June 1

Three exciting 2010 takes on abstract painting arrived on my doorstep almost simultaneously. First, Christopher Wool:

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=38302

http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/2010-05-25_christopher-wool/

http://wool735.com/cw/home/

Next, Sean Scully:

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=38306

http://www.timothytaylorgallery.com/ 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Scully

Finally, Scott Short:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/05/art-review-scott-short-at-christopher-grimes-gallery.html

http://cgrimes.com/index.php?option=com_artists&view=exhibitionsdetail&date_exhibit=2010&artist_initials=SSH

Terrence Rafferty at the New York Times offers an interesting overview of the career of Neil Jordan, whose new film Ondine has just opened:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/movies/30jordan.html

Paper Over Board, the blog of a "university press book traveler," discusses the forthcoming second edition of Jonathan Rose's The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, a book that I have only heard the best things about:

Rose’s guiding proposition is that historically, in Britain anyway, books and reading were NOT actually the exclusive purview of elites, but were appropriated by working people to further themselves in truly original and astonishing ways....[He] is out to redeem the reputation of the autodidact....The flourishing of autodidactic culture among Scottish weavers in the 18th century resulted in one of the highest literacy levels in the world. Weavers as a group were “legendary readers,” noted for their habit of “reading at the loom”....Rose describes the flowering of the “Mutual Improvement Societies” in early 20th century working class Britain- self-organized groups of a dozen to upwards of 100 people who met regularly in their own homes or churches. A member would typically deliver a paper on politics, religion, ethics, literature, or other “useful knowledge”, followed by discussion. “The aim was to develop verbal and intellectual skills among people who had never been encouraged to speak or think.”

http://paperoverboard.blogspot.com/2010/05/intellectual-life-of-british-working.html

Frank Bures at WorldHum considers the neglected travel writings of Charles Dickens:

Charles Dickens may have been the first great modern travel writer....[He writes with] warmth and dialogue and humor. Suddenly I found myself chuckling along with the author as he sailed on a steamer across the Atlantic, or rode the rails into Paris, or traveled around Italy, or simply observed the chicanery of London’s cab drivers, many of whom would be shipped off to Australia. It felt real. It felt like life. The people spoke and were flawed, and I could feel the paradoxes in their lives....Dickens’ travel writing feel[s] lively and modern. He is not merely talking about places. He is bending his ear for the absurd. He is reflecting on beauty and aging. He is turning his eye to the dynamics between people.

http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-books/charles-dickens-the-first-great-travel-writer-20100330/

Scott Adams wonders whether there will really be any professional authors in our digital future; he describes the same trend toward "hobbification" that I discussed here on March 16. (Hat tip to Bill Crider.)

I predict that the profession known as "author" will be retired to history in my lifetime, like blacksmith and cowboy. In the future, everyone will be a writer, and some will be better and more prolific than others. But no one will pay to read what anyone else creates. People might someday write entire books - and good ones - for the benefit of their own publicity, such as to promote themselves as consultants, lecturers, or the like. But no one born today is the next multi-best-selling author. That job won't exist....as our ability to search for media content improves, the economic value of that content will approach zero.

http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/the_adams_theory_of__content_value/

Among notables born on this date are poet John Masefield, playwright Naguib Surur, sociologist Christopher Lasch, composer Mikhail Glinka, cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, activist William Sloane Coffin, bandleader Nelson Riddle, singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, rock guitarist Ronnie Wood, and actors Marilyn Monroe, John Randolph, Andy Griffith, Morgan Freeman, Rene Auberjonois, Edward Woodward, Brian Cox, Jonathan Pryce, and Powers Boothe. The Egyptian poet, playwright, actor, and cultural force Naguib Surur (1932-1978), known too little outside the Arabic world, was one of the vibratory personalities without whom there can be no literature:

A legend in his own lifetime, Naguib Surur quickly acquired in the late sixties and seventies the status of guru to a number of fans, admirers, and followers....Surur was a thorn in the side of the official guardians of culture who could not understand this man who thought he could get away with repeatedly biting the hand that fed him. It was easy, and probably still is, to dismiss him as misguided soul, a paranoiac, an emotionally and mentally disturbed man with a predilection for martyrdom. Uncompromising in his denunciations, he was an embarrassment to many of his contemporaries in the theatre, for, unlike so many of them, he never joined the ever-growing ranks of cheerleading artists. He could not be bought, co-opted, corrupted, or bribed. 

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1998/400/cu5.htm