Category: Arts

Unfulfilled dreams, heartache, desolation and a blackout were experienced in Chris Abraham’s adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, metaphorically and, well, quite literally.

The latter was a result of two consecutive power failures which caused a delay in the scheduled 8:30 p.m. performance. However, once the electricity was restored and our abhorrence for the hydro system stifled for the time being, we were treated to an over two-hour performance that not only did Williams’ timeless play justice but enticed the audience to give the performers a standing ovation lasting several minutes.

The Glass Menagerie tells the story of the Wingfield family; Amanda (played by Rosemary Dunsmore), the loving but smothering mother, Tom (played by Damien Atkins), the reluctant breadwinner of the family who’s forced to support them after their father abandons them, and Laura (played by Michelle Monteith), a shy and slightly handicapped girl whose inferiority complex hinders her from making friends and finding “gentlemen callers” knocking at her door. The only other character aside from the Wingfields is Jim O’Connor (played by Seann Gallagher), a young man whom Amanda and Tom attempt to set Laura up with only for Laura to discover at the end of their quasi-romantic interlude, that he is engaged to another woman.

The Glass Menagerie was written in 1944 by Tennessee Williams and was first produced in Chicago during the 1944-1945 theatre season where it opened to great acclaim. It then moved to Broadway where it became an overnight success. Needless to say, if a play written in the mid-forties is still being produced today, the material contains themes that are obviously worth exploring, characters that are worth investing our emotion in and a story that is engaging and thought provoking.

The main theme of the play seems to be that while hopes and dreams are worth having, they are, after all, hopes and dreams, and when reality inevitably creeps in, these illusions we have created for ourselves often are shattered.

Amanda wants nothing more than her son and daughter to have happiness and success, which neither child obtains in the end. Tom wants nothing more than to experience the very same adventures he sees in the movies he watches every night, but with the responsibility that comes with supporting his mother and sister, that can never be. Laura is in love with Jim and wants nothing more than her affection to be mutual, which it sadly is not.

There is also a recurring theme of escapism and how it is used to hide from the reality that attempts to crush one’s dreams. Amanda runs a newsletter to escape from the fact that her children are not living the kinds of lives she wishes them to live. Tom spends his time either drinking or watching movies to distract himself from the banality of his everyday existence. Laura has her glass menagerie, a collection of glass figures she lovingly cares for and who in her mind love her back.

All of these subtleties and nuances are brought to life by four marvelous performances. The performance that really stands out is Dunsmore’s brilliant portrayal of Amanda. Dunsmore really brings the desperation Amanda has for her children’s well-being in life, and nearly stole every scene she was a part of during the first act.

The second act, however, belonged to Gallagher and Monteith, who had an undeniable chemistry with each other and thus their romantic interlude was believable.

The music was performed live by violinist Rick Hyslop, the gorgeous lighting design was done by Luc Prairie and the impeccable set designs were constructed by Guido Tondino and Victoria Zimski.

This adaptation was directed by Chris Abraham, a four season veteran of the Saidye Bronfman Centre Theatre, who did a wonderful job of bringing this classic and heartbreakingly tragic story to life.

The Glass Menagerie runs until Oct. 20 at the Saidye Bronfman Centre, located at 5170 C

On Sunday evening, guitarist and composer Tim Brady filled Oscar Peterson Concert Hall with experimental sounds that you normally wouldn’t expect to hear coming from a guitar. Brady performed along with Montreal’s Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, as a part of the 2002 Guitar

Harold and Maude (1971)

If you’re like me, the most common thing you have heard about this movie is that it involves an old woman hooking up with a teenage guy. OK, so this happens (in one suggested scene) but really this wonderful, off-beat, coming-of-age comedy has nothing to do with granny porn. Instead it celebrates living life to the fullest.

Harold is a young man obsessed with death; he compulsively attends funerals and frequently fakes his own death. Maude, on the other hand, is a 79 year-old who loves life. She’s a free-spirited artist and enjoys joy riding and liberating trees. They become friends and, over a perfect score by a young Cat Stevens, Harold learns from the vivacious, yet elderly Maude the value of living.

The direction and writing clearly had an influence on Wes Anderson, so if you liked Rushmore or The Royal Tennenbaums, chances are you will love Harold and Maude.

