Rothko RED

'RED' at The Queensland Theatre Company.

27th April at The Playhouse.

Last night I attended a tour de force of great power and breadth.  At its first Brisbane performance, the QTC production of John Logans’ “Red” culminated in a well-deserved standing ovation.  Multi-award winning writer John Logan won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play for “Red”, which won a total of 6 Tony Awards that year, Film buffs may know Logan for his work on major releases including Gladiator, The Aviator, The Last Samurai and Star Trek Nemesis (which starred my favourite actor, Tom Hardy and of course Patrick Stewart who I have seen live on stage).

This interpretation was directed by Alkinos Tsilmidos who directed the MTC production.

 The brilliant, intense, intellectually deep and wide-ranging script was realised magnificently by veteran actor Colin Friels, reprising the role of painter Mark Rothko that he created for last year’s MTC season, and very beautiful and talented young Tom Barton as Rothko’s (fictional) assistant Ken. This two-man show is an intense, in-depth dialogue and even argument about painting, philosophy, theology and the history of ideas and how art clashes with commercial considerations.  It is set in Rothko’s New York studio over the course of two years during which he was working on a major commission, which he eventually reclaimed.

The play examines influences on Rothko’s art and ideas, motivation and colours of Michaelangelo, Matisse, van Gogh and Picasso. He talks about the sublime effect of the inner light glowing from a Caravaggio painting secluded in the dim light of an ancient church, and the “murder” of cubism by Rothko and Jackson Pollock, and argues about the way their abstract expressionism is being replaced by the pop art of Liechtenstein and Warhol and others younger but contemporary to the time.  In one of many memorable moments in the play, Rothko and Ken compete with each other to catalogue and shout as many different shades of red as possible.  They clash over the horror of white and the fear of black and whether the viewer’s emotional response to a colour, or its absence, is personal or universal.  We tramp through the philosophy and theology of ideas and wander through the essential Nietzsche.  At another point we are treated to an intense, but thoughtful argument on the tension or interplay between Apollonian and Dionysian elements (the formal as opposed to the unbridled joy) and as it applied to the style and merits of Rothko and say, Pollock.

An enthusiastic audience stopped the play with huge applause a couple of times.  One was when the two actors in tandem covered a large canvas in red paint to a loud musical accompaniment and the second was in the middle of a screaming lengthy verbal attack by Ken undermining the current relevance of Rothko in an ever modern developing world (1950's). These were true show-off moments of great theatre. Colin Friels is a veteran of Australian theatre and film (I have several of his films on DVD) and as mentioned by QTC Artistic Director Wesley Enoch "is at the height of his powers as an actor". His performance intensely moved from introspection to outbursts of ego, frustration and anger with power and sincerity seldom experienced on stage. We see his young assistant played magnificently by Tom Barton from Melbourne growing from the young painter in awe of his boss to the confident man standing up for himself and moving on to create himself.
New Award
Colin Friels won the best male actor award for his portrayal of Mark Rothko at the Victorian Green Room Awards on Monday 6th May 2013

 I have been reminded that I saw a very much younger and extremely handsome Colin Friels co-starring in  Tennessee Williams' 'Sweet Bird of Youth' back in 1986 in a production on stage here starring the legendary Lauren Bacall. (Photo from my programme.)

Asia Pacific Triennial

Wednesday 16th January.
It is only three short years since the last Asia Pacific Triennial exhibition here in Brisbane at the The Gallery of Modern Art and The Queensland Art Gallery. http://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/ This the 7th such collection in the 20 years since it was established  in 1993. It is a huge exhibition and is the largest of its type in the world and luckily runs for several months. Always more than one visit is required to take it all in. It attracts over half a million visitors and tens of thousands from overseas as well. It was so amazing to see the crowds gathered there in a mid week when I went even though it had been running for a month and a half already. Also the large number of rooms set aside for children's hands on art is impressive and also crowded with patient parents supervising. There were also huge gatherings of children both inside and outside the State Library which sits between the two galleries and they also had hands on participation. It certainly gives hope for an intelligent and appreciative future. Below are a random selection of pieces on display by over a hundred artists.

A short video on the 7th APT Exhibition

Circus, Shows and Festival

Another couple of days of intensely wonderful events for The Brisbane Festival.

Masterpieces from The Prado

Friday 21st September in the afternoon at the Queensland Art Gallery

I have never been able to get into Spain as all my trips since 1975 coincided with some upset which meant the border was closed or trains were cancelled. This was a great opportunity to get to see some of the great art works up close and personal as the visiting exhibition.

The imposing Prado Museum in Madrid. One of the great collections in the World.

The Queensland Art Gallery makes the exhibition a full experience with gatherings, music. food and hands on participation for artists all in the theme of a visit to Spain.

