Tessa LeBaron CLEVELAND — AiR TOUR — Issue 10 "Mushroom Mama" by Tessa LeBaron Tessa LeBaron by Manda Specht sM | What does a strong colour palette contribute to a final piece for you? TL ── I like to contrast vibrant warm tones like tangerine and marigold, against subdued cool tones like mauve and turquoise, to create a charged depth. I have developed illustrative qualities in my work over time by making use of a palette of vibrant colors which emote a range of feelings, from fervent to tranquil. Using a bold palette and focusing on somewhat psychedelic subject matter and strong feminine leanings imbued with elements of our natural world, I feel I’m able to transmit a sense of joy and whimsy in my art. Continue the AiR tour in print: ISSUE 9 | ISSUE 10 Sign Up to K eep Up! Our newsletter brings you the best in the visual and performing arts. Exclusive interviews. Global coverage. Local perspectves. sM | What is one social issue that your art speaks to the most? TL ── The environment and human connection are a big focus in my work. The Earth is being decimated through pollution. When I paint, I draw from my emotions and from my past experiences of how society imprints on my psyche, creating an organic relationship between my surroundings and what transmits through me and onto the canvas. Although my art doesn’t necessarily always address social issues directly, there are elements of femininity, healing, and coping with pain which resonate throughout my work. sM | What is in the pipeline for future projects? TL ── Not only do I work on canvas, but I paint large scale murals throughout northeast Ohio for public institutions like libraries, school buildings, and businesses like salons and restaurants. I am always learning. I have aspirations to travel to other regions of the world, to use the inspiration of different surroundings and cultures to broaden my perspective, and to allow my work to continue to blossom and grow in depth and in scope. PREVIOUS NEXT

Keita Morimoto After Dark : Light, Reality, and Heterotopia WORDS BY MICHAEL ZARATHUS-COOK | KYIV | VISUAL ARTS NOV 11, 2022 | ISSUE 9 Keita Morimoto ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE From "After Dark" by Keita Morimoto ​ Keita Morimoto has always been fascinated by light. He says Rembrandt is his favourite, particularly how he uses light to create extraordinary views out of everyday scenes. Morimoto first studied painting when he moved to Canada at 16. He has developed his own approach to realism, combining the precise lighting of Baroque paintings with motifs of everyday contemporary scenes. His ability to create beauty and mystery from nondescript landscapes, and his method of constructing personal narratives with anonymous protagonists, place him in the lineage of magic realism. He shines a light on the “unnamed places” that we pass through in our daily lives—for example, a crosswalk on the street in which the Chief Editor of this magazine lives. Through the contrast between darkness and light, he creates a “heterotopia” in which we can temporarily escape from the real world. He suggests that the freedom to make an ordinary life special can never be taken away. His work teaches us that we have the power to weave our own stories, add colour to our daily lives, create our own “heterotopia” in the midst of the everyday, and that the way we relate to and face the world is up to us. sM | How do the paintings exhibited in After Dark extend and deviate from the scenes depicted in your paintings previously? KM — For this exhibition, I focused on the theme and direction. When I came back to Tokyo, at first, I drew the places and things I was attracted to as they were, but when I was talking with Mr. Nukaga (the gallery owner), he said that I perceived it from a tourist’s point of view, and I thought that was true. I had chosen places like Shinjuku’s Golden Street and other places that people from overseas would focus on when they first came to Japan. However, when I was in Toronto, I used to draw ordinary streets and scenery. So I agreed with him when he pointed out that my direction had changed, and I decided to narrow down my original direction and concentrate on how to depict cliché in a fantastic way. In February this year, I moved to Taito-Ku, Tokyo, and when I looked around me, I realized that there is a lot of nondescript scenery. My concept until now has been drawing casual scenery. As for people, I used to draw them through connections and introductions from friends and acquaintances, and that hasn’t changed in Toronto or Tokyo. I was originally attracted to the Dutch Golden Age and Renaissance styles of paintings, so I think my personal style as a painter is reflected in some of the portraits. I was most influenced by Rembrandt. He paints light and realistic things, but he also paints the reality inside himself in an imaginative way. I was attracted to the fact that he created his imaginary world rather