Arts
Mouth-watering
art show makes
return to Lincoln
ental ,
norsels
BY MELANIE MENSCH
Hungry for art? Chew on this: "Food for Thought,”
the 1999-2000 Sheldon Statewide exhibition returns
home to die Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery today after
touring 13 Nebraska communities in one year.
The tantalizing collection tempts artistic eyes and
tummies with a delicious mix of notable artworks
such as pop artist Andy Warhol’s "Vegetarian
Vegetable,” Marsden Hartley’s cubist-inspired "Still
life with Fan” and "Still Life: Apples And Grapes” by
realist Mary Jane Peale.
“Food for Thought” explores the universal theme
of food through a spectrum of artists, mediums and
styles.
Gallery guests can savor a visual feast of paintings,
black-and-white photography and three-dimension
al sculptures, all depicting food.
Through cubism, realism, abstraction and pop
art the images of fruit bread, fish, coffee and sweets
evoke the viewers' emotional ties with food, as well as
tease taste buds.
Provocative pieces include Edward Weston’s
"Pepper,” a black-and-white photograph with a view
so dose, it isolates and abstracts the tangy vegetable’s
shape.
"No Man is a Watermelon” by Sister Mary Corita
Kent combines poetry with bands of
Gallery Preview
bright reds and pinks.
Also, Claes Oldenburg, collabora
tor on the University of Nebraska
Lincoln’s Tom Notebook, represents
the mass-consumption culture with
"N.Y.C. Pretzels," life-size cardboard
replicas of the popular snack.
Nancy Dawson, community pro
gram coordinator at the Sheldon, said
die gallery began the statewide tour
to educate and influence Nebraska
communities outside of Lincoln and
Omaha that might not get the chance
to visit a fine art museum.
“People had interest in the gallery
but didn’t have time or money for a
lengthy field trip,” she said. “The art in the Sheldon
essentially belongs to the people in the state, so we
wanted to bring die art to them beyond the walls of
the gallery.”
In collaboration with the Nebraska Art
Association, the Sheldon Statewide exhibition has
visited Nebraska communities including Beatrice,
Norfolk, Fremont, Columbus and North Platte for die
past 13 years.
Each year’s themed collection reaches out to a
Nebraska community for one month, educating resi
dents, especially children.
Cindy Johnson, a fourth-grade teacher at Newell
Elementary School in Grand Island, said the collec
tion's visit last year taught her students to critically
view art.
“The kids noted differences between seeing a
reproduction of an artwork and the original,” she
said. “It put the ‘ah-ha!’ in seeing real-life art rather
than art on a slide or a computer screen.”
Johnson said her young “art appreciators” would
then invite their families to the exhibit, showing off
their newfound art expertise.
“(The students) really enjoyed explaining still life,
like T know more than you do, Mom and Dad,’ ” she
said.
Dawson said she hoped the exhibition showed
children that art was “more than just a field trip.”
“We want to add art to the curriculum, rather than
just something you do on a Friday afternoon in a half
hour,” she said.
Courtesy Art
Clockwise from top left: "Vegetarian
Vegetable,'Andy Warhol, 1969;'The
Three Sisters,'Will Mentor, 1997;"No
Man is a Watermelon,'Sister Mary
Corita Kent 1%5;'N.Y.C. Pretzel,'Claes
Oldenburg, 1994;'Jones'Old Kentucky
Home Restaurant'James CantreK,
1973.
Yoakam CD mix of country cliches
■ Woe-is-me cowboy doesn't offer
much creativity on his newest
release of unfulfilling tunes.
BY ANDREW SHAW
Dwight Yoakam paints a bleak pic
ture of the future with his latest
pathetic effort, “Tomorrow's Sounds
Today."
Straight from the dung heap of the
stereotypical Midwestern town,
Yoakam has laid down 14 new sets of
lyrics over the same rehashed musical
ideas of country music.
I used to believe that being a rodeo
clown or perhaps a professional sub
missive might be the most painful
occupation this world has to offer.
