Megan Rye’s brother supervised the regional detention facility in Fallujah and transported Iraqi detainees within the Sunni Triangle. He took more than two thousand photographs during his tour of duty. As a painter, his sister is the real deal; she used these images to make huge paintings that are for keeps. These paintings are part of her current exhibition, I Will Follow You into the Dark. War Mediated, the concurrent group show, is less concerned with combat than with how stories get disseminated on the home front. It includes Megan Vossler’s drawings of bands of tiny refugees filing through great blank fields of white, Camille Gage’s paintings of flag-draped coffins with blacked-out “censored” areas, and Justin Newhall’s photos of World War II battle re-enactments — works that inflect our fears and desires in interesting ways. –by Ann Klefstad, artwork by Megan Rye
Opening Reception tonight from 7-9 p.m., Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-870-3131.
The Press Is Cooling Down
The Hot Off the Press: Eleventh Cooperative Exhibition is coming to a close, so be sure to make time for it today or tomorrow. You know what printmaking is: creating multiple copies of an image, by any means possible. Print is a parallel art-world with its own histories and propensities. Some techniques are ancient, like woodcuts; some are former industrial processes, like stone lithography or screenprint; some are intimately allied with books and illustrations, like intaglio. Print is a fairly democratic medium, too: If you have some skills, you can join Highpoint as a co-op member and work in its fabulously well-appointed studio. The work of the current co-op is notably wide-ranging, with many artists in this exhibition (Clara Ueland and Nick Wrobleski, for example) transmuting the living world into more iconic, resonant forms. (Much as good illustration does, and that’s no insult.) Prints are affordable; go shopping. And maybe think about becoming a printmaker yourself — Highpoint has adult classes. –by Ann Klefstad, artwork by Marty Harris
With three permanent but aging legends on the same bill, the only potential drawback to this gig is the possibility that the headliners will give in to the temptation to go through the motions and bask in each other’s well-deserved glory. But even if they do, it will still be worth the dough. Many try, but nobody else can quite find the notes that B.B. is able to sting out of Lucille. Many try, but nobody simultaneously sings to Lord and Lover with the heartfelt splendor of Al Green. And many try, but nobody can deliver an R-rated show for a PG-audience (or an X-rated show for an R-audience) with as much flair and humor as vocalist Etta James, and yet still plant the essence of blues and soul in most every tune. — by Britt Robson
For something a bit more low-key, low-budget, experimental, progressive, and chic, head over to the Acadia Cafe for DEMO Low-Fi Thursdays. You’ll see newbies and old-timers break out original tunes, and often share new work with what always feels like an intimate audience. Tonight’s performers include Matthew Lee; Northfield’s Meredith Fierke, who sounds pretty incredible on her myspace page; neo-soul popsters Incognita; the fabulous Lori Wray playing side-by-side in a spectacular match-up with Todd Newman, of Leatherwoods fame (and rightly so!); and finally, the Jacob McKnite Band, which somehow manages to make you want to smile and weep at once. Hmmmm… You won’t want to miss this. It’s quite lovely.
Oh, yeah — time for another one of those whacky late-50s sci-fi movies at the Bell. And it looks like we’ll even get nice weather, so we can enjoy the courtyard. Tonight’s creepy flick is The Wasp Woman, starring Susan Cabot (although it’s actually a 60s flick). Cabot plays the aging owner of a cosmetics company who find eternal youth in the jelly of the queen wasp. Go figure: “A beautiful woman by day — a lusting queen wasp by night.” That’s what I’m talking about, every woman’s fantasy (or every man’s). Director Roger Corman is King of the B Movie, and Cabot is brilliant in the lead role.
9 p.m., Bell Museum Courtyard, 10 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-624-7083; free.
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