#Ken and Rothko

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

Red cast is back!!

14 years have passed since that wonderful show (Red a play by John Logan, Michael Grandage director). Today Ken and Rothko meet at the Drama League Awards!!

[movfie]

Alfred Enoch as “Ken” in the 2018 critically acclaimed play RED

[jacketrepresents]

ha ha pete campbell got one of the worst-written unrequited gay advances in the whole show #deserved

[jgroffdaily]

Rothko: "What do you mean, the feeling of it?"

Ken: "I didn't mean red paint only. I meant the emotion of red at sunrise."

Rothko: "Sunrise isn't red."

Ken: "Yes it is."

Rothko: "I'm telling you it's not."

Jonathan Groff and Alfred Molina in Red

[vuillard]

my dream is still to get to rothko chapel my dream is still to sit quietly. reread red the john logan play faux autobiographical play about rothko and ken his assistant immediately moved into my poem and became a character brought all of it. have to go to the met and stare at the rothko again

[imsosocold]

The part of Red that struck me most in the moment:

Something about Rothko telling Ken that he has a future outside of the studio,  Ken never being heard of again after he leaves it, and the play ending soon after Ken goes. Out of universe it makes sense, as Ken didn’t actually exist but looking as it from within the in play’s universe it’s…temporal, like the type of art Rothko claimed Ken liked.

[natbult]

Faith and art (Dump station)

typed " contemporary art and spirituality"

Article about why faith and art are on the rise.

“The resurgence of spirituality is more present than ever in contemporary art,” Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli said in a recent interview. “Wars, conflicts, and consumerism seem to have prompted a desire for transcendence, for refuge, for essence. Increasingly, artists are aiming for the essence of spirituality in their work.” Undoubtedly—regardless of their personal religious beliefs—artists are turning to spiritual philosophies and theological iconography to examine their own beliefs and make sense of the current moment.

I find this interesting becauste this is much differnent than what I was finding. Maybe because this is more general sense of spirituality>> I was looking very specifically at Christian artists. So that could be worth noting. Ope yup these are just talking about work in general sense of imbuing a sense of spirituality.

Although it’s nearly impossible to settle on one reason for today’s resurgence of spirituality in contemporary art, for numerous artists, it’s a matter of turning to their work to reflect on personal beliefs, religious or not. They may draw on theology to explore metaphysical themes or reinterpret religious iconography to discuss meaningful secular issues. Time will tell if the revival of these themes is merely a symptom of the present or a new path forward. 

Ann Agee

The feminist artist Ann Agee, known for her deft, hand-built ceramic sculptures, makes use of religious iconography without ascribing any sort of spiritual meaning to her work. “Spirituality is a word that puts me off a little bit,” Agee said. “It feels like there’s an implication to live the right way or the wrong way. And I dislike anything that tells you how to live.” Agee has also been a long-time devotee to religious aesthetics, though she carefully avoids dogma and instead focuses on technical elements like the use of color and light. In her words, “There was a time when artists could not survive if they didn’t make religious iconography, so a lot of really wonderful paintings were made with these stories.”

Good article for definitions!! This also has links to books at the bottom!!!

“Spirituality” is a term that is often used vaguely to refer to an attitude or approach toward life that involves a search for meaning.

Sheldrake also describes the study of spirituality as an academic discipline and discourse. 

The second term that needs qualification is “contemporary” in the sense of contemporary art. 

today’s artists are—unlike Grünewald—far more likely to disclose the broadly numinous rather than the explicitly incarnational, and are far more likely to offer generalised religious experience rather than Christian revelation. In doing so they, like Rothko and other abstract expressionists before them, move religious art beyond its traditionally didactic and narrative intentions towards the primarily experiential.25

Sarah Lucas’s tongue-in-cheek Christ You Know It Ain’t Easy (2003) uses the figure of Christ, composed of cigarette butts, to provoke humor in what resembles an advertising slogan.

Good commentary on this topic.

Art and Fauth Makoto Fuimura

Very important in my work!!

He talks about making in Christainity lense. But his work is not exactly about what his book talks about (so it appears on his site).

[anarchoarchie]

thinking about john logan’s red again!!!!😵‍💫😵‍💫

[fredisius]

【鑑賞記録】 Red (2010)

タイトル：Red（2010）

観賞日：2022/5/16

観賞方法：DVD

IMDb：https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8622274/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_86

スコア　4.7/5

ずっとAlfredの舞台に立つ姿を見たいと思っていたところで、このREDという作品が映像化しているという情報を入手し、円盤を輸入して鑑賞！

改めて、やはり舞台は良いですね！2人だけの演劇ということで、映像化してもそこまでは違和感はなく、没入して楽しむことができました。あまり、前情報を入れずに見るタイプなので、詳細見るまで知らなかったのですが、実際にいた抽象派の画家、Mark Rothkoを描いた物語。そんな彼の元に、若いKenがアシスタントとしてやってきて……といった展開。

