Venus on Broadway
For anyone who grew up thinking about shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather, New York has an elusive mystery that gets deeper the more you swim around in it. It’s one of the most exciting places to be at any given time, and moment for moment, it’s probably the best of everything. There are multiple histories of multiple cultures making up New York at the present, and one of the most obvious cultures is the one of theatre. There is a tremendous history here that makes visitors who happen to be holding tickets to a New York Broadway sense that there’s more than just a casual night on the town at stake.
When you see a play here, there is always the possibility of entering into an experience that will change your life. It’s not only in the usual ways that plays can completely change our perceptions of the world. Although, with playwrights like David Ives, who specializes in creating constructions of reality where the seams are all visible, there is always the possibility of having your world shaken up in the most delightful way. He’s one of the few living playwrights who consciously evokes some of the early avant-garde traditions, and seems to be an unusually cubist writer.
Cubist writers don’t sell plays, though. However, funny and quirky writers do, and he’s also running on that much safer ground. His new work Venus in Fur is a mind-bending adventure into representation. The play takes its title from the same book that the Velvet Underground got their song, and the themes are similar. This is less rock and roll and more theatre, however, where the conceit revolves around an audition and realities that keep breaking and bending into each other. The play might be too short or too long for some, but for those looking for a good time this week, it’s just right.
09.30.09Jackson Pollock’s New York
It’s amazing that after all these years, New York is still the cultural mecca that it is, attracting the best and most talented minds of the next generation, and giving the seasoned artists a fantastic place to continue to develop their work. It makes for a heady and palpable energy, one that continues to draw tourists year after year. It has some of the most exciting works of art in the world, in both visual arts and performance, and it also has a splendid reputation for food, with some of the best restaurants in the world. The lively mix of cultures and languages make all of this possible, and everyone contributes to the living history of the place. It also boasts some of the world’s best hotels. New York City has a long tradition for bringing a spirit of hospitality to its many visitors, and our hotels are selected from the best of these.
We offer a brilliant array of choices in luxury lodging, so that you can save the guesswork for the multiple attractions that the city offers. After a rest in our sumptuously-designed rooms, you’ll be ready to hit the streets and begin your New York adventure in exquisite style. You may want to see one of the city’s extraordinarily famous museums, and spend some lovely hours contemplating the masterpieces of contemporary art. There are many artists hanging in the museums who left indelible marks on the city, and one of its most famous was Jackson Pollock.
Pollock was born in Cody, Wyoming, but moved to New York in 1929 to study at the Art Student’s League. He worked in many different styles until the late 40s, when he cracked open the barrier between modern art and the inner world of the artist, when he started to develop his drip technique that made him famous in his own lifetime. This made him the father figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement, which is characterized by non-figurative work that reflects the unconscious impulses of the artist, to capture the desire to paint in the moment that it strikes the heart. Pollock lived in New York until 1945, until he moved with his wife, painter Lee Krasner first to Long Island and then to East Hampton. His life was characterized by periods of great creative intensity and dark depressions brought on by heavy drinking. His works are considered to be masterpieces by most art literati, and his work continues to inspire generations of young artists looking to work outside of the box.
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Indian Art Summit
When looking to book that perfect five-star hotel, India is a perfectly splendid place to spend a vacation. There are amazing things here, with something special for every member of the family. All of the larger cities have a host of attractions that will entice and excite even the most seasoned world traveler, and leave you wanting to visit India again very soon. It is one of the oldest cultures on the planet, with a long and fascinating history that will be both entertaining and educational. There is a spectacular diversity here, with multiple languages and traditions. The food is some of the tastiest in the world, and there is enormous variety by region, and all of them are worth tasting. There are also ancient temples and contemporary galleries, where the spiritual and the artistic often change places. Our hotels will put you in the center of this in style.
For travelers who are interested in India’s art, then the perfect event for you is the Indian Art Summit. This is a very new event in New Delhi, having had its second event in August of 2009, and is held annually. It has been extremely successful, having attracted thousands of visitors both years. The number of international galleries increased from 3 to 17 from 2008 to 2009, giving a sense of the direction this is moving, becoming more attractive to the rest of the world. India’s art market is certainly on the rise, and it is a major contender in the international art scene. There have been some recent trends over the past decade which have made Indian art more highly sought after, and the success of the Indian Art Summit is a reflection of these patterns.
There is a very long tradition of visual art in India, going back at least 9,000 years. It is truly exciting when an event comes around to mark the great lineage and history of this rich cultural heritage, so that the Indian Art Summit is a chance to display the best of contemporary works, while examining its relation to a much larger and longer story. To this end, there is the Speakers Forum, in which national and international artists and experts speak about the most relevant issues of the day. Some of the most respected names in art practice and criticism participate, including: Arun Vadehra, Peter Nagy, Gayatri Singa, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Jitish Kallat, Melissa Chiu, and Nicolas Bourriaud. This is a major event in the art world, held annually in Delhi.
