Press releases from the Walker Art Centerhttp://press.walkerart.org/Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT<a href="http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5389"><img border="0" src="http://media.walkerart.org/13750200.jpg"/></a><br/><br/>“One of today’s most ingenious and forward-thinking musical practitioners.” —<i>Billboard</i> <br /> <br /> <b><i>Block Ice &amp; Propane</i></b>, a collection of cinematic cello compositions by jazz/new music phenom Erik Friedlander commissioned by the Walker Art Center, will be presented at 8 pm Saturday, December 5, in the William and Nadine McGuire Theater. Paired with family and “road cycle” images created by his father, celebrated photographer Lee Friedlander; films by Bill Morrison; and engaging short tales about the kind of travels familiar to so many of us, these new compositions are inspired by years of family road trips with all the trimmings: campers, tourist traps, picnic tables, truck stops, lonely highways, and stark panoramas. Taking inspiration from American roots music, Friedlander executes extraordinary finger-picking technique and reverberant tunings, creating a fresh form of American cello music that is lyrical, plainspoken, and emotional. <br /> <br /> New York's Friedlander (John Zorn, Laurie Anderson) is a composer and improviser, a classical and jazz musician. He has recorded eight CDs as a leader, always working to stake out new ground for the cello in both his compositional choices and his dynamic improvising style. Whether performing in solo or ensemble settings, Friedlander blends his vision of what the cello can be pushed to do, while maintaining a firm grasp on traditions, both improvising and classical. <br /> <br /> Friedlander was born in New York City in 1960 and grew up in suburban Rockland County, as the son of the noted artist Lee Friedlander. Along with photographers Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander is recognized as one of the best street photographers of the 1960s whose work can be found in museums around the world. Lee Friedlander is also known by musicians and jazz aficionados for the cover photos he took for Atlantic Records. His passion for R&B and jazz greatly influenced Erik Friedlander, whose earliest memories are of a household filled with the sounds of his father's subjects, including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, McCoy Tyner, Ornette Coleman, and John Coltrane. <br /> <br /> Erik Friedlander started playing guitar at age 6 and added cello two years later. He began formal lessons at age 12 and continued his musical studies at Columbia University in 1978. Upon graduation, he spent the next decade refining his cello technique through long hours of practice, supporting himself by playing in various orchestras and Broadway shows, recording commercial music for jingles and movies, and doing session work with artists like Laurie Anderson, Courtney Love's Hole, and Dar Williams. He also started his first small groups and made his first recordings. Friedlander came into his own in the 1990s as an integral part of NYC's downtown jazz scene, receiving notices in publications like the <i>Boston Globe</i> and <i>The Wire</i>, as well as <i>Billboard</i>, which wrote, "Friedlander [is] one of today's most ingenious and forward-thinking musical practitioners." <br /> <br /> <br /> Tickets to Erik Friedlander’s <i>Block Ice &amp; Propane</i> are: $22 ($18 Walker members); and are available at <a href="http://walkerart.org/tickets">walkerart.org/tickets</a> or by calling 612.375.7600. The Balcony Bar will be open at 7:30 pm and after the performance. <br /> http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5389http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5389 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT<a href="http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5387"><img border="0" src="http://media.walkerart.org/14586200.jpg"/></a><br/><br/>A movement tour of <i>Dan Graham: Beyond</i> and a curator-led tour of <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i> highlight December Target Free Thursday Nights at the Walker Art Center. On Thursday, December 3, 7 pm, choreographers Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad, better known as the BodyCartography Project, lead a movement-based tour through <i>Dan Graham: Beyond</i>, featuring an artist with whom they share an artistic sensibility. This major retrospective surveys the career of one of contemporary art’s most innovative figures. The first exhibition in the United States to showcase Graham’s entire body of work, including his groundbreaking experiments with video and performance, architecture and public spaces, and collaborations with musicians and rock bands, is organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. <br /> <br /> Walker chief curator Darsie Alexander leads visitors on a tour of the latest collection exhibitions, <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i>, on Thursday, December 10, at 7 pm. <i>Event Horizon</i> reflects the Walker’s unique range of artistic disciplines while <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i> offers a closer look at old favorites and new acquisitions. <br /> <br /> In addition, Sound Bites gallery talks on Thursday, December 17, at 6:30 and 7 pm, spotlight <i>Rock My Religion</i> (1982–1984), Dan Graham’s 55-minute “video-essay” in which he traced a continuum between the Shakers, the early-American religious sect that sought spiritual transcendence through collective dance and song, and hardcore punk music. Sound Bites gallery talks, offered throughout the month on select Thursday evenings at 6:30 and 7 pm, illuminate an artist or work of art from the Walker’s world-class collection or one of its special exhibitions. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Target Free Thursday Nights</b> <br /> December 3, 10, 17 (Walker closed on December 24; no Target Free Thursday Nights on December 31) <br /> Galleries open 5–9; special events follow. <br /> Free <br /> <br /> <b>Thursday, December 3 <br /> Tour: <i>Dan Graham: Beyond</i> with the BodyCartography Project, 7 pm</b> <br /> Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby <br /> <br /> Choreographers Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad (aka the BodyCartography Project) are known for combining dance, video, and public space. Join them for a movement-based tour of the work of Dan Graham, whose art shares a similar sensibility. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Thursday, December 10 <br /> Tour: <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i> with Darsie Alexander, 7 pm</b> <br /> Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby <br /> <br /> Chief curator Darsie Alexander leads visitors through the newest collection exhibitions. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Thursday, December 17 <br /> Sound Bites: Dan Graham’s <i>Rock My Religion</i>, 6:30 and 7 pm</b> <br /> Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby <br /> <br /> Contemporary art and artists are the focus of these 15-minute gallery conversations led by Walker tour guides. Each highlights selected artworks, artists, or themes that serve as topics for illuminating discussions. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Thursday, December 24 <br /> Christmas Eve – Walker closed</b> <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Thursday, December 31 <br /> Walker galleries and Shop open 11 am–3 pm</b> <br /> http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5387http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5387 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT<a href="http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5388"><img border="0" src="http://media.walkerart.org/15052200.jpg"/></a><br/><br/>It’s <b>Wall-to-Wall Walker</b> on Saturday, December 5, 10 am–8 pm, Walker Art Center’s daylong celebration with extended hours of all things Walker: music, film, performance, and an array of artworks from the new collection exhibitions <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i>. Come early for family fun and shopping at the Local Artist Gift Mart; stay late with friends and enjoy gallery tours, cocktails, dinner, film in the Cinema, or a performance in the McGuire Theater. <br /> <br /> Highlights of the day include the Free First Saturday program The Big Event (10 am–3 pm), which features gallery and art-making activities, film screenings, and a performance by jazz cellist Erik Friedlander; special free mini-tours of the new exhibitions <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i> (3–7 pm on the hour); a Local Artist Gift Mart in Target Gallery, featuring unique wares and a chance to meet the artists who made them (12 noon–4 pm); chocolate tastings; and special dining options in the Gallery 8 Café (open 11 am–5 pm), 20.21 Restaurant &amp; Bar (open 5:30–11 pm), and The Walker Pub (open 6–11 pm) in the Bazinet Garden Lobby. <br /> <br /> Evening events include screenings of the 2009 British Television Advertising Awards at 4, 7, and 9 pm, the Walker’s popular annual showcase of award-winning advertisements from across the pond. Also, jazz/new music phenom Erik Friedlander presents his Walker-commissioned work <i>Block Ice &amp; Propane</i> at 8 pm in the McGuire Theater. In this work, Friedlander pairs cinematic cello compositions with short tales and family and “road cycle” images created by his father, celebrated photographer Lee Friedlander. <br /> <br /> Tickets for the British Television Advertising Awards screenings, which sell out quickly, are $10 ($8 Walker members), and tickets for Erik Friedlander’s <i>Block Ice &amp; Propane</i> are $22 ($18 Walker members). Tickets to both events are available at <a href="http://walkerart.org/tickets">walkerart.org/tickets</a> or by calling 612.375.7600. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Wall-to-Wall Walker: A 10-Hour Open House</b> <br /> Extended Gallery Hours 10 am–8 pm <br /> <br /> <b>Free First Saturday</b> <br /> <br /> <b>Free First Saturdays Are for Families!</b> <br /> The Big Event <br /> Saturday, December 5, 10 am–3 pm, Free <br /> <br /> <b>Gallery Activities: <i>Event Horizon</i>, 10 am–2 pm</b> <br /> Galleries 1, 2, 3 <br /> Explore works from the collection with a variety of fun hands-on adventures. Walker guides are available to answer questions and pass out activities. <br /> <br /> <b>Art-Making for the Entire Family: Cabinet of Curiosities, 10 am–3 pm</b> <br /> Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab <br /> Get inspired by the works of artist Joseph Cornell and bring a box to life as you fill it with hand-made treasures. Led by artist-instructor Andy Ducett. <br /> <br /> <b>Films About Toys, 10 am–3 pm</b> <br /> <i>Tops</i> by Charles and Ray Eames, 10 am–3 pm <br /> U.S. Bank Orientation Lounge <br /> Capture the dizzying world of spinning tops in this short classic. 1969, 7 minutes. <br /> <br /> <b><i>Toccata for Toy Trains</i> by Charles and Ray Eames, 11 am</b> <br /> Cinema <br /> Shot from a toy’s perspective, this visual journey follows antique trains moving within a fanciful setting to a toccata composed by Elmer Bernstein. 1957, 13 minutes. <br /> <br /> <i>Mouse Heaven</i> by Kenneth Anger, 11:15 am <br /> Cinema <br /> Count the multiplying Mickey Mouse characters in this whimsical film featuring America’s icon of animation. 2004, 10 minutes <br /> <br /> <b>Local Artist Gift Mart: Kids Playspace, 12 noon–4 pm</b> <br /> Target Gallery <br /> Kids can play with a selection of artist-designed products while parents shop. Adult supervision is provided. <br /> <br /> <b>Performance: Erik Friedlander, 1 pm</b> <br /> Jazz cellist Friedlander combines inventive music with travel stories and images created by his renowned photographer father. <br /> <br /> Free First Saturday is sponsored by Ameriprise Financial. Program support by Medtronic Foundation. As part of the Walker Art Center's Raising Creative Kids Initiative, additional support is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Tours <br /> <br /> Gallery Tours</b> <br /> 3–7 pm on the hour, Free <br /> <br /> Join Walker tour guides for special mini-tours of <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i>. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Walker Shop <br /> <br /> Member Double-Discount Shopping and Local Artist Gift Mart</b> <br /> 11 am–9 pm <br /> Walker Shop and Target Gallery <br /> <br /> The Walker Shop offers members a 20% discount on its incomparable selection of artful gifts. Head to the Target Gallery (from 12 noon–4 pm) to browse more unique wares—and visit with the artists who made them—at the Local Artist Gift Mart. Create local. Shop local. Buy local. Meet Diane O’Donnel from Alessi (from 12 noon–6 pm in the Shop) and enjoy chocolate tastings, with a personal appearance by B.T. McElrath (from 12 noon–4 pm). <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Film/Video <br /> <br /> 2009 British Television Advertising Awards</b> <br /> 4, 7, and 9 pm <br /> $10 ($8 Walker members) <br /> Cinema <br /> <br /> Brimming with creativity and chosen by top advertising executives and producers across the globe, these sly, sexy, hilarious, and thought-provoking British spots have been a Walker highlight for 21 years. The program this year includes dancing marionettes, monkeys, and nudists as well as American celebrities Snoop Dogg, Rob Lowe, and Anjelica Huston hawking products to UK audiences. You’ll also catch an ’80s flashback for Virgin Airlines, a scandalous piece for Guess apparel, and highlights from the history of 20th-century Britain condensed into 120 seconds for a bread commercial. Among the standouts this year is a spectacular skydiving stunt for Honda that was broadcast live. Not to be missed. 2009, video, 80 minutes. <br /> <br /> The 2009 British Television Advertising Awards sponsored by Thomson Reuters. <br /> <br /> Media Partner <i>City Pages</i>. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Performing Arts <br /> <br /> Eric Friedlander’s <i>Block Ice &amp; Propane</i></b> <br /> Walker Commission <br /> 8 pm <br /> $22 ($18 Walker members) <br /> Balcony Bar open 7:30 pm and after performance <br /> McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> “One of today’s most ingenious and forward-thinking musical practitioners.” —<i>Billboard</i> <br /> <br /> This collection of cinematic cello compositions by jazz/new music phenom Erik Friedlander (John Zorn, Laurie Anderson) was inspired by years of family road trips with all the trimmings: campers, tourist traps, picnic tables, truck stops, lonely highways, stark panoramas. In <i>Block Ice &amp; Propane</i>, new compositions are paired with family and “road cycle” images created by his father, celebrated photographer Lee Friedlander, films by Bill Morrison, and engaging short tales about the kind of travels familiar to so many of us. Taking inspiration from American roots music, Friedlander executes extraordinary finger-picking technique and reverberant tunings, creating a fresh form of American cello music that is lyrical, plainspoken, and emotional. <br /> <br /> Development support for <i>Block Ice &amp; Propane</i> provided by the Walker Art Center; the Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College; Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA); and Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University. Support for the Walker’s commission provided by the William and Nadine McGuire Commissioning Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Dining <br /> <br /> Soup to Nuts: Special Dining Options</b> <br /> 11 am–11 pm <br /> Gallery 8 Café, 11 am–5 pm <br /> 20.21 Restaurant &amp; Bar, 5:30–11 pm <br /> The Walker Pub, 6–11 pm <br /> <br /> Round out the day or make a night of it with pub fare, cocktails, or dinner. Grab