Halloween comes early to the National Gallery of Art

Murakami Takashi, In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, Heisel period, 2014, the Broad Art Foundation, Los Angeles. Murakami adopted the practice of 18th century Japanese artists who spread their art over long canvases. Here, Murakami used 82 feet to answer the destruction and turmoil in Japan caused by the 2011 tsunami and earthquake. So many elements compete for attention, eyes run from one end of the canvas to the other, making it difficult to focus on just one part/Photo by Patricia Leslie

To accommodate the throngs and to make up for lost hours due to the government shutdown a few months ago, the National Gallery of Art has extended viewing hours of The Life of Animals in Japanese Art until 8 p.m. every night until the show closes August 18.

 

Detail of Kirukara Dragon, Kamakura period, 12th-13th century, by an unknown artist. Made of wood, iron, and crystal. Myooji, Okayama Prefecture. The catalog says this is Fudd Mydd as a "dragon-coiled jeweled weapon" devouring an iron blade which is powerful enough to end disease and bring rain. This reminds me of having to eat prunes my mother gave me every morning for breakfast. See the full work below/Photo by Patricia Leslie. Please pardon the reflections in the protective glass coverings.

Unknown artist, Kirukara Dragon, Kamakura period, 12th-13th century/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Mokujiki Byakudo, Ugajin with Snake, Edo period, 18th-19th century, wood, Shingen'in, Tokyo. Rather than the snake squeezing this man to death, the figure is the snake, Ugajin, a deity the "common people" believed would bring good fortune. Snakes were considered positive omens (!), like dragons which brought rain, so Ugajin was stationed at river sources and other holy water places. The artist was a monk who carved his wood to look like snake skin.  He succeeded!/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The Japanese animals exhibition covers 18,000 square feet in the National Gallery's East Building and has more than 300 objects on display. Almost 100 lenders sent their works for the show which extends from the fifth century to present day.  

Most works are not the "scary" kind shown here, but include lobsters, fish, butterflies, insects, rare birds, a camel, parrot, hawks, horses, and more, including sex with two octopuses (in the catalog.  On view at NGA? Loaned by the British Museum).

Almost 180 works are called "masterpieces" which rarely leave Japan, and seven are deemed "Important Cultural Property."

The artist, Fukase Masahisa (1934-2012) may have been a fan of Edgar Allan Poe who wrote The Raven in 1845. This is one of the artist's Series Ravens from the Showa period, 1975, loaned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The catalog says these 62 photographs are mislabeled, possibly due to an error in translation since Japan has no ravens, but it's got crows which can be harbingers of calamity or serve as messengers from heaven.  In this case, the birds were bad omens for the artist, an alcoholic beset by personal woes who lay in a coma for 20 years before he died as a result of a fall. Beware, crows!/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Detail of Articulated Dragon, Edo period, 1713, by Myochin Muneaki, iron, Tokyo National Museum which reminds me of an articulated relative I have/Photo by Patricia Leslie

You see, the Articulated Dragon is really not so big and scary, after all, when his real size is juxtaposed below Morita Shiryu's Dragon but still, I would not want to meet him on a dark and stormy night. Or anywhere. Especially since he's four feet long. Shiryu's Dragon is a four panel screen from the Showa period, 1965, loaned by Lucia R. Henderson and D. Clay Ackerly, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Gan Ku, one of his Ferocious Tigers from a six-panel screen, Edo period, 1822. Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo. Tigers are not native to Japan, so the artists modeled their cats on Chinese renderings and their own artistic expressions. In this case, however, Gan Ku had an actual tiger skull which he used for his tiger art. I've never been a cat fan and this explains why. Another cat hisses below/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Munekazu, Snake, Edo-Meiji periods, mid to late 19th century, Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum, Kyoto. Yeekers!  Yikers!  This handsome fellow is all iron, folks, and stronger than you. The catalog has him coiled up and ready to strike! Just six feet long/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, The Origin Story of the Cat Stone at Okabe, Representing One of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road, Edo period, 1847, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A ferocious cat, one of the monsters in Japanese folklore which assumes magical powers in its old age which can eat humans and then become a shape of the human it eats! So the office pill you complain about?  Maybe, he was at one time a nekomata, a real monster, after all. Talk about sources for science fiction! (Or, maybe not.) Come to the National Gallery of Art!  Yikes!  The catalog has nekomata spread over two pages. You can almost feel those teeth sinking in your skin! CATalogue buyers, beware/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This unusual specimen is Utagawa Yoshitora's Picture of the Twelve Animals to Protect the Safety of the Home, Edo period, 1858, woodblock print, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Can you find 12 animals? Come to the show and read the label copy or buy a catalog.  (See below.)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A National Gallery art historian leads a "pop-up" tour at the evening show and describes Fugen's Elephant, Kamakura period, 13th century, private collection. Wood with pigments, crystal eyes, by an unknown artist. "Important Cultural Property." The elephant has six tusks and because its back legs bend at the knees, unlike elephant's legs, the artist may have modeled her sculpture using a horse.  According to the catalog editors, she may never have seen an elephant/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Unknown artist, Pair of Dogs, Edo period, 19th century, made of paper mâché, gold leaf, and pigment. Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo.  These were typically given to girls for their birthdays as prayers or good luck finding a mate.  The upper half is removable.  The figures are covered with lucky charms: a crane, turtle, bamboo, and pines. But, dogs?  Dogs?  These are dogs? They look like kitty-cats to me, but, maybe dogs were made differently in the 19th century. Do you think the label copy got mixed up with all the cats in the show? Not/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Various artists, Suit of Armor Shaped Like a Tengu, Edo period, 1854.  The Ann & Gabriel Barbier Mueller Museum, Dallas. The catalog says this is half man, half crow with a "deviant nature." /Photo by Patricia Leslie

Gusoku Armor with Dragon, Edo period, 19th century, Tokyo National Museum. (Please forgive the reflections which appear in the glass.)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Unknown artist, Horse Mask, Edo period, 1603-1868, The Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Museum, Dallas.  The Edo period was "relatively peaceful" says the catalog, and this mask shows off the owner's wealth. It was used in military parades. Mr. Ed, he's not/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Unknown artist, Eboshi-Shaped Helmet with Deer Antlers and Half Mask, Momayama periods, late 16th century, Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Museum, Dallas. The label says real deer antlers were added later in gold lacquer, perhaps because deer were associated with long life.  It's enough to scare the dear out of me/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Unknown artist, Helmet Shaped Like a Shachihoko, Edo period, 17th-18th century, Kozu Kobunka Museum, Kyoto. Wear this on your blind date and see what kind of sense of humor he has.  Yikers!/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Takamura Kōun, Aged Monkey, Meiji period, 1893, wood, Tokyo National Museum. To make this sculpture, the artist studied a real monkey in a tea shop, the label notes. The piece went on to win a gold medal at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and designation as an "Important Cultural Property" by the Japanese government/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Miyagawa Kōzan I, Footed Bowl with Applied Crabs, Meiji period, 1881, stoneware with brown glaze, Tokyo National Museum; "Important Cultural Property."  This may be my favorite of the whole show.  Why? Crabs climbing on china? Get out of here.  It's fabulous!  The colors.   Look closely, there are two crabs "in union." Kozan's talents earned him appointment to the Imperial Household. (Forsoothe! Crabs for the kettle?  To be boiled and eaten? Monsieur and Madame Crab! Yonder! Go and flee!)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The purpose of the show is to promote Japanese culture in the U.S. and is part of Japan, 2019. 

Free audio tours are available, and during the evening hours, Japanese art historians lead free 15-minute "pop-up" talks.

My little children (all grown up now) would love this show and, like their mama, would adore walking through the still zoo filled with all the sounds an imagination can make.

Nawa Kohei, PixCell-Bambi #14, Heisei period, 2015, mixed media, Collection of Ms. Stefany Wang. This may be the most innocent of any of the art forms shown here, but the artist used an actual deer (!) preserved by a taxidermist to make exquisite forms she surrounds with resin and clear glass beads and a "shell of light." That's a cloud which holds Frozen Bambi/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The exhibition is not all scary (just the works I like the best). Beautifully made gowns featuring animal designs are included like Kosode with the Twelve Zodiac Animals, Edo period, 19th century by an unknown artist. Silk damask, embroidery. Museum of Japanese History. The catalog says this is an "extremely rare example of all 12 zodiac animals depicted on a single kosode" with each animal "paired with its specific flower or tree."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

An unknown artist made these wooden (!) and bamboo (!) Pair of Pillows with Baku, Edo period, c. 1800, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. These "wedding pillows" (what kind of honeymoon?) lifted heads from the floor where the lucky (?) couple slept. (Did they ever have any children?) Since the "baku" ate nightmares, more sleep was possible. (Were these actually used?) They remind me of my book bag "pillow" in Seattle, and about as comfortable/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Some of the gowns in the exhibition which is not all scary animals but also includes scrolls, screens, and china/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Mannequins wearing animal designs by Issey Miyake of the Showa-Heisei periods, 1989-1999,  share the last gallery with Murakami Takashi's In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, Heisel period, 2014, which runs along two walls/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A portion of Murakami Takashi's In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, Heisel period, 2014, the Broad Art Foundation, Los Angeles/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Mannequins wearing animal designs by Issey Miyake of the Showa-Heisei periods, 1989-1999,  share the last gallery with Murakami Takashi's In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, Heisel period, 2014 /Photo by Patricia Leslie
 

Here is a link to a National Gallery three-minute video and introduction to the exhibition, narrated by curator Robert Singer, head of Japanese art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

In the video Mr. Singer says the exhibition was "11 years in preparation" and "is the largest show ever devoted to the love the Japanese have for animals," and it features women artists. 

