Category Archives: ART

My chat with author Wendy Lesser on Shostakovich, SF Weekly

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Larissa Archer

No foreign sky protected me, No stranger’s wing shielded my face. I stand as witness to the common lot, Survivor of that time, that place. — Anna Akhmatova, 1961 How does an artist work in the context of an oppressive … Continue reading →

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Write-up of the opening night party for "The Steins Collect" at SFMOMA in ArtSLant

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Larissa Archer

Any San Francisco gathering too big to fit inside a bathtub inevitably becomes a fancy dress ball. We love Events and we love to think of ourselves more as participants than as spectators. This held true for the opening night … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, damn good, EVENTS, painting, REVIEWS, San Francisco | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

The Cries of San Francisco in SF Weekly

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Larissa Archer

You don’t have to pick a special day on Market Street to be yelled at by strangers. And it’s not that unusual to encounter those in odd outfits trying to sell you objects and services of ostentatious uselessness. But Saturday, … Continue reading →

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My review of Doug Rickard’s "A New American Picture" in the San Francisco Examiner

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Larissa Archer

Roofs face the elements without shingles and collapsing, store fronts stand shuttered and windows boarded over, and gingerbread crumbles off formerly elegant facades. In Doug Rickard’s “A New American Picture” on view at Stephen Wirtz Gallery, the sense of desertion … Continue reading →

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My write-up of "First Thursday" openings at 49 Geary in SF Weekly

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Larissa Archer

​Clusters of young Americans propped themselves up on Golgothan stilettos, clutching their plastic cups of white wine with one hand and texting virtuosically with the other. Some hood-ish-looking young men in ‘do-rags dragged their pants behind them from gallery to … Continue reading →

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My review of Richard Learoyd’s Presences at Fraenkel Gallery in Art Practical

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Larissa Archer

It’s hard not to feel like an overzealous dermatologist examining the subjects of Richard Learoyd’s exhibition at Fraenkel Gallery. His large-scale direct-positive images reveal a degree of epidermal detail one usually only gets to see while making out under an … Continue reading →

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On Spectacular Theatre

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Larissa Archer

A few years ago I attended the dress rehearsal of a production of The King and I at the Royal Albert Hall in London. For the most part, it was pleasant, although not being a regular musical theatre goer, I … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, London, REVIEWS, theatre | 2 Comments

Eonnagata, Théatre des Champs-Elysées

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Larissa Archer

Another piece I was lucky enough to see in Paris was Eonnagata, a collaborative dance/dramatic work by Robert Lepage, Sylvie Guillem, and Russell Maliphant, at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées. Now, I say lucky because I will happily see anything with … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, ballet, damn good, dance, my travels, Paris, REVIEWS, rude french people | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Pina Bausch’s Le Sacre du Printemps

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Larissa Archer

I managed to get a ticket to the New Year’s Eve performance at Paris Opera’s Palais Garnier of a modern triple-bill, the piece of most interest to me being Le Sacre du Printemps. Over the phone (at 35 centimes a … Continue reading →

Posted in ART, ballet, damn good, dance, my travels, Paris, REVIEWS, rude french people | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the rechristening of Henry Miller’s Theater *update*

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Larissa Archer

(I posted this as a note on my facebook page and got some interesting comments; I’ve included them here in the comments section below) Sometimes I have to agree with Christopher Isherwood. There have been some stupid, crass, and embarrassing … Continue reading →

Posted in New York, REVIEWS, theatre | 5 Comments