some lunch and snacks at Gallery 8 Café, or stop by the pub in the Bazinet Lobby for classic British ales and drinks ($1 off with your movie ticket stub) and a variety of sweet and savory treats. Head to 20.21 Restaurant &amp; Bar for hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, with drink specials before the show; or reserve a table and enjoy a British-inspired tasting menu or more familiar Asian-themed Wolfgang Puck fare. <br /> http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5388http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5388 Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMTWalker Art Center’s first major installation of its collection galleries since 2005 is featured during December tours of <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i>. <i>Event Horizon</i> reflects the Walker’s unique range of artistic disciplines while <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i> offers a closer look at old favorites and new acquisitions. <br /> <br /> December tours also offer a chance to explore <i>Dan Graham: Beyond</i> (through January 24), a major retrospective surveying the career of one of contemporary art’s most innovative figures. The first exhibition in the United States to showcase Graham’s entire body of work, including his groundbreaking experiments with video and performance, architecture and public spaces, and collaborations with musicians and rock bands, is organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. <br /> <br /> On December 11, 17, and 30, the Walker offers special prescreening gallery tours of <i>Event Horizon</i> at 2 pm, preceding that day’s presentations of the 2009 British Television Advertising Awards, the Walker’s popular annual program of award-winning commercials from across the pond. Tours are free with an event ticket. <br /> <br /> Sound Bites gallery talks, held on select Thursday evenings at 6:30 and 7 pm, illuminate an artist or work of art from the Walker’s world-class collection or one of its special exhibitions. <br /> <br /> Gallery admission is $10 adults; $8 seniors (65+); $6 students/teens (with ID); and free to Walker members and children 12 and under. Admission free with a ticket to a same-day Walker event, $4 with a ticket stub up to six days after an event. Gallery admission is free to all every Thursday evening from 5–9 pm and on the first Saturday of each month. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>December Public Tours <br /> <br /> Gallery and Architecture Tours</b> <br /> Thursday–Sunday, 2 pm <br /> Free with gallery admission <br /> Check the calendar listing, visit the lobby desk, or call the box office for details and tour topics. To schedule a private group tour, visit <a href="http://learn.walkerart.org">learn.walkerart.org</a> or call 612.375.7609. <br /> <br /> <b><i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i> Gallery Tours</b> <br /> Sunday, December 6, 2 pm <br /> Saturday, December 12, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, December 17, 2 pm <br /> Friday, December 18, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, December 20, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, December 27, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, December 31, 2 pm <br /> <br /> <b><i>Dan Graham: Beyond</i> Gallery Tours</b> <br /> Thursday, December 3, 2 pm <br /> Friday, December 4, 2 pm <br /> Saturday, December 26, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, December 27, 12 noon* <br /> Thursday, December 31, 12 noon* <br /> <br /> (* denotes specially added tours on December 27 and 31) <br /> <br /> <b><i>Haegue Yang: Integrity of the Insider</i> Gallery Tours</b> <br /> Friday, December 11, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, December 13, 2 pm <br /> <br /> <b>Architecture Tours</b> <br /> Thursday, December 10, 2 pm <br /> Saturday, December 19, 2 pm <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Prescreening Gallery Tours: British Television Advertising Awards and <i>Event Horizon</i></b> <br /> December 11, 17, and 30, 2 pm <br /> Free with event ticket <br /> Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby <br /> <br /> Whether they’re peddling soda pop or pushing a more personal vision, advertisers and artists of all kinds draw from pop culture and spectacle. Before catching the awards show, learn a bit about artists who work along this spectrum. <br /> <br /> Tours allow plenty of time to grab a pint before heading to the Cinema. Tour the Walker’s exhibitions before or after the show. Ticket includes complimentary gallery admission on the day of the screening. <br /> <br /> The 2009 British Television Advertising Awards sponsored by Thomson Reuters. <br /> <br /> Media partner <i>City Pages</i>. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Target Free Thursday Nights Tour</b> <br /> Tour: <i>Event Horizon</i> with Darsie Alexander <br /> Thursday, December 10, 7 pm, Free <br /> Chief curator Darsie Alexander leads visitors through the newest collection exhibitions. <br /> <br /> <i>Event Horizon</i> is made possible by generous support from Judy Dayton and Elizabeth Redleaf. Additional support is provided by Joan and John Nolan, Frances and Frank Wilkinson, and Miriam and Erwin Kelen. Media partner <i>Mpls. St. Paul Magazine</i>. <br /> <br /> Target Free Thursday Nights sponsored by Target. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Sound Bites</b> <br /> Select Thursdays at 6:30 and 7 pm <br /> Free <br /> Contemporary art and artists are the focus of these 15-minute gallery conversations led by Walker curators and tour guides. Each offers an illuminating discussion, and participants leave feeling connected to new and exciting ideas. Carry this fresh, energized perspective with you to one of the Target Free Thursday Nights programs. <br /> <br /> December 17: Dan Graham’s <i>Rock My Religion</i> <br /> http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5375http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5375 Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT<a href="http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5370"><img border="0" src="http://media.walkerart.org/15005200.jpg"/></a><br/><br/>The <b>British Television Advertising Awards</b> program returns for another smashing run of screenings at the Walker Art Center, December 4–January 2, where over 20,000 people saw the 2008 award-winning spots. Awards Administrator Peter Bigg will reprise his annual role as host of the opening-night screenings on Friday, December 4, at 7 and 9:30 pm. Remaining programs include both evening and matinee screenings. To complement this popular December tradition, Wolfgang Puck offers an array of hearty fare at the Walker Pub in the Bazinet Garden Lobby and in 20.21 Restaurant &amp; Bar, as well as evening pre-show drinks in the Hennepin Lobby. <br /> <br /> Brimming with creativity and chosen by top advertising executives and producers across the globe, the sly, sexy, hilarious, and thought-provoking British spots have been a Walker highlight for 21 years. The program this year includes dancing marionettes, monkeys, and nudists as well as American celebrities Snoop Dogg, Rob Lowe, and Anjelica Huston hawking products to UK audiences. Also featured are an ’80s flashback for Virgin Airlines, a scandalous piece for Guess apparel, and highlights from the history of 20th-century Britain condensed into 120 seconds for a bread commercial. Among the standouts this year is a spectacular skydiving stunt for Honda that was broadcast live. Not to be missed. 