A highly selective preview of cultural events taking place this weekend in the greater Berkshire region, including Picasso; Andy Warhol; Norman Rockwell; William Kunstler; 17th-century Dutch painting; a classical music trio playing David Bowie and Prince; and a whole lot more.
Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Jackie, 1964. Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas, 20” x 17”. Williams College Musuem of Art; Partial gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. and museum purchase from the John B. Turner ’24 Memorial Fund and Karl E. Weston Memorial Fund. ©The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
ROCKWELL and WARHOL in UNIQUE PAIRING at NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM
(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) — On the surface they might seem like an odd couple from two different universes, but for the first time Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol will come face to face in “Inventing America: Rockwell and Warhol,” opening at the Norman Rockwell Museum on Saturday, June 10. With 100 works of art, a selection of archival materials, and objects relating to their work and lives, the exhibition will show how both of these internationally celebrated image-makers — among America’s most important visual communicators — created enduring icons and opened new ways of seeing.
There will be an opening night “Legends Gala” followed by a Studio 54 dance party.
Danielle Talamantes
MAHAIWE CONCERT CELEBRATES WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE WITH FEMALE COMPOSERS
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Newly commissioned works by Thea Musgrave, Tamar Muskal, and Judith Zaimont celebrating the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New York state will get their world premieres at the Mahaiwe on Saturday, June 10, at 6pm, as part of the Close Encounters With Music series, celebrating its own 25th season in the Berkshires with “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman.”
Bobby Sweet
BOBBY SWEET CELEBRATES NEW ALBUM at THE COLONIAL
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – It’s always been a mystery why the Berkshires own Bobby Sweet is not a huge country star. His terrific new album, “All These Changes,” only deepens the mystery. The country-folk singer-songwriter celebrates the release of the new album at the Colonial Theatre on Sunday, June 11, at 7pm.
the Ahn Trio
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – The internationally acclaimed Ahn Trio will perform works by David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Pat Metheny, 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.
Jeff McCarthy as William Kunstler (photo Carol Rosegg)
FINAL WEEKEND: ‘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.
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.
Fishermen on the Irrawaddy River, Myanmar by Scott Barrow
LAST CALL: 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.
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.
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.