Marià Villangómez, Ibiza’s Poet
When searching for the unique combination of comfort and uniqueness in a boutique hotel, Ibiza holds hidden treasures for the savvy world traveler. Ibiza is an enormously unique and inviting island, and our hotels offer a sumptuous array of amenities to suit the surroundings. Ibiza is one of the most gorgeous places on the planet, and has a splendid reputation as one of the truly exciting getaways for guests searching for sun and relaxation. Our hotels are designed to offer a chance to replenish the body and mind, with a splendid combination of innovation and tradition. With world-class design and a few touches of local color, you are surrounded with beauty, both inside the hotel and outside.
Ibiza is famous for its all-night parties and reputation for creating revolutionary techno and electronic music that keeps the youth culture dancing. The allure of beach culture is profound here, acting as a magnet for tourists from all over the world, including movie stars and fashion designers. The magic of the place is not new, and not a trend, however, having sparked the imaginations of artistic minds for generations, and spawning one of the world’s greatest Catalan poets, Marià Villangómez Llobet. When he died in 1989, the island of Eivissa (the Catalan name for Ibiza), went into an official state of mourning for three days.
This great writer was born in Eivissa in 1913, born to a Castilian speaking family, and spent a great part of his life mastering Catalan. After being conscripted into the military, and then working as a schoolteacher, he began writing the poetry that would prove his literary genius to the world. Marià Villangómez wrote about the daily life in Eivissa, chronicling the poetry of life and work on the island with lyricism and subtle observation. He wrote one new book of poetry every two years until 1962, when he turned his literary attentions to translation. His versions of Shakespeare, Keats, and Dylan Thomas, among many others, are some of the finest Catalan versions of these masters in print, and Ibiza’s debt to him is enormous. Beyond the techno beats in the wee hours of the morning, there are the soft caresses of his tender poetry.
08.11.09David Copperfield Set in Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth is better known, and particularly be locals, simply as Yarmouth. Whichever one prefers to call it, it is still a beautiful coastal town located in the Norfolk region of England. It is approximately twenty miles east of the much more well known city of Norwich, though it has its own unique status and attractions. In recent decades it has become something of a resort area and visitors are attracted to its great beach, promenades and historic landmarks. The Yarmouth Hotels are busy all year due to its increasing popularity and tourist and vacationer interest.
One of the interesting aspects of Yarmouth, though it is unlikely to be a strong reason it is popular with visitors, is that it was a main setting for Charles Dickens’ novel David Copperfield. Dickens is one of the most famous and consistently popular novelists to have come out of England. He lived from approximately 1812 to 1870 and wrote his works during the Victorian Era. For those who are interested in Yarmouth due to the association to Dickens, they have the benefit of viewing many Victorian buildings that are still in existence and the city retains much of the era’s charm and atmosphere.
Dickens is greatly known for his creation of unique and enduring characters. Many of them have reached iconic status in the English language literature and have become archetypes for other writer’s character development. In addition to David Copperfield Dickens wrote Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, Hard Times and Oliver Twist among a great deal of other works in various genres. He began his career writing short stories for periodicals and journalism work. He also served as the editor of Bentley’s Miscellany for three years. Dickens drew much of his inspiration from Gothic Romance novels, which he loved. In addition to creating the great individual characters he is known for he also created a character out of the city of London itself.
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Bangalore: Myth and Movement
When on the lookout for fantastic four-star hotels, Bangalore will definitely come up on the radar as a place to be. There are incredible accommodations here, and our unique mixture of the old and the new, tradition and innovation, will make our guests happy. There is an unearthly sense here of total rejuvenation of the mind and body, and our hotels blend relaxation with the liveliness of being in a fascinating city. Bangalore as an urban center has much to offer the world tourist. There are vivacious cultures here that make up the social heartbeat here, that is hard to match anywhere else on earth. Bangalore has an interesting history, and an even more interesting present.
Visitors will find many ways to spend their time, sight-seeing, touring, or just people watching in the busy parts of town. There is a very lively night life, and live art is excellent and there is an enormous variety. The visual arts are also extremely strong here, as evidenced by the recent Myth and Movement exhibition at the Mahua Art Gallery. This show featured four artists: Atul Talukdar, Seema Kohli, Dimpy Menon and Ramesh Gorjaia, and was curated for the artists’ mutual thematic obsessions of cosmic energies and forms in space.
Kohli and Gorjaia are artists whose works are focused on the spiritual, using inner journeys of a personal nature to create works of art that are fluid and dreamlike. Menon and Talukdar work in sculpture, creating works in bronze that comment on the human movement in time and through space. Bangalore’s Myth and Movement show is a cohesive and intriguing look at how the metaphorical self meets the physical self, and reflects upon the ways these overlap in points of reflection. A weighty show of excellent works by these contemporary artists, the work here is an engaging experience that speaks to some of the many varied levels of contemporary experience in contemporary Bangalore.
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