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 … Read more

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, … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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?