Todd Solondz’s films are not easy to like, and they’re not really intended to be. In Welcome to the Doll House, he tormented his protagonist, the geeky teen Dawn Wiener, to hilarious effect. But we were laughing with her, not at her; it was all too easy to identify with poor Wiener Dog. Well, in … Read more
The poor guy got saddled with a girl’s name, which, if you believe Johnny Cash, is enough to set a fellow on a murderous path. In this case, however, Marion Morrison changed his name and became a hero, wearing good-guy white in so many westerns that when he finally rode off into the sunset, in … Read more
We may be living in a post-post-feminist world, but that doesn’t mean that certain professions, filmmaking among them, aren’t still overwhelmingly male-dominated. The good news is that more women than ever are making movies; actual screenings of their work, howevever, are still surprisingly rare. The Walker’s annual festival, now in its twelfth year, gathers the … Read more
It’s hard to imagine Frank Gehry hitting on the inspiration to design aluminum buildings while living in his chilly home country, Canada. This exhibit credits his crazy idea instead to the fifteen years he spent living in Venice, California. There, Gehry soaked up the sunshine alongside the oddballs and beautiful dreamers who have long distinguished … Read more
Ever seen a bird sleeping? Probably not, although if you took a flashlight into the woods late one night and played its beam through the trees, you may get lucky and spy a snoozer on a branch. Daniel Wheeler’s creepy-beautiful paintings suggest scenarios in which they might indulge when they know that no one is … Read more
Stare at the vibrant swaths, dots, and squiggles in these prints and try to guess which blob means people are having sex. We’re the first in the U.S. to feast our eyes on the sometimes steamy, always stunning images made by the Warlpiri artists of Australia’s Tanami Desert region. All those dots and squiggles translate … Read more
The little-studio-tour-that-could has transformed the landscape of Northeast Minneapolis. In its first ten years, it has helped to spawn an arts organization, legislation designed to fight gentrification, and a thriving arts district mixed in among all those Polish churches and pubs. Despite all of that, Art-A-Whirl has maintained its scrappy, scatterbrained appeal, even in the … Read more
While interviewing Vietnam veterans, Mara Pelecis talked with a man named Phong Phan, who told her, “Many people have souvenirs–some souvenirs are very heavy.” Pelecis’s photos explore the kind that can tear people apart. She shows us life after wartime for Native Americans, Vietnamese, women, and her own father. One of her most moving works … Read more
Maybe it’s partly due to technology, or the global proliferation of biennials, or even a newish style of exhibition that the art critic Peter Schjeldahl dubbed “festivalism,” but more and more artists have been producing work on an extremely large scale. Given its own cavernous galleries, how could the Soap Factory not offer its own … Read more
“Laugh to keep from cryin’” was a maxim often employed by black vaudeville performers in the 1920s to endure racism, long hours, and atrocious pay, not to mention performing in humiliating productions. Things were even tougher on the traveling circuit, and yet amazingly, these vaudevillians still managed to bring warmth and quick-witted humor to audiences … Read more