Whiter shade of pale Abstract art is all about blurring boundaries, but pushing two seemingly oppositional modes toward one another takes skill. The pieces in the McGuffey Art Center’s “abstractreal realabstract” exhibit drag realism into the realm of the abstract, and vice versa. In mostly oil-based paintings, five associate members—Nancy Bass, Robin Braun, Margaret Embree, […]
Whiter shade of pale Abstract art is all about blurring boundaries, but pushing two seemingly oppositional modes toward one another takes skill. The pieces in the McGuffey Art Center’s “abstractreal realabstract” exhibit drag realism into the realm of the abstract, and vice versa. In mostly oil-based paintings, five associate members—Nancy Bass, Robin Braun, Margaret Embree, […]
Spaghetti southern: Django Unchained is a lawless, violent romp marked by stellar performances First, the cynical: One wonders whether making a movie that takes place in the pre-Civil War American South is Quentin Tarantino’s way of getting around criticism for using the n-word. Second, the straight-up: Django Unchained is loads of fun. For years, I’ve railed […]
Steve Snider laughed when I asked him to list every Charlottesville band he’s played in over the years. “There’s like, more than a dozen,” he said. “I’m not totally sure I can even name them all.” Among the most memorable are the jangling indie-rock of the Fingerpainters, the yelping keyboard-punk of Cataract Camp, the anthemic […]
First Friday is a monthly art event featuring exhibit openings at many Downtown art galleries and additional exhibition venues.
Local treasure Wilford “88 Keys” Wilson lights up the ivories between champagne toasts on NYE at Fellini’s.
Micah Goska hosts the release party for his first solo record, The Blue Sessions.
Brian Palmer writes Tunes, a bi-weekly music column that reviews current releases.
There’s a lot going on in writer-director Judd Apatow’s This is 40, including bickering siblings, failing businesses, grand theft, and one or two big surprises. Perhaps this is Apatow’s achievement: He’s made a watchable movie in which the emotional content mirrors real life so closely he doesn’t need a conventional narrative. The ups and downs of human existence are plenty.
Firefish Gallery’s Pin Up Show benefits the University of Virginia’s Emily Couric Cancer Center.
The Infamous Stringdusters is a band set smack in the middle of the new bluegrass crusade. Active curators of the genre and tireless, intrepid meddlers, playing the spirit of the music however it manifests, and damn the math. Surgeons of the genre, helping to save it by cutting it open and expertly futzing with the innards.