ConU film students take note, first time writer Colin Higgins wrote this quirky flick for his film school thesis, proving “real education for the real world” doesn’t just have to be an inane slogan.

Raging Bull (1980)

As a rule, when Martin Scorsese directs a picture starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci (i.e. Casino, Goodfellas) it’s worth seeing. Raging Bull is the first film to offer this trio and is arguably the best.

De Niro plays boxer Jake LaMotta in a rags-to-riches-to-rags story spanning over twenty years. It is visually stunning, brutally anti-Rocky and replete with spousal abuse, sensuality and mob corruption.

As a testament to his dedication, De Niro trained under the real LaMotta and gained over 50 pounds to shoot the later parts of the movie.

The fight scenes are the most memorable moments of the film. They are highly stylized using slow-motion photography, wild sound effects and fast-paced editing.

Watch De Niro at his best (before he started making movies like Showtime and The Score).

Annie Hall (1977)

Many claim that Woody Allen has had his day. This is unfair. His recent movies (including the under rated Hollywood Ending) are witty and well-crafted.

Still, the bar is raised high for Woody because he wrote and directed some truly classic and innovative films in the 1970’s, notably Annie Hall.

Over twenty years after this film’s release, it is still comes off fresh, hilarious and poignant. At the most basic level, the story is about an on-and-off again relationship between neurotic writer Alvy Singer (Allen) and ditsy young singer Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). But the film’s superb dialogue also meditates on the meaning of life, communication theory (Marshall McLuhan makes a spectacular guest appearance) and, of course, sex.

Cinematographer Gordon Willis of Godfather fame does a great job making New York City circa 1977 look gorgeous. Allen’s directorial trademarks of talking to the camera, placing present day characters in their own flashbacks and other devices, such as animation, are, for the 1970’s, original and help make the movie great.

Director Wych Kaosayananda, who goes by the name Kaos, makes his first feature film debut thusly desecrating the very fabric of Lucy Liu’s appeal, and whatever appeal Antonio Banderas had left.

Ballistic is a deplorable debacle offering nothing but lunacy while one is confined to their seat.

The film’s characters are lifted from an unheard of video game and the plot is all but absent. It is poorly choreographed and a poorly filmed exhibition of monotonous action sequences. They are badly staged and lack meaning. It is a sin to watch all that money wasted on explosions when they do not elicit the desired effect.

The film stars Lucy Liu (agent Sever) who apparently enjoys being typecast as an action vixen and the abominable Antonio Banderas (agent Ecks). Both are rogue agents with a supposed hidden past that is poorly brought to life.

In film school, they teach a course entitled ‘character development’. This film lacks any development be it character, story or authenticity.

The wafer-thin plot revolves around a young kidnapped child who within him contains a new assassinating mechanism that can emit a fatal dose of something from within the victim. Large guns and ridiculous one-liners substitute for intelligence as our two characters first confront one another, and then as the film’s trailer reveals, collaborate in finding and destroying the film’s incomprehensible villain.

Keep in mind: rampant gunplay and large explosions inhibit the city of Vancouver where the filming took place and where the film sets itself.

Warner Bros. must have known what a tepid film this would be and if they knew, what executive in their right mind would permit it?

This film could have easily taken place in Los Angeles or New York, as the horrible plot has no real purpose for being in Canada. Yet, they decided to shoot and set the film in Vancouver, one of the cities dubbed, “Hollywood North”. With this in mind, Warner Bros. must have decided it was less costly to shoot in Vancouver than in some other urban metropolis and decided to decimate the streets of Vancouver making Canada’s beloved Mounties (the equivalent of the U.S.’s F.B.I.) look like pansies. All in the name of saving money on a film the executives knew would not make any.

In any event, realism lacks in Ballistic.

Ray Park (of Star Wars’ Darth Maul fame) gives it his best in this film, but his martial arts talents are wasted. He does not act and does not use any of his skills in front of the camera.

After the buildup for this battle between Agent Sever and Park’s character, the audience is treated to a knife fight lasting all but a couple of seconds. You have a black belt in Lucy Liu, and a proven Martial Arts Master in Ray Park, and this is what the film can come up with?

The rest of the film plays like a hybrid of failed ‘Matrix-like’ effects mixed with Michael Bay wannabe ambition.

