Che: Early Look
It all started at 7PM and by 11:30PM it was all over, and I must report that there were some deserters, but I went to see Steve Soderbergh's "Che" last night. I have four separate publications which have asked me for reviews, so I'll be doing those first, but meanwhile a quickie for you guys:
- Movies are way too long and too many fighting skirmishes in both of them and zero plot to them.
- Benicio del Toro does a great job as Che, but supporting actor Santiago Cabrera steals part one as Camilo Cienfuegos.
- Part one and two delivers Che as a champion of the poor, the illiterate, the peasants and generally everyone who is shoeless. Even a light reading of Che's own writing and memoirs would reveal that this simplistic offering of this highly complex figure is incomplete and perhaps even dishonest. A more balanced approach should have included the Guevara who was judge, juror and executioner, and the inexperienced post-revolution Guevara who helped to destroy the Cuban middle class, the island's business infrastructure and its agricultural base.
- Part two is a huge disappointment in its lack of character development or even the slightest explanation why the storyline jumps from Cuba to Bolivia. Che's Bolivian guerrillas, which never numbered more than 51, included 17 Cubans who went along with Guevara in his effort to "export" revolution to the Americas after secret failures in Africa and Venezuela. The Cubans, who looked and talked very different from most Bolivians, held nearly all the command positions, but they were unable to speak the local Quechua or Aymara languages of the indigenous local Indians. This doomed the effort.
More later! I gotta go watch some football!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Obama and the Arts
Though Obama hasn't made any arts or humanities appointments yet, he has signaled that he regards culture seriously. During the campaign, he took the unprecedented step of forming an Arts Policy Committee, which produced a thorough list of policy objectives. (Rare are the campaigns that can boast a statement of principles drafted by a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist—in this case, Michael Chabon.)Read Jeremy McCarter in Newsweek here.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Opportunity for Artists and Curators
Deadline: February 20, 2009
VSA arts seeks exhibition proposal(s) that include artists with disabilities for consideration to be displayed at the Kennedy Center Terrace Gallery from May-June 2009. Proposals will also be considered for programming in advance of and during the 2010 International VSA arts Festival. VSA arts encourages curators and researchers from the cultural, university, and museum communities, including those with disabilities, to incorporate the work of artists with disabilities into their exhibitions. We welcome proposals that address, challenge, and expand the discussion about disability and culture.
Exhibitions may include a wide range of media such as digital art, drawing, installation, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and video.
VSA arts is committed to expanding the understanding, development, and appreciation of contemporary work by artists with disabilities.
For more information visit this website.
This weekend in DC
Irvine Contemporary is the exhibition manager of Manifest Hope:DC, a celebration of art and artists who were motivators of the national movement that helped bring Barack Obama to the presidency. Manifest Hope:DC is produced by EMG and Shepard Fairey's OBEY group, and is also sponsored by MoveOn.org and the SEIU.
Details here.
MANIFEST HOPE:DC
January 17-19
3333 M St., NW
Washington, DC
Half a day
I'm setting half a day to go see the "Che" movie today... the protests and picketing of the film have already begun.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Frank Warren at Lisner
One of the world's greatest art ongoing projects is PostSecret, and its creator, my good friend Frank Warren, will be at Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University on January 23rd discussing the project.
Online link to buy tickets for the Lisner event is here. Also check out this video.