日本でもどうやら、新国立劇場で2006年に、田中哲司さんと小栗旬さんで公演していたようです。また日本でもやってくれないかなぁ……。こういう少人数の内容の濃い舞台、大好きなんですよ。ブラックメリーポピンズといい、ヴィンセントヴァンゴッホといい、スリルミーといい……。初演キャストのEdyでも見て見たかったですねぇ！

MarkとKenが芸術に関して熱く議論する展開は見応えがありました。英語半分も理解できていませんが、それでも伝わってくる熱量。夢中になってみてしまいましたね。子供の頃の経験を語るシーンは圧巻で、英語もここはほぼ理解できたので、まざまざとそのシーンが絵に浮かぶようですごかったです。

あと、2人で絵を描くシーンはすごく見応えがあって、演出が本当に素晴らしいと思いました。まるでダンスを見ているかのような美しさで、あのシーンが本当に好きです。あのシーンのためだけにリアルな劇場だったとしてもリピれるなとwww

日本語字幕のない作品なので、英語が半分も理解できていないと思いますが、また英語力を高めて、再鑑賞したい作品です。

[singingaboutwishingx]

my Thoughts and Opinions on mad men

this is quite disorganized and very long. contains spoilers for all seven seasons after the cut.

-though i think don was a good character, he was such a shitty person!!! cheating on every partner he ever had? bad! being an asshole to everyone and getting away with it because he’s handsome? also bad!

-but also like... just to put it out there, jon hamm can do literally anything he wants to me. good lord, that man is attractive. 

-there was literally a point where i hated every character except peggy, betty, and sal

-speaking of sal, HE DESERVED BETTER. i genuinely almost cried when the fire alarm went off. he was so happy for like three seconds and then SOME MOTHERFUCKER lit something on fire (i don’t remember exactly what happened).

-FUCK lee garner, jr. 

-i ended up having such complicated feelings about betty. on one hand, she was cheated on and emotionally abused and gaslit, so i can absolutely understand why she became harder as the seasons went on. on the other hand, she didn’t treat her children so well and idk how i feel about that. i do feel so, so bad for her regardless.

-bert cooper was honestly such a baddie, though. he got heated sometimes during important plot points, but his general “i’m old, i don’t give a shit” vibes were excellent (i also watched this whole show in less than two months, though, so please forgive me if i miss details)

-like when harry crane was too afraid to say the wrong thing about bert’s red rothko and bert was just like “bitch shut up about my painting, no one cares”

-and his “the best things in life are free” after he died was so good. i was personally offended that they took his name out of the opening credits afterward

-peggy. my sweet girl. arguably the best character. this girl’s transformation made me so damn proud. the iconic scene where she walked through mccann with the octopus painting and a cigarette hanging out of her mouth was just everything. 

-i really didn’t like stan at first, but he grew on me. mostly i’m just a hopeless romantic, so i was very, very happy when he and peggy ended up together.

-i didn’t hate abe, but i was VERY relieved when they broke up

-poor, poor michael ginsberg. i hope that man gets some help. that’s really all i have to say. 

-pete campbell falling down the stairs made me laugh for like an hour because he just sucks so much. he did NOT deserve trudy. also vincent kartheiser is DAMN lucky he has good hair, because shaving his hairline is a serious gamble.

-pete is such a shitbag. i’m so sorry. i just dislike him so much. i remember watching the second season and thinking if he and peggy ended up together, matthew weiner was going to be the recipient of a very angry letter lmao

-did he have *some* growth? kind of. does that mean trudy made the right decision to go with him to kansas? mmmmm probably not.

-joan definitely grew on me. i did not like her at first, but her character arc was so damn satisfying. holloway harris productions? freaking incredible. her son is cute, she’s her own boss, and she doesn’t end up with someone controlling. we stan. 

-i really hope her lesbian roommate from the first season found a girlfriend. that poor girl pined for years, and hopefully she ended up with a girl that loved her

-i feel so bad for lane pryce. that man did not deserve what he thought he did. was it bad to steal from the company? of course. he did not need to kill himself, though. i was fr so upset. the man knocked out pete campbell, which clearly makes him the best. 

-the sheer giddiness that flooded my body when lane fired them all from the og sterling cooper was incredible. it was a great, great decision. 

-pete campbell can go to hell

-every time glen bishop appeared onscreen i was afraid. i just thought “oh my god, this bitch gonna grow up and become a serial killer.”

-watching sally grow up was so great. she was still so bratty up until henry told her that betty had cancer, but the second she knew, she was ready to be there for her family. she did also say some rather iconic things. i love kiernan shipka haha

-they got the cutest freaking babies to be on this show. especially tammy because her little cheeks were just so chubby and i loved herrrrrrr

-it really didn’t end the way i thought it would, but it makes sense. the hug between don and leonard was EXCELLENT

-i know this is so specific, but every once in a while there would be a shot that was just perfect. like the one at the end of season five where joan and sterling/cooper/campbell/draper were all standing facing the window on their second floor of the time life building— that was beautiful. sterling and cooper, the older generation, on one side, campbell and draper, the future, on the other, and joan in between them. truly, she was what held every single thing in that office together and i cannot get over how freaking incredible that shot is

-i didn’t really love betty and henry. every marriage has problems, but betty and both of her husbands had serious problems.

