Nellie McKay
NELLIE MCKAY BRINGS NEW ALBUM of ‘60S SONGS to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Cabaret-rock singer-songwriter Nellie McKay brings her uniquely eccentric blend of pop, rock, jazz and hip-hop to Club Helsinki Hudson on Sunday, April 5, at 8pm. Her performance comes just a week after the release of her new album, “My Weekly Reader,” on which she revisits some of the melodies born out of the fertile, conflicted climate of the 1960s. With the aid of Beatles’ producer Geoff Emerick, McKay covers songs from the era of political turmoil and creative delight by Frank Zappa, Ray Davies, Steve Miller, Country Joe McDonald, and others.
Laurie Anderson (photo Tim Knox)
NEIL GAIMAN and LAURIE ANDERSON to TALK SHOP at BARD
(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) — Author Neil Gaiman will engage legendary multimedia artist Laurie Anderson in a public conversation on the topics of “Story Structure” and “Fiction vs. Autobiography” in the Sosnoff Theater of the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College on Friday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m., in the third edition of an ongoing series of public conversations hosted by Gaiman as part of Live Arts Bard. Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most renowned—and daring—creative pioneers. She is best known for her multimedia presentations and innovative use of technology.
Kind of Blue, 2004; oil on canvas on wood; 9′ x 11′ x 2″; painting appears courtesy of Candace King Weir Foundation and image appears courtesy of PaceWildenstein Catalogue, 2006.
PAINTINGS and DRAWINGS by ELIZABETH MURRAY GO on VIEW at OMI
(GHENT, N.Y.) – Paintings and drawings by the late artist Elizabeth Murray go on view in the Charles B. Benenson Gallery and Visitors Center at Omi International Arts Center on Friday, April 3, and remain on display through May 31, 2015. There will be a free-to-the-public opening reception for the exhibition on Saturday April 4, at 4pm. Curator Nicole Hayes will give a short talk on the influence of Murray’s work on the art world and on painting in the postmodern era. The show includes three large-scale paintings by the late artist: Kind of Blue, The New World, and Morning is Breaking, as well as two smaller works on paper.
Zvidance
ZVIDANCE PREVIEWS NEW WORK at KAATSBAAN
(TIVOLI, N.Y.) – ZviDance concludes its residency at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center on Saturday, April 4, 2015 at 7:30pm with a work-in-progress showing of its new work, “Escher/Bacon/Rothko,” set to premiere in at New York Live Arts in Manhattan in June 2015. ZviDance, a company comprised of athletic and lyrical dancers, blends contemporary aesthetics with lush, full-bodied movement. A world-class dance company, ZviDance exists to share with audiences the choreographic vision and movement vocabulary of Israeli-born artistic director Zvi Gotheiner.
Steve Locke, No. 2 from 100 Watercolors, 2014. Courtesy of the artist and Samsøn
STEVE LOCKE PAINTINGS and SCULPTURES GO ON VIEW at OPERA HOUSE
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – A solo exhibition of paintings and sculptural works by Boston-based artist Steve Locke opens at the Hudson Opera House on Saturday, April 4, with an artist’s reception at 5pm, and remains on view through May 10, 2015. The exhibit, that last time we touched the water, features a selection of paintings from Locke’s 100 Watercolors series and several small paintings mounted on brightly decorated pedestals using metal pipes. Locke’s work is colorful, complex, and unapologetically human.
SHEL
FOLK-POP SISTER GROUP SHEL SHARES BILL with ROCKER OTAN VARGAS at HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Folk-pop sister group SHEL shares a double-bill with acoustic grunge-rock singer-songwriter Otan Vargas at Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, April 3, at 9pm. Appealing to fans of Sarah McLachlan, Nickel Creek and Regina Spektor alike, SHEL gets its name from the four sisters who comprise the group. What comes out when they join forces is at once wholly organic but also delicately beautiful – a latticework of chamber-pop that connects the dots between bluegrass, the Roches, Philip Glass and Led Zeppelin. Otan Vargas’s candid, melancholy songs are likened to those of Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains.