Susan Barrett, President of Barrett Barrera Projects, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the projects they are involved in.

Susan Barrett               A piece from Freedom is for Everybody

Among the topics discussed is the exhibition Freedom is for Everybody, an exhibition of work by Swedish-American artist Michele Pred.

In her artistic practice, Pred uses sculpture, assemblage and performance to uncover the cultural and political meaning behind everyday objects, with a concentration on feminist themes such as equal pay, reproductive rights, and personal security. As Pred’s work implores us, now more than ever we must raise our voices to protect the freedom of all bodies, especially those historically disempowered.   

Sculptural pieces from a series titled Power of the Purse include vintage purses emblazoned in neon with phrases culled from the current social resistance movements, such as Time’s Up (2018) and call us to both reflection and action. In this context, the vintage mid-century purses become symbols not only of the modern economic power women hold and the possibilities for change that come with it, but also reminders of that critical era in the women’s movement. A pair of vintage shoes dotted with unwanted, expired and placebo birth control pills, In Our Shoes (2013) underscores the continuing and growing impediments to fair, safe and affordable access to birth control and other women’s services in the United States.

Also discussed is James Turrell's ORCA (Blue-Red), which is open for viewings by appointment only, Thursday - Saturday, 12 pm - 5 pm.

James Turrell, ORCA (Blue and Red), 1969

Wassan Al-Khudhairi, Chief Curator of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the museum and one of the current exhibitions, Stories of Resistance. 

Stories of Resistance explores artistic forms of resistance from across the world. Through visual narratives, artists amplify and bring to focus the multitude of conditions that ignite and inspire people to resist. The exhibition activates the entire museum space, inside and out, with video, photography, drawing, sculpture, painting, and installation. Presenting narratives from many social, political, and geographical spaces, the artists include: Bani Abidi, Andrea Bowers, Banu Cennetoğlu, Torkwase Dyson, Emily Jacir, Glenn Kaino, Bouchra Khalili, Candice Lin, Jen Liu, Guadalupe Maravilla, Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn, Trevor Paglen, PSA: (Jen Everett, Aida Hasanović, Simiya Sudduth), Wendy Red Star, Dread Scott, Kemang Wa Lehulere, and Wide Awakes (Maryam Parwana, Combo, Otherward).

St. Louis serves as an ideal platform for Stories of Resistance. Resistance movements that have arisen here, most especially the rise of Black Lives Matter in response to the police killing of Michael Brown, have incited global actions against racism and injustice. By looking through a local lens, the exhibition draws connections worldwide, revealing profound influences that traverse borders and cultures. With this in mind, Radio Resistance, an integral component of the exhibition, will broadcast conversations between exhibiting artists and artists, activists, scholars, and others with a deep knowledge and experience of St. Louis. Because of radio’s legacy as a tool for dissent, it serves as the medium for dialogue between intersecting local and global agents of change.

Alongside the exhibition and radio program, a CAM publication will include images of works in the exhibition and writings that further explore and expand on the ideas and themes of Stories of Resistance.

Stories of Resistance, installation view, CAM.  Photo: Dusty Kessler

Wassan Al-Khudhairi: Chief Curator at CAM

Keith Watson, owner and operator of Arkadin Cinema and Bar, is an attorney by day, and a connoisseur of film by night.  He stopped by to talk with Nancy about this new business.

Named after a film by one of their favorite filmmakers, Orson Welles, the Arkadin is a microcinema in the heart of Bevo located at 5228 Gravois Ave.  The cinema shows a mix of cutting-edge indie and foreign fare, timeless classics, and cult favorites in a cozy, comfortable setting.

There is a full bar stocked with wine, beer and creative cocktails. You can pick up a drink — and a bag of popcorn, of course! — to enjoy during the show and come back to the lounge after the film to engage in a lively discussion of the weird, wild, wonderful film you’ve just seen over a beer or two.

Due to COVID-19, they are currently partnering with their neighbor, The Heavy Anchor, to run safe, socially-distanced outdoor screenings under the stars on their backlot.

Some examples of films that have already been shown are… Purple Rain, Rear Window, Independence Day, The Kid, Point Break, We are Little Zombies, Repo Man, Night of the Living Dead, Nosferatu, and Blue Velvet.

For a list of up-coming films... click here. 

Fans enjoying a film outside at Arkadin.

Keith Watson introduces a local filmmaker.

The cinema is located at 5228 Gravois Ave.

Tom Ridgely, Producing Artistic Director of St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, stopped by to talk to Nancy about the  American Ballet Theatre's ABT Across America Tour.  The St. Louis performances of the tour will happen July 14th in Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park. The performances are presented in partnership with Susan Sherman, COCA and St. Louis Shakespeare Festival.

This summer, ABT will bring 20 acclaimed artists to St. Louis for two performances as part of the company’s cross-country road trip, ABT Across America, traveling to 8 U.S. cities this July. These unique outdoor presentations are among the first live performances for ABT in over a year.

American Ballet Company, Designated by an act of Congress as America’s National Ballet Company, is recognized as a living national treasure. Since its founding in 1940, ABT annually tours the United States, performing for more than 300,000 people, and is the only major cultural institution to do so. For 81 years, ABT has appeared in 45 countries and has performed in all 50 states.

Tom Ridgely

Monika Weiss, who is an internationally known multimedia artist, stopped by to talk with Nancy about her work and her life.  

Monika Weiss Artist portrait, 2019. still from video interview: Adam Hogan and Laura Stayton

In a multidisciplinary practice that encompasses video, film, performance, sound, drawing and sculpture, the Polish-American artist Monika Weiss moves between the political and the poetic to explore questions of the body, history, and gendered violence. Her work is intimately engaged with processes of witnessing and remembering as it attends to traumatic histories, thier transmission, and commemoration. 

Weiss frequently employs her own body to navigate the aftermath of different traumas, raising questions of how one can articulate these without enacting further violence. The female body does not only become a vehicle of expression, but also forms a key site from which an affective politics may emerge, through touch, vulnerability, and the visceral. Her mixed-media, embodied practice foregrounds sensing as a modality through which we can develop an ethics and politics of remembrance and of being together in the world, simultaneously challenging modernist assumptions concerning a duality of mind and body. By frequently attending to events and histories that she has not personally witnessed, Weiss fleshes out the multidirectional character of memory and seeks to forge new solidarities that exceed national boundaries.

Monika Weiss Studio, 2019. artist filming and choreographing a performer (right) in real time.

Photo: Adam Hogan and Laura Stayton. performer: Melissa Gollance

Stills taken of the Monika Weiss exhibition Sustenazo.