A while back I mentioned that at times the Contemporary offers some really unique events to the public. It is time for another one! Tomorrow night is the first of a three-part series titled the Playground of the Ridiculous. For three Friday evenings this summer people can come to the museum (free admission) for art, music, film poetry, and theater. This Friday night there will be a film screening of Metropolis, poetry readings, dance performances by Atrek Dance Collective, and music by STRIVE, a piano-driven rock-pop band mixing sounds of The Fray and Switchfoot. (I also heard rumors of Opera Singers in the bathroom). This series is perfect for a variety of people; those who want to experience art, as well as those who want to experience a unique night out in a different type of setting with new kinds of entertainment.

 This past weekend not only led the way to much discussion and deliberation over the exhibition in our Main Galleries, it also led the way to a great deal of wonderment because of Front Room artist, Ei Arakawa. Arakawa and special guests staged a one-time live performance that lasted the whole evening. At 5:00 pm he began working in The Front Room (a few guests thought maybe we didn’t quite finish on time, others just looked bewildered). Arakawa walked in and out of the museum carrying large pieces of paper and metal, asking guests to help him hold doors open and help him stuff trash in a bag. The remains, his exhibition, were left on display in The Front Room and will remain there for two weeks. This live performance was quite an experience. Click on the video below to see what the Contemporary’s Curator had to say about this performance.

So if you are caught up on your Contemporary blog reading you are probably aware that we hosted a performance by electronic rocker Silverio this past Thursday. All I am going to say is WOW and let the pictures and videos speak for themselves. If you want to see Silverio’s performance, visit the Contemporary’s YouTube page. Click on our favorites and find four video clips of his performance here.

 
Silverio working crowd

Photo: Georgia Kotretsos, Courtesy: Boots Contemporary Art Space

 
Silverio rocking out

Photo: Georgia Kotretsos, Courtesy: Boots Contemporary Art Space

 
Laura Fried, Silverio, Paul Ha

Photo: Georgia Kotretsos, Courtesy: Boots Contemporary Art Space

This past weekend there was an all day performance by Deva Eveland, who was brought to us by our most recent Front Room occupant, Boots Contemporary Art Space. For his performance, Eveland summoned the spirit of Louis IX (aka St. Louis). For four hours, Deva sat on the concrete steps in a trance, when finally he stood up to transcribe the lyrics of the song “Louie Louie” on the floor, playing the song forward  and backward, over and over again.  At 3:00 pm, before a gathered crowd, Eveland began to channel the spirit of St. Louis. In the final moments and with help from the audience, Eveland offered St. Louis’s spirit a “gift bag” tied with balloons. A great performance! Check out some photos. . . -mrq of camstl

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of working with a variety of printmakers from all over the United States and even a few internationals.  Prints Gone Wild was a two day event to coincide with Tom Huck’s Outlaw Printmakers show in our new Front Room Gallery.  Dubbed as an “Affordable Print Fair,” all pieces were priced at $50 and under; some venders even dropped more expensive pieces to $50 for the weekend.  Oh wait, there’s more–to add to the excitement of Saturday night we also had live music, a performance by The Amazing Hancock Brothers onsite printmaking by Drive by Press, and enough peanut butter and banana sandwiches to squash even an Elvis-sized appetite.  Of course the weekend wouldn’t of been complete without not one, but two unique performances by Non Grata, an Estonian Performance Art group.  Check out the video from their Saturday Night performance here.

 All-in-all, it was an awesome weekend for everyone, even earning us a mention from my hommies at MATW.

 cjvc signing out- with an extra special  thanks to the folks at Evil Prints and Cannonball Press without which Prints Gone Wild would not have been possible. 

We needed a good stretch to center our minds for the upcoming week. Opening Night was phenomenal — we had the more guests in over the weekend than I believe we’ve had since our Groundbreaking! More than 2,000 guests (count them! it was exactly 2,001) came in to celebrate the exhibition opening with Artists Jim Hodges and Slater Bradley. On Saturday, our brunch was followed by an informal dialog between Guest Curator Susan Cahan and Jim Hodges. Susan’s dialog was interesting and she would break occasionally to comment on the beauty of the light streaming in from our windows and hitting all the reflective surfaces in the exhibition. So, Monday, while we were closed to the public, we enjoyed some stretching during our lunch hours and had a marvelous time. I’m slightly sore from such a long holiday break — but I’m definitely ready to conquer the week — the month for that matter. It will already be February by Tuesday and there’s plenty of programming this month — including Select Nights featuring fire and books, followed by Warhol films being screened next week, and more films near the end of the month, and a dance performance incorporating the exhibition, called HeavenSense. We have brown bag gallery tours and lunch and learns also scheduled — so, in short, there will be plenty of ways to experience the exhibition in many contexts. We’ll keep sharing. And for all you Grand Center employees — let me know if you want to Yoga in the space.

You’ve heard me talk about it on and off for months - the day has finally arrived where Select Night meets Larry Krone (and Family) for Larry Krone’s artist performance. Doors open at 6 tonight, and Larry and friends take the stage at 7. The evening will be spectacular - we’ll of course be serving Budweiser Select and Krone’s featured drink, the Kro-Jack (see recipe posted here). I’m not a huge fan of the Kro-Jack, but maybe that’s because it’s whiskey - or because it’s an incredibly strong drink. . . but regardless, there are those who love it (including Larry), so you’re welcome to have a taste. We’ll also have Deviled Pickled Eggs (they’re pinkish purple in color. . . yum!) and Larry’s version of St. Louis Sushi and St. Paul Canape. Anyway, I sneaked into NAN, now serving as Larry’s dressing room - to grab some more pictures of the costumes - including some new ones he’s made. This will be quite the production. Also, the shots with the mylar - are taken from behind the curtain, along the entrance way where Larry and Family will make their journey to the stage.  How’s that for behind-the-scenes?

