Our film Basil King: MIRAGE premiered on Saturday at Anthology Film Archives. It was part of an event celebrating vibrant 77 years-old Brooklyn based painter/poet Basil King. Great snap shot above taken by poet Charles Bernstein who had to sit on the floor -sorry Charles! Though great perspective of the very attentive audience during the screening.
The afternoon —organized by “the Friends of Basil King” who are also the executive producers of our film— was filled with great panels, presentations, videos & poetry readings. You can read more about the event here.
Meanwhile our family crew would like to thank you very much for coming or providing support from afar! Do stay tuned since we have entered 14 short film festivals!
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Meanwhile I will be switching robes on Sunday September 30, 4PM for a much anticipated gig with Michael Bisio. The beautiful Lower Manhattan 6BC Garden will provide an incredible setting to perform a new installment of Remember-Reflect-Mark, a site/theme specific series of performances that generates music, voice & markings. The first installment of R-R-M was performed on Sept 11 2011 at Erika’s Loft & published inEmergency INDEX 2011 – Ugly Duckling Presse 2011.
We are really exited about the premiere of our 22 mn documentary film on painter & poet Basil King at Anthology Film Archive.
This is a family affair since Miles & I directed the film & Joseph Mastantuono (my elder son) is the associate producer.
The film was commisioned by The Friends of Basil King & shot in Basil King’s studio in January.
It will be part of day celebration of the visual art of Basil King, now in his 77th year. Starting at 12pm on Saturday September 22 at Anthology Film Archive, the program includes panel & presentations on King’s art by noted critics and poets. The celebration will culminate in the debut screening of the film at 5:00pm.
The full schedule of the event is availalble here & more info on the film here.
A few words about Basil King:
King’s syncretic aesthetics have been shaped by his early childhood in WWII London, friendship with poets of the San Francisco Renaissance, apprenticeship to Abstract Expressionist painters Adolph Gottlieb, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko in New York, and by his mentors and friends at Black Mountain College, including Robert Creeley, Charles Olson, and John Wieners.
Participants in the program at Anthology include Edna Augusta, William Benton, Laurie Duggan, Tom Fink, Harry Lewis, Tom Patterson, George Quasha, Barry Schwabsky, and each of The Friends of Basil King.
For more information visit these websites: Film website BoogCity special issue Basil King website
TIME: 12-6 (film at 5PM)
LOCATION: Anthology Film Archive I 32 Second Avenue (at 2nd St.) I New York, NY 10003 I (212) 505-5181 I See Google Map | Subway Directions This event is free & open to the public
Magnificient bass player Michael Bisio will provide his rich layer of bass improvisation for a new instalment of R-R-M.
This series of performances is site/theme specific. They usually revisit events or people, traumatic or not. The performance focus is generally announced at the begining of the show.The reflection & remembrance of the chosen focus will generate visual, text & voice markings. The first installement of RRM was performed on Sept 11 2010 at Erika’s Loft & published inEmergency INDEX 2011 – Ugly Duckling Presse 2011. Arts for ArtIn Garden Series
LOCATION: 6BC Botanical Garden
6th St. (between Av. B & C) NYC
($5)
“Pensées” Oil on Canvas- 36X40 (at the Chancelerie du Consulat de France NYC)
On Saturday December 4th, I participated to the event “Poetry-Sound-Music Intersections” at A Gathering of the Tribes organized by Chicagoan poet/trumpet Dan Godston. The performers included:
1st set: Kristin Prevallet (poetry) and Edmund Mooney (electronics)
2nd set: Nicole Peyrafitte (vocals, poetry), David Boykin (reeds), Dan Godston (trumpet).
It was a very fun gig. David and Dan created great music, I enjoyed weaving my texts through their complex and adventurous sounds. You can have the proof of the cream (no pudding here!) & listen to the first segment uploaded by Dan Godston here. Thanks to audience member and dear friend Paige Mitchell, we have a video of the event and I invite you to watch the last piece of our set at the end of this message… really, don’t miss it!
