Category: Art & Theater

Artists inspired by a once-essential part of the feminine wardrobe

Twiggs Gallery is celebrating women through the art show “Head’s Up: The Many Hats Women Wear.” The show, which features all artists from the Women’s Caucus for Art’s New Hampshire Chapter, prompted artists to use hats as inspiration, whether through making the hats, using hat imagery, or recycling hats to be used as part of the media for the artwork.

“There’s really only two hats you could actually wear,” Laura Morrison, the gallery director at Twiggs, said. “The rest are really sculptures.”

There are approximately 30 different hat-inspired pieces on display at the gallery. The goal with the show was to display many of the ways women exist in both modern and older societies. The artwork is on display until May 27, and most of the artwork is for sale.

There weren’t any strict rules to interpreting the theme, Morrison said. Some of the artwork on display takes inspiration from iconic women and their hats, like Carmen Miranda, who famously danced with a pile of fruit on her head.

Morrison said that the majority of the pieces are sculptures, with a handful of hanging pieces that were photography or mixed media. The artwork includes paintings and photos, sculptures using flowers and nature, and one piece that incorporates sound.

That piece, titled “Negative Hat with a Positive Attitude,” by Donna Catanzaro, turns photo negatives from Catanzaro’s youth into the structure of a bell-shaped hat that is suspended so viewers can stand inside. The audio aspect comes from a short monologue Catanzaro recorded, explaining how she became empowered by the old reels of negatives and the girl she once was.

“We asked the artists to broadly interpret the theme,” Morrison said. “Some of [the art] is nature, like Mother Nature, or about a woman’s work, or self-image, agency and power. We try to offer themes that can be broadly interpreted. It’s giving visual representation of thoughts and ideas that [the artists] have.”

This is the third installment from the partnership Twiggs has with WCA/NH that Morrison has inspired. The first was “Busting Out: Powerful Women” also known as “The Bra Show,” and the second was “Kick-Start” or “The Shoe Show.” Morrison said she isn’t sure what other piece of uniquely feminine clothing could be used to inspire art, but hopes to figure one out.

Morrison wants people to experience the show as a serious celebration of women but also to see it as something amusing.

“Whoever comes in will come out with something to think about, with what women are thinking about, and what challenge they have,” Morrison said. “Also, it’s just fun, too. I’ve heard people laugh a few times while they’re in there because they enjoy the show so much.”

Head’s Up: The Many Hats Women Wear
Where: Twiggs Gallery, 254 King St., Boscawen
When: During gallery hours, Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday noon to 4 p.m.
Visit: twiggsgallery.org

Featured photo: “Forest Guardess Headgear” by Kathleen Lovett. Courtesy photo.

Currier hosts first U.S. exhibit for Brazilian artist

The Currier Museum is hosting the first United States exhibit for internationally renowned artist Uýra. The exhibit, “The Living Forest: UÝRA (A Floresta Viva: UÝRA),” is a celebration of the artist’s indigenous identity, the nature of Brazil, and the complexities of gender in society.

Uýra is a nonbinary indigenous Brazilian artist. The work is primarily performance art, developing costumes and personas that reflect the struggles of indigenous people, the environment and transphobia in Brazil. Their work was the subject of the 2022 documentary Uýra: The Rising Forest.

“All these elements are played out in the physical transform by wearing natural elements, like natural dyes, tree bark and leaves, all from the mountains where they are from and live,” said the Currier’s chief curator, Lorenzo Fusi. “By creating this drag persona that is interspecies, inter-gender, it embodies everything from plants to animals and humans to nature as well, everything forming our universe.”

Uýra has never had a solo exhibit in the United States, Fusi said. He said the Currier was honored to be giving Uýra their first American showcase. This is also one of the largest solo exhibitions Uýra has done.

Because of the performative nature of Uýra’s artwork, Fusi said there was a distinct challenge in how to set up the shows. Fusi said that one of the ways they plan to capture Uýra’s performances is through a book the museum is publishing.

“The way they perform, sometimes [the performances] aren’t meant to have a live audience, those are more like rituals and more personal actions,” Fusi said. Because of the sometimes solitary nature of Uýra’s art, there are videos and photographs documenting those performances. “Everything is installed in a way so that the audience enters into the environment. The whole show is very immersive.”

On the opening day, Uýra will give a live performance. Fusi said it won’t be the last time they perform, and the Currier plans to have them back at least for the museum’s summer block party on July 15.

“It’s such an interesting practice … because of the element of magic that comes from Uýra performing, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

When it comes to the opening of the exhibit, whether visitors are able to see Uýra’s performances or not, Fusi hopes the artwork will spark important conversations. He wants people to not just see the artwork as beautiful, but see the ideologies of the artist and discuss the messages Uýra is trying to convey.

“There are different levels to [the art]; the beauty and seduction of the images, but they speak across barriers of race and cultural backgrounds, which is so immediate and strong and powerful,” Fusi said. “If you want to scratch the surface of visual engagement, pick and choose one of the many themes. Protection of environment, gender and indigenous rights are the three key points I’d like people to take away.”

The Living Forest: UÝRA (A Floresta Viva: UÝRA)
Where: Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org, 669-6144)
When: Opens Thursday, May 11, with a performance at 7 p.m. The exhibition will be on display through Sept. 24.
Hours: The museum is open Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission: $15 for adults, $13 for 65+, $10 for students, $5 for 13 through 17 and free for children under 13. Admission is also free for all from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays and free for New Hampshire residents on the second Saturdays of the month (including this Saturday, May 13).

Featured photo: A Mata Te Se Come, 2018. Photo by Lisa Hermes.

