlottesville for the latest Charlottesville National Stand-up Comedy Series event. Sample the goods.
In the picks section of this week’s paper—wherein we point out some of the week’s arts highlights—I recommended Saturday’s Bold as Love Jimi Hendrix tribute at the Jefferson. In doing so, I ruffled one reader’s feathers by referring to a portion of Hendrix’s career that his untimely death at age 27 mercifully prevented: The part of his career where he might’ve gone jazzy, synthy, soft. Nobody needs to be lectured on the rock star’s struggle to stay relevant, which drove Neil Young to make Trans, Brian Wilson to rap and Jefferson Airplane to become Jefferson Starship. There were only good times with Jimi; celebrate them with local blues shredder Eli Cook and his band, folky duo Jay Pun and Morwena Lasko, Ian Gilliam, The Chicken Head Blues Band and Andy Waldeck’s funk party outfit XPS.
Can’t argue with Jimi.
What are you up to this weekend?