Whats cooking next? Voilà zee program for next week:
Monday, December 27 · 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Evolving Music / Evolving Voice
The Local 269
269 East Houston Street (corner of Suffolk)
New York, NY
7pm – Vocal Improv Session # 7
Nora McCarthy (voice), Andrea Wolper (voice), Nicole Peyrafitte (voice), Francois Grillot (Double Bass) 8pm – Jason Mears Group
Erika Dagnino (poetry), Steve Dalachinsky (words), Jason Mears (sax and clarinet), Ken Filliano (bass), Satoshi Takeishi (drums) 9pm – Grassroots
Darius Jones (alto sax), Alex Harding (bari sax), Sean Conly (bass), Chad Taylor (drums) 10pm – Steve Dalachinsky & Ken Filiano Duo
Steve Dalachinsky (poetry), Ken Filiano (bass)
January 1st 2011
We will wish you Happy New Year at: 37th ANNUAL NEW YEAR’S DAY MARATHON READING
This year Pierre Joris, Nicole Peyrafitte & Miles Joris-Peyrafitte will be performing as a trio. We are scheduled between 3 & 4PM.
Also, I have done for the past three years, I will be making crêpes in the back and this year I will also make a soup ! Why make it simple when it can be complicated, right! The event starts at 2PM and goes until past midnight and below is the impressive list of poets & performers:
The Poetry Project
St. Mark’s Church 131 East 10th Street
New York, NY 10003
Poets and Performers for 2011 include: John Giorno, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Philip Glass, Suzanne Vega, Taylor Mead, Eric Bogosian, Anne Waldman & Ambrose Bye, Vito Acconci, Foamola, Anselm Berrigan, Ariana Reines, Peter Gizzi, Liz Willis, Ted Greenwald, Bruce Andrews & Sally Silvers, The Church of Betty, Thom Donovan, Tim Griffin, Todd Colby, Tom Savage, David Shapiro, Jonas Mekas, Josef Kaplan, Judith Malina, Albert Mobilio, Alex Abelson, Maria Mirabal, Bill Kushner, David Freeman, David Kirschenbaum, Diana Rickard, Don Yorty, Dorothea Lasky, Douglas Dunn, Alan Gilbert, Alan Licht w/ Angela Jaeger, Charles Bernstein, Christopher Stackhouse, Citizen Reno, Cliff Fyman, Corina Copp, Aaron Kiely, Adeena Karasick, Bill Zavatsky, Bob Holman, Robert Fitterman, Rodrigo Toscano, Brenda Iijima, Brendan Lorber, Brett Price, Corrine Fitzpatrick, Curtis Jensen, Dael Orlandersmith, David Vogen, Derek Kroessler, Diana Hamilton, ARTHUR’S LANDING, CAConrad, Akilah Oliver, Douglas Piccinnini, John S. Hall, Samita Sinha, Sara Wintz, Secret Orchestra with special guest Joanna Penn Cooper, Shonni Enelow, Bob Rosenthal, Brenda Coultas, John Yau, Julian T. Brolaski, Evelyn Reilly, Filip Marinovich, Douglas Rothschild, Drew Gardner, Eleni Stecopoulos, Elinor Nauen, Eve Packer, Jo Ann Wasserman, Joanna Fuhrman, Dustin Williamson, E. Tracy Grinnell, Ed Friedman, Edwin Torres, Eileen Myles, Elliott Sharp, Emily XYZ, Erica Hunt, Erica Kaufman, Evan Kennedy, Joe Elliot, Joel Lewis, Frank Sherlock, Gillian McCain, Greg Fuchs, Janet Hamill, Jeremy Hoevenaar, Jessica Fiorini, Jibade-Khalil Huffman, Jim Behrle, Julianna Barwick, Julie Patton, Michael Lydon, Lisa Jarnot, Maggie Dubris, Marcella Durand, Marty Ehrlich, Merry Fortune, Michael Cirelli, Kristen Kosmas, Laura Elrick, Lauren Russell, Leopoldine Core, Nina Freeman, Paolo Javier, Patricia Spears Jones, Paul Mills (Poez), Michael Scharf, Mike Doughty, Karen Weiser, Lewis Warsh, Linda Russo, Penny Arcade, Peter Bushyeager, Rebecca Moore, Mónica de la Torre, Murat Nemet-Nejat, Nathaniel Siegel, Nick Hallett, Nicole Peyrafitte, Pierre Joris & Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, Kathleen Miller, Katie Degentesh, Kelly Ginger, Ken Chen, Kim Lyons, Kim Rosenfield, India Radfar, Tonya Foster, Stephanie Gray, Susan Landers, Tony Towle, Tracie Morris, Valery Oisteanu, John Coletti, Rachel Levitsky, Edmund Berrigan, Jamie Townsend, Macgregor Card, Wayne Koestenbaum, Will Edmiston, Yoshiko Chuma, Nicole Wallace, Arlo Quint, Stacy Szymaszek and more T.B.A
