Art review: Elad Lassry at the David Kordansky Gallery

Rarely is there enough visual information in a photograph by Elad Lassry to quite tell what is going on in the picture. That’s the reverse of what most photographs intend, dedicated as they typically are to delivering data selectively plucked from the quotidian world. Since we live in an engorged image-environment, where we are continuously hectored by photographs that purport to be telling us stuff, the subtle absence disorients.

Lassry’s marvelously peculiar show of a dozen recent photographs and a film at David Kordansky Gallery seems determined to head in a different direction from the photographic norm. He pulls information out of his pictures, draining it away.

Sometimes the method takes a while to see. A purple stripe down the center of what appears to be a publicity still obscures the show-biz image of a female entertainer who, at the margins, appears to be all spangles, ostrich feathers and curly blond hair. Look closely, though, and the stripe has been scratched and flaked, exposing bits of the hidden woman underneath; she becomes a postmodern Gypsy Rose Lee.

Sometimes the method is simple.

10 more GOP senators demand answers from the NEA about teleconference

Ten Republican senators have written to National Endowment for the Arts chairman Rocco Landesman, expressing concern that the Obama administration may have violated federal law by trying to use the agency for political purposes -- something the White House and NEA have denied.

The charges stem from an Aug. 10 teleconference in which the NEA's communications director urged members of the arts community to help Obama's efforts to spur volunteer community service.

Yosi Sergant was subsequently demoted by Landesman, and resigned Thursday. It was accepted effective immediately, an NEA spokeswoman said, adding that Sergant left voluntarily because he thought "he felt he was becoming a distraction for the agency."

Sergant, a former Los Angeles publicist, supported Obama's presidential bid and worked closely with artist Shepard Fairey on his independent "Obama Hope" poster campaign.

At the White House, the special counsel's offfice issued a memo to "White House staff and...agency and department heads," urging all hands to avoid "even the appearance of politicization" during "public outreach efforts" like the teleconference. The White House previously had issued a statement of regret about the incident.

Patrick Courrielche, a former employee of Sergant's with his own Los Angeles marketing company, was part of the group phone call and later posted a recording and transcript.  Writing on the Big Hollywood blog, Courrielche said the teleconference was improper political organizing on behalf of the president's legislative agenda. Courrielche also shared his concerns, and parts of the recording, on Glenn Beck's Fox News program.

NEA chairman explains communications director's demotion

"Loose lips sink ships" was a watchword in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In today's culture wars, what got scuttled was a former Los Angeles publicist's brief tenure as communications director of the National Endowment for the Arts, although he remains on the federal arts-grant agency's communications staff.

Rocco Landesman, the new NEA chairman, issued a written explanation today "to clarify the issues" surrounding an Aug. 10 conference call in which Yosi Sergant, representing the NEA, invited representatives from the arts world to get involved in President Obama's United We Serve volunteerism initiative. The teleconference got blogged about as an attempt to enlist artists on behalf of the White House's agenda, prompting Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to issue an open letter to the president expressing alarm over the politicization of the NEA, and suggesting that "this episode appears to merit congressional hearings and sustained oversight."

Landesman's statement reiterated the NEA's previous response that the purpose of the teleconference was supposed to be to inform the arts community of opportunities to take part in volunteerism programs, and "not a means to promote any legislative agenda."

The 'Kitsch' effect

Concrete pink flamingos.  A TV-shaped salt and pepper shaker that moonlights as a photo holder. A hot dog cookbook circa 1968. And a straw purse in the shape of a crab. Yes, they all exist in their kitschy glory. Not convinced? One need only visit songwriter-artist-video director-designer Allee Willis’ blog, Kitsch of the Day, for a daily sampling of kitschy-ness from her massive private collection.

But for the kitsch lovers who wish to share their own kitsch treasures, you’re in luck!

The Allee Willis Museum of Kitsch opens today. There’s no entry fee. Crowds won’t be a factor.  And photography is encouraged. This museum lives online.

The virtual depository -- see it for yourself at www.awmok.com -- gives social networking the kitsch effect. A selection of items from Willis’ colossal private collection will be showcased. Taking the virtual experience a step further, visitors can submit digital images and descriptions of their own kitsch treasures, which Willis will curate and add to the museum’s collection. And over at the aptly titled “Kitschenette” section, kitsch aficionados can interact with other like-minded kitsch lovers including Willis, live from her home, or the “kitsch command center.”