2009, video, 80 minutes. <br /> <br /> Since the early 1980s, BTAA has exhibited its annual showreel at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where the award-winning spots subsequently enter the museum’s permanent collection. When the screenings began, they offered an American audience exposure to the originality, wit, and creativity of British advertising as well as a showcase for the early work of film directors such as Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Hugh Hudson, and Alan Parker as they were becoming established Hollywood directors. Since then, the showreel screenings have developed an influential reputation in the U.S. for creative excellence. Public and professional interest have spawned further screenings across the country. Besides the Walker, the 2009 awards will be shown in venues around the country, including the Detroit Institute of Arts; the Cleveland Museum of Art; Cleveland Cinemateque; Northwest Film Center, Portland; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Honolulu Academy. <br /> <br /> <br /> Tickets for the British Television Advertising Awards screenings, which sell out quickly, are $10 ($8 Walker members) and can be purchased by calling the Walker box office at 612.375.7600 or online at <a href="http://walkerart.org/tickets">walkerart.org/tickets</a>. ($3 service fee per order applies to phone and online orders.) Become a new Walker member and receive two free tickets for joining. Special rates for groups of 10 or more; call 612.375.7569 or e-mail groups@walkerart.org. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Screening Schedule</b> <br /> <br /> Friday, December 4 <br /> 7 and 9:30 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> Introduced by Awards Administrator Peter Bigg <br /> <br /> Saturday, December 5 <br /> 4, 7, and 9 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> <br /> Sunday, December 6 <br /> 3 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> <br /> Thursday, December 10 <br /> 7 and 9 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 8 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> Friday, December 11 <br /> 3, 7, and 9 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 8 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> Saturday, December 12 <br /> 3, 7, and 9 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 2, 6, and 8 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> Sunday, December 13 <br /> 2 and 4 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 3 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> Thursday, December 17 <br /> 3, 7, and 9 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 8 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> Friday, December 18 <br /> 3, 7, and 9 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 8 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> Saturday, December 19 <br /> 3, 7, and 9 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 2, 6, and 8 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> Sunday, December 20 <br /> 2 and 4 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 3 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> Saturday, December 26 <br /> 3, 7, and 9 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 2, 6, and 8 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> Sunday, December 27 <br /> 2 and 4 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 3 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> Monday–Wednesday, December 28–30 <br /> 2, 6, and 8 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 3 and 7 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> Saturday, January 2 <br /> 7 and 9 pm, Walker Cinema <br /> 8 pm, McGuire Theater <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Prescreening Gallery Tours: British Television Advertising Awards and <i>Event Horizon</i></b> <br /> December 11, 17, and 30, 2 pm <br /> Free with event ticket <br /> Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby <br /> Whether they’re peddling soda pop or pushing a more personal vision, advertisers and artists of all kinds draw from pop culture and spectacle. Before catching the awards show, learn a bit about artists who work along this spectrum. <br /> <br /> Tours allow plenty of time to grab a pint before heading to the Cinema. Tour the Walker’s exhibitions before or after the show. Your ticket includes complimentary gallery admission on the day of the screening. Free public gallery tours are offered Thursdays–Sundays at 2 pm, departing from the Bazinet Garden Lobby near the Cinema. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Hold Forth at the Walker Pub</b> <br /> Before or after the screenings, gather with friends and enjoy hearty fare: Scotch eggs, cranberry bread pudding, sweet shrimp cocktail, or a Beef Wellington sandwich, along with classic British libations such as Buck’s Fizz, Pimm’s Cup, or Ginger Tonic. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Indulge Your Inner Anglophile</b> <br /> Tuck into a four-course dinner from the 2009 Brits Tasting Menu, including chicken samosas, tandoori Arctic char, and grilled lamb chops. An excellent value at $50 per person. Reservations: 612.253.3410 or <a href="http://walkerart.org/2021">walkerart.org/2021</a>. <br /> http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5370http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5370 Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT<a href="http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5371"><img border="0" src="http://media.walkerart.org/13744200.jpg"/></a><br/><br/>“A smorgasbord of emerging and mature talent from across the dance spectrum.” —<i>MinnPost</i> <br /> <br /> For almost 40 years, the Walker Art Center’s Choreographers’ Evening has served as the major gathering for our thriving local dance community. Dedicated to serving up quality and quantity, this evening of short works brings a host of bodies, movement styles, and innovations to the William and Nadine McGuire stage on Saturday, November 28, at 7 and 9:30 pm, celebrating the remarkably diverse range of local dance. Curating this year’s program are the globetrotting duo Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad, whose award-winning BodyCartography Project is geared toward improvisation, inclusion, and innovative responses to their environment. <br /> <br /> Bieringa and Ramstad’s unique perspective yielded a carefully calibrated mix of performers ranging from established choreographers to emerging talent. ”We both have a passion for experiencing different kinds of physical investigation in performance,” says Bieringa. “We were drawn to work that generated this kinesthetic excitement, surprised us, and challenged our ideas. We love choreography that dances the mind and body.” <br /> <br /> Kenna Sarge leads off the evening with a celebratory preshow performance in the Hennepin Lobby featuring live drumming and a host of young dancers (arrive 15 minutes early to see Sarge’s piece). The proceedings move to the stage with Chris Holman’s gestural lecture with cello accompaniment by Michelle Kinney; a conceptual dance from Mad King Thomas; and a brand-new solo from Justin Jones. Following are Cara Ann Krippner’s trio à la Isadorables, a flying piece inspired by her days as a gymnast; a musical tap duet from Buckets and Tap Shoes; a physical theater duet by Charles Campbell, performed with his son Arthur; and a pantomime crossed with modern dance, then infused with the intrigue of film noir, from Emily King and Ryan Underbakke. The Interact Theater Company’s performance combines lip sync with disco, and Taja Will and Penelope Freeh offer contemporary and modern ballet solos, respectively, followed by Chris Yon and Taryn Griggs’ <i>Flashback: (The Very Unlikeliness) I’m Going to Kill You</i>. The evening culminates with sensational newcomers Tina Flewellyn and her Hype Dance Troupe, a company of six hip-hop dancers and a live DJ. <br /> <br /> <br /> Tickets to Choreographers’ Evening are $20 ($16 Walker members) and are available at <a href="http://walkerart.org/tickets">walkerart.org/tickets</a> or by calling 612.375.7600. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Related Events <br /> <br /> Pre-Performance Tour: Choreographers’ Evening and <i>Event Horizon</i></b> <br /> Saturday, November 28, 6 and 8:30 pm, Free with event ticket <br /> <br /> Before the performance celebrating Minnesota’s most vibrant choreographers, tour the new exhibition <i>Event Horizon</i>, which features work by Trisha Brown, Merce Cunningham, and others who nimbly navigate both dance and visual art. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Tour: <i>Dan Graham: Beyond</i></b> <br /> Thursday, December 3, 7 pm <br /> Meet in the Bazinet Lobby <br /> <br /> Join choreographers Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad for a movement-based tour of the work of Dan Graham, whose art shares a similar sensibility. <br /> http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5371http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5371 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:00:00 GMT<a href="http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5356"><img border="0" src="http://media.walkerart.org/13746200.jpg"/></a><br/><br/>“[Prieto] has transformed Afro-Cuban rhythms. . . . These pieces are emotionally charged and stylistically diverse, carried along not just by rhythm but also through lovely harmonized passages, horn fanfares, and powerfully conjured moods.” —<i>Wall Street Journal</i> <br /> <br /> Born and trained in Cuba, Dafnis Prieto is a drum virtuoso, a masterful composer, and a rising star on the international jazz scene. His driving, mesmerizing music, which twists folk motifs into next-generation Latin jazz, is widely respected for its sophistication, its structural and harmonic complexity, and its polyrhythmic punch. Walker Art Center and Northrop Music at the University of Minnesota present the Dafnis Prieto Sextet on Saturday, November 21, at 8 pm in the Walker’s William and Nadine McGuire Theater. Prieto’s accomplished sextet includes Peter Apfelbaum (sax), Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Felipe Lamoglia (sax), Manuel Valera (piano), and Charles Flores (bass). As a special component to the concert, Trisha Brown Dance Company member Judith Sanchez Ruiz will perform a short dance/percussion duet with Prieto. <br /> <br /> Within a short period of time Prieto's revolutionary drumming techniques have had a powerful impact on both the Latin and jazz music scenes. Having studied at the school of Fine Arts in Santa Clara as a youngster and later at the National School of Music in Havana, he obtained a thorough classical education while broadening his knowledge of Afro-Cuban music, jazz and world music outside of the academy. He first toured Europe with pianists Carlos Maza and Ramon Valle and the groundbreaking group Columna B. A resident of New York since 1999, Prieto has already played in bands led by Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman, Eddie Palmieri, Chico and Arturo O'Farrill, Dave Samuels &amp; The Caribbean Jazz Project, Jane Bunnett, D.D. Jackson, Edward Simon, Michel Camilo, Chucho Valdez, Claudia Acuña, Roy Hargrove, Don Byron, and Andrew Hill, among others. <br /> <br /> As a composer, Prieto has created music for dance, film, chamber ensembles, and most notably for his own bands, ranging from duets to his Small Big Band and including the distinctively different groups featured on his three acclaimed recordings—<i>About the Monks</i>, <i>Absolute Quintet</i>, and <i>Taking the Soul for a Walk</i>. He has received commissions for new works, grants, and fellowships from Chamber Music America, Jazz at Lincoln Center, East Carolina University, and Meet the Composer. Various awards include Up &amp; Coming Musician of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2006, a Grammy Award nomination for <i>Absolute Quintet</i> as Best Latin Jazz Album, and a Latin Grammy Nomination for Best New Artist in 2007. He composed the title track for the Grammy-winning album <i>Song for Chico</i> by Arturo O'Farril and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra in 2008. A gifted educator, Prieto has conducted numerous master classes, clinics, and workshops. Since 2005, he has been a member of the NYU Music Faculty. <br /> <br /> <br /> Tickets to Dafnis Prieto are: $29 ($25 Walker and Northrop members) and are available at <a href="http://walkerart.org/tickets">walkerart.org/tickets</a> or by calling 612.375.7600. The Balcony Bar will be open at 7 pm and after the performance. <br /> http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5356http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5356 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:00:00 GMT<a href="http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5357"><img border="0" src="http://media.walkerart.org/14988200.jpg"/></a><br/><br/>The infectious sound and sonic presence of local electro duo Lookbook highlight a Walker Art Center After Hours Preview Party from 9 pm–12 midnight on Friday, November 20. Celebrating the opening of <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i>, two exhibitions reflecting the Walker’s unique range of artistic disciplines, the evening, sponsored by Target, also features cameo appearances by Afro-Cuban percussionist Dafnis Prieto and Trisha Brown dancer Judith Sanchez Ruiz; tunes by DJ Scott Stulen; screenings of the Kenneth Anger film <i>Scorpio Rising</i>; an art-making activity where visitors become the curators; cash bars; Wolfgang Puck appetizers; and Party People Pictures to immortalize the evening. Tickets are $35 ($25 Walker members), and are available at <a href="http://walkerart.org">walkerart.org</a> or by calling 612.375.7600 (includes one complimentary drink). Tickets are limited; advance purchase recommended. <br /> <br /> <i>Event Horizon</i> showcases the Walker’s cross-disciplinary programming and holdings, uniting painting, sculpture, and photography with film, performance, and video in a changing presentation that will unfold over a nearly three-year period. <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i> offers a lively and purposely overwhelming chronicle of recent art history—from local discoveries to renowned masterpieces—raising questions about changing tastes over time and what it means to be “contemporary.” <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Walker After Hours/Preview Party</b> <br /> <br /> Friday, November 20, 9 pm–12 midnight <br /> $35 ($25 Walker members) <br /> Tickets: 612.375.7600 or visit <a href="http://walkerart.org">walkerart.org</a> <br /> New members may choose one free ticket for joining, while tickets remain. <br /> <br /> <b>Exhibition Preview: <br /> <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</wac_title</b>> <br /> Galleries 1, 2, 3; Linda and Lawrence Perlman Gallery <br /> <wac_title>Event Horizon</i> showcases the Walker’s remarkable holdings of postwar art in the context of the events that produced them. With a bit of serendipity, a touch of aesthetic friction, and a profusion of paintings, <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i> features unpredictable juxtapositions and side-by-side pairings of more than 120 works. <br /> <br /> <b>Art Activity <br /> You’re the Curator</b> <br /> Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab, 9:15–11:30 pm <br /> Actively curate your own collection of Walker Art Center art and plan for the installation. <br /> <br /> <b>Screening: <i>Scorpio Rising</i> (1963)</b> <br /> Directed by Kenneth Anger <br /> Lecture Room, 9:30 and 10:30 pm <br /> Anger’s salacious classic film pairs pop songs from the early ‘60s with clips from discarded films layered over candy colored hep-cat rebel bikers gathering for a wild blowout party. The result is s cacophony of chaos and lurid characters from avant-garde cinema’s notorious master. 