Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1999)
A&FrRTAINMENT Page 12 Monday, September 27,1999 Event marks Lied’s 10th anniversary By Patrick Kelly Staffwriter Strands of gold lights hung from the trees, and brightly colored kaleidoscopic shapes were projected onto the Lied Center’s walls. Jazz and blues music filled the air while the crowd mingled, sampling an array of food. Children decorated the streets with intricate chalk drawings, and couples both young and old walked hand-in-hand in the warm, fall night. Friday night, people of all ages celebrated the Lied Center for Performing Arts’ 10th anniver sary with an outdoor celebration in the Lied Plaza. The celebration featured a variety of bands and dancers, and the massive crowd that gathered eventually spilled over from the Lied Plaza into the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery’s Sculpture Garden. The carnival-like atmosphere exemplified how, over the past 10 years, the Lied has married high art with plain fun. The Lied has built a repu tation for offering an eclectic mix of perfor mances to attract a diverse audience. The broad appeal of the Lied’s programming has been a key to its success, said Charles Bethea, the Lied’s executive director. “I think that we’re seeing a broader spectrum of audiences, and I attribute that to two things. One is that as the reputation of the Lied Center continues to grow more and more, people want to take advantage of what we bring here. “Secondly, we’re broadening our program out every year to include things that will have greater interest to more audiences,” Bethea said. Aside from giving adults an opportunity for an evening out, the Lied has also been a resource for children to learn about the arts. Tim and Sally Kettler of Lincoln brought fcfc I think what they are bringing here is wonderful Jennifer Parker senior arts and humanities major their children with them to the Friday night cele bration. The Kettlers have enjoyed performances by blues legends such as B.B. King and Buddy Guy, while their children enjoyed the family-ori ented production of “Beethoven Lives Upstairs.” Of course, being on the City Campus, the Lied also attracts University of Nebraska Lincoln students, and each has his or her own preference. “I think what they are bringing here is won derful,” said Jennifer Parker, a senior arts and humanities major at UNL. “I’m a big theater per son, so I would have to say more musicals, but I’m not the only person who goes.” In fact, students were just a small sample of the throng that gathered on Friday night. Some came to enjoy the carnivalesque atmosphere, while others came for the night’s feature performance by BeauSoleil. Michael Doucet’s traditional Cajun band, BeauSoleil, brought the sounds of the Bayou to the Midwest for the evening. As the sounds of accordion, fiddle and banjo drifted out over the crowd, couples flocked to the open area in front of the stage. For the rest of the show, couples two-stepped, rhumbaed and even danced a line dance or two. With a relentless tempo and energy, BeauSoleil’s performance celebrated the passing of 10 Lied seasons - and the coming of 10 more. Weather Gle^vboski/DN^ FOUR-YEAR-OLD ZACH Duden and 6-year-old Sarah Venal chase after a bubble at the Lied Center’s 10th anniversary celebration Friday night. The celebration included an assortment of bands, dancers and activities. Artist keeps traditions alive ■ Shi Hu paints traditional Chinese art using lines and Chinese calligraphy. JoshKrauter Senior staff writer In China, Shi Hu is one of the most prominent painters of the 20* century. But in hie Western world, Hu is not exactly a household name. Kam-Ching Leung, University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor of physics and astronomy, is providing Hu with a little more exposure. Leung loaned his private collection of several Hu paintings to the Lentz Center for Asian Culture, located upstairs in Morrill Hall on UNUs cam pus. The paintings will be displayed until Dec. 21. Hu’s art is an important part of Chinese culture for a number of rea sons. Hu fuses traditional Chinese techniques with modem styles, varies and diversifies his work and writes elo quently about how Chinese art should progress, Leung said. “He influenced upcoming genera tions,” Leung said. “His theories on «,contemporary Chinese painting are quite original and quite new. He shook up the contemporary art scene quite a * bit.” Hu criticized his fellow artists for ignoring Chinese tradition, such as cal ligraphy, and imitating Western artists. Even though Hu incorporated Western influences, such as