Author: rakemag

Every time we see an ad for the Gap’s laughably unattractive Red campaign for Africa, we cringe for Bono. The man who started his career writing great political songs should stick to that, rather than shilling a failing clothier’s misguided marketing schemes. He could take a cue from Ted Leo, whose catchy and beguiling indie rock tunes sit right beside those of the Shins, the Thrills, and the Postal Service. Sure, Leo’s troubled by the world, as evidenced by lyrics about girlfriends with eating disorders, the war in Iraq, police brutality, and Republican politics, but his lighthearted melodies offer an enticing bit of optimism. “Do you believe in something beautiful? Then get up and be it,” he sings. Listen up, Bono.

This fiddling, clogging, four-girl jug band reveres old-time American music, rabble-rousing, and knocking down gender boundaries. But unlike their compatriots the Dixie Chicks, Uncle Earl’s music is open to a wide range of influences. How else to explain their choice of Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones as producer, their occasional lyrics sung in Mandarin Chinese, and the albums marked by both humor and moments of show-stopping beauty? Guests like Tara Nevins (Donna the Buffalo) and Gillian Welch make appearances on their latest, Waterloo, Tennessee, and they’ll appear at the Cedar with country/ bluegrass favorite Jim Lauderdale. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-338-2674; www.thecedar.org

Six regionally based artists take cues from nature in artworks that are—and this is not intended as a backhanded compliment—both clever and stylish. Made from foam, plastic, and felt, Liz Miller’s Errant Ecosystem sprawls over three walls with graphical aplomb, while Holly Anderson Jorde’s quartet of seasonal ceramic assemblages radiates a 50s vibe. And the drawings on cardboard boxes of cardboard-boxes-as-architecture by David Lefkowitz resonate on numerous levels: Think living spaces for the homeless, playthings for children. Also on view: a wall drawing of bedclothes-as-landscape by Cherith Lundin, Margaret Pezalla-Granlund’s sculptural interpretations of icebergs and skateboard parks, and Erika Olson’s whimsical woodland constructions in felt. 651-266-1030; www.mmaa.org

Life at the Grande Chartreuse monastery, nestled deep within the French Alps, has remained virtually unchanged for almost a thousand years. Following their motto, “The Cross is steady while the world is turning,” these Carthusian monks live entirely in silence and are even cloistered from one another. In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Gröning sought permission to document their solitary life. “It is not time,” came the terse reply. Sixteen years later, however, the doors were opened. Gröning wandered unfettered through the monastery, recording the lives of these devout men using natural light and pretty much nothing else: no score, no voice-over, no archival footage. The result is a film of almost shocking gravity, and, at nearly three hours, it is perhaps a tonic for our fast, information-clogged life.

Like all good minimalists, Rollin Marquette trains his focus on the materials he works with: individual servings of pasteurized cheese-food product poked through chicken wire, or plastic tubes filled with electric-green antifreeze, or, in his latest installation, balsa wood and steel. Wedged into two galleries at the MIA (and piercing the wall between them), this untitled work offers up a series of contrasts: Dark industrial steel beams play off the bright, clean elegance of the gallery space; the sheer heft of those beams ironically holds aloft a ring of balsa wood—which is itself given weightiness and depth by being charred and waxed. (Or do those beams keep the ring from floating away?) On the whole, this assemblage comes off as some oddball feat of engineering, or a mysterious monument from a long-gone militaristic society. 612-870-3131; www.artsmia.org

Sure, you know Dylan’s from these parts, but do you really know Dylan? This retrospective of his early years, curated by Seattle’s Experience Music Project, should appeal to casual fans and obsessives alike, tracing his evolution from Hibbing rock ’n’ roller to Dinkytown folk-scenester, then on to New York, where he was destined to achieve almost-mythic status. The Weisman has expanded the exhibit to emphasize the legend’s Minnesota roots, including additional relics from his Hibbing and Dinkytown days. Bonuses include artifacts from Dylan’s contemporaries: a handwritten note from Joan Baez, the spur-adorned boots of Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, and Woody Guthrie’s acoustic guitar, with his name scratched, childlike, onto the back. 333 East River Rd., Minneapolis; 612-625-9494; www.weisman.umn.edu

Here’s an intriguing pairing. Amer and Mutu, both widely exhibited internationally, came to New York via Cairo and Nairobi, respectively, and focus on intersections between the woman and race, sex, power, and religion. Amer’s huge canvases are embellished with chaotic embroidery that, upon close inspection, reveals images of women from porn mags. The new works here add, in a couple of instances, stitched renderings of Disney princesses and Alice in Wonderland. Mutu, known for collages combining clippings from fashion magazines and African art books, presents Thrones: three rickety wooden chairs elevated with wobbly, unstable leg extensions that, she says, represent Western power structures. Hanging among them, upended bottles slowly drip red wine, creating spatters on the concrete floor—a reference to government-perpetrated violence, especially against women. 1021 Franklin Ave. E., Minneapolis; 612-872-7494; www.franklinartworks.org

What’s going on with printmaking in the world’s largest metropolis? This modest but wide-ranging show offers a glimpse—some thirty works from nine artists—of the current scene where populist ukiyo-e prints first blossomed in the sixteenth century. On the prominent end are works by Tesuya Noda, one of Japan’s best-known printmakers, including a selection from his “Diary” series (a still life from Israel casually pictures a string of bullets alongside a robe, mattress, and pair of shoes), while Miki Kato’s color intaglio prints, incorporating animals and old-fashioned wallpaper and doily patterns, have a more of-the-moment hipster appeal. Kato curated the exhibit with Tyler Starr, an American expat in Tokyo, whose color woodcuts are included, alongside images of tourist sites obliterated by imagined disasters, as rendered by lithographer Hisaharu Motoda. 2638 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-871-1326; www.highpointprintmaking.org

Aquatennial and Winter Carnival to merge.

More Speedo time!

Northwest Passage soon to be completed.

Global Warming: Beats the hell out of an ice age.

It’s treatable! Sort of like a meteorlogical bi-polar disorder.

Won’t that hole in the ozone be a handy escape hatch when the planet blows up?