The only problem – the director does not have the vision of a Michael Bay, nor the skill of the Wachowski Brothers. The Matrix composer Don Davis creates the film’s score, but it opens with some slow rock similar to that of those 80’s movies and constantly jumps from rock to tepid techno, while never complimenting the film’s action. Argentinean Cinematographer Julio Macat, who has lensed comedies such as Home Alone 2 and Cats & Dogs, had never before photographed a full-fledged action movie. And it shows.

The recycling of subjects for a film is one thing; it is okay to borrow ideas and turn them into your own for a film. Yet, when one lacks ingenuity and relies on borrowing ideas from other action films and then fails at replicating them, there must be a call to action – to never see another film by Director Kaos again.

With her new exhibit, Les Mondes Frax 4D, Canadian photographer Holly Marie Armishaw proves that science and art can co-exist in harmony.

The first thing that grabs your attention as you enter the exhibit is its atmosphere. Stepping off the street, you enter a townhouse, converted into a string instrument atelier.

Glancing around the gallery, it’s easy to overlook the artwork at first. Hanging amidst the violas, cellos and violins are the 10 seemingly innocent photos that make up the collection.

The photographs, almost all of which are of an unusually large scale, range from vivid landscapes to pale cityscapes and skylines.

However, imposed in every shot are gigantic, brightly coloured, amorphous blobs. Using computer technology, Armishaw has taken her vast landscape photos and overlaid them with giant, textured, electronically generated forms.

Born in Lacombe, Alberta, Armishaw has spent years pursuing an extensive education in the fine arts. She attended the Canadian University College, Red Deer College and Vancouver’s Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, completing her BFA in photography in 2000.

Though relatively new to the art scene, Armishaw has participated in many photography shows in the last two years, such as Caf

It’s a mix between a juice bar, an ice cream shop, a caf

Get ready for some servants who like to play dirty as Frontrunner Theatre is puts on The Maids.

Although the life of servants was featured prominently in last year’s Gosford Park, don’t expect this inaugural play from Frontrunner Theatre to be anything like it.

“The play is relevant to any society in any period,” explains Artistic Director Rob Kelly. “It is truly a universal theme, both ageless and timeless.”

Kelly founded Frontrunner Theatre in 2002 after studying in both Concordia’s theatre department and with The American Academy of Dramatic Art in New York.

Frontrunner Theatre is a non-profit organization and a member of The Quebec Drama Federation. It is composed of over thirty young professionals who see to the overall success of the operation. Whether it be administrative or artistic, their goal is to produce quality theatre and learn while doing so.

In an organization composed of young professionals, recent graduates figure prominently. Declan O’Driscoll, former Fine Arts Student Alliance president and current student in the theatre department, is the show’s lighting designer. Although the cast is as yet undetermined, one can be sure it will contain many eager young performers.

The Maids, written in the late 1940s by French playwright Jean Genet, tells the tale of two disgruntled servants who attempt to change their fortunes by poisoning their employer. However, not everything goes as planned and tragedy reins as the maids fight with their hatred of the system that imprisons them.

The script being used for this production is the original 1954 English translation of Genet’s dark comedy. As is typical of Genet’s works, The Maids portrays a slightly darker side of society, a reflection of Genet’s own youth.

Kelly believes that The Maids is “a reflection of reality,” and hopes that audiences “will discover feelings within themselves that have been dormant or unconscious”.

The Maids is the first of four plays for Frontrunner Theatre this season and will be followed by Deathsports and Sugardaddies an original Canadian work by playwright Thoth Harris. Rounding out the season will be The Zoo Story by Edward Albee and Genet’s first play, Deathwatch.

Kelly describes his directorial debut as being “unforgettable in it’s boldness and will leave a strong impression on all.” Performance dates have not been scheduled as yet, but have been set for some time in mid November.

Frontrunner Theatre is located at 372 Ste. Catherine West in studio 303.

Toronto’s Bodega have something going for them, and they certainly seem to know it. Last Thursday’s show at the Casa Del Popolo, part of the Pop Montreal festival that took place over the weekend, clearly displayed that this four-man pop ensemble knows how to sneak their brand of poppy sweetness into your soul whether or not you think you’re interested.

