The Prevalence of Ritual

By Ronald Young

July 9 — Sept. 4, 2021
Opening Reception July 9, 2021 5-8pm
Artist Talk August 14 10-12noon
The Kranzberg*

The Kranzberg Gallery hours are Thursdays to Sundays from 2-6pm. For questions or concerns, please contact [email protected]

My current studio practice involves recycling found objects from my immediate environment. Decayed decorative architectural features, old broken tools, rusty metals, and an abundance of St. Louis bricks are among the items I collect and repurpose into fragmented mixed media assemblages. The works are a blend of artistic practices from the West African people of the Congo/ Benin/Togo and Nigeria. I seek to incorporate into my assemblages the diasporic traditions of masks, sculpture, ancestry figures, and Nkisi n Kondi.

My assemblages are about the intersection of ideas and materials, visually represented through the juxtaposition of objects to invoke meaning which is both lyrical and visceral. The works are intentionally ambiguous and, just like the society they come from, full of contradictions. Embedded into the narrative of my assemblages are concepts of recontextualizing materials to make connections between the past and the present, America and Africa, the physical world, and the spiritual world.

The Prevalence of Ritual is a multi-disciplinary exhibition that explores the concept of The Power Object, the spiritual belief that all objects in nature have a soul. There are multiple levels of meaning to be derived from my harvesting of objects with strong autobiographical connotations, especially household items and tools. Such objects are “experienced” rather than “used” and are thus considered more spiritually potent. These Power Objects embody the collective consciousness of generations of African Americans rooted in the aesthetic traditions of Sankofa, the African concept of understanding one’s past in order to go forward.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A BROWN BUFFALO II

By José Guadalupe Garza

July 9 — Aug. 28, 2021
Artist Talk August 7, 4pm
Closing Reception August 27, 5-8pm
High Low*

High Low Gallery will be open to the public during cafe hours, no appointment necessary. To accommodate those who still would like a private appointment, we have 1/2 hr appointments available via Eventbrite on Fridays from 2:30-5pm. For questions or concerns, please contact [email protected]

This exhibition takes its title from the novel by activist and attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta. The book is his own fictionalized account of coming of age as a Chicano in the sixties as he searches for his personal and cultural identity. Fifty years later, this “sequel” reexamines politics, race, mass media, and capitalism through cinematic histories and popular culture and how they relate to the Latinx experiences in the present-day United States. Composed of photographs and video, the images reflect current conditions through Hollywood blockbusters, Chicano cinema, lucha libre, lowrider car culture, the Florentine Codex, and rock music.

José Guadalupe Garza was born along the US/Mexico border. He is an artist, educator, and veteran working in new and traditional media. His studio practice utilizes cinema and popular culture as theoretical frameworks to explore the changing demographic and cultural landscape of the U.S. with significance to the Latinx experience. Garza borrows from films, music, literary works, and the science fiction genre to create reimagined narratives. His projects take on various forms such as ad hoc libraries, curated screenings and exhibitions, improvisations and reenactments, experimental lectures and presentations, workshops, drawing, photography, sculpture, and video.

Garza has exhibited nationally and internationally including the 2017 Biennale de Spazio Pubblico in Rome (2017), From the Archives, Video Art in America at Everson Museum (2019), Border Control at University of Michigan Stamps Gallery (2019), and the Counterpublic Triennial (2019). He earned a BFA in Drawing from the University of Florida and an MFA in Visual Arts from Washington University in St. Louis.

Offenbach’s grand French opera follows the poet Hoffmann as he searches for true love in a magical tale of thwarted love, art, and revenge! Best known for the Barcarolle “Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour,” “Chanson de Kleinzach,” and the ultimate showcase of coloratura soprano singing, Olympia’s “Doll aria.” Les contes d’Hoffmann is a haunting tale of one man’s desire for the perfect woman.

Hounded by his other-worldly nemesis and accompanied by Nicklausse, his ever-faithful friend, Hoffmann seems forever unlucky in love. Darkly playful and set against fantastical backdrops and stirring chorus formations, the opera renders the story of Hoffmann’s descent into madness and intoxication in faithful detail.

Le contes d’Hoffmann will be presented in French with projected English supertitles.

Figaro! Figaro! Figaro! Only the clever barber Figaro can help the fair Rosina outwit her guardian, the aging Dr. Bartolo and live out her days in the arms of her true love, Count Almaviva. A grand plan is hatched, full of mischievous escapades and inventive antics sure to delight audiences of all ages. This Rossini Italian classic features one of the most well-known pieces of music in history, Figaro’s “Largo al factotum” along with the Rosina’s dazzling “Una voce poco fa.”

