Happy Monday! Thanks for checking out Art&Seek’s weekly look at the biggest and most important stories in the North Texas arts scene.
Things You Ought To Look At
If you frequent the web pages of Art&Seek, there are a few names you see with regularity – Jerome Weeks, Anne Bothwell, Stephen Becker and my own. But one name that pops up as often (if not more) is Karen Almond.
Karen Almond, The Dallas Opera’s photographer, is headed to The Met.
Photo: Ken Howard
Almond is the production photographer for The Dallas Opera, Dallas Theater Center and Dallas Children’s Theater. She’s also shot for some of the most well-respected theater companies in all of North America, including the LA Opera. Almond appears on our website so often, because so many theater companies turn to her for promotion photos and then we post them in our articles when we cover the productions.
Anyway, Almond’s name is probably going to be appearing in even more news publications in the coming months because she’s going to be shooting for New York’s Metropolitan Opera (once again).
Almond began her career shooting weddings and portraits, but she tells the Dallas Observer that shooting performing arts began on a whim, “I quickly borrowed a digital Nikon camera … to shoot ‘Carmen,'” says Almond. “In retrospect, I had no idea what I was doing, but I was completely hooked by the experience and knew it was the beginning of my next adventure.”
Read even more about how this North Texas gem cut her teeth and how her career has changed her life in this Dallas Observer article.
More Stuff To Look At
- The Big Screen: ‘Get Out’ A Year Later (Art&Seek)
- Ann Curry On Journalism, Her PBS Series And Working On The ‘Today’ Show (NPR)
- Goodies Cakery Delivers Dallas’ Most Viral Desserts (Central Track)
- 7 Photographers Who Captured the Agony and Ecstasy of Young Love (Artsy)
- The Art of Building a Face (Great Big Story)
Things You Ought To Know
Donny Cates is a Garland native who’s taking the comic book world by storm.
Photo: Marvel Comics
Back in January, we shared a story about Garland native Donny Cates signing an exclusive deal with Marvel Comics to to take over the reins of the Doctor Strange and Thanos series. The news broke during ComicCon in San Diego and folks were pumped. Now, Guide Live reports that Cates will also take over writing responsibilities for Venom.
This move is part of Marvel’s decision to relaunch many of its series for a “Fresh Start” initiative (more on “Fresh Start”). Cates shared his excitement about the announcement on his Facebook page. He says his run on the book will continue to focus on Eddie Brock, the original host for Venom – rather than Flash Thompson, a paraplegic military vet.
Cates – who interned with Marvel in 2010 – is responsible for three original series: “God Country,” a West Texas-set fantasy adventure; “Redneck,” an East Texas-set horror book in the vein of “The Walking Dead”; and “Babyteeth,” the story of a teenage girl who gives birth to the anti-Christ. But up until now, the 32-year-old had mostly worked with non-legacy publishers like Dark Horse Comics and Heavy Metal Magazine.
Each of these three books has set records with reprints and sellouts at the publisher level. It obviously surrounded Cates with tons of buzz. And now he’s the superstar comic book writer from North Texas. Learn more about Cates from this Dallas Morning News profile.
More Stuff To Know
- Is “Austin” Ellsworth Kelly’s Masterpiece? (Art&Seek)
- What Happens When Goliath Listens to David: HALL Arts gets it right (finally) with Through The Lens (Arts+Culture)
- Iconic 1977 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Poster Will Hang In The Smithsonian (Dallas Morning News)
- Were Neanderthals the Earliest Cave Artists? New Research in Spain Points to the Possibility (Smithsonian Magazine)
- The Colorful Legacy of the Chinese Caribbean Diaspora (Hyperallergic)
Things You Ought To Read
The Dallas Arboretum now has a Tasteful Place.
Photo: Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden
Dallas is blooming! And according to Forbes, it’s because we’ve been investing heavily in making the city a Southwest hub for art, architecture and modern museums.
Forbes contributor John Mariani – who’s best known for his coverage on topics like hotels, restaurants and wine – says we’ve hired the best architects in the world to design important cultural structures like the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Perot Museum. Mariani was especially pleased with the recent addition to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden – “A Tasteful Place.”
“The modernity of the design incorporates the latest environmental technology, like using gunite and bentonite to create the bottom of the lagoon, which will enable the Arboretum to collect rainwater and run-off to fill the lagoon, planted with water lilies, water pickerel, water bacopa, water poppy and lizard tail,” he explains.
The Arboretum itself was named “One of the World’s 15 Most Breathtaking Gardens” by Architectural Digest in 2016. And Art&Seek’s Jerome Weeks and the Dallas Morning News’ Mark Lamster discussed how the local architecture works with the region’s flat landscape last fall.
More Stuff To Read
- Born Into Classical Music – And Giving Back To Fort Worth (Art&Seek)
- How Dallas DJ Gina G Found Her Sound (D Magazine)
- We’re in the Golden Age of the Black Music Video (Artsy)
- Dallas Symphony Orchestra Is so Tight-Lipped, We’re Gonna Have to Predict Its Next Music Director (Dallas Observer)
- Preview: Festival de Cine Latino Americano (Dentonite)
Things You Ought To Listen To
Ellsworth Kelly, Austin, 2015 (South façade).
Photo: Blanton Museum of Art.
Art fans around the world are focused on the Blanton Art Museum at UT-Austin this month. That’s where the last major work by painter Ellsworth Kelly was finally revealed, almost three years after his death.
The work’s titled “Austin” and it’s a chapel-like structure. The Romanesque, cross-shaped building has stained glass windows on three of the walls. And when the sun shines through, ‘Austin’s’ interior is filled with rainbow colored light.
The New York Times is calling the structure the artist’s masterpiece. Kelly’s signature – which features a minimalist aesthetic and colorful hard-edge paintings – is easy to spot within “Austin.” And that’s why the Times says the structure is “the grandest exploration of pure color and form in a seven-decade career spent testing the boundaries of both.”
Art&Seek’s Anne Bothwell spoke with Rainey Knudson, editor of online art magazine Glasstire, about the chapel and they discuss how it compares to Rothko’s chapel in Houston.
More Stuff To Listen To
- Lee Ann Womack: ‘A Sad Song Makes Me Happy’ (Texas Standard)
- Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood On The Music Of ‘Phantom Thread’ (NPR)
- This History Podcast Gets More Listeners Than Oprah (D Magazine)
- Ready For Some Fresh Sounds In Classical Music? Themes Range From ‘Beowulf’ To Apollo 8 (Dallas Morning News)
- Songs Of The Week: Post Malone, Ian Salazar & More (Central Track)
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