Prints from 'Swinging London'
Form New Exhibition at NOMA
Hockney to Hodgkin: British
Master Prints 1960-1980, a
new exhibition tracing the development of modern British printmaking during London's time as the world's most swinging city, opens July 12 Museum of Art. Some of the most distinguished names in contemporary art are featured, such as David Hockney, Howard Hodgkin, R.B. Kitaj and Richard Hamilton. This presentation, in the Ella West Freeman Gallery, features 120 works in a broad range of graphic media, and includes not only prints drawn from NOMA's permanent holdings but also those lent by the Roland-Geist Collection, London.
The 1960s in England ushered in an era of great prosperity as well as tremendous social and cultural upheaval. Cars and televisions became commonplace, the sexual revolution was underway and youth wielded great influence in matters of taste and fashion. 'Swinging London' spawned the miniskirt, the music of the Beatles and Rolling Stones, and films like Blow-Up and Alfie. The affluent and sophisticated British public created a demand for art. Prints-large, vibrant and less costly than painting or sculpture-were eagerly purchased by enthusiastic collectors and grew in popularity.
During the 1960s and 1970s, painters representing major art movements from Pop Art to Op Art discovered printmaking as a new avenue of expression. By working with master printers like Christopher Prater at his Kelpra Studio, even artists who lacked technical expertise in the medium were able to create fine prints. Landmarks of graphic art such as Hockney's Masterprinter of Los Angeles, Hodgkin's Moonlight and Eduardo Paolozzi's As Is When were produced through this collaborative approach.
The late Gregg Geist and George Roland were American advertising executives who worked in London for such prominent agencies as J. Walter Thompson and Young & Rubicam, representing such clients as DeBeers, Rolex, Kodak and Ford. Over a period of nearly 25 years, they jointly acquired significant prints by many of the most important creative talents working in England, including Hockney, Hodgkin, Allen Jones, Bridget Riley and Joe Tilson. Their collection, which receives its premier showing at NOMA, is a promised gift to the Museum.
Curator of the exhibition is Dan Piersol, NOMA's Curator of Exhibitions. A catalogue of Hockney to Hodgkin, featuring 90 color illustrations and a major essay by Professor Pat Gilmour, former founding Curator of Prints at the Tate Gallery in London and the National Gallery of Australia, will be available at NOMA's Museum Shop.
Professor Gilmour, London art dealer Desmond Page and artist Howard Hodgkin-knighted by Queen Elizabeth III-will be in attendance for the July 12 opening of the exhibition. Professor Gilmour will present a slide lecture on Hockney to Hodgkin Sunday, July 13, at 3 pm. The lecture, in NOMA's Stern Auditorium, is free with Museum admission.
The Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am until 5 pm and closed Mondays and legal holidays. Admission prices are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors 65 and over, and $3 for children ages 3-17. Free admission for Louisiana residents is offered courtesy of Whitney National Bank every Thursday from 10 am until noon. Also available to visitors are light meals and snacks in the Courtyard Cafe, open from 10:30 am until 4:30 pm.
The Museum Shop offers a great selection of gift items, books, jewelry, and other collectibles. For more information, call the Museum at 504.488.2631; the information hotline FYI394.1515, menu 6662; or check NOMA's web site at www.noma.org.
The Drag Queen's Cookbook Wins
Top Award
Winter Books, an imprint of
Pontalba Press of New Or
leans is proud to announce that The Drag Queen's Cookbook & Guide to Sensible Living by Honey van Campe won first place in the Humor category in both the Benjamin Franklin Award and the Small Press Book Awards. Both awards were announced May 30, 1997 at ceremonies before the annual BookExpo America in Chicago.
The Benjamin Franklin Awards are issued annually by the Publisher's Marketing Association, while the Small press Book Awards is sponsored by the International Small Press Publishing Institute. Pontalba Press was represented at the ceremonies by Ms. Winter C. R. Neil, managing Editor of Pontalba Press and Creative Director Stephanie Stephens.
The Drag Queen's Cookbook & Guide to Sensible Living has been characterized as a primer for the B-Gender Generation. It is a hilarious, but surprisingly practical, look at Drag Queen fashion and mores, chock full of outrageous how-to photographs, tips on throwing the perfect Drag party, and delectable gourmet food and drink recipes for cross-dressers from all walks of life, as well as for RG's (real gals). The book, which set one-day sales records at Barnes & Noble & Bookstar locations in new Orleans, continues to enthrall readers across the country.
The Benjamin Franklin Awards are issued annually by the Publisher's Marketing Association, while the Small Press Book Awards is sponsored by the International Small Press Publishing Institute. Pontalba Press was represented at the ceremonies by Ms. Neil and Creative Director Stephanie Stephens.
Author Honey van Campe splits her time between New Orleans and New York.
Con Air: The Rock, Part 2
This summer producer Jerry
Bruckheimer brings us a new
blockbuster action picture featuring a gratuitous and hackneyed gay character in the current #1 movie in America, Con Air. Last year he brought us The Rock, a blockbuster action picture featuring a gratuitous and hackneyed stereotypical gay hairdresser.
The character, "Sally Can't Dance," is a mincing, shrieking, cross-dressing effeminate Latino gay male who has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the movie and appears solely for the purpose of being ridiculed and denigrated. At one point, as the rest of the escaped convicts are working to get the hijacked airplane back in the air, Sally breaks into a nearby trailer and maniacally rummages through the suitcases, squealing with delight upon finding a lavender sun dress. The character proceeds to wear the dress through the rest of the film. When super bad guy Virus (John Malkovich) later asks Sally to guard the cockpit, he says, "If anybody tries to get through, you scratch his eyes out." In a brief and senseless struggle with hero Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage), Poe is about to punch Sally, but reconsiders and instead knocks Sally to the floor with an open-handed slap. When Sally is arrested the officer says, "Hold it right there, lady," to which Sally swoons, "Oh, men in uniform."
Despite the considerable screen time that the character has, Sally is never developed beyond this one-dimensional anti-gay stereotype. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has received complaints about the film from all over the country on its AlertLine (1.800.GAY MEDIA) and AlertLine Online (www.glaad.org). By including this representation, producer Bruckheimer and Touchstone Pictures have plummeted to new lows, reinforcing stereotypes, and portraying violence against gay people as something humorous. [from GLAAD]