Full of laughter and beautiful music, see why Il barbiere di Siviglia has been an audience favorite for more than two centuries.

Il barbiere di Siviglia will be presented in Italian with projected English supertitles.

Open Air: Two Times True

Friday, July 23, 2021
6 PM & 8 PM

The Grandel
3610 Grandel Square
St. Louis, MO 63103

Tickets $10, plus food or beverage purchased required. Tickets available at www.metrotix.com.

Food and beverages will be available for purchase day of the event.

Please click here to read the FAQ. If you have any additional questions, please email [email protected] or call (314) 710-5643.

Open Air is presented in partnership with Jazz St. Louis, WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound, The Dark Room

Open Air: Angelique

Saturday, July 24, 2021
6 PM & 8 PM

The Grandel
3610 Grandel Square
St. Louis, MO 63103

Tickets $10, plus food or beverage purchased required. Tickets available at www.metrotix.com.

Food and beverages will be available for purchase day of the event.

Please click here to read the FAQ. If you have any additional questions, please email [email protected] or call (314) 710-5643.

Open Air is presented in partnership with Jazz St. Louis, WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound, The Dark Room

Open Air Brunch : Sarah Jane & The Blue Notes

Sunday, July 25, 2021
11 AM & 1 PM

The Grandel
3610 Grandel Square
St. Louis, MO 63103

Tickets $10, plus food or beverage purchased required. Tickets available at www.metrotix.com.

Food and beverages will be available for purchase day of the event.

Please click here to read the FAQ. If you have any additional questions, please email [email protected] or call (314) 710-5643.

Open Air is presented in partnership with Jazz St. Louis, WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound, The Dark Room

Life can be hard:

Your lover cheats on you; You lose a beloved family member; You can’t pay the bills.

And it can be great:

You’ve had the hottest sex of your life; You get that plum job; You muster the courage to write your novel.

Sugar, the once-anonymous online advice columnist at The Rumpus now revealed as Cheryl Strayed, author of the bestselling Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar, is the person thousands turn to for illuminating advice.

Rich with humor, insight, compassion and absolute honesty, Tiny Beautiful Things, adapted for the stage by Oscar nominee Nia Vardalos, is a bright and beautiful narrative about growing, healing, finding courage and unexpected human connection.

Do not miss Tiny Beautiful Things, a balm for everything life throws our way.

* * *

Contains strong language and adult content.

Tiny Beautiful Things will be performed without intermission and runs approximately 80 minutes.

** For Covid-19 Protocols enacted please visit www.maxandlouie.com

REVIEWS

Critics Pick! “Tiny Beautiful Things” is about the endangered art of listening to- and really hearing and responding to- other people… It works beautifully as a sustained exercise in empathy.”

-New York Times

“… a show that aims to open our eyes to the tiny moments when the world surprises us with care.”

-New York Magazine

“Heart-tugging and emotionally rewarding.”

-The Huffington Post

“Provocative, poignant and rich”

-New York Daily News

Open Air: Ish Ensemble

Friday, July 30, 2021
6 PM & 8 PM

The Grandel
3610 Grandel Square
St. Louis, MO 63103

Tickets $10, plus food or beverage purchased required. Tickets available at www.metrotix.com.

Food and beverages will be available for purchase day of the event.

Please click here to read the FAQ. If you have any additional questions, please email [email protected] or call (314) 710-5643.

Open Air is presented in partnership with Jazz St. Louis, WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound, The Dark Room

Open Air: Lydia Caesar

Saturday, July 31, 2021
6 PM & 8 PM

The Grandel
3610 Grandel Square
St. Louis, MO 63103

Tickets $10, plus food or beverage purchased required. Tickets available at www.metrotix.com.

Food and beverages will be available for purchase day of the event.

Please click here to read the FAQ. If you have any additional questions, please email [email protected] or call (314) 710-5643.

Open Air is presented in partnership with Jazz St. Louis, WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound, The Dark Room

Presented by Humboldt Green Events

It’s the Official Cannifest After-Party featuring the reggae legend Don Carlos and The Dub Vision, also featuring funk/jazz legend Karl Denson performing with Red Giant Project, St. Louis’ local favorite The Stone Sugar Shakedown, Mammoth Piano, and DJ Makossa. Also in the mix is Humboldt County’s own BOA. Get your tickets now!

Visit the expo all day Saturday and Sunday for only $5 or 5 canned goods to support local food banks.