Last month, light sensitivity required 50 objects to be rotated out, but others were brought in to take their places. 

Animals in Japanese Art next opens at LACMA September 22, 2019 and closes December 8, 2019.

Organizers of the exhibition were the LACMA and the National Gallery of Art with significant assistance from the Japan Foundation and "special cooperation" of the Tokyo National Museum. 

What: The Life of Animals in Japanese Art 

When: Now through August 18, 2019

Where: The National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall. The National Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.

How much: No charge. 

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215



Catalog: The Life of Animals in Japanese Art: Exhibition Catalog. About 350 pages with 425 color illustrations, available soft ($39.95) or hard ($65) cover. $20 discount for purchases of more than $100.

The eye of the octopus at the Sitka (Alaska) Sound Science Center/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The eye of the octopus at the Sitka (Alaska) Sound Science Center/Photo by Patricia Leslie
 
patricialesli@gmail.com

Sleeping in Seattle

Sleeping at SEA-TAC/Photo by Patricia Leslie

On the floor at 4 a.m. at SEA-TAC , but at least they had pillows.  If they had taken a right turn off Concourse C, they would have found sleeping pads (sans armrests) on couches. They missed the website/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sleeping at SEA-TAC with what looks like a baby blanket, but where's the baby?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Remind you of anything?  These were sea lions we saw (later, after the airport) from a catamaran on our way to Muir Glacier in Glacier Bay Basin, Alaska. The National Park Service Ranger on board the ship said the big one with his nose in the air was the King of the Lions. Thank goodness there were none of those at the Seattle airport (nor snorers) because from the boat we could hear this fellow bellowing.  I must say he was louder that all the security noise at check-in/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Remind you of ...us? We are all one big happy family anyway, just a bunch of mammals getting necessary rejuvenation. These are sea lions in Glacier Bay Basin, Alaska/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Day breaks at SEA-TAC/Photo by Patricia Leslie

From the airport, the Seattle landmark known as the Great Pyramid of the West?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Day break is so purdy at SEA-TAC, I had to throw in this one, too/Photo by Patricia Leslie

To sleep or not to sleep in the Seattle airport?

I had a six-hour layover and rather than go to a motel and spend all that money and time, I thought I'd check it out, sleeping at the airport.

Was that possible?  Would "they" let me sleep at their airport?

I went online and found a handy site for sleeping at airports, called (strangely enough) "Sleeping in Airports" with SEA-TAC included, and off I went! 

Saving money?

Yup.

The website listed the best places for shuteye at SEA-TAC with sleeping “couches” and places to eat which stay open 24/7. 

I followed its suggestions for Concourse C but actually found more comfortable sleeping pads beyond C (exiting to the right at the end of the concourse) which wasn’t the quietest place to sleep (right beyond a 24/7 Security check-in) but given “security,” I figured I was pretty well covered and didn't have to worry about "security" all night with the cameras everywhere, and the passengers and crews checking in all night, darn them. 

(And nearby was a 24/7 restaurant.)

Bang! Bang! Clang! Clang! Thud! Thud!  Like at a train station, it was hard to sleep with all the security racket.

But now I lay me down to sleep and did cat-nap a while, waking every hour or so to check on my surroundings and to make sure I didn't oversleep (hardly) and miss my connection to Sitka.

Throughout the night, other sleepers joined me (where room permitted on the couches), and the population continued to change.

My worst complaint was my “pillow” made of my carry-on book bag and let me tell you, hard edges and corners of books do not make good bedfellows.  

To replace the travel pillow I lost last year (grrrr....Finn Air), I bought an American Tourister travel pillow this year, and it was so bad, I didn't care if I lost it, too, and so I did. ("Travel" pillows are not pillow pillows, if you catch my drift.)


The noise around me rose considerably around 4 a.m. when I made my final rising, feeling a little bit "scrunchy," but considering all that money I saved, "scrunchy" quickly disappeared. 

As I ambled down the concourse to my connection, I found sleepers on the floor, hugging the walls of the walkway in crooked positions, who, obviously, had not found the website, but they had pillows, at least, and there lay a person covered head to toe by a sheet and a pillow stretched out on one of those curving padded couches, I declare.

