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March 31, 2022
March 28, 2022
Hijikata Tatsumi ~ Father of Butoh Performance
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Christina Braun & Dean Santomieri
March 9th was the birthday of Japanese choreographer and founder of the genre of dance performance art called Butoh. In a tribute to him, many Butoh performers from the Bay Area held an event yesterday at Ohlone Park in Berkeley, California.
The event was organized by Butoh performance artist, Hiroko Tamano, in celebration of the Life and Death of Hijikata Tatsumi.
photo by Styrous®
Hiroko and her husband Koichi Tamano have been major influences in the Bay Area Butoh scene and around the world. They performed in a couple of the Sandra Sakata fashion shows for her art to wear boutique, Obiko (link below).
Tom White, Professor Emeritus of the California College of Arts & Crafts, incorporated Butoh movements and concepts into his art and named it, butohDrawing,
which he taught as part of the curriculum in his classes there and
they held performances as part of the completion of the classes.
People call it Butoh Dance; I prefer to call it Butoh movement as dance implys a formal, structured, pretty and controlled act. Butoh
is the complete opposite of Western
concepts of "dance". In its pure state, it is usually improvised with no planned theme or
agenda (there are exceptions) other than to express what is in the heart
of each performer at that particular moment. In no way is it "pretty" by Western standards! It can be
ugly and distorted . . .
. . . it can be comical . . .
. . . often it is excruciatingly SLOW!
But it is beautiful in its own distinct way!
Unfortunately,
I don't know the names of all the performers I photographed during the
event but where I do, I have given them credit. If you recognize
someone, please let me know and I will add their name. Thank you.
The Performance
photos by Styrous®
Mark Deutsch
Kyoko Takenaka
Bob Webb (above & below)
There is a jungle gym
in the park near the performance area; when I was a kid in the early
forties, I thought it was called a "Jungle Jim." I recall hanging by the
back of my knees on the top bar one time; my legs slipped and I landed
on my head! That might explain a lot. Memories of those days long gone
flashed through my mind and it was delightful to watch the kids
scrambling around on it . . .
. . . but they did take time out to watch the performance.
Kyoko Takenaka
Luku Netherthot & Mao Homie
The performance closed with a chant that everyone, including the audience, participated in reciting.
Viewfinder links:
YouTube links:
Styrous® ~ Monday, March 28, 2022
YouTube links:
Christina Braun ~ various videos
Mark Deutsch & Martha Matsuda at TYG
Dean Santomieri ~ various videos Koichi & Hiroko Tamano ~ various videos
Bob Webb ~ Butoh
Styrous® ~ Monday, March 28, 2022
March 25, 2022
Tom White ~ Drawn & Quartered
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mixed media
photo by Styrous®
After a long period of focusing his creative energy to the preparation and presentation of culinary projects (link below), artist Tom White is once again turning that energy back to his art.
He has titled his new work, Drawn & Quartered. The work has nothing to do with the execution of traitors in England but rather the ripping, tearing, cutting and other actions, of his past works into pieces that are then assembled in new configurations, sometimes with found objects added as in the above work, Kitchen Sink.
He presented his new work for the first time in the recent exhibition, the Love Show, which was the Tenth Anniversary exhibition of the Gray Loft Gallery in the Jingletown section of Oakland.
mixed media
photo by Styrous®
He may be writing more about his new work on his blog; if he does, I will post it here on the Viewfinder.
Viewfinder links:
March 17, 2022
Tupeach or not Tupeach; that is the question!
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The Love Show
February 12 to March 19, 2022
The Gray Loft Gallery
2889 Ford Street, 3rd floor
Oakland CA 94601
I can hear you asking, "What is a Tupeach?" Well, come to the closing reception at the Gray Loft Gallery this coming Saturday and you'll find out.
During the Tenth Anniversary of the Gray Loft Gallery in the third Love Show
exhibition, my photograph, Tupeach, will be shown until March 19, 2022.
The gallery will be open this Saturday from 1 to 5
PM. The closing reception will be that evening Saturday, March 19, from 4 to 7 PM.
The Gray Loft Gallery was founded on the edge of Jingletown in Oakland in 2012 by photographer Jan Watten.
The Gray Loft Gallery celebrates its ten years by reprising its opening show (link below) with a group exhibition that explores the universal language of love as well as the love of art with The Love Show.
I had work in the inaugural exhibition in 2012 and I am proud and honored that Tupeach, the image above, is one of my works that will be shown in this 2022 version of the exhibition.
As the old saying goes, "Be There or Be Square!" Which is not to be confused with the 1998 Chinese romantic comedy film of the same name directed by Feng Xiaogang.
Be There or Be Square! poster
The idiomatic word "square" originated between WW II and the 1950s beatnik era. It refers to people who are boring or out of touch with current trends and attitudes.
The Beat Generation poster - 1959
starring Mamie Van Doren
Prior
to this, square referred to one’s honest, good-natured personality, or
to high-quality work. Perhaps it alluded to the perfectly symmetrical
edges of a literal square, although this has not been confirmed. The
meaning of square changed around the time jazz became popular. If
someone were a square, one did not appreciate jazz music.
The Love Show
February 12, 2022, to March 19, 2022
Opening reception: February
12, 3 to 7 PM
Closing reception: March 19, 4 to 7PM
Gray Loft Gallery
2889 Ford Street, 3rd floor
Oakland CA 94601
Viewfinder links:
Happy Birthday, Gray Loft!!!!!
Mamie Van Doren articles/mentions
Marina Ovsyannikova ~ A hero for our times!
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Marina Ovsyannikova (background)
TV screenshot
Marina Ovsyannikova is a Russian TV producer who was employed on the Channel One Russia TV channel who interrupted a state-controlled Russian TV news broadcast to protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which made international news headlines. She was arrested, held without access to her lawyer, fined, and later released.
Viewfinder link:
Instagram ~ Marina Ovsyannikova
Newsweek ~ Who is Marina Ovsyannikova?
Washington Post ~ Ovsyannikova fined for inciting protests
Styrous® ~ Thursday, March 17, 2022