This week’s cultural highlights in our region include new arts exhibitions, a new BSO online program, a tribute to Jerry Garcia, a new broadcast live from Club Helsinki Hudson, and a whole lot more.
At the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., a new, free, year-long exhibition highlighting the work of contemporary Canadian artist Erin Shirreff is on view through January 2, 2022. The exhibit, “Erin Shirreff: Remainders,” presents photographs, prints, and video that examine the artist’s fascination with the mythmaking behind art history. Shirreff makes use of analog and digital media, two and three dimensions, and still and moving images to invite the viewer to reflect on how art history is written in ways that bear directly on the Clark’s mission as both a museum and a place for research and higher education.
Also at the Clark, this week the museum’s first outdoor exhibition opened. Called Ground/work and taking advantage of the museum’s extensive network of trails, pastures, and woods, the Clark commissioned a half-dozen contemporary artists, including Jennie C. Jones, Eva LeWitt, Analia Saban, and Haegue Yang to create new works of art in active dialogue with the specific environment.
Scott Eyerly’s very popular Met Opera lecture series at the Mahaiwe continues in virtual fashion this Sunday at 5:30 pm when the composer and librettist tackles nothing less than Wagner’s “Die Walküre” – which if you are a Bugs Bunny fan, you may know better as “Kill the wabbit.”
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has launched BSO Now, featuring newly recorded online programming. This weekend's program features Thomas Wilkins leading the BSO with works by Kareem Roustom, Astor Piazzolla, Hindemith, and Carlos Simon.
Indie-folk outfit Dust Bowl Faeries kicks off the “Wish You Were Hear” virtual vaudeville series, livestreaming from the stage of Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday at 8pm. The group will be joined by special guest The Age, a neo-soul singer and the son of David Lewis, lead singer of 1980s R&B group Atlantic Starr. Each month the Dust Bowl Faeries duo will host the new program featuring guest artists. On tap for February is Tommy Stinson and Lorkin O’Reilly for March.
A lot of people don’t know that the Grateful Dead began life as a jug band outfit playing American roots music, particularly string band music and bluegrass. The contemporary group Deadgrass, founded by multi-instrumentalist Matt Turk and Grammy Award winner C Lanzbom, explores Jerry Garcia’s musical world, from Garcia’s earliest Jug Band days through his groups Old & In The Way, Jerry Garcia Band, JGB, Garcia/Grisman, his duo with mandolin genius David Grisman, and of course with The Grateful Dead itself. Catch them at the Falcon in Malboro, N.Y., on Sunday at 7pm.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.com
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