To my new friends on a tour of Alaska, sleeping in Seattle was a subject I mentioned more than once since I spent the “saved” hotel money about ten times over, chirping with every purchase:  “I’m buying this with the money I saved at SEA-TAC!” 

Before you know it, SEA-TAC may start a “sleeping fee” but, sshhhhh…not to mention ....

But, how about some pillow rentals? I'd pay for that!

Thank you, SEA-TAC, for letting me stay over!  

patricialesli@gmail.com

 

Highly recommended, 'Mike Wallace' and 'Maiden' documentaries

 

 Mike Wallace is Here, a film by Avi Belkin/Photo by Magnolia Pictures

I don't know why I enjoy documentaries so much, but Mike Wallace is Here, Maiden, and Echo in the Canyon are the last three movies I've seen, and I've loved them all.

Mike Wallace is Here is the story of his news life beginning with acne (?) and his attempts to cover it up with radio broadcasting. From radio and advertising, his career soars, told in clips and interviews and separated by too many lines of color and flashbacks which are confusing at times.

I cannot imagine this film appealing to anyone under age 45 ("Who's Mike Wallace?") and certainly not to anyone who is not a news junkie since it's "hardcore," a glorification of his news life.  Omitted are his harassment of females at CBS and Mr. Wallace's racist remarks, but the content of the last half of the 20th century is valuable for American modern history and journalism classes.

It would have been better with subtitles of the names of all those he interviewed and the years of the interviews.  Most members of the audience likely can identify all, but in some cases, immediate identification would have helped and saved brain time. (Stick around at the end for the credits and IDs.)

Who knew Putin speaks English? Some of the other celebrities included in the film are Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Johnny Carson, John Ehrlichman, Barbra Streisand, Bette Davis (looking wonderful), Arthur Miller, Frank Lloyd Wright, Donald Trump, Ayatollah Khomeini (whose interview may have led to the assassination of Anwar Sadat), Salvador Dali (!), Larry King, and Oriana Fallaci (who's she?). His son, Chris Wallace of Fox fame, occupies just a snippet in the film, and none of Mike Wallace's four wives are screened.  Two are briefly mentioned. Also welcome would have been a note about Mike Wallace's death, when, where, and why. (He died in 2012 of natural causes.) When his son, Peter, was 19 and missing in Greece, Mike Wallace took off and found Peter's body below a steep cliff, lying on rocks in the water. His death was always intolerable pain for Mr. Wallace as it is for any parent experiencing this tragedy. I found myself wishing, wishing, wishing to see the entirety of most of the interviews (where can I go to find them?) since they were far too short, most, lasting just a few seconds.

Maiden, a Sony Pictures Classics release

On a more positive note is Maiden, about the woman, Tracy Edwards, who skippered the ship and a crew of women in the 1989 Whitbread Round the World Race (now called the Ocean Race). Clips and chronology of her story to obtain a boat and secure financing (from King Hussein of Jordan, no less, thanks to a chance encounter) make this an invigorating true-sail (could not resist). (Attention: Never turn down an opportunity to meet the great and not-so-great. Who knows where it will lead?)

Current interviews with the sailors and flashbacks to their 1989 roles make this a strong show and impetus for girls (and women) everywhere!  A must for feminist history classes.  Ms. Edwards and her crew became the first all-female staff to finish the race, winning several legs of the 33,000 mile journey which takes nine months to sail around the world.   Depression suffered by Ms. Edwards and Mr. Wallace receives considerable attention in both films.   Maiden's story is much easier to follow than the Mike Wallace film since Maiden's early clips are presented mostly in chronological order, while in Wallace, we go back and forth from here to then and back again and then up and down. (His hairstyle, color, and thickness help to keep viewers afloat.) Original music by John Piscitello (Mike Wallace) and Rob Manning and Samuel Sim (Maiden) is electrifying, capturing the moods and tensions of both films. Take a happy hanky to Maiden for its enthusiastic ending with audience applause. patricialesli@gmail.com

 

'Producers' deliver huge hit in Alexandria

Leo (Ryan Phillips) and Follies Girls (from left) Taegan Chirinos, Cheryl Bolt, Erin Pugh, Kathleen West, Shannon Robichaud, Colleen Kleveno) in Little Theatre of Alexandria's The Producers/photo by Matthew Randall

If any seats remain for The Producers by the time you read this, it will raise my eyebrows since words on the street travel faster than the digital or printed kind.

Take my words for it:  This is a sizzler of a comedy which will make you happy you came and enjoyed a good time at the theatre.