-speaking of marital problems, megan and don were a disaster. i was so confused when he proposed after having sex three (3) times and going on zero (0) dates????? donald what the fuck

-i loved ken cosgrove’s tap dancing, i didn’t love ken cosgrove. i do feel bad for what he went through w the jaguar account (and also in general), but he was kind of a bitch in the earlier seasons

-i did not care for harry crane or paul kinsey. sorry bout it

-i hope kitty romano finds someone who can love her the way they’re supposed to. i do think sal loved kitty platonically, though. honestly though it would have been excellent if kitty was a lesbian and they were just married to avoid questions. i mean, obviously they weren’t, but i would have LOVED to see that storyline

-megan was a very interesting character. she was just so childish. she was very sweet (mostly) and i think don kind of fucked her over emotionally (like definitely in every way except financially, but like... i have a feeling that she’ll never be the same because of him)

-also marie calvet straight-up taking all of don’s living room furniture was so funny

-i do not like roger sterling either. he cheated on both mona and jane!! sure, maybe he didn’t love them, but what gives, dude? we don’t stan.

-also he did blackface, which is a big yikes from me. yeah, it was the sixties, but also fuck that shit.

-another thing about don is that this man’s libido is just fucking WILD. i mean, he has no goddamn shame.

-fucking his secretary? did it at least twice, married one of them. his child’s teacher? great! he’ll be over soon! his neighbor’s wife? all good until sally catches them. his quasi-niece is maybe 22? he’d hit that!

-seriously, he just doesn’t care at all and it’s fascinating.

-when ida blankenship died it was like... but you did this... for what? watching them roll her fuckin body out of the office covered in the afghan during a meeting was actually quite funny though

-every so often my brain will just go “sterling cooper draper pryce cutler gleason and chaough.” that’s not a thought. sorry lol

-also they fucking took it off of netflix so now i can’t rewatch it! mean as hell, netflix, mean as hell.

-in conclusion: fuck peter dyckman campbell.

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

When Newton meets Harry.....and Ken meets the other Ken .......where did it happen? NEW YORK during Jonathan Groff Sardi's Caricature Unveiling on May 21, 2024.

This is also a small reunion of red cast, beacuse Jonathan Groff played Ken in Red with Molina, the same role that Eddie played between 2009 and 2010, for which he won the Tony award.

In the other photos Eddie is with, apart Jonathan, Alfred Molina, Krystal Joy Brown and Jennifer Lee!

Jonathan Groff is been honored for his performance in the musical "Merrily We Roll Along" with a caricature at Sardi's.

Source photos Bruce Glikas/ Getty Images

[pro-unpro]

Play Recommendation of the Week(ish):

Red by John Logan

I haven’t done one of these in a while but I came across this play and absolutely fell in love with it. It follows a young painter, Ken, as he starts his apprenticeship under the famous painter Mark Rothko. I think the reason this play really stuck with me was the commentary it makes on overthinking art. There’s a very fine line between understanding the meaning behind art, and pretention. I see this a lot, not only with paintings, but also with theatre, music, and really any form of entertainment. People like to dictate what “real” art is, which is a very destructive game to play.

This piece does an excellent job deconstructing the pretentious artist, and I think this is one of the few things I’ve come across that manages to do that while also respecting that paintings do have very real meanings behind them that are important to understand.

If you have audible (Which I’m in no way encouraging you to get, this is just where I happened to stumble on this show) There’s an excellent live recording starring Jonathan Groff and Alfred Molina which I whole-heartedly encourage you to find.

[idonthaveacontract]

[theredmaynefiles]

Eddie’s 2009 performance as Ken in Red - the performance that won him his Tony award. Red  returned to London theater this month for another run, with Alfred Enoch (who played Dean in the Harry Potter films), taking over the role of Ken & Alfred Molina reprising his role as Rothko. It’s at the Wyndham Theatre in Charing Cross Road through July 28th. 

[enochalready]

“RED” ON-SCREEN PREMIERE

When: November 7th, 2018

Where: Lighthouse Cinema, Centre-Ville

What:

“A clash of ideals and personalities, Red opens in the studio of famed artist Mark Rothko as he takes on an assistant—the fictionalised Ken—to help him on a commission of works to be hung in the Four Seasons restaurant. Tackling the always-at-odds motivations of art and commercialism and the threat of the new guard to the older generation, the debate grows as heated as the titular colors of Rothko’s murals.”

The famed play, having been shown on stage in London this summer with a fantastic duo of Alfred Molina as Rothko and Alfred will be screened in selected theatres around the world tonight - and in town, the revenue will be donated fully to charitable organisations looking after the homeless in the region. Please come out and support both the actors and the people who will benefit from the financial help!

[imsosocold]

I love how the play Red is basically just Ken and Rothko ranting at and trauma dumping on each other.