International Artists News

In a mesmerising display of performance art, renowned camouflage artist, Liu Bolin, vanished into his painting to craft yet another indelible memory at Art Bengaluru 2014. Showcasing his work in India for the first time, the artist created an installation titled "Charger Series - Peony No. 2" and also put up a live performance for the inauguration of the Art Festival, where he emerged from a Magazine Rack. South India's biggest Art Festival, Art Bengaluru's 5th Edition is being held at The Collection at UB City, Bangalore from 21st to 30th August, 2014. Beijing-based artist, Liu Bolin, uses art as a medium to comment on society and repressive social norms. His best known photo series, "Hiding in the City", took form in November 2005 when the Beijing city management demolished Suo Jia Cun - Asia's largest international artist village and Liu Bolin's home. As a silent protest to this event, Liu Bolin started his now legendary series Hiding in the City, which has spread beyond China countries like France, Italy & U.S.A. Art Bengaluru began in 2009 as a quest to encourage & develop a thriving community of artists & art connoisseurs in Bangalore. Each year, the festival puts forth new art concepts for its audience; this year the event has scaled new heights with Bolin's engaging performance at the inauguration. The Opening Night saw this talented artist blend into rows of shelves lined with magazines. Uzma Irfan - Executive Director, Corporate Communications - Prestige Group, Founder - Sublime Galleria and Conceptualizer & Organizer - Art Bengaluru said, "We are honoured to have an artist of the caliber of Liu Bolin at Art Bengaluru who will unveil an exclusive creation for the event. Each year Art Bengaluru aims to get bigger & better and this time we have reached a new level with the artworks & artists, which will place the festival on the global art map. I urge all of you to join us in celebrating these unique creations of art which are displayed at the festival." Speaking about Art Bengaluru, Artist Liu Bolin said, "Art Bengaluru is an incredible platform for artists to display their works. Over the years, the organisers of this festival have done their best to promote & support artists from diverse backgrounds and it is a pleasure to perform & showcase my work in India for the first time at Art Bengaluru." Another work of art by Bolin, which has held the audience captive, is his installation the Charger Series which has originated from the artist's dissatisfaction towards material possessions. This work of art shows cell phone chargers plugged into steel forms of the human body. The cell phone charger serves as an indicator of the boundless desires of human beings. Artist Bolin explains the concept, "As we carry more and more burdens on our shoulders, we are gradually pulled away from the essence of life. In my work, the variety of brands, styles & sizes of the chargers demonstrates the diversity of life while also exhibiting the traces of human desire. As functional objects become unusable, they perfectly represent the unappeasable nature of human desire." A form of social commentary, Bolin's artworks warn audiences of impending disasters caused by human overindulgence. About Art Bengaluru: Art Bengaluru (http://www.artbengaluru.in), one of the most reputed Art Festival's in India, has been created to showcase a wide spectrum of art forms and provide a platform for artists (both Indian & International) to exhibit their works. Launched in 2010, Art Bengaluru began with a vision to promote works of art and cultivate a thriving art community in the city. The First Year of Art Bengaluru saw 15 Galleries across the city participate in the week-long festival that also screened a series of Short Films, in addition to an Art Competition for Children. The Second Edition featured 15 Art Galleries from across the country with the highlight being the inaugural Luxury Art Auction. The Third Edition showcased 15 top National & International Art Galleries, a Children's Art Competition, Workshops, Speaker Sessions and the iconic International Art & Luxury Auction. Each year, the festival strives to rise a notch higher than the last, and in 2013 the much-awaited event saw over 100 National & International Artists showcase a diverse collection of artworks while the Auction saw on block works of celebrated artists such as M.F. Hussain, S.H. Raza, F.N. Souza, amongst others. The Fourth Edition also introduced Berserk - a unique Arts Conference for Children in addition to the trademark activities. For more information on 'Art Bengaluru 2014' please visit http://www.artbengaluru.in

The Canadian Opera Company's beloved production of Puccini's heartbreaking masterpiece of love, longing and loss, Madama Butterfly, comes to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts this October. An exquisite production by Canadian theatrical legend Brian Macdonald, designed by Susan Benson with lighting by Michael Whitfield, the COC'sMadama Butterfly has become a Toronto favourite, playing to sold-out audiences at its 1990 premiere and subsequent revivals in 1994, 1998, 2003 and 2009. Madama Butterfly is sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM and runs for 12 performances on October 10, 11, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 and 31, 2014.

The Canadian Opera Company's 2014/2015 season opens with an opera hailed as the crowning achievement of Verdi's career,Falstaff. This new company production is led by master director Canadian Robert Carsen and COC Music Director Johannes Debus with internationally acclaimed Canadian bass-baritoneGerald Finley making a long-awaited return to the COC in his role debut as the impoverished, loveable knight, Sir John Falstaff. Falstaff is sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM and comes to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts for seven performances onOctober 3, 9, 12, 14, 25, 29 and November 1, 2014.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents Isango Ensemble's The Magic Flute (Impempe Yomlingo), bringing thirty actors and musicians from South Africa to Chicago as part of CST's celebrated World's Stage Series. The Magic Flute reimagines Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's most beloved operatic work, incorporating African singing, pulsating beats and spirited storytelling into this 223-year-old classic. Based in Cape Town, the vibrant company of the Isango Ensemble unites the diverse nation of Africa by reinventing classics from the Western theater canon within a South African setting. Adapted and directed by Isango co-founder Mark Dornford-May, The Magic Flute took London by storm, garnering London's prestigious Laurence Olivier Award. The production will be performed at Skyline Stage on Navy Pier (next door to CST) for a limited engagement, September 25-28, 2014.