Leo (Ryan Phillips), left, and Max (Steve Cairns)  in Little Theatre of Alexandria's The Producers/photo by Matthew Randall

Just the name Mel Brooks (still kicking at age 93; he's Jewish - keep reading) is enough to drive me anywhere to whatever of his is on stage, and fortunately for us locals, that means the Little Theatre of Alexandria to see the show that was such a movie hit, Brooks turned it into a Broadway musical which ran six years and won 12 Tonys. (Now, that's a reversal of the process.)


From start to finish, it's full of action and laughs with Steve Cairns as Max Bialystock, the once famous Broadway producer, who convinces a naive accountant to join him and produce a terrible play so they can collect big losses from their big flop. (Be careful what you wish for.)


Ryan Phillips is the accountant, Leo Bloom (and he does) whose sophistication throughout the show increases to match his growing awareness of the theatre world and how it operates. (His education in theatre performance at George Mason University is quite evident.)

 
       "You've mistaken me for somebody 
           with a spine." 

"There's a lot more to me than me."

Enter the playwright, a German named Franz Liebkind (Chad Ramsey), appropriately clothed throughout the show in lederhosen and wearing a mad Hitler helmet and a black beard, to take over and star in his masterpiece, Springtime for Hitler.

What's a play without sex? Not a fun play. Here comes the girly, flirty Ulla (Sirena Dib) who hypnotizes Leo and weaves her "magic."

And not to forget the director of the "loser of a play," Roger (Brian Lyons-Burke), always assisted by his able fairy, Carmen Ghia (Timothy R. Kingboth) who produce regales of laughter and whose sparkling diamond lapels can be seen from the rear of the theatre.

Costumers Jean Schlicting and Kit Sibley, assisted by wardrobe coordinator Robin Worthington, had their hands full, fashioning outfits for 21 cast members whose female ensemble wear sexy scanty designs as members of a chorus line before they are clad as little old ladies in flowered dresses (just below the knees, please) with white collars, gloves, hats, and, natch, pearls. 

The ladies' walkers become dance partners, and sounds emanate from the taps of their shoes clicking on the floors. (Ditto the accountants in these two memorable scenes. Stefan Sittig, choreographer, and Alan Wray, sound designer, exceed expectations.)

In addition to the heavyweights, the ensemble are the stars who carry the show and work to make it the "worst show" with the "worst directors and worst actors" (say, what?) because a flop which is not a flop but flips is a flop of a plan. (Huh?  You have to be there.) 

Dan Remmers has designed almost minimalist sets to avoid interference with the dialogue, and that's a good thing. 


Conductor Colin Taylor leads an orchestra of 22 members critical to the show's success. They play "upstairs," mostly hidden from view.

In 2015 I saw The Producers at the Olney Theatre and was happy to see it starting up in Alexandria because the "second-time around" is just as good and merry. 

Attention:  PC Police: It is not. But, why can't we still have fun?  Is it such a dastard world that we can't get off and enjoy a good time?

"Stop the world!  I want to get on!"

To quote Director Kristina Friedgen: Let's "laugh at ourselves more and allow others to laugh with us," or as Max puts it to Leo: "Smile and the world smiles with you."

Now, that's entertainment!
 
Members of the ensemble act in several different roles.  They are Drake Leach, Cheryl Bolt, Taegan Chirinos, Brian Delp, Chad Friedman, Rachel Hogan, Colleen Kleveno, Derek Marsh, Anne McPherson, Erin Pugh, Mike Sarisky, Brandon Steele, and Kathleen West.

Also, Courtney M. Caliendo and Shannon Robichaud who are dance captains.

Other crew members are David Correia and Mary Beth Smith-Toomey, producers; Haley Dandreaux, assistant director; Steven McBride, vocal director; Rob Cork and Nick Friedlander, stage managers; Tom O'Reilly, set construction; De Nicholson-Lamb, set painting; Russell J. Wyland, set decoration; Kirsten Apker, properties; Ken and Patti Crowley, lighting; Larissa Norris, makeup; and Susan Boyd, hair and wig designs.

What: The Producers by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
 
When: Now through August 17, 2019. Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m.

Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Tickets: $29 to $34

Rating: PG-13. Language: "R" A few contemporary slang words are uttered infrequently. Adult themes.

Duration: Two hours with one 15-minute intermission

Public transportation: Check the Metro website which supplies information to LTA during Metro station improvements.

Parking: On the streets and in many garages nearby. If Capital One Bank at Wilkes and Washington streets is closed, the bank's lot is open to LTA patrons at no charge.
 

For more information: 703-683-0496

patricialesli@gmail.com