But after experiencing the mind
' numbing pain of "Tomorrow’s Sounds
Today,” I realized that Jim Christie’s
job has them beat.
Christie is the drummer, Yoakam’s
waste of silicon. Sorry, Jimmy, but
monkeys, if trained properly, could
alternate stomping on a bass-drum
pedal and slapping a snare for an
entire recording session.
Sometimes he does it fast, some
times with a swing feel, most of the
time it’s the perfect tempo to “mosey”
to, but it is always the same pattern.
And what’s going on with those
lyrics, Dwight? Three of the first four
songs begin with “baby.”
Just the song titles are enough to
make you believe Yoakam is the most
unloved person in the world. “A Place
Music Review
Dwight Yoakamj
Tomorrow's Sound
Today”
Label:
★ of 5 stars
Reprise Records
2000
to Cry,” “The Heartaches Are Free,” “A
World of Blue.”
This plain-faced cowpoke with the
glassy stare needs some personal
counseling (and musical training).
On the album’s final two tracks,
Dwight duets with Buck Owens, a leg
endary veteran country star.
But if you ask me, Owens should
have been sent to the gjue factory long
ago. These duets sound like “scoop,
slide and whine contests” more than
musical pursuits.
And again, the lyrics dive like a
pheasant in hunting season. “Well, all
right, all right, all right, all right, girl,
I’m wrong.”
I haven’t heard such unoriginal
stuttering puns since my last third
grade poetry reading.
So all you country fans who won
der why people disrespect country
music so much, let me shine a little
light down.
It may be the monotony of the
same chord progressions, song struc
ture and lyrical content.
It may be the poor vocal tech
nique, the tinny tonality of a slide gui
tar or the hypnotically dreary drum
patterns.
For me it's the way my ears begin
to produce wax at an accelerated pace
in a feeble attempt to block out the
noise.
For whatever reason, I believe
we’re all justified in saying Dwight and
his all-white, all-male band of archaic
noisemakers deserves a quiet place in
a time capsule for all of eternity.
British group melds genres
BY ANDREW SHAW
Roni Size/Reprazent is not a band, not
a group of individuals, but an entity that
exists on its own. Though Roni Size pro
duces the majority of the tracks on "In The
Mode,” the collaboration’s second album,
any attempt to follow the extensive
roadmap of credits is futile.
Eight individuals comprise the British
music team, each with an original take on
music, and everyone’s influence is felt
throughout the 17 tracks of “In The Mode.”
Roni Size/Reprazent's sound breaks all
genre barriers, extracting inspiration from
pop, rock and hip-hop while conveying a
heavy element of techno.
“In The Mode” will dominate any
dance club, but the musicianship exposed
on the album is too intricate and well-pre
sented to waste on such passive audiences.
The techno aspects of each track do not
tyrannize the song, like the majority of
dance tracks, but blend with the vocal and
acoustic elements.
Onallee’s energized alto voice rises
above the drum and bass to dance a
twirling ballet with a narcotic piano on
“Play the Game,” the album’s final track.
Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the
Machine shadowboxes with the infectious
jungle beat, plodding bassline and string
samples of “Center OfThe Storm.” “System
Check” blends Dynamite MC’s cursive flow
with a laid-back groove allusive to The
Roots.
Rahzel of Roots fame also is featured on
"In The Mode,” demonstrating one of the
most stupefying talents possessed by any
person. “In Tune With the Sound” high
lights The Godfather of Noise and die beat
box contained within his lips, laying down
a consis
tent grind,
fuzzy bass
line and
all types of
vocal bab
ble. The
effect is a
dropped
jaw hang
ing from a
head that
can’t stop
bobbing
to the contagious beat.
“In The Mode” has staying power, lay
ering innate talent on top of congenital
genius; each track explores a new area of
expertise from unique and unmatched
musical prodigies. You must put it in your
player, but don't expect to get it back any
time soon because ones and zeros never
grabbed your attention like Roni
Size/Reprazent