Her Valley Village home is a visual wonderland that is so overwhelming it requires double — sometimes triple — takes. Willis, whose compositions range from Earth, Wind and Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland” to what she calls the "very kitschy" “Friends” theme song, purchased the 1937 MGM “party house” in 1980 after her first hit record “September,” another Earth, Wind and Fire diddy. Multicolored bowling balls lie in the cactus garden. In the downstairs rec room are a Bobby Darin and Scripto pen promotional set (four songs, eight ink cartridges and one pen for $1.39) and a quartet of talking Monkees dolls.

“I just always loved old stuff,” Willis said. “I loved the fact that stuff was owned by other people.... I’m more interested in what the object does to the person than I am in the object itself.”

You can read more about the museum here. In the meantime, keep reading for a list of contemporary items Willis deems worthy of induction into the kitsch hall of fame (or is it shame?):

Texas senator warns Obama against 'politicization of the NEA'*

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) issued an open letter Wednesday asking President Obama to "take the necessary steps to ensure that the NEA and the American arts community it supports remain independent from political manipulation by the White House."

Cornyn's letter followed a blogger's critical report about a telephone conference last month in which the National Endowment for the Arts combined with the White House Office of Public Engagement to enlist artists on behalf of the administration's "United We Serve" volunteer service initiative.

Posting the letter on his official website, Cornyn said that "steering the arts community toward a pro-Administration political message" would violate the NEA's nonpartisan mandate. The endowment's main purpose is disbursing federal grants to nonprofit arts organizations.

Cornyn cautioned that NEA involvement in recruiting artists for a presidential initiative could suggest that "NEA grant opportunities ... may be tied to artists' willingness to use their creative talents to advance your administration's policies." He added: "this episode appears to merit congressional hearings and sustained oversight."

Responding by e-mail Wednesday, White House spokesman Shin Inouye said the Aug. 10 teleconference "was not meant to promote any legislative agenda -- it was a discussion on the United We Serve effort and how all Americans can participate."

Monster Mash: 'Persepolis 2.0' stirs controversy; Royal Opera House wants bloggers; Zeta-Jones could be Broadway bound

-- Political protest: Two expatriate Iranian comic book artists have updated Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis" to reflect the recent election controversies in their home country.

-- Star power: Catherine Zeta-Jones could be headed for Broadway in a new production of Sondheim's "A Little Night Music," according to one report.

-- Commemoration: Berliners are being invited to paint on remaining parts of the Wall ahead of the Nov. 9 anniversary of its collapse.

-- New voices: London's Royal Opera House is looking for bloggers to contribute to its website.

-- Thinning the ranks: New York's Whitney Museum of American Art has laid off 4% of its staff in an attempt to reduce costs.

-- Quality entertainment: Times theater critic Charles McNulty appreciates Showtime's "Nurse Jackie."

-- Honored: Pierre Audi, artistic director of the Netherlands Opera, will receive the first Johannes Vermeer Award, a prize presented by the Dutch minister of culture to recognize achievements in the arts.

-- Lawsuit: An art dealer is suing actress Claire Forlani for claiming that he sold her a fake photographic print.

-- Revisions: A new code proposes to change the way Australian aboriginal art is traded.

-- Accident: A man drowned while swimming in a lake that the Indianapolis Museum of Art is developing as part of an art and nature park.

-- David Ng

Photo: A scene from the feature-film adaptation of "Persepolis." Credit: Marjane Satrapi / Sony Pictures Classics

Monster Mash: Top museum earners; Landesman confirmed for NEA, Leach for NEH; 'Spider-Man' musical kaput for now

-- Top museum earners: Glenn D. Lowry, the head of New York's Museum of Modern Art, made $1.32 million in the year ending in June.  Also on the list is James Wood, the J. Paul Getty Trust's president and CEO, who made $1.1 million. 

-- Confirmation: The Senate has approved Rocco Landesman as the new head of the National Endowment for the Arts and Jim Leach for the National Endowment for the Humanities.

-- All is not lost: LACMA's Michael Govan claims that donors are stepping forward to rescue the museum's film program.

-- Twitter, the opera: London's Royal Opera House is creating a libretto out of tweets and will set them to familiar opera tunes for a staging planned for next month.

-- Waxworks: Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne takes a look at Hollywood's new Madame Tussauds museum.

-- Dramatic summit: Playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis blogs from the Ojai Playwrights Conference.

-- Riled up: The Dallas arts community is upset over proposed cuts and other changes to the city's cultural affairs department.

-- Historic discovery: A museum in Antwerp, Belgium, says it has authenticated a painting as having been created by Rembrandt.

-- Property values: Photographer Annie Leibovitz's financial problems stem in part from her costly renovations of her Greenwich Village properties.

-- Caught in a web: More confirmation that production has been halted on the upcoming Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark."

-- Rocker innovates: David Byrne has turned a building into a musical instrument thanks to an old pump organ.