Frontman and songwriter Andrew Rodriguez genuinely played the part of the rock star, belting out songs of heartbreak in a kind of self-obsessed manner reminiscent of a younger Jim Morrison, while charming fans with his skills on lead guitar and keyboards alternately. Audience members had a hard time keeping their eyes off him as he visibly poured his soul into his songs, turning Bodega into somewhat of a one-man party trick with a back-up band.

Fortunately, the real attraction when it comes to this band is the music. Backed up by boyish charm and a solid rhythm section, Rodriguez’s songs make it easy to get past his song and dance exterior. Pleasantly sneaking up on you with the same gentle grip as a reach-around, their Zombies-like melodies can and will wrap the discerning pop aficionado in a blissful haze. Their sweet and sincere songs made Casa feel less like a grubby hipster bar and more like a circa-1967 high school prom with every passing minute.

“Our songs contain elements of what was once important in songwriting,” said drummer Gavin Maguire after the show. “People like that. We’re not fancy, we just have really solid songwriting.”

Maguire, formerly of the Burt Neilson Band, a touring jam band, has been in Bodega since March. As the band has only played three shows to date with the current line-up, he can almost be considered a veteran. Whether it be due to musical differences or incompatibility of seemingly subordinate band members with King Rodriguez, the band’s line up has been in flux since the two other original members proved to be deserters a year and half ago. This came after recording two albums, Bring Yourself Up and the more recent Without A Plan.

With a brand new album, but no one to play his shows, Rodriguez recruited a new cast of players. A few turnovers later he ended up with his current configuration, including Peter Chapman, also a member of garage rockers The Midways, on guitar and keyboard, and bassist Andy Loyd, a former fan of the band “back in the day”. These boys comprise the band’s babyface section, although one is as likely to find further information about them on Bodega’s website as they are to hear Rodriguez credit them for their work during a show.

All things said, Bodega brings together a talented group of musicians to play well-written sixties pop with sugary songs, a feel-good vibe, and a frontman desperate for your attention. Their show is worth seeing at least once, but for those who have a hard time stomaching the rock-star type, my advice is to buy the CD.

As a product of a the Canadian education system, I have certain ideas of what slavery looks like (bullwhips and cotton fields), what Canada’s role in the North American slave trade was (heroes of the Underground), and what an art exhibit on slavery would entail (broad, dramatic and heartwrenching).

Concordia alumnus Guy Giard describes himself as a “pluridisciplinary artist,” which means that he works with a variety of mediums including, sculpture, ceramics, photography, acrylic, oil paintings, and so on. He received a Bachelor of fine arts and continued his education at Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. He now holds the position of Art Educator at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

The title of his exhibit currently displayed at the Centre d’Histoire de Montreal is “Angelique 1734”. It is an exploration of Quebec’s role in the slave trade, through the exposition of one woman’s tragic experience in “New France.”

The first recorded instance of blacks in Quebec was in 1606. A black linguist named Mathieu Da Costa accompanied the explorer Samuel de Champlain to act as interpreter for the French with the Mic Mac indians. The next recorded instance of a black man in Quebec was in 1628. His name was Olivier Le Jeune and he was a slave.

The subject for Guy Giard’s exhibit is a woman known as Marie-Josephe Angelique. She was born in Madeira, Portugal in 1705 and was abducted by traders shortly afterwards. She was sold to Fran_ois Poulin de Francheville and during her life as his slave she gave birth to three children (they all died) by another slave named Ceasar (who also died). She then fell in love with a white man named Claude Thibault.

She reportedly received knowledge that the widow of her master intended to sell her so she decided to run away. Marie-Josephe was accused of setting fire to her home, which led to a huge fire that destroyed 46 other houses.

On April 11, 1734 she was arrested and found guilty based on the testimony of a five-year-old girl. She was condemned to be burned at the stake. On account of a plea by Angelique for a more merciful execution, the sentence was reduced. On June 21, 1735, Marie-Joseph
Angelique was wheeled in a garbage barrel to the gallows and hung.

Giard’s exhibit is comprised of photographic and written installments. A black model poses as Angelique under dull lighting in photos that could double as police mug shots. There are corresponding photos of the artist in various poses of despair, accompanied by ‘letters’ to Angelique that express the artist’s agony over the plight of slavery. This correspondence is an effort upon the artist to bridge the temporal and cultural gap of over two and a half centuries in order to bring the experience of Angelique into contemporary relevance.