General admission $20/Students & Seniors $15/Members $10.
And last, but not least, 4 large paintings and two framed collages are now at the Chancellerie of the French New York Consulate. If you are French and need to renew your passport or any other admin stuff you will see them. I am very grateful to our consul, Mr Philippe Lalliot, to have taken the initiative to have contemporary art instead of posters! Merci to Mr. Le Consul and merci to his team for having my work displayed in their work space where 15 000 people come through each year. I have set up a webpage for information on the paintings here.
Voilà! And now Joyeux Noël and enjoy the whipping!
The video above features my cornichon poem written for the occasion and set to the music of the well know composer and famous gastronome Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868). The title of the composition is: Hors d’Oeuvres III : Les Cornichons — and this is not a joke. Quatre Hors d’Oeuvres et Quatre Mendiants are part of Rossini’s last sets of compositions called “Dernier Pêché Mortel, de Vieillesse” or in English: “Sins of Old Age”. These unpublished late compositions (1857-1868), now compiled in 14 volumes, were meant to be performed at private occasions in the composer’s drawing room. Below are the details of Volume/ Book 4:
Quatre (4) Hors d’Oeuvres: [The Hors d’Oeuvres here refer to appetizers]
I- Les Radis – radishes
II- Les Anchois – anchovies
III- Les Cornichons- gherkins
IV- Le Beurre – butter
The Quatre (4) Mendiants: [Mendiants refer to dried fruits and one of the Thirteen desserts of the Noel Provençal. Each fruit is supposed to represent the robe color of four monk orders] Les Figues sèches – dry figs — Carmel order
Les Amandes – almonds —Dominican order
Les Raisins- raisins —Franciscan order
Les Noisettes – hazelnuts — Capuchins order
This occasion lead me to reconnect with the marvelous Franco-Italian singer-song writer Nino Ferrer (1934-1998). I learned his “Les Cornichons” and even if you don’t know French, do listen to it. Nino Ferrer was a very interesting artist who had quite a successful carrier. His background included studying anthropology with André Leroy Gourhan and accompanying jazz musicians like Richard Bennett & Bill Coleman. Voilà — and merci beaucoup to Françoise Bevy for the photos. Enjoy!
Graduation, birthdays, family visits, drawings, preparation for up-coming shows kept me away from the computer, but here is the schedule for the next few weeks. We hope to see you at these very exiting shows:
Sunday June 27th
Metropolitan Museum
1:00PM “Picasso, Pablo Ruiz: Spanish Poet Who Dabbled in Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture””
A conference by Pierre Joris, co-editor and translator of Pablo Picasso’s poetry: Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz & Other Poems
I will be the reader for the French & Spanish versions of Picasso’s texts.