Some of the more than a hundred masterpieces on loan.

We also took a photo, drank a Spanish beer and glass of Spanish wine, ate some Tapas and went wild at the bookshop afterwards. The huge catalogue of the exhibition is now on my bookshelves.

Soap

Friday 21st September in the evening at the The Playhouse.

I have known of this show for some time and was hoping that a Facebook 'Friend' the spectacular Eike Von Stuckenbrok might still be in the cast, but he is currently in yet another show in Berlin. Not to worry though, as the performance was thrilling. From unbelievable displays of strength, agility humour and balance to we poor innocents in the audience being sprayed with jets of water, the evening was huge. Still I was sad that I did not get to see Eike's bare arse up close from the 3rd row.

Laser Show
After the show we stepped just outside in time for the 15 minute Laser show over the city and on the river that happens 3 times a night during the Brisbane Festival.

After All This

Saturday Afternoon at the Vizy Theatre at the Powerhouse.

The audience is gathered in the open space of the great old Powerhouse complex for this multi award winning piece. After instructions we were led down to a space outside one of the theatres and sitting on the floor we explored two children discussing a nativity play, death and the name of God. It is an exploration of the afterlife and soon we were taken in to sit on the stage as two scientists discuss and disagree on a formula that explains who or what may have made us. The ultimate step of this obsession with delusional contemplation of the unknown is taken when we were led to a room that evolves into a literally 'in your face' mass cult suicide. At last out of the darkness we stood again and were led in file through an acoustic wonder of a tunnel as the cast chanted and one felt herded in obedience through the wonderful reverberations to emerge outside the complex and released back into the reality of the world with a mind full of questions, and ideas. A great experience and I personally thanked the cast as I filed through their final guard of honour.
I War
Saturday Evening 22nd September at the Billie Brown Studio.

The Danger Ensemble Web

Follow 'The Danger Ensemble' on Facebook

From The Danger Ensemble's previous production.

I war was the results of two weeks workshopping a new play/opera/ dance/ multi-media 3 hour extravaganza/zygote stage exploration of the the history, mythology and realities of War with a splash of hard video sex. Staged by a group called The Danger Ensemble, I hope to follow their work from now on. The 4 actors/singers/dancers playing Agamemnon, Acholles, Patroclus and The Greek Women we so fine. This is but one voice in what will be a much expanded piece and it was so tempting.

The guys in the cast - Photos and videos not from this production.

 I discovered a genius amongst the cast. Brendan Maclean who composed the music, sang beautifully, danced brilliantly and acted with passion. He is a gay Sydney based artist, singer, musician, broadcaster etc. I have included a couple of music videos below and some links.

Brendan Maclean on Youtube

Brendan Maclean on Facebook.
My Post on seeing Brendan Maclean and Band live.

Also an example of the wonderful and handsome Luke Kennedy who hails from Townsville here in Queensland. He has a great voice some freakishly high notes if you explore his dozens of other Youtube clips. Luke has, amongst many things, starred in Superstar and also toured the world with the Ten Tenors, released a CD etc. and generously thanked me for comments on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/luke.kennedy.fanpage

Of course Luke Kennedy became a household name the following year 2013 on The Voice. Check this phenomenal duet out.

Then it was home to a renovations house warming party next door

Not bad for thirty six hours I thought.

Konstantin Somov

 A wonderful Russian artist and a great article on 'Gay Influence' a huge, wonderful and informative site that I follow. Click the link below to find out about this gay artist whose paintings are now valued in the millions. He had a fascinating life and mixed with the brilliant and the beautiful.

Gay Influence: Konstantin Somov:

Arty Allsorts

Leigh Bowery

Leigh Bowery (1961-1994) - The unique, extraordinary, Australian, performance artist, fashion diva and  star was the muse of the late painter Lucian Freud and friend of Boy George amongst many other outstanding things. Discover his life which was his art.

A must hear and see Useless Man - Music and Fashion Art Video

Below is Boy George channelling the late Leigh Bowery.

Igor Stravinsky

There have always been rumours of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky having an affair with Coco Chanel - both part of that circle that included Vaslav Nijinsky, Eric Satie, Jean Cocteau, Sergei Diaghilev and so many more. He did manage to Visit Australia in 1961 to conduct his own music and meet the obligatory Koala.

Percy Grainger

Australian genius composer and pianist who had an intense sexual imagination and involved himself in a bit of S&M. Flagellation.
A small clip of Grainger playing

Barry Humphries and Margaret Olley

The Late Margaret Olley (1923-2011) with Barry Humphries in front of an outstanding award winning portrait by William Dobell. (a bunch of famous Australians)

Boy and Villian

From an Australian theatre production I believe. Just a great photo.

