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Straits Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody unveils art show in New York
Adrien Brody and his mother Sylvia Plachy at his solo exhibition at Eden Gallery in New York, on May 31. PHOTO: SAM HELLMANN/NYTIMES NEW YORK – 'I'm a little in a daze,' actor Adrien Brody said recently, the skin around his eyes slightly crinkled, but his gaze soft and present. He had been up since 5am and had spent most of his day crouched on the ground at Eden Gallery in Manhattan, putting the finishing touches on his collages ahead of the next evening's opening of his latest solo exhibition, Made In America. The floors and walls were covered with canvases, themselves covered with old newspaper advertisements, erratic splashes of graffiti and darkly rendered cartoon characters. Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and Marilyn Monroe were in attendance. As were the Hamburglar and a toy soldier. In a nearby corner was a gum wall, soon to be covered in wads of chewing gum straight from the mouths of attendees in an interactive 'expression of rebellion and decay', according to the wall text. Adrien Brody, the Oscar-winning actor, is also Adrien Brody, the impassioned painter, is also Adrien Brody, the beats-mixing sound artiste. Those mediums converge in a collection of more than 30 works. Accompanied by Brody's soundscapes, the show features large mixed-media art in what he calls an autobiographical display of the gritty New York of his youth, and the culture of violence and intolerance today. It is an approach that has been met with some derision both in the art press and on social media. Made In America, on view until June 28, also includes photographs of and by his mother, acclaimed Hungarian-American photographer Sylvia Plachy – a role model for Brody, who was never formally trained in visual art. A gum wall by Adrien Brody for his art exhibition, Made In America. PHOTO: SAM HELLMANN/NYTIMES It has been nearly a decade since Brody, 52, last showed his work publicly, at Art Basel Miami. So, why now? 'I'm an unemployed actor at the moment,' he said with a half smile. Though it is difficult to picture Brody as unemployed, especially when his artworks sell for six figures, this is not untrue. The last film Brody shot was in 2023 – The Brutalist, for which he won the best actor Oscar in 2025 – and nothing definite is lined up next. 'I know that if I don't do it now, I won't do it for another long period of time,' he said of the show. 'It's kind of time to let it go.' Adrien Brody's solo exhibition Made In America at New York's Eden Gallery is his first art exhibition in nearly a decade. PHOTO: SAM HELLMANN/NYTIMES Brody had been steadily working on his collages for the past decade. In the fallow periods, years-long stretches when he was not landing the acting roles he yearned for, he turned inwards and painted. The method in all of his mediums, he said, is a combination of layering – be it the incorporation of studied hand mannerisms for his character in The Pianist (2002) or the added thumps for a recorded track – and peeling back, such as using chemicals to degrade paint for a visual work. Brody, who credits his mother as his greatest artistic inspiration, grew up accompanying Plachy on photo expeditions as she chronicled the city's beauty and chaos on assignments for The Village Voice, where she worked for 30 years. 'He came along and he saw the world,' said Plachy, 82. In her darkroom, set up in their home attic in Queens, they would talk to each other through the curtain while she developed her photographs, moving the images from tray to tray, swirling them around in Dektol. 'He still associates me with those bad chemicals,' she said, laughing. Adrien Brody and his mother Sylvia Plachy at the gallery. PHOTO: SAM HELLMANN/NYTIMES His father, Elliot Brody, was also a painter, but focused on his career as a teacher. It was onto Plachy's discarded photo prints that Brody began painting as a child. As a teenager, Brody attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts for drama, after being rejected for visual arts. 'It was a good thing, obviously,' he said. 'I'd definitely be a starving artist, most likely, if I didn't have an acting career. So, it's funny ho w that happened.' In Made In America, many works feature a cartoon character – Lisa Simpson or Yosemite Sam or Bugs Bunny – brandishing a weapon. It is a depiction of the violence Brody said he grew up with culturally: an American diet of toy guns, video games an d McDonald's. In Brody's vermin series, oversized black-and-white images of rats appear to pixelate behind street art tags. People are 'either grossed out by them or they are antagonistic towards them', Brody said of the scores of rats in New York City. 'And I always felt like, 'Why doesn't anybody see what they're going through?' Weirdly, I really kind of feel for them.' Rats feature in Adrien Brody's artworks. PHOTO: SAM HELLMANN/NYTIMES That compassion, he said, comes from his mother. Plachy's sensitivity towards animals rubbed off on him. So much so that he has had a pet rat – twice. The first he bought as a child and then gifted to a friend. The second, a few years ago, belonged to the daughter of his girlfriend, designer-actress Georgina Chapman. 'They're forced to kind of hide and scurry about and forage for themselves ,' he said. 'And people are nasty to them and that always bothered me.' That message, though, appears to be muddied in its reception. 'Brody is trying to do something with mice and rats, but there's no attempt to marshal this imagery towards contemporary critique,' professor of art history Claire Bishop at the CUNY Graduate Center said in an e-mail, calling his collages 'too pretty and too even' and 'lacking bite'. 'To say they look like AI-generated images resulting from search terms '19 90s LES graffiti', ' Americana' and 'Disney nostalgia' would be too generous,' she added . 'What they actually resemble is the kind of sanitised street art that's sold on 53rd Street outside MoMA or on the sidewalk in SoHo – work aimed at tourists seeking an arty yet unchallenging New York souvenir.' And viewers on social media have not taken too kindly to Brody's painterly side. In May , one of his creations, a blue-eyeshadowed Marilyn Monroe, the Hollywood sign poking out behind a puff of her blonde hair, sold at the amfAR Gala Cannes for US$425,000 (S$546,600) . The painting became a source of mockery online, and drew criticism for being derivative. Adrien Brody preparing for his art show at the gallery Gallery. PHOTO: SAM HELLMANN/NYTIMES But Brody has his defenders. 'He's real,' said Eden Gallery's chief executive Guy Klimovsky. 'He is himself.' 'Yes, people will come because it's him,' he added, 'but they will forget. Because when I see an artwork, without knowing who made it, the artworks are rich. They're interesting. They have a story connection to the US, the story of the US, to the icon of the US.' It is all part of being an artist, his mother said. 'I think when you stick your neck out into the world, you'll have good and bad comments and that's the risk of it,' Plachy said. Sitting outside the gallery the day before the opening, Brody looked down at his hands, covered in acrylic paint. 'It's a lot of pressure to reveal this,' he said. 'I've literally been hiding the works.' 'Hiding maybe isn't the right word,' he added, 'but working quietly for a very long time and not showing, intentionally, to kind of develop this and do it at my pace. And so this is kind of ripping a Band-Aid off.' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Perth Now
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Post Truth is the first feature-length AI film in the world to get a cinematic release
'Post Truth' will become the first feature-length AI film in the world to be released in cinemas. Distributed by Baska Sinema, Turkey's leading distributor for independent cinema, the English-language film will open this summer across more than 20 cities in what is a seismic moment in the evolution of filmmaking. The picture has been created by pioneering generative AI artist AIkan Avcioglu and is already drawing strong international interest from festivals and distributors, sparking discussions about the future of cinema. 'Post Truth' is described as a "fake film about the real world" and explores humanity's relationship with technology and how the world has arrived at a point where truth and reality no longer matter. The film documents an era of endless information overload and dissonance using the very language of a time it reflects. Avcioglu said: "We live in an era where everything feels staged and unreal – from politics to social media. "'Post Truth' questions the very foundations of reality and the narratives we choose to believe in." The director worked in the film industry for over a decade before leaving his career behind to become an artist exploring new storytelling prospects through artificial intelligence. The move established him as a leading voice in the art scene, with his works questioning photographic reality. Avcioglu became one of the first AI artists to be accepted into major traditional art fairs, including Paris Photo, Art Basel Miami, Zona Maco, and Vogue Photo. His works have been auctioned by Christie's New York and exhibited at galleries across the world. The script for 'Post Truth', which has been co-written by multidisciplinary artist Vikki Bardot, draws inspiration from the large-scale cinematic vision of Godfrey Reggio and the archival essay style of Adam Curtis and Chris Marker. Developed over the course of 15 months, the project draws from a pool of more than 55 hours of AI-generated material and includes over 200,000 seconds of synthetic imagery and sound. Emerging from Avcioglu's established style and conceptual framework, the visuals, sound, music and voice are all fully created through artificial intelligence. Bardot, who co-produced the film through Spongeworthy Studio, commented: "'Post Truth' marks a new frontier for filmmaking: not just in how films are made, but in how reality itself is represented on screen. "Storytelling today must speak in the visual language of a world where real and fake have already merged." Armagan Lale, Director of Baska Sinema, added: "We believe it's important to acknowledge and understand how new tools like AI are expanding the language of cinema in real time." The company is preparing to hold talks with international distributors and sales agents at the forthcoming Cannes Film Festival.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Natalie Portman Wants to See Jenna Ortega as President
Natalie Portman recently got candid in her Zoom chat with Jenna Ortega. The Gallerist stars bonded over starting their careers as child artists, how to let go of an engulfing character, and the possibilities of seeing Jenna Ortega as the President. Natalie Portman and Jenna Ortega recently wrapped the filming for The Gallerist, and they met again for the Interview Magazine feature over Zoom. While talking about childhood dreams and aspirations, Ortega shared that she really wanted to be 'an astronaut' or a 'president.' Portman seemed supportive of Ortega's childhood dreams as the Academy Award-winning actress gushed, 'I want to see you as president.' Ortega mused on the idea, adding, 'Can you imagine?' Portman seemed to be on board completely and responded by saying, 'Please.' The Wednesday star recalled her being 'obsessed' with Obama's inauguration. She revealed, 'My siblings got mad at me because I turned SpongeBob off to watch Obama's inauguration. I was obsessed. I truly believed that that was going to be me. Also, I was very dramatic, and I thought that all TV was reality TV. I thought there were cameras in all of our homes. I'd turn on a movie or a show and be like, 'Oh my god, it's amazing that they caught this.'' Following Ortega, Portman, who is a mother of two, also noted how her ambitions have changed over the years. 