Pop-Culture | Posted by Ruth L on 02/20/2013
Judy Chicago at the Ben Uri Gallery
Judy Chicago is one of my favourite artists. So, when I heard she was exhibiting in London for the first time since the 80s, well, I was rather excited. The Ben Uri Gallery in London seemed like the perfect place for her return to the country, having 1300 works in their permanent collection by women artists. Many of these works are currently focusing on themes such as autobiography, erotica, feminism, the nude and issues of masculine power.
Which is precisely what Chicago is most well known for. During the 1970s, she founded the first feminist art program in America, aiming to incorporate these themes into the realm of art. This was a time when the personal was truly political and Chicago encouraged and inspired her students to create feminist artworks …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 04/29/2012
Support Women Artists Sunday: Nina Storey
Nina Storey uses the phrase “21st-century soul” to describe her music, “because it’s rooted in a soul sound with bluesy overtones,” she explained to AfterEllen.com. “The music that I write is a mix of singer-songwriter acoustic stuff, and then there’s rock, and then there’s quirky stuff that’s totally out of the box.”
A Boulder, Colo., native now living in Los Angeles, Storey has been singing pretty much her whole life — professionally since the age of 12. She is self-taught, but grew up in a very musical family: Her mother is a songwriter and producer (and also acts as her manager and publicist), and her dad is a sound engineer. Her parents always encouraged her to pursue her craft.
Storey said she hasn’t talked about her sexual orientation in interviews …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 03/25/2012
Support Women Artists Sunday: Rebekah Delgado
Rebekah Delgado is a solo musician from London, United Kingdom. After previously fronting two successful bands, Rebekah embarked on a solo career in 2010 when her previous band, The Last Army broke up. When playing live Rebekah is accompanied by a variety of other musicians, currently including Tom on violin and harmonium, Daniel on cello, Saulo on percussion, and Sara on musical saw.
Rebekah’s solo material is a departure from her previous bands’ foundations, being influenced by Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Carla Bruni, Pulp, Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Brel, Kris Kristofferson, Patti Smith, Johnny Cash, Sonic Youth and Paco Ibañez among others. As a result, Rebekah’s solo music ranges from the melancholic to intelligent pop.
Rebekah is continuing to work on her first solo album, Don’t Sleep which is due for release …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 01/8/2012
Support Women Artists Sunday: Joy Askew
“When writing about myself I would always start by saying that I was ‘originally from the North of England’… in fact that’s not true but I grew up there from age 5 in Newcastle, famous for its coals and shipbuilding. The place was grimy, cold and hard but full of character and culture, with many theaters and concert venues and legendary clubs. Newcastle was frequented by the likes of Bob Dylan (Don’t Look Back) and Jimi Hendrix (his manager Chas Chandler, bassist for the famed Newcastle Band The Animals was a true Geordie and my father was his headmaster!) I love the English movie Get Carter set in Newcastle and starring a young Michael Caine, it really reflects well a lot of what this once Roman Northern garrison town was …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 12/18/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Joan Mitchell
Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was a “second generation” abstract expressionist painter. She was an essential member of the American Abstract expressionist movement, even though much of her career took place in France. Along with Lee Krasner, Grace Hartigan, and Helen Frankenthaler she was one of her era’s few female painters to gain critical and public acclaim. Her paintings and editioned prints can be seen in major museums and collections across America and Europe.
Mitchell was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of James Herbert and Marion Strobel Mitchell. She studied at Smith College, in Massachusetts, and The Art Institute of Chicago. After moving to Manhattan in 1947, she wanted to study at Hans Hofmann’s school in New York but, according to Jane Livingston in her …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Brian C on 11/13/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Polica
CMJ was without a doubt, the greatest week of my life. If you ever have an opportunity to go to a festival such as CMJ or SXSW which have concerts all the time over a one week period, with all sorts of new acts, DO IT. I got to see previously featured Dum Dum Girls (sounded great but were a bit lackluster live to be honest) and An Horse (totally kickass) in this week of music explosion. The best part of CMJ is finding those under the radar bands that sound amazing. Hence I present Polica.
Polica were the first warmup for Dum Dum Girls and played a fantastic little set (I snagged the setlist as to be expected). Polica has a band composition like none I’ve seen before. Polica …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Emily A on 10/30/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Tati Kalveks
Tati Kalveks is an 18-year -old girl from London who, as she describes it, is producing some beautifully poignant and funny songs. Her topics spread over a whole array of things, from female grooming habits to her love of gingers.
In one of her greatest songs, “Because I’ve Got Breasts“ (or ‘B.I.G. Breasts’ for short) she sarcastically celebrates the fact that everyone in her life is more than happy with her to enter into an unstable career as a musician because one day she is going to marry a rich wealthy man. Why? Because she’s got breasts, of course.
Says Tati about the song: “This one churned itself out of a song about not getting enough done, after enough people (family) pointed out to me that work is …
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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 08/21/2011
Support Women Artists Sunday: Haley Bonar
Haley Bonar (born 1983, Brandon, Manitoba) is an American alternative country singer-songwriter who hails from South Dakota. She has lived in Duluth and St. Paul, Minnesota. In July 2009, she moved to Portland, Oregon, where she currently resides. She plays guitar and keyboards and typically is backed sparingly, in some instances by only a drummer.
In 2003 Bonar’s album . . . The Size of Planets (Chairkicker’s Union) received favorable reviews in the Minneapolis press. The album spawned the single “Am I Allowed,” which was played on college radio stations.
In 2006 she released the album Lure the Fox,’, originally on Mary Ellen Recordings, whose owner, Mary Lewis, decided to help Bonar pay to record the album at Pachyderm Studio after reading a Star Tribune article about her in 2005. …
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