Art isn’t just something nice and pretty or fun— though it can be those things. It also is an essential tool for survival, as you’ll see in some of the offerings taking place this week. Whether it’s poetry that helps us heal from unfathomable misfortune, dance that mines personal histories, or pottery that shares the breadth and depth of a single moment, art in its many forms is essential for how we meet the world. Read on for more about Michael Sommer’s latest exhibition plus events, Puppet Lab at Open Eye, and Loki Karuna (formerly Garrett McQueen) curating an evening of work with the Lakes Area Music Festival.
Poetry Night with Carolyn Light Bell and Paula Cisewski
Sometimes, when the horrors of the world rise up with such acute violence a question comes up: what’s the point of art in such moments? With all the pain and suffering and despair, why would we turn to paintings, to music and to poetry? Carolyn Light Bell and Paula Cisewski might offer some answers here.
The two poets have books out that reflect on excruciating moments of their lives, and through poetry, work through those layers of grief and sorrow to find beauty and survival. Carolyn Light Bell’s “The Joshua Poems” is inspired by her son, who died by suicide. Written in the three years following his death, Light Bell shares her experiences of loss. Paula Cisewski, meanwhile, also moves through grief and loss in her work, “Ceremonies for No Repair,” set in the early days of the pandemic at the time of her mother’s death. With poetry, prose, and drawings, Cisewski investigates the present moment.
Both poets will be reading their work Wednesday, April 10 at 7 p.m. at Magers & Quinn (free but registration required). More information here.
STRONGmovement: Storytellers
As a performer, Darrius Strong has immense presence onstage that captivates. Whether he’s effortlessly demonstrating the polyrhythmic movement of hip hop or channeling emotion and poetry in his lyrical modern dance, Strong brings not only his skill but all that he is as a person to the stage. This week, Strong presents his choreography in a showcase at the Luminary Art Center.
For this body of work, the choreographer interrogates his own life experiences with his family members and with his life as the father of a young child into narrative-driven personal work. He’s joined by five dancers for the performance.
Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 14 at 2:30 p.m. at the Luminary Arts Center ($32). More information here.
Maud’s Bed
The next exhibition at Hair + Nail Gallery features an artist based here in the Twin Cities and born in Little Rock, Arkansas. Ginny Sims is a potter but really she’s a storyteller who offers anecdotes and almost visual prose poems about life and experience with her hand-made clay works. In the exhibition, Sims references the bed of folk artist Maud Lewis, which was preserved after the artist’s death along with the rest of her house and belongings. She also finds inspiration from other beds, including a clay piece by the Spanish artist Antoni Tàpies called “Llit Obert” and a famous bed installation by Tracey Emin that was exhibited at the Tate Gallery in 1999. With her colorful pieces, she tells the story of people in a moment and the details of places, objects, and human interaction that make for life’s profundity.
The opening reception takes place Saturday, April 13 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Hair & Nails Gallery, with the exhibition running through May 12 (free). More information here.
Related: What to see at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival
Michael Sommers: Prudence and Misfortune
You may know of Michael Sommer’s work from his many years at Open Eye Theatre, where he was co-founder and artistic director. Sommer’s talents as a visual artist, puppeteer and storyteller came through in often darkly comic tales painted with exquisite detail and artistry. In recent years, Sommers has been engaged in a number of independent projects, like short-run performances at his South Minneapolis studio (called m.i.a.), and visual art and puppetry presented around town.
This month, Sommers will be presenting a new exhibition at NE Sculpture | Gallery Factory called “Prudence and Misfortune.” It runs through May, and besides the exhibition, will have a number of pop-up performance events culminating in a giant sailboat being burned, so I’m told. The new work in the show includes art made of cement, and clay figures wrapped around 100 year old nails from the building he lives in. He’s also presenting the aforementioned wooden boat, with a sail he wove out of old drapes from the University of Minnesota’s dance department.
It all starts this Friday, April 12 with an opening reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (free). Upcoming events include a “puppet interlude” on Friday April 19 at 8 p.m., an artist conversation on Friday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. another performance event on May 3rd at 8 p.m. that includes a gorilla, and the final “Boat Burning Fellowship” event on Saturday, May 4 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. More information here.
Puppet Lab
Speaking of Open Eye, the theater hosts its annual Puppet Lab festival, with new works by its five residency artists. It starts this week with a vintage video game-inspired piece called “Drs. Quirk and Quark Present: A Romantic Demonstration of Our Most Wonderful Machine,” by Maggie Arbeiter & Fletcher Wolfe and a work pondering in-between states of being focused on an abandoned suitcase called “The Everywhere In Between,” by Felicia Cooper. Performances are Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 14 at 2 p.m. ($18)
Next week, the fest continues with a piece about a boy and a mermaid called “Wishes in the Sand” by David Hanzal, and the story of Tofu the Barbarian called “The Chopping Block,” by Erica Warren.
Those shows run Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 21 at 2 p.m. ($18). More information here.
Lakes Area Music Festival: Loki Karuna Curation
Loki Karuna (formerly Garrett McQueen) makes the case for jazz’s place in the classical music canon in a curated evening of music hosted by the Lakes Area Music Festival. It’s the final offering of LAMF’s Winter Series performed in Brainerd and the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis.
From Dave Brubeck’s iconic “Take Five” to composer Damien Geter’s “Neo Soul,” the evening aims to broaden the understanding of how we think about classical music. As part of that discourse, Karuna includes music made in the classical music genre that features the saxophone, often thought of as a jazz musical instrument. As part of the show you’ll hear Eugène Bozza’s Aria for saxophone and piano and Michael Malis’ “Five Stations for Saxophone, Piano and String Quartet.”
Thursday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis ($0-$50). Sunday, April 14, at 2:00 p.m. at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts in Brainerd. More information here.
The Sámi National Theater Beaivváš
Back in February, I wrote about exhibitions at the American Swedish Institute and All My Relations Arts that explore indigenous cultures across different continents. “Okizi (To Heal)” at AMRA closes this Saturday, so if you haven’t had a chance, I’d really recommend checking out the show before it leaves. “Arctic Highways: Unbounded Indigenous People,” and “Mygration,” meanwhile, runs through May 26 at ASI. Both shows highlight the work of Sámi artists in relation to works by other artists.
Meanwhile, next week another dose of Sámi culture comes to town for two performances at ASI. The Sámi National Theater Beaivváš is on its U.S. debut tour, with a concert incorporating yoik, a traditional singing style of Sámi communities. It’s a centuries-old art form you don’t often get to experience.
The group performs Tuesday, Apr. 16th, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. & Wednesday, April 17th, 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (free). Note: this event is sold out, but you can call 612-871-4907 to be added to the waitlist. More information here.
Sheila Regan
Sheila Regan is a Twin Cities-based arts journalist. She writes MinnPost’s twice-weekly Artscape column. She can be reached at sregan@minnpost.com.
