"It's a really special spot. When you start at the top and move down the gently sloped ramp, you almost feel like a marble tumbling down, looking at art as you roll by. The slight slant plays with your sense of perspective and grounding."
Kamrooz Aram is everywhere this year, from Mumbai Art Week to the Whitney Biennial, and critic Aruna D'Souza is grateful. She pens a beautiful meditation on his work, reading his abstract paintings as not simply a denunciation of Western modernism nor a reassertion of Islamic visual motifs, but something else entirely - something gestural, exuberant, riotous, and incomparably his own.
Trombonist Adam Theis and his Jazz Mafia organization have always been smooth operators, finding creative ways to bend the often treacherous Bay Area music scene to their will. By forging alliances with friendly venues, the Jazz Mafia has knuckled their way into two Bay Area residencies, playing monthly at Oakland's Sound Room and North Beach's Keys Jazz Bistro.
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Whether you want to check out a great movie or concert, or devour some tasty ramen, we are here for you, so let's get to it, shall we? (As always, be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines or other details.) Meanwhile, if you'd like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.
Sounding amused, publisher Pramod Kapoor recalls the reaction of the Indian cricketing legend Bishen Singh Bedi when he learned Kapoor was printing 3,000 copies of his autobiography. Only 3,000? he protested. I fill stadiums with 50-60,000 people coming to see me play and you think that's all my book is going to sell? Kapoor, the founder of Roli Books, explains that Bedi's legions of admirers were unlikely to translate into book buyers. That was in 2021.
Emin shot to fame in the 1990s as one of the Young British Artists challenging the very nature of what art could be through raw, conceptual and frequently sensational works. Her most famous early installation, My Bed - featuring Emin's real bed, strewn with dirty sheets and surrounded by personal detritus - will be on display, alongside video works, textiles, neons, writing, sculptures and the paintings that now dominate her practice.
The new New Museum is many things: contemporary, perhaps, but also a science, history, anthropology, and many other museums in one. It echoes the desire of its patron class to own the world and its affiliated courtier class to deliver it to them on a silver platter, or encased in perforated metal, in this case.
A February vacation can be the right time to explore different parts of the country. Whether solo or with loved ones, February is a sweet spot for travel. It also means fewer crowds, better deals, and pleasant weather in many destinations. So, if you are planning a getaway, here's a list of some of the best places to visit in February in India.
Situated in the southern tip of Mumbai, the neighbourhoods of Colaba and Fort are home to dock yards, grand colonial architecture and most of the city's museums and contemporary art galleries. But as Mumbai's art scene grows, it is also expanding beyond its historic art district into the fashionable western suburb of Bandra and high-rise financial districts like Lower Parel and Worli.
This year's Art SG, which closed last month, featured an intriguing debut: South Asian Insights, a modest pavilion dedicated to contemporary art from the region. Part of the TVS Initiative for Indian and South Asian Contemporary Art, it was backed by India's TVS Motor Company, one of the world's largest two-wheel manufacturers, which has its global headquarters in Singapore. Eight galleries-five from India-were each given a wall to showcase art.
