Each week, NewsWhistle contributor Norah Lawlor compiles a list of trendsetting and newsworthy items from around the globe.
This week, Norah points us to some of the enticing events that will dominate regional and international headlines this month.
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Art
“Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs” Opens at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) – New York
Sunday, October 12, 2014 – Sunday, February 8, 2015
Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs is a groundbreaking reassessment of an important body of work by artist Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954), who later in life began to create shapes from colored paper, arranging them into compositions that sometimes seemed to push into pure abstraction. The largest and most extensive presentation of the cut-outs ever mounted, the exhibition includes approximately 100 cut-outs—borrowed from public and private collections around the globe—along with a selection of related drawings, prints, illustrated books, stained glass, and textiles. The last time New York audiences were treated to an in-depth look at the cut-outs was in 1961.
MoMA’s survey focuses on this part of Matisse’s career – starting in the 1940s – when he turned almost exclusively to cut paper as his primary medium. Matisse would cut painted sheets into forms of varying shapes and sizes—from the vegetal to the abstract—which he then arranged into lively compositions, striking for their play with color and contrast, their exploitation of decorative strategies, and their economy of means. A brilliant final chapter in Matisse’s long career, the cut-outs reflect both a renewed commitment to form and color and an inventiveness directed to the status of the work of art, whether as a unique object, environment, ornament, or a hybrid of all of these.
Timed tickets are required for non-members; MoMA members can enter the exhibition anytime.
For more on the exhibition, please visit: www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2014/matisse/
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Film
15th Annual Black Bear Film Festival – Milford, Pennsylvania
Friday, October 17, 2014 – Sunday, October 19, 2014
The 15th Annual Black Bear Film Festival (BBFF) in Milford, Pennsylvania, promises to provide attendees with a variety of exciting film choices. From science fiction selections such as “Under the Skin”, starring Scarlett Johansson, to comedy-dramas, such as Jon Favreau’s “Chef” – a film about a high-end chef wanting to go back to basics – attendees are sure to find something to satisfy their film tastes.
The BBFF brings the best and brightest in film to the people of Milford. The festival’s value to the area is immediately apparent to anyone who has ever attended its sold out screenings.
BBFF serves as a platform for great speakers from the film and entertainment world to give an insight into the world behind the big screen. A film salon full of shorts, documentaries and guest speakers will go on all weekend at the Pike County Public Library with free admission. The 1965 British physiological thriller “Bunny Lake is Missing” will show on October 18, and one of its stars, Keir Dullea, will be there to discuss the film. Directed by Otto Preminger, it also stars Lawrence Oliver and Noel Coward.
The opening night gala will be held on October 17 at St. Patrick’s Church, while an amazing film about a denigrated but aspiring and inventive boy in war-ravaged Laos, “Rocket” will close the festival.
For a full list of films and events, and to buy tickets, go to www.blackbearfilm.com.
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Food
Café SFA at Saks Fifth Avenue’s Four-Course Chocolate Dinner – New York
Thursday, October 30, 2014, 7pm
Two culinary masters will combine forces at Café SFA, in the flagship Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, to create a luxurious Chocolate Extravaganza on Thursday, October 30, 2014. The four-course Chocolate Dinner will feature a menu expertly crafted by Executive Chef of the restaurants of Saks Fifth Avenue, Alex Reyes, and Master Chocolatier Chef Jacques Torres.
Celebrating the launch of Jacques Torres Chocolate at Fifth Dining in Saks Fifth Avenue, the special event will see guests gather to enjoy a mix of savory and sweet cuisine incorporating Jacques Torres Chocolate, with an option for wine pairing.
The immensely talented Chef Alex Reyes, who bases himself at Café SFA at Saks Fifth Avenue, also oversees the culinary development for SnAKS in New York and Sophie’s in Chicago and Sarsota. He will collaborate with Jacques Torres, the founder of Jacques Torres Chocolate, author, host of the Food Network’s Chocolate, James Beard Pastry Chef of the Year, and Dean of Baking and Pastry at the French Culinary Institute.
Both chefs will be present during the dinner, serving decadent dishes such as Dark Chocolate Cured Foie Gras Torchon, White Chocolate and Vermouth Sorbet, Cocoa Nib, Ancho Chile Crusted Venison and much more.
Guests can secure a reservation in advance with a credit card at: www.opentable.com/cafe-sfa. Dinner is $80 per guest, with optional wine pairing for $25.
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Wine
Wine Spectator’s New York Wine Experience
Thursday, October 16 – Saturday, October 18, 2014.
The New York Wine Experience, held at the Marriott Marquis in New York City, is a three-day celebration of the world’s best wines, guided by estate owners and winemakers. Guests can enjoy outstanding vintages, rare wines from the producers’ cellars and top-scouring wines from around the world.
The festival, sponsored by the Wine Spectator Scholarship Foundation, offers daytime seminars, food and wine pairings from star chefs, and a black-tie Grand Award Banquet gala on Saturday, October 18, 2014 – a lavish dinner with special wines and star entertainment by Chicago. The Critics’ Choice Grand Tastings are held on Thursday and Friday evenings, with more than 250 top-rated wines, and Friday and Saturday sees seated lunches paired with wines.
This year there will be individual presentations of great wines by renowned vintners, such as French winemaker Jean-Michel Cazes and Larry Turley, owner of Turley Wine Cellars in California. Also present will be Catherine Larsen, director of sales at Nellcôte, a boutique Napa Valley winery which recently debuted their new world-class Rosé of Malbec & Syrah.
For more information and to purchase tickets to the event, visit http://nywe2014.winespectator.com/
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Theater
Sting’s The Last Ship Opens on Broadway – New York
Sunday, October 26, 2014
New musical The Last Ship, featuring an original score by Grammy winner Sting, will have its opening night at the Neil Simon Theater in New York on Sunday, October 26, 2014.
This Broadway premiere features direction by two-time Tony Award® winner Joe Mantello (Wicked), a book by Tony Award® winner John Logan (Red) and Pulitzer Prize winner Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal), and choreography by Olivier Award winner Steven Hoggett (Once).
The Last Ship is set in the English seafaring town of Wallsend, a close-knit community where life has always revolved around the local shipyard and the hardworking men who construct magnificent vessels with tremendous pride. But Gideon Fletcher dreams of a different future. He sets out to travel the world, leaving his life and his love behind. When Gideon returns home 15 years later, he finds the shipyard’s future in grave danger and his childhood sweetheart engaged to someone else. As the men of Wallsend take their future into their own hands and build a towering representation of the shared dream that defines their existence, Gideon realizes that he left behind more than he could have ever imagined.
For more information please visit www.thelastship.com/
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PHOTO CREDITS
Lead-In Image Courtesy of NewsWhistle
Henri Matisse Image Courtesy of MoMA
Poster Image Courtesy of Black Bear Film Festival
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Norah Lawlor is a New York based global trend and travel observer in addition to being the founder and owner of Public Relations strategy firm Lawlor Media Group.