Divine

Divine (1945-1988) born Harris Glenn Milstead as a young man, bearing a great resemblance to Leigh Bowrey (at top) and being simply heavenly Divine. I have 11 wonderful DVD's with this amazing actor, singer and personality who we love as Divine

I am a Pisces

Painting by Felix d'Eon who is a friend on Facebook and whose blog I also follow.
Lindsay Kemp and David Bowie

 David Bowie on stage with Lindsay Kemp. Years ago I entertained Lindsay Kemp, Jack Birkett, Francois Testory and the company at home. 

In Church

I attended a fine concert in my old cathedral St Stephen's recently and found a new cross hanging over the alter. I was surprised to see the Christ was a clean-shaven youth with a penis. I no longer belong to the Catholic Church because of their entrenched homophobia . Bigorty does not belong in what I see as a religion.

David Pereira

Stills for the stunningly beautiful and flexible David Pereira's new show in Berlin. A brilliant Spanish artist/performer I follow on Facebook etc. He is all over this blog.
Pepeyn

Pepeyn Langedijk wonderful large canvas photographer/artist from Holland.
Bertil Nilsson

Bertil Nilsson who was born in Sweden and lives and works in The UK. I have been adoring his photos for a while, particularly those of two of my Facebook friends, Eike von Stuckenbrok and David Pereira which are seen elsewhere on this blog.

also https://www.facebook.com/bertilnilssonphotography
Happy 50th to the Rolling Stones 
The Everlasting Performers.

Some of the pre censored photos from the film 'Performance ' and Jagger covered by Joe Dallesandro's crotch with bulge on the album cover taken by Andy Warhol for the Rolling Stone's album 'Sticky Fingers and Joe without the jeans.

Two Naked Models and a Photographer

From Bucephalus Alexander

Salvador Dali

Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali I Domenech was born on 11 th. May 1904 in the small town of Figueres, Spain, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. His father was a wealthy notary, and he spent his childhood in Figueres and at their summer home in the coastal village of Cadaques where his parents built his first studio. As an adult, he made his home with his wife Gala in nearby Port Lligat. Dali attended the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. He had his first one-man show in Barcelona in 1925. He became internationally known when three of his paintings, were shown in the third annual Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh in 1928.

Dali and the gay poet Frederico Garcia Lorca first met while they were both attending art school. The two artistic powerhouses formed both an intimate and artistic passion for one another.

For a good article on their relationship go to http://downtownlalife.tripod.com/id589.html

     1929 Dali held his first show in Paris. He also joined the surrealists, led by former Dadaist Andre Breton. That year, Dali met Gala Eluard when she visited him in Cadaques with her husband, poet Paul Eluard. She became Dali's lover, muse, business manager, and greatest inspiration. They eventually married on the 8th. August 1958 six years after the death of her first husband.

Dali became a leader of the surrealist movement. His painting, The Persistance of Memory, with the melting watches is still one of the best-known pieces of art in the world. As the war approached, Dali clashed with the surrealists and was expelled from the surrealist group in 1934, however he continued to exhibit works internationally throughout the decade. By 1940, Dali was moving into a new style known as his classic period, exhibiting a preoccupation with science and religion.

They left Europe during World War II, spending 1940-48 in the United States. The Museum of Modern Art in New York gave Dali his first major retrospective exhibit in 1941. This was followed in 1942 by the publication of Dali's autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dali.

As Dali moved away from Surrealism and into his classic period, he began a series of 19 large canvases, many concerning scientific, historical or religious themes. Among the best known of these works areThe Hallucinogenic Toreador,  The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus and The Sacrament of the Last Supper. In 1965 he published his book "Diary of a Genius." In 1974, Dali designed and opened the Teatro Museo in Figueres in, Spain. This was followed by retrospectives in Paris and London.

He worked with Louis Bunuel, The Marx Brothers, and also worked on a 6 minute Disney film (just recently completed in 2003) and had audiences with several Popes

On June 10th 1982 Gala died in Port Lligat at age eighty eight. Dali became a member of the nobility when King Juan Carlos, made him Marquis of Pubol and he moved into the Castle at Pubol, which was given to Gala as a gift. Dali's health began to fail and he painted his last painting "The Swallows Tail" in 1983. He was burned in a fire at home in 1984. Two years later, a pace-maker was implanted. Much of this part of his life was spent in seclusion in Pubol and his apartment at Torre Galatea, adjacent to the Teatro Museo. 

Salvador Dali died on January 23, 1989 in Figueres from heart failure with respiratory complications. He is interred in a crypt at the lower level of the Teartro-Museo Dali, leaving his estate to the Kingdom of Spain and the Independent Region Of Catalonia.

Two great DVD's I have on Dali.

One beautiful box set of his films

and my big gold Dali book

A video of some paintings