NH Gay Men’s Chorus celebrates its 25th anniversary

The New Hampshire Gay Men’s Chorus. will celebrate its 25th anniversary by kicking off its spring concert series this weekend.

“I’m very excited about what we’re doing,” chorus executive director John McGeehan said. “I feel like it was yesterday that it was Jan. 10 and we were just first getting together for the year to start getting the concert together.”

Luc Andre Roberge has been the artistic director for 23 years at the chorus and a member since it was created. He said that he, along with other founding members, had seen the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus perform and thought that the representation and the message of the organization was one they could bring to the Granite State.

“We decided that we could do this in New Hampshire, and in the beginning of ’98, we put a call out, had about 50, 60 people at the first rehearsal, and only a dozen came back,” Roberge said. “Also, this was a time where you didn’t want to be open to the public, you didn’t want to be out of the closet in any way.”

Roberge said that it was hard for members to openly claim their identity as gay men at that time. When the organization was first formed, he said, Jim Bretz, a huge figure in New Hampshire’s LGBTQ community, told them there was a good chance the organization wouldn’t last longer than three years and that making it to five years would be incredible.

“None of us at the time thought it would make it to 25 years,” Roberge said. “Those that are not with us who started us up, I’m sure they’re smiling down and saying, ‘We’re so happy.’ We persist and we have persevered.”

Roberge designed the music for the concert to celebrate the last quarter of a century of music. There will be songs from musicals, including Rent, as well as more traditional choral pieces and covers of popular music.

McGeehan, who has been a part of the chorus since he first moved to New Hampshire in 2017, said that it’s important for people to realize they aren’t a group of professional musicians, just people who spread love and positivity through music. He added that just because they aren’t professionals doesn’t mean they don’t strive to make wonderful music — it’s just not the chorus’s only goal.

“One of the missions is not just to put on the best concert that we can, and I think we succeed every season, but be a community and social organization,” McGeehan said. “We give concerts every year at various town pride events, but also free concerts at local assisted facilities, singing the national anthem at New Hampshire Special Olympics, as well as at the Boston Red Sox in June for Pride Night.”

While the chorus sings at pride events throughout New Hampshire, McGeehan said the ones that were most important to him were when the chorus sang at several towns’ first pride parades. He said it allowed for the chorus to show other people in the LGBTQ community that they aren’t alone, that they have a space for people like them.

“To see how well this has come together, it’s actually incredible,” McGeehan said. “Here’s to 25 years, it’s been a lot of fun. I think with the kind of support we are having, I see someone welcoming us to the 50th anniversary someday.”

Silver Seasons of Love: New Hampshire Gay Men’s Chorus 25th Anniversary Concert
• Saturday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m., at Plymouth Congregational Church UCC, 4 Post Office Square in Plymouth.
• Sunday, May 7, 4 p.m., at First Baptist Church of Nashua, 121 Manchester St., Nashua.
• Saturday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m., at Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 22 Fox Run Road in Newington.
• Sunday, May 21, at 4 p.m., Derryfield School, 2108 River Road in Manchester.
Tickets: $20 for adults (ages 12 and under admitted free, email [email protected] for children’s tickets). See the website for links to purchase tickets at each location.
Visit: nhgmc.com

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Symphony New Hampshire is celebrating its centennial

For a century, Symphony New Hampshire has been bringing classical music to the Granite State. On its 100th birthday, the symphony will perform a concert featuring music from the first performance in 1923 and will host a gala celebrating the landmark anniversary.

“All of this has been daunting and exciting at the same time to celebrate 100 years,” said Deanna Hoying, the executive director of the symphony. “This whole season has been about that.”

The symphony will perform Antonin Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, featuring internationally renowned cellist Amit Peled, and Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor ‘Unfinished,’ both of which were performed during its very first concert. The program will be rounded out with ‘On the Beautiful Blue Danube’ by J. Strauss Jr. and Johannes Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5.

Hoying said it was important for the symphony to celebrate the music and its legacy, which was a main reason it partnered with Peled for this concert. She added that this concert is just as important to the local arts community in New Hampshire as it is to the music world.

“This is a celebration of the arts in New Hampshire … and that they’re alive and well in the state,” Hoying said. “Maybe this is the end of the first chapter [for the symphony], but we’re going to open the book, turn the page to the next chapter.”

The gala following the reception will be opened by a poem written and read especially for the event by New Hampshire’s Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary. The symphony also partnered with artist William Mitchel, who made custom prints commemorating the event. Hoying said that, due to board members’ reserving prints in advance, there will be fewer than 100 copies for the public to snatch up.

To Hoying, this event is about giving thanks to the directors of the symphony, the musicians, the patrons of the arts, and the music lovers who came before.

“One hundred years of patrons and musicians and artists that struggled to keep Symphony New Hampshire going — we owe a large debt of gratitude to all of them when they struggled and weren’t sure what would come next,” said Hoying. “We stand on their shoulders and say thank you.”

Even with the symphony standing tall now, Hoying remembers the fear during the pandemic. She and members of the symphony’s board remember worrying over the future of live music in New Hampshire. The symphony is in a much more comfortable position since the first show after the pandemic’s end in 2021, which Hoying said only inspires them to do more.

“We’re really excited for the next 100 years; that’s why we called this concert ‘Momentum,’” Hoying said. “When we started thinking about this, momentum felt right. The momentum from the last 100 years will carry us to what we look like in year 101, 105 and 110.”

Symphony NH: Momentum! 100 Year Anniversary Concert
Where: Nashua Center for the Arts, 201 Main St.
When: Saturday, April 29, at 4 p.m.
Price: Adult tickets start at $39, senior tickets at $34, student and youth tickets at $12
Visit: nashuacenterforthearts.com

Featured photo: Symphony NH’s full orchestra. Courtesy photo.