Cleve Carney Art Gallery presents “Amy Vogel: A Paraperspective” Sept. 4 - Oct. 25. “Amy Vogel: A Paraperspective” is a collaboration between Joseph Grigely and Amy Vogel, with a catalogue essay by Joseph Grigely. The opening preview reception is Thursday, Sept. 4 from 12-2 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The gallery will also host a conversation between the artists and Anthony Elms, a 2014 Whitney Biennial curator and Associate Curator of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Sunday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. This lecture is also free and open to the public. For more about the exhibition and related events, visit cod.edu/gallery or call 630.942.2321.

The Canadian Opera Company is proud to announce that it has selected Steven Kelley to serve in the opera company's new senior staff position of Chief Communications Officer. Kelley joins the COC in early October, coming directly from Houston Grand Opera where he has been director of marketing for the past four years.

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance, in partnership with Millennium Park and the City of Chicago, presents the opening night simulcast of the Chicago Dancing Festival tonight, August 20, at 7:30PM.

2014 marks the 31st Anniversary of the extraordinary Schools Spectacular. The year's celebration will be held at the Qantas Credit Union Arena (formerly known as the Sydney Entertainment Centre) with four performances being held on Friday 28 & Saturday 29 November.

From Friday September 12th through Sunday September 14th (Friday 2-11pm, Saturday 12-11pm, Sunday 12- 7pm), join international artists from Italy, Russia, Japan, China, Sweden, UK, Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, Nepal, Spain and others alongside thousands of art, music, and tattoo lovers as World Famous Tattoo Lou's Presents the United Ink Flight 914 Tattoo, Art and Music Festival at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Charles Lindbergh Blvd, Garden City, NY.

This autumn, the world will mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union. To commemorate this event, Burning Coal Theatre Company will present, for the first time anywhere, David Edgar's monumental Iron Curtain Trilogy. Performances run September 4 - 27, 2014 at 117 S. West Street, Raleigh, NC. Directed by Jerome Davis.

Marking the centenary of the outbreak of WW1, Time Zone Theatre and Austrian director Pamela Schermann invited British playwrights to respond to Karl Kraus's The Last Days of Mankind. The winning play, Shoot, I didn't mean that by Catriona Kerridge, will run alongside a staging of the epilogue of Kraus's epic. The resulting double-bill aims to encourage an intercultural dialogue about global conflicts combining a play by one of the most influential Austrian playwrights of the 20th century with an emerging British talent.

The Queer New York International Arts Festival (QNYIA) -- a festival of contemporary performance that explores and broadens the concept of queer (in) art -- returns for a third year with a diverse slate of performances by international artists, many presenting their work in New York City for the first time.

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance, in partnership with Millennium Park and the City of Chicago, presents the opening night simulcast of the Chicago Dancing Festival on Wednesday, August 20, at 7:30PM.

The Orchestre symphonique de Montreal has announced details of the 2014 edition of its popular three-day Festival, 'La Viree Classique' (OSM Classical Spree), which takes place today, August 14 to 16, 2014.

Opera Australia has announced details of its 2015 season, consolidating the recent success in building audiences, with a program that is uniquely audience-focused. Clear in its aim to grow audiences even further with masterpieces of opera and music theatre, the program for the year ahead is highly accessible, with a roster of artists at the top of their game. Now more than ever is the time to experience opera and to discover just why it's moved hearts and minds for so long.

Junction Arts Festival returns to energise Launceston, Tasmania from Wednesday 10 - Sunday 14 September, 2014 with five days of unexpected art adventures weaving through the city. From a one minute birthday party, to bands playing in household backyards, to 7 metre-tall inflatable bunnies and bicycle-powered karaoke machines, Junction Arts Festival offers intimate one-on-one encounters, high energy spectacles and an all manner of things in-between.

Cleve Carney Art Gallery presents “Amy Vogel: A Paraperspective” Sept. 4 - Oct. 25. “Amy Vogel: A Paraperspective” is a collaboration between Joseph Grigely and Amy Vogel, with a catalogue essay by Joseph Grigely. The opening preview reception is Thursday, Sept. 4 from 12-2 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director, today announced three major new scholarship initiatives at the New Museum. The Museum, which has always been at the forefront of artistic inquiry and experimentation, is an ideal place to conduct scholarship in contemporary art. Thoughtful and incisive platforms for discussion and debate around contemporary culture are a founding principal of the New Museum's mission. As the field, community, and audience for contemporary art continues to expand exponentially, geographically, and demographically, the need for scholarship has never been greater and the Museum is rededicating itself to this core purpose.

Come dance the night away at New Jersey's biggest dance party for commencement of the Classic Dance Movement Tour (CDM) on Saturday October 11, 2014.

Celebrating, exploring, and uniting Middle Eastern and Western dance for the 21st century, Bellydance Evolution presents its latest production with the world premiere of 'Alice in Wonderland' at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre tonight, August 1, 2014 at 8:30pm.