1963, 16mm, 29 minutes. <br /> <br /> <b>DJ Scott Stulen</b> <br /> Cargill Lounge, 9:15–11:30 pm <br /> <br /> <b>Performance: Lookbook</b> <br /> Gallery 8, 10–11:45 pm <br /> From a recent <i>Pitchfork</i> review: “A Minneapolis-based electro duo, Lookbook make songs that recall sparkly neon nights, heavy blue eye shadow, and electric-shock perms. But despite indulging in the superficial trappings of the era, neither vocalist Maggie Morrison nor multi-instrumentalist Grant Cutler seems content with exclusivity.” <br /> <br /> <b>Performance: Dafnis Prieto and Judith Sanchez Ruiz</b> <br /> Burnet Gallery, 10 and 11 pm <br /> Stop by the Burnet Gallery and catch an improvisational duet by renowned Afro-Cuban drummer/composer Dafnis Prieto and (Trisha Brown) dancer Judith Sanchez Ruiz. These brief, alternately propulsive and meditative pieces investigate the dynamic interplay of dance and music. <br /> <br /> <b>Party People Pictures</b> <br /> Cargill Lounge, 9 pm–12 midnight <br /> Stop by the Party People Photo Booth to document your experience, then find your face on the wall. View all photos at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/walkerafterhours" target="new">www.flickr.com/groups/walkerafterhours</a>. <br /> http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5357http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5357 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:00:00 GMT<a href="http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5352"><img border="0" src="http://media.walkerart.org/967200.jpg"/></a><br/><br/>A cross-disciplinary blend of film, video, performance, painting, sculpture, and photography drawn from the Walker Art Center’s rich, multidisciplinary holdings is presented in <b><i>Event Horizon</i></b>, an exhibition opening November 21, 2009. Unfolding over a nearly three-year period, the exhibition features a range of subplots and visual contrasts by both established and lesser-known artists represented in the Walker’s collections. In galleries animated with installations that change over time, <i>Event Horizon</i> offers a new context in which to view and experience connections to real-life events as well as artistic moments. Organized by a team of curators and realized in its final form by chief curator Darsie Alexander and curator Elizabeth Carpenter, the exhibition features some 90 pieces ranging from avant-garde film of the 1960s to live performances to newly created environmental works. Active zones of rotating works and dialogues serve as sites for screenings, performances, and public conversations. <i>Event Horizon</i> runs through August 5, 2012. <br /> <br /> “The theme of ‘event’ operates on many levels at once, tapping into the deep strata of collections and programs here at the Walker. From film and video to visual and performing arts, this concept enables us to consider the major events of art and life that have shaped culture since the 1960s,” Alexander says. <br /> <br /> Inspired by the idea of the event horizon, a term used in astronomy to describe the edge of observable space as well as the outer limits of darkness and light, the exhibition presents works that reflect the many voices, perspectives, and programs advanced by the Walker—expanding its boundaries as an art center and its role as a collecting as well as presenting institution. Reversing the traditional precedence of the object over the event of its creation, artists such as Raymond Hains, Kara Walker, and Andy Warhol have used the very images of culture as material for exploration and critique. Appropriating mass media images, French artist Hains transformed the mundane into art with his collages created from torn posters found on the streets of Paris. Warhol’s melancholy black, blue, and white <i>Sixteen Jackies</i> (1964) quotes from the incessant television coverage of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, after which footage of the event was repeated for weeks. Kara Walker depicts her own version of the past using the antebellum South, one of America’s darker historical locations, as backdrop. In her screenprint <i>Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)</i> (2005), her signature silhouettes are paired with rephotographed Civil War lithographs of battle and strife. <br /> <br /> While some galleries will be quiet and contemplative, others will be animated with performances, screenings, and conversation, demonstrating the Walker’s unique multidisciplinary platform. Changing selections of moving images from the Ruben/Bentson Film and Video Study Collection will be screened in a designated space, beginning with Bruce Conner’s poetic and mesmerizing film <i>CROSSROADS</i> (1976), which combines multiple camera shots of the first underwater atomic bomb test into a 36-minute meditation on the image of the resulting mushroom-shaped cloud. Films by Hollis Frampton, Derek Jarman, and Chris Marker—others whose work has captured events that have shaped our history—also will be featured during the exhibition’s run. Video monitors in each gallery will showcase the Walker’s 40-year performing arts history with landmark performances that have defined the program by such artists as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Trisha Brown, Romeo Castellucci, Merce Cunningham, Bill T. Jones, Ralph Lemon, and Elizabeth Streb. Also on view will be Cao Fei’s video installation <i>i.Mirror by China Tracy (AKA Cao Fei)</i> (2007), depicting a simulated romance between avatars in the artist’s 3D virtual world Second Life, which blends documentary and magical realism. <br /> <br /> In addition to performances captured on video, renowned Japanese American dance creators Eiko &amp; Koma will be in residence throughout the month of November 2010 to perform <i>Naked</i>, a new “living installation,” six hours a day, six days a week. Commissioned by the Walker to celebrate its 30-year relationship with the artists, the piece features the duo’s characteristic glacially paced movement amidst sound, light, video, and organic set elements of their own design. <br /> <br /> Frequent participatory moments—from handling the sculptural <i>Three Adaptives</i> (1997) of Franz West to seeing one’s reflection in the mirror of Olafur Eliasson’s <i>Convex/Concave</i> (1995–2000)—enable a variety of experiential encounters to occur in <i>Event Horizon</i>, which will take shape and change during the run of the exhibition. According to Carpenter, “gallery-to-gallery opportunities to reflect as well as act will unfold as the visitor moves through space.” <br /> <br /> <i>Event Horizon</i> reflects the Walker’s collecting practice, which in recent years has tended to focus around the edges of the obvious, resulting in collections distinguished by the embrace of hybrid or otherwise unclassifiable works that might fall between the cracks in more traditional institutions. <br /> <br /> <b>Art on Call Audio Guide</b> <br /> Load up your MP3 player or use your cell phone to hear about some of the works on view. To hear more, call 612.374.8200 in the galleries, or download Art on Call to your iPod before visiting <a href="http://newmedia.walkerart.org/aoc">newmedia.walkerart.org/aoc</a>. <br /> <br /> <b>Collectible Cards</b> <br /> As part of <i>Event Horizon</i>, the Walker will launch an evolving series of "collectible" cards on exhibition topics, themes, artworks, and artists. Visitors can collect the cards, which will be introduced several times a year for the duration of the show. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>RELATED EVENTS <br /> <br /> Opening Weekend <br /> <br /> Walker After Hours Preview Party <br /> <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i></b> <br /> Friday, November 20, 9 pm–12 midnight <br /> $35 ($25 Walker members) <br /> Tickets: <a href="http://walkerart.org/tickets">walkerart.org/tickets</a> or 612.375.7600. <br /> <br /> Celebrate the opening of two exhibitions showcasing the Walker collections. Preview the shows and enjoy cocktails, complimentary Wolfgang Puck appetizers, a cameo appearance by percussionist Dafnis Prieto and dancer Judith Sanchez Ruiz, music by Lookbook and DJ Scott Stulen, a curatorial art lab activity, screenings of Kenneth Anger’s <i>Scorpio Rising</i>, and Party People Pictures. <br /> <br /> New members receive one free party ticket (or other premium) for joining, while supplies last. <br /> <br /> Walker After Hours sponsored by Target. <br /> <br /> <b>Opening-Day Tour</b> <br /> Saturday, November 21, 2 pm, Free with gallery admission <br /> <br /> From the screening of Bruce Conner’s <i>CROSSROADS</i> to Andy Warhol’s painting <i>Sixteen Jackies</i>, <i>Event Horizon</i> surveys political and socioeconomic shifts in our culture and the ways in which artists have responded. Visual arts curator Elizabeth Carpenter and film/video curator Sheryl Mousley lead a tour that highlights the depth and breadth of the Walker’s collections as well as the collaborative process that produced the current installation. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Target Free Thursday Nights <br /> <br /> Thursday, December 10 <br /> <br /> Tour with Darsie Alexander <br /> <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i>, 7 pm</b> <br /> <br /> Chief curator Darsie Alexander leads visitors through the newest collection exhibitions. <br /> <br /> Target Free Thursday Nights sponsored by Target. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Pre-Performance Gallery Tour <br /> <br /> Pre-Performance Tour: Choreographers’ Evening and <i>Event Horizon</i></b> <br /> Saturday, November 28, 6 and 8:30 pm, Free with event ticket <br /> Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby <br /> <br /> Before the performance celebrating Minnesota’s most vibrant choreographers, tour <i>Event Horizon</i>, which features work by Trisha Brown, Merce Cunningham, and others who have nimbly navigated both dance and visual art. <br /> <br /> Note: Tours are limited to 25 people. Please register in advance by calling 612.375.7600. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Pre-Screening Gallery Tour <br /> <br /> Pre-Screening Tour: British Television Advertising Awards and <i>Event Horizon</i></b> <br /> Saturday, December 11 <br /> Friday, December 17 <br /> Thursday, December 30 <br /> 2 pm, Free with event ticket <br /> Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby <br /> <br /> Whether they’re peddling soda or pushing a more personal vision, advertisers and artists of all kinds draw from pop culture and spectacle. Before the awards show, learn a bit about artists who work along this spectrum—from legends to contemporary figures. <br /> <br /> Note: Tours are limited to 25 people. Please register in advance by calling 612.375.7600. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Open House <br /> <br /> Wall–to–Wall Walker: A 10-Hour Open House</b> <br /> Saturday, December 5, 10 am–8 pm, Free <br /> <br /> Join us for a daylong celebration of all things Walker: music, film, performance, and an array of artworks from the new collection exhibitions <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i>. Come early for family fun; stay late with friends and enjoy gallery tours, cocktails, dinner, film in the Cinema, or a performance in the McGuire Theater. <br /> <br /> <b>Gallery Tours</b> <br /> 3–7 pm on the hour, Free <br /> <br /> Join Walker tour guides for special mini-tours of <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i>. <br /> <br /> <b>Free First Saturdays Are for Families! <br /> The Big Event</b> <br /> Saturday, December 5, 10 am–3 pm, Free <br /> <br /> Celebrate art, music, film, performance, and much more at this all-day (and into the night!) open-house extravaganza. <br /> <br /> Performance: Erik Friedlander, 1 pm <br /> Jazz cellist Friedlander combines inventive music with travel stories and images created by his renowned photographer father. <br /> <br /> Free First Saturday is sponsored by Ameriprise Financial. Program support by Medtronic Foundation. As part of the Walker Art Center's Raising Creative Kids Initiative, additional support is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Gallery Tours</b> <br /> <br /> Sunday, December 6, 2 pm <br /> Saturday, December 12, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, December 17, 2 pm <br /> Friday, December 18, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, December 20, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, December 27, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, January 3, 2 pm <br /> Saturday, January 9, 2 pm <br /> Friday, January 15, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, January 21, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, January 28, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, January 31, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, February 4, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, February 11, 2 pm <br /> Saturday, February 13, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, February 18, 2 pm <br /> Saturday, February 20, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, February 21, 2 pm <br /> Friday, February 26, 2 pm <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Gallery Hours and Admission</b> <br /> <br /> $10 adults; $8 seniors (65+); $6 students/teens (with ID) <br /> Free to Walker members and children ages 12 and under. <br /> Free with a paid ticket to a same-day Walker event. <br /> Free to all every Thursday evening (5–9 pm) and on the first Saturday of each month (10 am–5 pm). <br /> <br /> Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11 am–5 pm <br /> Thursday 11 am–9 pm <br /> Closed Mondays <br /> <i></i>http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5352http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5352 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:00:00 GMT<a href="http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5354"><img border="0" src="http://media.walkerart.org/5939200.jpg"/></a><br/><br/>A sweeping look at the Walker Art Center’s paintings collection, displayed floor to ceiling in a salon style inspired by the 1920s galleries of museum founder Thomas Barlow Walker, will be presented in <b><i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i></b>, on view November 21, 2009–August 15, 2010. In a large-scale and densely hung installation, organized by chief curator Darsie Alexander and curator Elizabeth Carpenter, visitors will encounter unpredictable juxtapositions and side-by-side pairings of more than 120 works mirroring the twists and eccentricities found in T.B. Walker’s personal collection as well as the serendipity and uncanny coincidences that emerge in the present-day storage areas housing the collection. Many works have not been seen for decades, and a number of surprises (as well as a few old friends) make their 21st-century debut here. Some have served as centerpieces of key monographic exhibitions, and are locally as well as internationally renowned. Others are more modest in appearance, subject to the tides of changing taste and practice. All were, at least once, contemporary. <br /> <br /> Highlighting the exhibition is the return of Franz Marc’s <i>Die grossen blauen Pferde</i> (<i>The Large Blue Horses</i>) (1911), long considered a masterpiece of the Walker’s collection, and Edward Hopper’s mysterious <i>Office at Night</i> (1940), one of the artist’s best-known works. Included among the many works exhibited will be Jim Dine’s <i>My Studio # One: The Vagaries of Painting "These are sadder pictures"</i> (1978); Chuck Close’s <i>Big Self-Portrait</i> (1967–1968); Georgia O’Keeffe’s <i>Lake George Barns</i> (1926); Eleanore de Laittre’s <i>Squares</i> (1946); Louis Eilshemius’ <i>Hymn to Nature</i> (1919); Lyonel Feininger’s <i>Barfüsserkirche II</i> (<i>Church of the Minorites II</i>) (1926); Saul Fletcher’s <i>Untitled (painting II)</i> (2005); Sherrie Levine’s <i>Untitled (after Egon Schiele)</i> (1984); Alice Neel’s <i>Charlotte Willard</i> (1967); Charles Sheeler’s <i>Midwest</i> (1954); Andy Warhol’s <i>Self-Portrait</i> (1978); and Carl L. Boeckman’s <i>Portrait of Thomas Barlow Walker</i> (circa 1915). <br /> <br /> Displaying artworks salon style is markedly different from the minimalist aesthetic that defines the look of today’s contemporary and modern museums. This is a style the Walker has also at times adopted, but just as frequently contradicted or subverted. Recent solo exhibitions like <i>The Quick and the Dead</i> and <i>Tetsumi Kudo: Garden of Metamorphosis</i>, for example, revealed strategies that turned the galleries into immersive environments for both artworks and ideas. <br /> <br /> Choosing salon style as a mode of exhibition is something of an homage to the nature of the institution itself—one of a few places where autonomous works and programs, with different audiences and disparate histories, coexist and frequently overlap. The Walker’s mix of live performing arts events, film and video screenings, and gallery exhibitions, in addition to various educational programs, sets up a plethora of opportunities that keeps the offerings fresh and unpredictable. <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i> seeks to create a similarly divergent platform for discovering new relationships between works in the collection. Over the course of the exhibition, programs and activities will offer opportunities to investigate ideas at play within the exhibition, delving into the ways in which personal impressions assign kinships and distinctions among works on view. The gallery space of the exhibition will feature platform seating and viewing binoculars as well as an interactive touch-screen map where visitors can select works from a digital version of the installation to access more information. <br /> <br /> As an extension of the concurrently running cross-disciplinary collections exhibition Event Horizon, whose content will rotate during its three-year run, <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i> will also change over time. As new works appear and others return to the vaults, return visits are important—and probably necessary. And yet even with a single visit, browsing provides its own kind of pleasure and freedom, as well as a distinctive view of the Walker’s history—as it no doubt did in T.B. Walker’s own day. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>RELATED EVENTS <br /> <br /> Opening Weekend <br /> <br /> Walker After Hours Preview Party <br /> <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i></b> <br /> Friday, November 20, 9 pm–12 midnight <br /> $35 ($25 Walker members) <br /> Tickets: <a href="http://walkerart.org/tickets">walkerart.org/tickets</a> or 612.375.7600. <br /> <br /> Celebrate the opening of two exhibitions showcasing the Walker collections. Preview the shows and enjoy cocktails, complimentary Wolfgang Puck appetizers, a cameo appearance by percussionist Dafnis Prieto and dancer Judith Sanchez Ruiz, music by Lookbook and DJ Scott Stulen, a curatorial art lab activity, screenings of Kenneth Anger’s <i>Scorpio Rising</i>, and Party People Pictures. <br /> <br /> New members receive one free party ticket (or other premium) for joining, while supplies last. <br /> <br /> Walker After Hours sponsored by Target. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Target Free Thursday Nights <br /> <br /> Thursday, December 10 <br /> <br /> Tour <br /> <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i> with Darsie Alexander, 7 pm</b> <br /> Chief curator Darsie Alexander leads visitors through the newest collection exhibitions. <br /> <br /> <b>Thursday, January 7 <br /> <br /> The Inquisition: “Art is Fun: Quiz Party Proves It,” 7 pm</b> <br /> Perlman Gallery <br /> Free tickets available at the Bazinet Garden Lobby desk from 6 pm <br /> Space is limited. <br /> <br /> In 1940, the Walker hosted the Inquisition, A Quiz Forum on the Arts that tested contestants on their range of art-historical knowledge and expertise. Letters, photographs, and articles from the archives create a picture of an event that was a lighthearted approach to the heavyweight challenges of modern art. Join us for this spirited revival in which Walker curators and special guests will be challenged on their knowledge of art, the institution, and a motley range of cultural topics in between. With help from the audience, we will uncover surprising secrets from the Walker vaults, demand on-the-spot interpretations, proffer elusive facts, and discuss moot issues in an attempt to turn art expertise on its head. All are encouraged to submit questions, facts, and topics in advance at <a href="http://walkerart.org/inquisition/">walkerart.org/inquisition/</a>. Prizes will be awarded and egos will be bruised. <br /> <br /> <b>Thursday, February 11 <br /> <br /> The Inquisition: “Art is Fun: Quiz Party Proves It,” 7 pm</b> <br /> Perlman Gallery <br /> <br /> See January 7. <br /> <br /> <b>Thursday, March 4 <br /> <br /> The Inquisition: “Art is Fun: Quiz Party Proves It,” 7 pm</b> <br /> Perlman Gallery <br /> <br /> See January 7. <br /> <br /> <br /> Target Free Thursday Nights sponsored by Target. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Open House <br /> <br /> Wall–to–Wall Walker: A 10-Hour Open House</b> <br /> Saturday, December 5, 10 am–8 pm, Free <br /> <br /> Join us for a daylong celebration of all things Walker: music, film, performance, and an array of artworks from the new collection exhibitions <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i>. Come early for family fun; stay late with friends and enjoy gallery tours, cocktails, dinner, film in the Cinema, or a performance in the McGuire Theater. <br /> <br /> <b>Gallery Tours</b> <br /> 3–7 pm on the hour, Free <br /> <br /> Join Walker tour guides for special mini-tours of <i>Event Horizon</i> and <i>Benches &amp; Binoculars</i>. <br /> <br /> <b>Free First Saturdays Are for Families! <br /> The Big Event</b> <br /> Saturday, December 5, 10 am–3 pm, Free <br /> <br /> Celebrate art, music, film, performance, and much more at this all-day (and into the night!) open-house extravaganza. <br /> <br /> Performance: Erik Friedlander, 1 pm <br /> Jazz cellist Friedlander combines inventive music with travel stories and images created by his renowned photographer father. <br /> <br /> Free First Saturday is sponsored by Ameriprise Financial. Program support by Medtronic Foundation. As part of the Walker Art Center's Raising Creative Kids Initiative, additional support is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Gallery Tours</b> <br /> <br /> Sunday, December 6, 2 pm <br /> Saturday, December 12, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, December 17, 2 pm <br /> Friday, December 18, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, December 20, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, December 27, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, January 3, 2 pm <br /> Saturday, January 9, 2 pm <br /> Friday, January 15, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, January 21, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, January 28, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, January 31, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, February 4, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, February 11, 2 pm <br /> Saturday, February 13, 2 pm <br /> Thursday, February 18, 2 pm <br /> Saturday, February 20, 2 pm <br /> Sunday, February 21, 2 pm <br /> Friday, February 26, 2 pm <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Gallery Hours and Admission</b> <br /> <br /> $10 adults; $8 seniors (65+); $6 students/teens (with ID) <br /> Free to Walker members and children ages 12 and under. <br /> Free with a paid ticket to a same-day Walker event. <br /> Free to all every Thursday evening (5–9 pm) and on the first Saturday of each month (10 am–5 pm). <br /> <br /> Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11 am–5 pm <br /> Thursday 11 am–9 pm <br /> Closed Mondays <br /> http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5354http://press.walkerart.org/release.wac?id=5354