A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Berkshire region, including Picasso; a film festival; a play about a radical lawyer; 17th-century Dutch painting; English soul-rock, and a whole lot more.
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973), Portrait of Dora Maar, 1937. Oil on canvas, 31 7/8 x 23 5/8i n. MPI58. © 2017 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Mathieu Rabeau, Musée Picasso © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY
PICASSO WORKS GO on VIEW at THE CLARK
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – Works by Pablo Picasso go on view at the Clark Art Institute on Sunday, June 4, along with an exhibition devoted to painter-designer Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Picasso: Encounters includes paintings and prints by the 20th century visionary and is on view through Sunday, August 27. An opening celebration for the exhibits will be held on Saturday, June 3, at 7pm, on the lower level of the Clark Center.
Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan in THE TRIP TO SPAIN
BERKSHIRE INTL FILM FEST FEATURES CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, KAREN ALLEN, PAUL KRUGMAN
(GREAT BARRINGTON and PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – The 12th annual Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) will showcase 80 new independent feature, documentary, short, and family films from 23 countries from Thursday, June 1, through Sunday, June 4, including live appearances by festival honoree Christopher Plummer, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, and Karen Allen, presenting her directorial debut, “A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud”
Among the 23 countries represented this year are Germany, Afghanistan, Cuba, Brazil, Australia, Iran, England, India, Iraq, Chile, France, Spain, UK, Israel, Syria, Sweden, Russia, Egypt and Japan.
Grounded Iceberg, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, by Shaun O’Boyle
SHAUN O’BOYLE’S ANTARCTICA PHOTOGRAPHS at BERKSHIRE MUSEUM
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Extraordinary images of Antarctica by Berkshire-based photographer Shaun O’Boyle go on view in the Berkshire Now gallery space at the Berkshire Museum from Friday, June 2, through August 21. The exhibition opens on Friday, June 2, from 5 to 8pm, in conjunction with Pittsfield’s First Fridays Artswalk, when the museum’s Berkshire Now gallery is open to the public at no cost.
Geraldine Brooks
CHAMBER CHOIR CONCERT FEATURES MUSIC and READINGS by GERALDINE BROOKS ABOUT KING DAVID
(LENOX, Mass.) — The Cantilena Chamber Choir will be joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks for King David in Words and Music, at Trinity Church on Saturday, June 3, at 7:30pm. Brooks will read from her latest international best-selling novel “The Secret Chord” about the life of King David as the choir sings music for chorus and full orchestra based on corresponding texts by and about King David.
On the program will be music from the Handel Oratorio Saul, the Coronation Anthem Zadok the Priest, music by Salamone Rossi, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Honegger (from King David) and the choral masterpiece When David Heard, by Eric Whitacre, the immensely popular composer of contemporary choral music.
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Adam Masterson
ADAM MASTERSON BRINGS ENGLISH SOUL-ROCK to EGREMONT BARN
(SOUTH EGREMONT, Mass.) – Rock singer-songwriter Adam Masterson brings his distinctive blend of soul and rock to the Egremont Barn on Saturday, June 30, at 8pm. Masterson is often compared to Nick Drake and Van Morrison, and his vibe also recalls early Bruce Springsteen and Jakob Dylan. Folk duo Rocks and Water warms up the crowd for Masterson.
the Ahn Trio
COMING SOON: AHN TRIO to PLAY BOWIE, HENDRIX, and PRINCE at HELSINKI HUDSON in INAUGURAL EVENT of ‘THE ROGOVOY SALON’
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – The internationally acclaimed Ahn Trio will perform works by David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, and others at Club Helsinki Hudson on Sunday, June 11, at 7pm, in the inaugural concert of The Rogovoy Salon, a new music and literary series curated and hosted by cultural journalist and music critic Seth Rogovoy.
MASS MoCA Building 6
MASS MoCA UNVEILS NEWLY RENOVATED CAMPUS
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — MASS MoCA has unveiled its newly renovated campus with the opening of Building 6, the third phase of campus development that encompasses 130,000 square feet of interior renovations to the museum’s 19th-century mill buildings. The new galleries include works by Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeois, James Turrell, Jenny Holzer, Laurie Anderson, and Gunnar Schonbeck (Bang on a Can), among others.
The Flying V guitar (courtesy National GUITAR Museum)
GUITAR GETS SPOTLIGHT at BERKSHIRE MUSEUM
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – GUITAR: The Instrument That Rocked the World, a fully immersive exhibition exploring all aspects of one of the most enduring musical icons of the last 200 years, opens at the Berkshire Museum on Saturday, May 20, and will be on view through Monday, September 4.
Jeff McCarthy as William Kunstler (photo Carol Rosegg)
‘KUNSTLER’ RECALLS RADICAL LAWYER at BARRINGTON STAGE
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – “Kunstler,” a play by Jeffrey Sweet based on the self-described “radical lawyer” and civil rights activist William Kunstler of Chicago Seven fame, is at Barrington Stage Company from Thursday, May 18, through Saturday, June 10, on the St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center (36 Linden Street).
Directed by Meagan Fay, Kunstler stars BSC veteran Jeff McCarthy (BSC’s Broadway Bounty Hunter, All My Sons, Sweeney Todd) as the title character and Erin Roché (BSC debut) as the whip-smart student who opposes him. The colorful, perpetually rumpled defense lawyer whose best-known clients include the Chicago Seven, inmates involved in the Attica prison riots, and members of the American Indian Movement, makes a case for his often unconventional style in this wise and revealing play.
Fishermen on the Irrawaddy River, Myanmar by Scott Barrow
SCOTT BARROW TURNS LENS on MYANMAR in NEW EXHIBITION
(LENOX, Mass.) – Award-winning photographer Scott Barrow presents “Mystical Myanmar,” a new exhibition of photographs taken on his first visit to Southeast Asia this past winter, at the Scott Barrow Photography Gallery from Saturday, April 15, through Thursday, June 15.
Gabriel Metsu (Dutch, 1629–1667), Public Notary, c. 1653. Oil on panel, 16.14 x 12.8 in (41 x 32.5 cm). The Leiden Collection, N.Y.
17th-CENTURY DUTCH PAINTINGS at THE CLARK
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – An Inner World: 17th-Century Dutch Genre Painting is on view at the Clark Art Institute now through Sunday, September 17. The exhibit brings together paintings from the Clark and The Leiden Collection, among the largest and most important private collections of Dutch Golden Age paintings in the world. The exhibition features seven exceptional genre paintings by Dutch artists working in or near the city of Leiden in the 17th century.
An Inner World explores the work of Gerrit Dou (Dutch, 1613–1675) and his contemporaries by considering tradition and innovation in the representation of figures in interior spaces, individuals in moments of contemplation or quiet exchange, and the enduring taste among collectors for works created by fijnschilders, or fine painters.
Nick Cave, ‘Until’ (detail) (photo Doug Mason)
NICK CAVE’S SITE-SPECIFIC ‘UNTIL’ TAKES OVER MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — Nick Cave, the artist known for his wearable sculptures called Soundsuits, turns expectations inside out at MASS MoCA in “Until,” a massive immersive installation. Cave uses MASS MoCA’s signature football field-sized space to create his largest and most overtly political installation to date, made up of thousands of found objects, a rich sensory tapestry. The sheer volume of material that has been gathered is astounding — 16,000 wind spinners; millions of plastic pony beads; thousands of ceramic birds, fruits, and animals; 13 gilded pigs; more than 10 miles of crystals; 24 chandeliers; 1 crocodile; and 17 cast-iron lawn jockeys.