'I was very ambitious as a kid, and I would definitely describe myself as ambitious now,' said the Black Swan star, explaining how it has changed. She shared that as a child, she 'was really interested in pleasing other people.' The actress further added, 'And now, I'm very much into setting new challenges for myself, having new experiences for myself, and finding my own pleasure.' Meanwhile, Ortega and Portman will star in the Cathy Yan-directed film, The Gallerist. The movie boasts a star-studded cast, including Charli XCX and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The filming for the upcoming project ended in February 2025. As per Deadline, the plot of the film revolves around a helpless gallerist who is desperate to sell a dead man at Art Basel Miami. The post Natalie Portman Wants to See Jenna Ortega as President appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Los Angeles Times
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Elisa Wouk Almino named editor in chief of Image magazine
The following announcement is sent on behalf of Executive Editor Terry Tang: I'm delighted to announce that Elisa Wouk Almino has been named editor in chief of Image magazine. Wouk Almino joined the L.A. Times in 2022 as Image's deputy editor. Her creativity and editorial ambition are exceptional. Under her leadership in 2024, the magazine has thrived by offering readers a glorious and authentic view of the makers of L.A. style, fashion and art. She has recruited top talent for the magazine's pages and published thought-provoking, unexpected stories on art and fashion, from deeply felt essays on surfing and personal style to visual stories, such as one that re-created old K-town beauty pageants. Wouk Almino has also written memorable essays of her own, including profiles on L.A. luminaries such as Catherine Opie, Sérgio Mendes and Ed Ruscha. And she has led new projects such as Image's activation at Art Basel Miami in 2022 and the Image party at Soho Warehouse, which drew over 600 people last year. Prior to joining Image, Wouk Almino was a senior editor at Hyperallergic, where she launched and ran the art magazine's L.A. bureau. Before moving to Los Angeles in 2018, she lived in New York for 10 years, where she worked at and wrote for various publications including Words Without Borders, n+1, the Paris Review, the New York Review of Books, Rizzoli, Guernica and the Nation. At one point, she gave gallery tours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and taught art criticism and literary translation at UCLA Extension and Catapult. She started in her new role Monday.
CBS News
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Miami Music Week brings high-energy beats and artistic performances to the city
This week, electronic dance music lovers from around the world will immerse themselves in the energy of Miami Music Week. From deep house and techno to drum and bass, every genre of EDM finds its place in the city's pulsating nightlife. But the event isn't just about the music—it's a celebration of creativity, bringing together visual artists, dancers and performers who help bring the scene to life. "You have to really have the passion," said performance artist Ricardo Ralph Lopez, who will be lighting up Miami Music Week with his electrifying stage acts. "A very important part is also the interaction, so after performing on stage, we like to see the crowd to create a moment with the guests." Lopez has performed alongside major acts like Paris Hilton and Swedish House Mafia and co-produces events during Art Basel Miami and New York Fashion Week through Nolcha Shows, where he is a co-partner. His performances merge high-energy dance with stunning, custom-designed costumes. Lopez works with seamstresses and designers to create one-of-a-kind performance pieces, sometimes taking months to craft intricate looks. "We exchange ideas and come up with a plan to create a specific costume," he said. Joining him in Miami Music Week's artistic showcase is professional dancer Chloe Kobra, a Miami-based performer originally from Southern France. With training in ballet, contemporary dance, jazz and hip-hop, Kobra has become a well-known figure in the EDM scene for her expressive, high-energy performances. "They see us with glitter, beautiful costumes and dancing, but they don't see everything behind it," Kobra said. "The preparation—you have to be 100 percent in it. You sleep with it, you eat with it, you network with it, you think it. It's everything." For Tyler Newell, director of marketing at Hyde Beach at SLS Hotel, Miami Music Week is a massive undertaking that requires year-round planning. He curates a lineup of 50 artists to perform at SLS Hyde Beach, each bringing their own sound and energy. "This is my favorite part of the year," Newell said. "Miami Music Week is one of the pinnacle cultural events in Miami. We welcome over 5,000 music lovers—it's high-energy, 12-hour-long days filled with music and immersive experiences." Lopez, who also performs internationally at Blue Marlin Ibiza in Spain and Bushido by Buddha-Bar in Bahrain, said Miami Music Week is a unique fusion of industries. "We merge finance, tech, fashion and art and that creates a very special energy," he said. Miami Music Week runs March 25-30, with more than 200 events across multiple venues. While it falls under the Ultra Music Festival banner, all events are independently run, offering a city-wide celebration of music and artistry.
