Dave Hickey in conversation
Dave Hickey returns to town this weekend with writer Julia Friedman for a discussion on his three recent books, 25 Women: Essays on their Art, Dust Bunnies: Dave Hickey's Online Aphorisms, and Wasted Words: The Essential Dave Hickey Online Compilation. The conversation, taking place at Contemporary Arts Center’s new gallery space in Soho Lofts, marks the second time in the past year that the CAC has brought the art critic and former UNLV professor back to Las Vegas (the first was for his talk with LACMA director Michael Govan on land art, particularly Michael Heizer’s “City.”)
Hickey and Friedman, author of Beyond Symbolism and Surrealism: Alexei Remizov's Synthetic Art, will talk about Hickey’s social-media experience that eventually became Wasted Words and Dust Bunnies. Compiled and edited by Friedman and put out by PCP Press, they come from Hickey’s Facebook page discourse between June 2014 and March 2015.
Additionally, the discussion will include Hickey's long-anticipated and beautifully written 25 Women. Composed of previously published essays from museums and gallery exhibits, the book begins with an essay on his mother and the role of women in his life before delving into the work of Alexis Smith, Joan Mitchell, Elizabeth Peyton and others. March 5, 5:30 p.m., free (but CAC memberships are required to attend and will be sold at the door the day of the event), 900 Las Vegas Blvd. S. #159.
Playing Brahms on a Strad
After the Las Vegas Philharmonic performs Philip Glass’ “Company” and Mozart’s 38th Symphony, it will take on Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D featuring concertmaster De Ann Letourneau playing on a 1726 Stradivarius on loan from Bein & Fushi Rare Violins of Chicago. Read about Letourneau’s experience with the violin here. Cabrera Conducts Mozart, March 5, 7:30 p.m., $26-$96, 702-749-2000.
Costumes, behind the scenes
Costume designers swap stories of life behind the magic curtain in a panel moderated by costume expert Karan Feder this weekend that promises to delve into the “comedy, the tragedy and the wardrobe malfunction.” Anyone who’s worked in (or wondered about) the behind-the-scenes realm of live theater might want to check out this “tell-all,” in which Feder, guest curator of costume and textiles at the Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas, talks with panelists Wendy Eberhardt-Petrick, Diana Eden and Monique Long, whose work stretches from Hollywood to Vegas. Costume! A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Method & Artistry of Costume Design, March 5, 3-4:30 p.m., Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, 702-822-8735.