He lists modern examples of slavery as sex tourism (rich clients travel to poor countries to have sex with children) and child labor, as well as mentioning Haiti, Sudan and others that still actively practice what is defined as slavery.

Giard’s photographs depict the alienation that occurs between the victims of slavery and its audience. His photos illustrate the stark and sometimes subtle dehumanization of slavery, blurring the line that defines victimization. Giard’s literature that accompanies the photographs, however, is hardly as wrenching as the story itself. However, the poignancy of his subject’s plight transcends whatever medium the artist employs.

Let’s get the problems from the sold-out Sept. 19 show dealt with first. It may be a bit small, but the Casa del Popolo is a good place to see a show. . . in the winter.

I can’t begin to imagine what the place was like over the summer, but on this warm mid-September evening it was borderline unbearable.

This fact probably explains why, by the end of Spoon’s set, the once sold-out crowd was reduced to a couple of dozen, soppy die-hards desperately sucking the bottoms of their beers for some much needed refreshment.

The other problem, though not a damper on the evening by any means, was the sound problems experienced by Spoon and Vanderslice. Luckily opening band The Field Register dodged both bullets by playing before the room filled up and having a set that didn’t rely on the sound board as much as Spoon’s and Vanderslice’s sets did.

The Field Register’s slow-core, shoe-gazing meanderings were adequate but lacked the intimate intensity that is dominant in the genre.
San Francisco’s John Vanderslice took to the stage next with show stealing drummer Christopher McGuire and Dan Carr, who was pulling double duty playing bass and keyboard. Jeff Byrd worked the soundboard and contributed sound samples.

Vanderslice’s set was equally split between his 2001 offering, Time Travel is Lonely and his 2002 conceptual album, Life and Death of an American Fourtracker, recorded at Vanderslice’s own Tiny Telephone Recording studio on a Tascam Portastudio 424 four track recorder.

The show deftly combined melodic hooks alongside samples, as Vanderslice emotively sang about the alienating, yet ultimately rewarding process of recording music, evident on tracks like Me and My 424: “You know it’s the time/ so goodbye for now/ I crudely descend/ the stairway to defend/ me and my 424.”

Throughout the set, McGuire was doing his best to engage the crowd with several poses that wouldn’t be out of place in an 80’s metal hair band video.

Hanging around their van after the show, Vanderslice was more than accommodating to discussing how the tour was going. Although sad that this was one of the last shows headlining for Spoon, Vanderslice was visibly excited that they’re slotted to open for Washington D.C.’s The Dismemberment Plan for an eleven stop tour through the eastern United States.

Headliner Spoon, from Austin, Texas was everything that one could ask for in a rock/pop band. Spoon mixed Costello-esque melodies with pulsating keyboards and minimalist song structures, all presented underneath a strong, workmanlike vocal performance by Britt Daniel.

It took no time whatsoever for the set to find its legs with the opening keyboard notes of Small Stakes, immediately followed by an inspired version of Lines in the Suit off of last year’s critically acclaimed Girls Can Tell.

Spoon combined tracks from their most recent Kill the Moonlight disc, the previously mentioned Girls can Tell and stuck in a couple of songs from 1998’s A Series of Sneaks.
Spoon is forgiven for a lackluster encore performance as by that time, those still in attendance were totally satisfied and saturated

Montreal being the cultural melting pot that it is, you’d think that a festival celebrating the ever-enveloping independent music scene would have showed its face years ago. Well, for whatever reason it never did, but music lovers in Montreal are now being rewarded for their patience with Pop Montreal, a festival that has attracted indie bands from all over North America (even a few overseas) and will inhabit the Plateau Sept. 26 to 29.

Don’t get thrown off by the term “pop”- it’s unlikely that you’ll see any Britney Spears look-alikes prancing around on stage. What this festival showcases is the grassroots of popular music, the underground sounds that can’t be heard on commercial radio. And the bands are as diverse as the city they’re playing in, ranging from gritty hip-hop to folk, from synth-saturated electronica to down and dirty rock n’ roll.