-- David Ng

Photo: A view of the interior of New York's Museum of Modern Art. Credit: Associated Press

A 'West Side Story' for the Twitter set

When the much-anticipated revival of  “West Side Story” opened on Broadway earlier this year, one of the most-talked about aspects of the show was the translation of songs and scenes into Spanish. The change was designed to give more of a dramatic edge to the Latino characters 52 years after the Stephen Sondheim-Leonard Bernstein-Arthur Laurents musical first opened.

Well, sorry, guys, we know you’re big-time Tony Award-winning legends in musical theater, but this is the Internet Age. A bilingual “West Side Story” is sooooo March 2009. 

Those Facebook-addicted, Pandora-checking, evite-conflicted blog-savvy forces over at CollegeHumor.com have updated your update, putting a Net spin on the musical with their latest offering, “Web Site Story.” If you like the video, we suggest you Tweet this link to all your friends and followers out there. We know we did (follow us on Twitter @culturemonster).

-- Lisa Fung

Related coverage: Lin-Manuel Miranda's latest: It's a rap

Monster Mash: Josh Groban, Kiri Te Kanawa honored; T.R. Knight does theater in L.A.; job cuts at Art Institute of Chicago*

-- Hall of famers: Josh Groban, Kiri Te Kanawa receive honors at the Hollywood Bowl. Photo gallery of others appearing at the Bowl.

-- L.A. first, Broadway later: Despite rumors of a Broadway appearance as his next move, T.R. Knight of "Grey's Anatomy" will star in "Parade" at Mark Taper Forum.

--Move over, Shepard Fairey: A guerrilla artist in North Carolina faces charges over his hitchhiking monster made out of stolen orange traffic barrels.

-- Cost cutting: The Art Institute of Chicago lays off 22 people, or 3% of its staff.

-- Cost cutting, Part 2: Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Conn., is laying off 4 to 5 people, or 10% of its staff. UPDATE: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said Long Wharf would be cutting 40 to 50 people.

-- Help for the president: 21 artists, dealers and curators offer their choices of artwork for the Obama White House.

-- Changing jobs: AmericanTheatreWeb is shutting down; Andy Propst moves to TheaterMania next month.

--  Post-Jeff Koons: Versailles plans its next contemporary art exhibition  -- Xavier Veilhan --on the palace grounds

-- Is she or isn't she -- and do we care? Mariah Carey reportedly plans to make her West End theater debut in a mystery show in London in the spring.

-- No sale: Eli Broad takes his New York apartment off the market.

-- Cursed or coincidence?: A problematic production of the "Scottish play" in Thousand Oaks.

-- Sarod player: India's "National Living Treasure," performer-composer Ali Akbar Khan, dies at 87.

-- Attention must be paid: Benedict Nightingale of the Times of London offers up 15 golden rules of theater etiquette.

-- Lisa Fung

Photo: Josh Groban at the Hollywood Bowl. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Monster Mash: Cirque founder sues; arts audience declining; more on OCMA art sale; new Mahler blog

--Controversy continues: Director of Laguna Museum of Art seeks chance to acquire plein air paintings quietly sold by OCMA to a private collector.

--Bad news, good news: Audience for the arts continues to decline, but the Internet offers hope, according to study by the National Endowment for the Arts.

--Unflattering depiction: Cirque du Soleil founder sues to halt bio depicting him as a bed-hopping scoundrel with an inexhaustible appetite for sex, drugs, and a rock 'n' roll lifestyle.

--Moving east: Erik Ehn leaving CalArts to head playwriting program at Brown University.

--Angry over job loss: Architect Richard Rogers claims "abuse of power" and "unconstitutional" behavior by Prince Charles in London residential project.

--Honoring composer: Universal Edition launches a Gustav Mahler blog (via The Rest Is Noise)

--Big-name directors: Film director Jonathan Demme and Tony-winner Joe Mantello to stage shows at MCC Theater.

--Flat-out change: Site of architect Norman Foster's planned 118-floor Russia Tower in Moscow now set to become a parking lot.

--This is a publicity stunt: Edinburgh Fringe announces contest for best publicity stunt.

--At long last: PBS to air "Chess" concert production, featuring Josh Groban and Adam Pascal on Wednesday. (See preview, find time slot here.)

--Looking for laughs: John Leguizamo hits the road with tour of "John Leguizamo Live!"

--More on Twitter: The venerable Royal Shakespeare Company starts Twittering. (Shameless plug: Follow us on Twitter: @culturemonster)

-- Lisa Fung

Caption: Bolton Colburn, director of Laguna Museum of Art, in 1998 photo. Credit:  Los Angeles Times