MAVIS STAPLES to BRING SOUL-GOSPEL SOUNDS to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Mavis Staples, a scion of America’s first family of socially conscious soul-gospel music and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, brings her contemporary sound, crafted in collaboration with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, to Club Helsinki Hudson on Sunday, February 22, at 8pm. Even after achieving the status of a living legend for her work with the Staple Singers and her solo achievements, Mavis Staples has enjoyed an entirely new chapter in the past five years since teaming up with Jeff Tweedy for a series of Grammy Award-winning recordings, including 2011’s “You Are Not Alone” and 2013’s “One True Vine.” This is a rare chance to catch this living legend in the intimate confines of a nightclub; she usually performs in large theaters and on festival stages throughout the world.
Cynthia Hopkins (photo Jeff Sugg)
CYNTHIA HOPKINS BRINGS NEW ONE-WOMAN SHOW to BARD
(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) – Performance artist Cynthia Hopkins brings her newest work, “A Living Documentary,” to the LUMA Theater in the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College on Friday, February 20, and Saturday, February 21, at 7:30 pm. “A Living Documentary” is a hilarious and searing reflection on the trials and tribulations of earning a living as a professional theater artist in the 21st century. Intertwining elements of musical comedy, documentary, and fiction, the show intersperses autobiographical storytelling with portrayals of semi-fictional comedic characters, all the while asking myriad questions about the realities of artistic life in New York City.
sculpture by Pasquier-Desvignes
BRUNO PASQUIER-DESVIGNES SCULPTURES at HUDSON OPERA HOUSE
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Caprices, a solo exhibition of sculptures by Bruno Pasquier-Desvignes, curated by R.O. Blechman, will open at the Hudson Opera House on Saturday, February 21, with a reception from 5 to 7pm and run through Sunday, March 29. On view will be a selection of Pasquier-Desvignes sculptures made from recycled and found materials including wooden wine crates, cardboard boxes, wire hangers, plastic bottles, and bicycle wheels. Pasquier-Desvignes cuts and paints and reassembles whatever is at hand to create expressive and wonderfully detailed sculptures; for his animation film, “The Song of Roland,” he used corks and toothpicks, and he filled Grand Central Station in New York City and the Centro Cultural Borges in Buenos Aires with his Musical Bicycle sculptures.
Works from ‘Queen of Serpents’ by Vilma Mare
VILMA MARÉ FASHION EXHIBITION CLOSES at MCDARIS FINE ART
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – There will be an artist talk and closing reception for Vilma Maré’s “Queen of Serpents,” an innovative fashion exhibition featuring Baltic-style works by the Lithuanian born, regionally based fashion designer, at McDaris Fine Art (623 Warren Street) on Sunday, February 22, from 2 to 4pm. Mare will discuss the importance of portraying the studious cultural history of ethnic minorities who observed and valued above all the powers of Nature. “Queen of Serpents” is an exhibition of artisanal clothing styles includes coats, skirts and other vestments based in Baltic mythology. Besides the usual body protection and adornment of apparel, Maré also maintains its spiritual content, as protection against harm and attractor of fertility and happiness.
Peter Biskind
AUTHOR PETER BISKIND to DISCUSS CELEBRITY JOURNALISM at CHATHAM LIBRARY
(CHATHAM, N.Y.) – Author and film critic Peter Biskind will discuss “An Insider’s View of Celebrity Journalism” as part of the monthly, free Authors & Artists Series at the Chatham Public Library on Saturday, February 21, at 3 pm. A renowned film critic for many years, Biskind is well known in Columbia County for programming all the films shown at the Crandell Theater and for being one of the two experts who choose movies for the popular Chatham Film Festival.