Not enough? The festival will also be screening the Wilco documentary I am trying to break your heart at Cinema du Parc and is putting together a number of panel discussions and seminars on pop culture and related topics, not to mention the delirious after-hours loft parties that will be taking place at various locations in the downtown area.

The concept behind Pop Montreal is to put bands with a potentially similar audience on the same bill in the hopes of creating a bigger fan base. It also gives smaller bands the opportunity to take a stab at playing some of the bigger venues in Montreal such as the Cabaret and the Spectrum.

“If you put enough great independent bands on one stage, then you’ve created the perfect showcase which is going to draw the industry,” explains festival co-founder Peter Rowan, who is also the mastermind behind the Halifax Pop Explosion.

A strong representation of local bands, both on the French and English sides, is also at the top of the list for festival organizers.

“There is so much going on in Montreal in terms of music, but there’s nothing that really centralizes the pop music scene, that brings together the French and English. The reason why it’s so hard for bands to break into Montreal is that the market is divided between [the two languages],” says Noelle Sorbara, who climbed aboard the Pop Montreal train last February after meeting with Rowan and other co-founder Dan Seligman. She adds that some shows will have both English and French bands on the bill in the hopes of bringing together the two cultures.

If Pop Montreal is a hit, then organizers expect it to become a regular event for the city. Rowan clearly sees the festival as having a very positive effect on Montreal and envisions it as becoming an important musical institution for the city similar to North by Northeast in Toronto and South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

“The most important thing that we can do is to demonstrate on a variety of levels that there’s a really viable community [in Montreal] and with that a business as well,” he explains, adding that it’s important for audiences to recognize the value that independent bands have in the music community.

In the years to come, Rowan, Seligman and Sorbara aim to bring in more acts from overseas, enabling audiences to check out bands that normally wouldn’t have the funds or the fan-base to come to North America. One thing about the festival that will never change is its ambition to promote independent music culture, something that Rowan insists upon.

“It’s important to maintain an independent atmosphere for the festival. I wouldn’t be doing this otherwise.”

Pop Montreal runs from Sept.26 to 29 at a number of venues throughout the Plateau. For more information call 842-1919, or visit www.popmontreal.com.

Quiet Harmony, a collection of Mary Hiester Reid’s work now touring Canada, has stopped by Concordia’s Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery.

The exhibit, curated by Concordia’s own professors Brian Foss and Janice Anderson, showcases the work of the late Mary Hiester Reid, an often forgotten and rare Canadian talent from the early 1900’s.

Although born an American in 1854, Reid spent all her adult life in and around Toronto, and she is considered as one of Canada’s finest painters.

Because of the later success of the Group of Seven, as well as the fact that Reid was a woman professional in the early 1900’s, she was neglected for many years.
Both Foss and Andersen have worked hard to bring Reid back to the spotlight to receive the credit she so humbly deserves.

They have spent much of the last three years researching and compiling Reid’s works, forty-five of which can be seen in the exhibit at Concordia’s Library Building.
Reid, along with her husband, famed Canadian painter George Reid, made their home in Toronto’s Wychwood Park.

As both an elected member of the Ontario Society of Artists and an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy (women were not allowed to be elected), Reid was instrumental in building up the city’s blooming art community.

She was the first female painter to have a solo show, although it was a memorial, back in 1921 (shortly after her death) at the Art Gallery of Toronto. Since then, she has been banished into obscurity, omitted in Canadian art history.

During her thirty-five year career as a professional painter, Reid made certain subtle, but important contributions to the Canadian art scene. She painted mostly with oil paints as opposed to watercolours, which was the preferred technique at the time.

Although Reid was known widely as a flower painter, she also did many interiors, including much Japanese influence and design, as well as landscapes, which were not common for female painters.

Her works accentuated the relationship between colour and form, as well as artistic arrangement. She drew greatly from the Tonalist style as well as the impressionists to create a characteristically dark and poetic atmosphere.

As explained by Sophia Wolkowicz, a tour guide at the gallery, Reid painted and made art for art’s sake. “By quickening the viewer to see and feel the power of beauty in everyday objects,” Reid’s works exuded a deep and personal self-expression evident to even the most uneducated observer. With the help of Foss and Anderson, Reid’s grace and warmth, as manifested in her paintings, will hopefully not be forgotten any time soon.