Now that opening weekend is over (deep breath) and we’ve made it through our first week with the new exhibitions, we are now buckling down and starting to live out all those programs that our Education Department has been working on. Honestly, we’ve been working on programming for months - even years in advance - in order to make the art we present accessible in a variety of ways.  Our education program is gearing up - we have several new things going on this fall.  One of which is a “Contemporary 101″ class, which will explore different decades of contemporary art.  It will study a range of issues through a chronological look at artists, movements, and styles.  This is a good chance to find out what contemporary art is - and I’ll be here, considering I have a literature degree and am need of extending my background to include more information regarding the art world.

We also have our upcoming Select Night which features Larry Krone - this will be a performance not to be missed. Lunch and Learn is back this season, and the first speaker is Professor Carold Hodson, who will address the question we’ve all asked at some point or another: “what makes performance art, art?” There are also workshops, family days, and other social opportunities coming up through October, November, and December - as well as some opportunities for artists to meet some top-notch curators with our Visiting Curators and Critics series. All can be found on our website. Take a look and I hope to see you soon.

Last Friday’s opening was thrilling and my favorite part was Larry Krone’s performance More love hours (no charge) (2006) performed by Janet “Sissy” Kennedy. This piece was originally performed at the Whitney, and Larry and Janet changed the lyrics slightly for the performance at the Contemporary.  The crowd was glowing with pleasure during the performance, and it was really spectacular to be present for something that only happens once (although she did perform twice, but as you know, each performance is its own. . . ).The remnants of the performance, Sissy’s dress and the swing, remain in our performance space on view.

I’m including both pictures from the performance at the Contemporary and the lyrics to Sissy’s Song- pulled from Larry’s website, and this version includes the change.

SISSY’S SONG
(Lyrics and music by Larry Krone & Janet Kennedy)IT WAS A HUMID SUMMER DAY IN ST. LOUIE
JULY NINETEENTH, NINETEEN SEVENTY-THREE
MY BROTHERS DAVID AND LARRY
STAYED HOME WITH MAUREEN FEELY
WHEN ANN & RONALD KRONE HAD THEIR THIRD BABY WELL WE LIVED IN A BRICK HOUSE IN U. CITY
WE HAD A GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG NAMED LACEY
WHILE US KIDS STAYED HOME WITH MOMMY
DADDY DID CARDIOLOGY
AND MY BEST FRIEND ELEANOR LIVED ACROSS THE STREETWELL I WENT TO PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL AT U. CITY
I AUDITIONED FOR THE MUSICALS, BUT I NEVER GOT THE LEAD
AT COLLEGE DAVID MET AMY
AT HOME I ROCKED AND ROLLED WITH BECCA & LARRY
AND AFTER SCHOOL I WORKED AT YOUTH EMERGENCY

WELL NOW I’M HERE TO TELL YOU ALL MY STORY
WHILE I’M SIX FEET OFF THE FLOOR AND I STRUM MY UKELELE
SOME OF YOU MIGHT KNOW ME AS SISSY
BUT MY NAME IS JANET ABRA KRONE KENNEDY

WHEN I WAS SIXTEEN LARRY MOVED TO NEW YORK CITY
I WENT THERE TWO YEARS LATER, IT’S WHERE I WANTED TO BE
I STUDIED PSYCHOLOGY
AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
AND I DID MY DRINKING WHILE I LISTENED TO COUNTRY

WHEN LARRY WAS IN ITALY WITH NANCY AND GIANNI
I WAS AT THE VILLAGE IDIOT DRINKING BEER AND GETTING TIPSY
A HANDSOME TEXAN NAMED RANDY
SAID THAT HE WOULD SHOW ME
HOW TO TWO-STEP AND NOW WE ARE MARRIED

***NOW I’M SIX FEET OFF THE FLOOR AND TELLING MY STORY
I LIVE IN BROOKLYN WITH RANDY AND OUR LITTLE BEAGLE DAISY.
MOM AND DAD ARE SIXTY
I HAVE A NEPHEW NAMED GUY HENRY
THIS ST. LOUIS GIRL IS FEELING HAPPY SOON I’LL HAVE MY PH.D.
LARRY’S SHOWING AT THE WHITNEY
I’M A GIRL FROM MISSOURI
AND I’M FEELING HAPPYYEAH, SOON I’LL HAVE MY PH.D.
LARRY’S SHOWING AT THE WHITNEY
I’M A GIRL FROM MISSOURI
AND I’M FEELING HAPPYcopyright 2002 Larry Krone, Janet KennedyOther news: we’re rearranging our offices again.  Today will be quite busy getting the new digs figured out.

Last night was a late night for us Contemporary folk, considering it was only Monday.  We’re normally closed, but we opened our doors at 5:30pm to let the St. Louis fan-base of Harry and the Potters and Draco and the Malfoys in the museum for a show.  It was packed - hundreds of fans of all-ages came in to jump around in our performance space and sing along to songs about the Harry Potter books. “Save Ginny Weasley” was my personal favorite. In any event, I have tons of pics to share with you.  Definitely check out both bands via the internet.

The guests roll in.

Fan No. 1: Our graphic designer’s son and his friend (with Harry Potter Year 4).

And the rest of the show. . .