January Highlights

Drawn to It

Sure, Minimal art looks easy. No doubt you’ve looked at a painting of all one color and thought, “I could do that.” The truth is, you couldn’t have—and the Katonah Museum of Art can show you why. Its newest exhibition, Drawn/Taped/Burned: Abstraction on Paper, features Minimal, Post-Minimal, and Conceptual art from artists who really know what they’re doing: Jasper Johns, John Cage, Sol LeWitt, Richard Serra, and others. And, while the works may be minimal, the exhibition itself certainly is not; there are 65 pieces representing 58 artists. You can see the exhibition from January 23 to May 1.

Mark diSuvero
Untitled, 1983
Ink on paper, 24 x 17 ¾ inches
Photography by Ellen McDermott

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Tea Up When January rolls around, sometimes we can’t stand the thought of going out. We just want to grab our blankets, brew some tea, and curl up with a good book. The Westchester Library System understands the hibernating instinct and rewards us for venturing out in the cold by giving us exactly what we want. On January 17, it’s hosting its annual African American Writers and Readers Literary Tea at Abigail Kirsch’s Tappan Hill Mansion. The featured speakers will be Yvonne Thornton (The Ditchdigger’s Daughters), Dolan Perkins-Valdez (Wench: A Novel), and Tanya Wright (Butterfly Rising). The event kicks off the Westchester Library System’s programs for African American History Month.

      

Clockwise from top left: Dolan Perkins-Valdez, Tanya Wright and Yvonne Thornton

Show Off

They say that gift-giving is an art, but the real secret is that art always makes good gifts. On January 8 and January 9, you can stock up on a year’s worth of upcoming birthday presents—or housewarming or hostess gifts—at the annual Art Show: Bedford in the Fellowship Hall at St. Matthew’s Church. There, talented artists present their locally made wares. If you want your pick of the best items, spring for a ticket to the Champagne Preview Party on January 7 ($95 to $125). Not in the buying market and looking to sell? On Sunday, experts will be on hand to appraise your junk—we mean treasures—for $20 for your first two items and $10 per item after that. For more information, visit stmatthewsbedford.org.

Yellow Vase With Red Bird by Mireille Duchesne

Twelve Monkeys

Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, Twelfth Night, is also one of his best. You might be inspired to see it again and again. Luckily, this month, the local Red Monkey Theater Group will give you the opportunity to do just that. The troupe is bringing Twelfth Night on a mini-tour around the county, stopping in some great venues along the way. We recommend the first performance the most—and not just because it’s free (though that certainly helps). We just think that it’s fitting that the play will premiere at a historic venue, St. Paul’s Church in Mount Vernon, on January 8. After that, you can see it at the Larchmont Temple on January 9, ArtsWestchester’s Arts Exchange in White Plains on January 14, and the Rochambeau School in White Plains on January 21. For more information, visit redmonkeytheater.org.

Coping

Clarence Greenwood may not be a household name, but, chances are, if you’re a fan of modern radio, you’ve heard of the singer/songwriter/DJ’s alter ego and band: Citizen Cope. Greenwood has had an itinerant life, having lived in Memphis, Washington, DC, and Brooklyn, and has managed to channel musical influences from all these areas into Citizen Cope. The result mixes straight-up rock with hip-hop, R&B, blues, and even a little electronic music (Greenwood plays keyboards as well). Of his most recent album, The Rainwater LP, All Music Guide writes that “from Greenwood’s rhythmic leanings to his vocabulary, there is no overlooking the hip-hop sensibilities that assert themselves on introspective tracks.” To hear Citizen Cope perform these new songs, visit the Tarrytown Music Hall on January 21.

Greenwood, aka Citizen Cope

Continue reading for our Home Theater section.

Home Theater

Genre movies to add to your queue this month

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest DVD Release Date: January 25, Music Box Films Home Entertainment Those of you who have been swept away by Stieg Larsson’s popular book series—and, really, by now, who hasn’t?—need the sense of closure from this third (and final) film of the Millennium Trilogy. Definitely go for the Swedish version of the films: Sweden’s Noomi Rapace has received all-out raves for her portrayal of hacker Lisbeth Salander—better than any starlet David Fincher can dredge up for his upcoming American versions of the series.

Machete DVD Release Date: January 4, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment If you miss those exploitation films of yore and are looking for something over-the-top to watch, well, Machete lives up to its name. It started off as a spoof—a fake trailer created for the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino joint venture Grindhouse—but Rodriguez and a co-director decided to try and make a real movie that lived up to the trailer’s promise of big blades, big guns, and big explosions. The grizzled Danny Trejo is a perfect match for his revenge-seeking ex-Federale character.

The Naked Kiss and Shock Corridor DVD Release Date: January 18, Criterion Collection From the always top-notch Criterion Collection comes a pair of films from master director Samuel Fuller. The Naked Kiss is another one of those tales in which there’s trouble brewing in a seemingly idyllic suburb—and Constance Towers plays an ex-prostitute who uncovers it. Shock Corridor provides another uneasy tale, in which a reporter has himself committed to a mental hospital to investigate a crime—and his own sanity. Both DVDs come with cool artwork from cartoonist Daniel Clowes (Ghost World).

Justified: The Complete First Season DVD Release Date: January 25, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Who knows grit better than Elmore Leonard? This FX series adapts and expands one of Leonard’s stories, “Fire in the Hole,” into a 13-episode first season. Justified follows Raylan Givens, a U.S. Marshal who gets transferred from glamorous Miami to the eastern Kentucky county where he grew up, where there are plenty of bad guys and loose strings for him to tie up. Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood) steps into the role of Givens—and man, does he look good in a cowboy hat (if that’s your thing).