Picasso, into his work, he always kept the Chinese tradi tions alive, Leung said. “Lines are important in Chinese painting in terms of Chinese calligra phy. He was conscious about drawing lines and what kind of stroke to use.” One example of Hu’s mix of the tra ditional and the modem is the painting “Five Happiness.” “Five Happiness to you” is a traditional Chinese greeting. In the painting, Hu portrays the large Chinese character for the greeting but distorts the character so one side of it looks like a person greeting some one, and the other side looks like a house. The house has four windows, and the character is painted on each win dow in a different way. Hu painted his name in calligraphy on the side. Barbara Banks, director and cura tor of the Lentz Center, said Hu’s paint ings were important because the callig raphy was painted, not written, and the paintings show Hu’s gradual transfor mation from a naturalistic painter into an abstract one. She added that Hu’s paintings were very complex. “There are lots of specific allusions that you would have to be involved in the whole study of him to understand,” she said. Banks said the exhibition was a rare opportunity for the Lentz Center to show a current artist. “Generally, we have traditional shows in various Asian cultures,” she said. “It’s good for us to do contempo rary artists from time to time.” Leung first became aware of Hu in the 1980s. Leung had begun collecting Gallery Preview The facts What: Shi Hu Painting Where: Lentz Center for Asian Culture When: Now through Dec. 21 The Skinny: Exhibit acknowledges prominent Chinese painter. Chinese ceramics, which sparked his interest in art. He began making fre quent trips to China, and he met sever al artists, including Hu, while he was there. Leung said Hu was as skilled in his 40s as many Chinese artists were in their 70s. “In the old days, a painter had to have three things: He had to be a good painter, a good calligrapher and a good poet,” Leung said. “This kind of tradi tion is difficult. To be good at all three is almost impossible now. He’s good at all three.” Leung said he invited Hu to UNL, and he wanted to come, but visa prob lems kept him in China. Leung origi nally invited Hu to Lincoln in 1989, when Hu was living in Singapore. Hu had to return to China to get his visa, but the Tiananmen Square events, in which protesting students were mur dered by the government, kept Hu away. He still hasn’t got his visa, Leung said. “When he said he wasn’t able to make it, I was more than a little unhap py,” Leung said. “But some artists, they don’t behave the way you and I do.” Suspense, creativity lacking in ‘Jeopardy’ By Emily Pyeatt Staff writer Since we’ve already been exposed to a more than adequate trailer, as well as the earlier films “Double Jeopardy” knocks off, it isn’t difficult to figure out Ashley Judd’s jeopardy. Australian director Bruce Beresford (“Driving Miss Daisy” and “Breaker Morant”) recognizes the film’s similarities to other suspense films but stresses the use of a female lead in “Double Jeopardy.” Judd’s role as Libby Parsons pro vides a female’s perspective on “The Fugitive.” Basically, Libby is convict ed for the murder of her husband and escapes to search for her son and the truth. Tommy Lee Jones plays Travis Lehman, Libby’s parole officer and the same adversarial role he played in “The Fugitive.” Initially, he serves as Libby’s opposition, but he is soon swayed to support her. But we already knew that, didn’t we? Among the wealthy and the well dressed characters, Libby and her husband, Nick (Bruce Greenwood), are established in the opening scenes. Immediately, audiences identify with Rim Review Dm facts Title: ‘Double Jeopardy” Stars: Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones Director: Bruce Beresford Rating: R (adult situations, language, violence) Grade: C Five Words: A female plays “The Fugitive” a loving mother and her cigar-smok ing, cocky, art-aficionado husband. Special attention is given to Nick’s collection of Wassily Kandinsky art at a party. Audiences are provided a not too-subtle foreshadowing look intcF the art work that will eventually lead to Nick’s downfall. After the party, Nick plans a sail ing trip with Libby. Aboard ship, a pri mary link between sex and violence is provided- a link used over and over in films. Following some pretty dirty sex, Libby wakes up alone and soaked in blood. Hand-held, point-of-view shots frantically follow Libby on deck, where she finds a knife. The coast guard arrives, and soon it is clear Libby has been framed and convicted of Nick’s murder. Please see JEOPARDY on 13