Nomadic Massive
GLOBAL HIP-HOP OUTFIT NOMADIC MASSIVE HEADS to MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Nomadic Massive brings its global hip-hop and dance rhythms to the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA on Saturday, January 31, at 7pm. Claiming its hometown as “Montreal, Chile, Haiti, Brazil, France, Argentina, St-Vincent, Barbados, France, and Algeria,” the group – based in Montreal — is a force to be reckoned with, and its live show is a multilingual eruption of old school hip-hop with live instrumentation and a deeply global vibe.
(l-r) John Myers, Bob Gluck, Neil Rolnick
ELECTRONIC JAZZ QUARTET to PLAY HERBIE HANCOCK OPUS at SIMON’S ROCK
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – “Waking the Sleeping Giant,” a 1972 work by Herbie Hancock crafted for structured improvisation for solo piano and electronics, will form the basis for “You Can Say That Again!,” an evening concert of electronic music and jazz by pianist/composer Bob Gluck, avant-garde keyboard and computer composer Neil Rolnick, and bassist Christopher Dean Sullivan, joined by faculty member John Myers on guitar, in the Kellogg Music Center at Simon’s Rock College on Saturday, January 31, at 8pm.
Jonathan Gitelson, Element of Marginalia installation, 2015, Mixed media iincluding books, furniture), Courtesy the artist
MASS MoCA EXHIBIT ‘BIBLIOTHECAPHILIA’ EXPLORES LOVE of LIBRARIES
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Bibliothecaphilia, an exhibition exploring the medium and ethos of libraries and featuring the work of six artists, goes on view at MASS MoCA beginning Saturday, January 24, 2015. Participating artists include Clayton Cubitt, Jonathan Gitelson, Susan Hefuna, Meg Hitchcock, Dan Peterman, and Jena Priebe.
NEW BERKSHIRE MUSEUM EXHIBIT ENCOURAGES CREATIVE INTERACTION
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – The new exhibition If/Then – an interactive installation exploring the senses, rule-breaking, and creativity, opens at the Berkshire Museum on Saturday, January 24, 2015, and will remain on view through Sunday, May 3. An opening celebration for If/Then will be held Friday, January 30, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
ONGOING
Ellsworth Kelly (American, b. 1923), Tableau Vert, 1952. Oil on wood, 29 1/4 x 39 1/4 in. (74.3 x 99.7 cm). The Art Institute of Chicago. Gift of the artist, 2009.51 © Ellsworth Kelly
CLARK ART EXHIBIT CONSIDERS MONET’S INFLUENCE on ELLSWORTH KELLY
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – Monet | Kelly, the first exhibition to consider the influence of Impressionist painter Claude Monet on the works of leading contemporary American artist Ellsworth Kelly, is on view at the Clark Art Institute. The works in the exhibition were selected by Kelly and include two paintings and eighteen unpublished drawings by the artist, together with nine paintings by Monet from his Belle-Île series and of his garden in Giverny. The exhibition examines how both Monet’s motifs and the sites that inspired his paintings have shaped Kelly’s approach to his work. Monet | Kelly will be on view through February 15, 2015.
MASS MoCA INSTALLATION MARKS CENTENNIAL of PASSENGER PIGEON EXTINCTION
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Eclipse, a site-specific installation at MASS MoCA on view through September 1, 2015, evolved from a series of conversations between New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert and artist duo Sayler/Morris (Susannah Sayler and Edward Morris). The exhibition examines species extinction through the passenger pigeon, whose once-massive population disappeared 100 years ago. Eclipse combines video, sound, and text to create an immersive and contemplative exhibition in a newly conceived exhibition space – a dramatic lightwell at the center of the MASS MoCA campus. The exhibition marks the centenary of the death of the last known passenger pigeon, Martha. With extinction rates now “higher than they’ve been at any point since the dinosaurs disappeared sixty-six million years ago,” Elizabeth Kolbert asserts that we are at a watershed moment in the history of our planet.