than copied reality. sM | What do you listen to while you’re working, and how does it contribute to the mood of your paintings? KM — I don’t listen to music much, but when I’m nearing a last-minute deadline, I sometimes play pop music that I’m used to listening to and draw with a lot of tension. Usually, I listen to podcasts, audiobooks, and other philosophy channels or news. Among philosophers and psychologists, I like Alfred Adler. I listen to a wide range of Japanese and English informative programs on YouTube, including economic channels. I want to stay updated on what is happening in the world. I think Japanese TV is manipulated, so I listen to a wide and deep range of personal channels. sM | What was your first impression when you arrived in Japan for the first time in 15 years? KM — During my 15 years staying in Canada, I returned to my home country Japan at least once every 1-2 years, so I was able to update Japan in my mind. I think Japan is a good place to live if you are not working as a company employee. I have heard from friends and have the impression that it is very difficult to live life as a “salaryman” in Japan. It would be the exact opposite compared to Canada. Canadian culture seems to value vacation more than work. I have an impression that Japan is a workaholic. I had more prejudices like that before I came back to Japan. Around five years ago, I wondered where I should get my master’s degree; in Germany, New York, or Japan. Then I decided to come back to Japan and move my base because I wanted to feel my identity as a Japanese person. Before I left Japan, I had a sense of being severely oppressed in a vertical society, such as in high school. But now, I don’t feel oppressed because I don’t belong to an organization such as a company. I feel that Japan is a convenient and comfortable country to live in because of its high quality of infrastructure and services. North America is very individualistic, but Japan, for better or worse, is the opposite, and I feel that I miss that. I plan to continue my activities in Japan for the time being. After Dark , an exhibit of Keita Morimoto’s paintings, runs till January 29th at the Kotaro Nukaga exhibit in Tokyo. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Rimini Protokoll’s Remote X A uniquely interactive theatre experience reveals the alliance of tech and social engineering WORDS BY SOPHIA KATZELL | BERLIN | PERFORMING ARTS HUBS & HUDDLES FEB 28, 2023 | ISSUE 11 Remote Belgrade - Photo by Sonja Žugić ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ ​ Continue reading in Issue 11 “Welcome to Remote Berlin . My name is Rachel. I sound a bit artificial, sorry. I am not human, but I will try to be your friend. I’m programmed for you. I’m programmed so that you will always find your way.” So begins Remote Berlin , the first installment of German theatre group Rimini Protokoll’s Remote X. The robotic voice — played through the headphones distributed — begins issuing commands and, without thinking, the audience follows. This opening statement sets the tone for the entire production, where audience members eventually become servants to the artificial intelligence initially built to aid us. The production explores this dependence on technology, and its impact on our interactions with each other. Rimini Protokoll posits that this reliance on technology is a learned dependence, borne out of a desire for guidance. Yet it is one that ultimately results in the depersonalization of the individual in favour of the “us versus them” mentality prevalent on the Internet today... ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Welcome to the Museum of Bad Art Getting rejected by this gallery just might be a good thing WORDS BY LAUREN VELVICK | BOSTON | VISUAL ARTS SPACES FEB 26, 2023 | ISSUE 11 "George and Jackie" ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ ​ Continue reading in Issue 11 The Museum of Bad Art, as stated, celebrates the labour of artists whose work would be displayed and appreciated in no other forum. This is undoubtedly true in terms of collections and acquisitions, but also brings to mind the myriad environments in which we might encounter or make art outside of recognized art-world structures and institutions. As Director Louise Reilly Sacco makes clear, in this context, “bad art” is not meant as a pejorative, but rather acts as an invitation to explore what the label can mean, and the critical value in a failure of intention or execution. From local open-call exhibitions to recognized avant-garde innovations like Schwitters' Merz and an evolving definition of “Outsider Art,” the boundaries of what is or isn’t considered to be art, or what is “good” or “bad” within that frame, have always been porous and open to challenge. The Museum of Bad Art operates within this ongoing discourse simply by virtue of collecting, preserving, and displaying artwork that would not otherwise be valued in this way. It also serves a straightforward and sincere function in elevating and enabling the public to encounter work with the “look at that!” factor, enthusiastically unsanctioned by the establishment. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Phil Lobel and Dale Boyer Behind the Publicity for IVG WORDS BY GEORGIA GARDNER | TORONTO | VISUAL ARTS APR 03, 2023 | ISSUE 6 Dale Boyer & Phil Lobel ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Madonna at the Exhibit George Lucas at the Exhibit With every successful artistic production, there’s usually a story within the story. For the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit, that underlying story is certainly how an international team—with its headquarters in Toronto—was able to persist with its vision despite the pell-mell of a global pandemic. Of particular note is how quickly the social media team was able to scale the operation from one to upwards of fifteen cities within the last year. This exhibit’s ability to simultaneously draw-in A-list celebrity attention, while remaining true to the art-lovers that popularized it, is likewise commendable. To get a peak at how the social media and PR sausage is made, smART Magazine welcomes Phil Lobel—mastermind behind the ubiquitous PR company, Lobeline Communications—and Dale Boyer, Social Media Manager for Lighthouse Immersive. sM | When you started work on IVG, did you foresee it getting this big? How has the success of the exhibit surprised you personally? DB — The success of this exhibit has required all departments to scale very quickly and I’ve never been a part of something that grew so quickly. Last year we had one exhibit in Toronto and now have specialized local social media presence in 20 cities. I'm surprised every day by the emotional responses we get on social media to the exhibit. Obviously, when patrons are standing in the exhibit, they can go on the journey that the creators have made, but it appears that these feelings stay with our guests well after they leave the exhibit. Sometimes we get messages, weeks after their visit, by people still processing the beauty of the exhibit or asking for the soundtrack, or just posting photos. It’s exciting that the experience is touching people so deeply. sM | What were some of the more unusual challenges working on the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit in the earlier days of the pandemic? PL — While Lobeline has over three decades of experience managing PR, this is certainly the first time doing so in a pandemic (and hopefully the LAST!). Some of the unique challenges that we’ve faced during the beginning of the pandemic were in planning for the opening of an event, and not knowing if it would happen or not. As publicists, it’s in our nature to have backup plans and adjust on the spot immediately. Putting together an opening strategy while being at the mercy of the latest COVID restrictions (which are different in each state) kept us hyper-vigilant from start to end. While everyone has been in quarantine and we’ve been unable to meet with clients in person, all of the conference calls have turned into Zoom meetings. So, in a strange way, we’ve had more “facetime” with our clients during the pandemic than we have had in the past. Another thing that this pandemic changed, not only with our clients, but also with the entire industry is how the media books guests. In a way, it’s allowed us to book clients on shows virtually, and more frequently; whereas, in the past, they would have had to travel to be on-site. Neil DeGrasse Tyson at the Exhibit sM | What were some of the growing pains in the initial phase of developing the social media presence and how were you able to scale that across various cities and platforms? DB — Our number one goal on social media is to present an empathic and meaningful conversation with our patrons and followers. To achieve such a personalized and bespoke experience, we need to have personal responses and a team directly interacting with our guests online. We don’t rely on bots or automated responses because, at our core, we want to have real conversations with people. This of course requires real live people and scaling our team, and growing twenty-times larger during a pandemic has been challenging. I have yet to meet almost everyone on my social media team in person! We not only have a central team but we also have local social creators in each city to make content that is specialized to each market. Each city has its own mood, its own quirks, and its own challenges. So we decided to not take the easy monolithic route of content creation and instead tailor each market specifically. This takes time, needs a lot of management and also requires trust in your team to know what is the right tone for each city. We retain so many followers because we are not constantly screaming to buy tickets, we are building a community by exploring ideas and everyone is welcome. sM | How does your team go about orchestrating celebrity engagements, and what are your points of emphasis for generating interest for a unique exhibition like IVG? PL — We’ve been thrilled with the enthusiastic response that we’ve received from the public and celebrities—including recent lengthy, multiple posts from Madonna to her over 14 MILLION FANS on Instagram! Because of the quality, attention to detail, and talent of the Immersive Van Gogh team, we have been lucky enough to attract big-name stars and public figures organically by securing benchmark media placements with influential national and local press. Not only do we highlight the use of the latest technology, but we also showcase the incredible talent Immersive Van Gogh brings in, like Emmy Award-winning, Tony-nominated designer David Korins; or one of the hottest stars, Lily Collins from the hit Netflix show, Emily in Paris. There is something for everyone with this exhibit, and it has been a pleasure having the opportunity to highlight what makes this experience so extraordinary. The bottom line is guests are literally in awe of what they experience, and in today’s world-wide connectivity via social media, THAT is a major key to the show’s success! Alan Cumming at the Exhibit sM | The pandemic has certainly caused a lot of last-minute changes to exhibit hours and openings, what are your main priorities when it comes to communicating these changes in a way that keeps people's interest? DB — The pandemic created a list of challenges for social media that we'd never faced before! We are making changes constantly to the exhibit, the hours, the pace of people walking through it, how people can purchase a drink right down to how they show their tickets to get in. Every operational adjustment the team makes on the “ground” in the exhibit affects our social media team. We have the biggest document I’ve ever worked with that covers all aspects of every exhibit in all our locations, this includes washroom details and also up-to-date COVID laws. As you can imagine, every city and country has their own COVID rules and protocols, so we’ve become experts in mask and social-distancing policies across North America. Social media is a very “in the moment” medium so important information like adjustments to an opening or ticket changes are posted on all our handles as well and pulsed out as weekly reminders. We combine conversational van Gogh posts with reminders of changes to the exhibit. This way it’s not just us yelling information all day long! ​ sM | How would you characterize the type of interactions that IVG followers are having with the various accounts, and how are they different from other projects you've managed? DB — There are two types of comments we generally get: 1. People asking questions, how to get there, how ticket types work, etc. We have extensive documents that help us answer these questions and get each one right per city! We field almost a million engagements a week and approx. 20,000 direct messages…that’s a lot of parking questions! 2. People who want to discuss the validity of this type of art experience. We LOVE these types of messages. Not all art experiences are for everyone and we encourage people to talk about what works and doesn’t work for them. It can be challenging for a small number of traditional art enthusiasts to see the relevance of something like Immersive Van Gogh , but once they get to have exchanges online to learn about the merits and impact of our exhibit, it often can make our nay-sayers think twice. It’s important to note here that we don’t lead these conversations. We make sure everyone stays respectful but we allow people to discuss all aspects of our exhibit. 3. Oh yeah, we also have a heavy mandate not to feed the trolls. ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Mischa Maisky in Toronto “The only thing I try to do is to destroy Bach’s music as little as possible.” WORDS BY ARLAN VRIENS | TORONTO | MUSIC THE smART Ensemble NOV 14, 2022 | ISSUE 9 Mischa Maisky by Kalya Ramu ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Mischa Maisky Mischa Maisky by Olga Nabatova “I haven’t discovered the feeling of boredom yet,” chuckles Mischa Maisky. “Bach is never boring at all!” This continuing musical curiosity has no doubt served to cement Maisky’s position as one of the foremost cellists of the 20th and 21st centuries. After formative studies with industry legends Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky, he forged a career in collaboration with the highest-profile names in classical music, championing robust, personal interpretations of the core cello repertoire and beyond. Speaking with smART Magazine Editor in Chief Michael Zarathus-Cook, Maisky considers his lifelong relationship with Bach’s cello suites and weighs in on the state of contemporary cello performance. sM | After all these years of playing Bach suites, what has changed and what remains the same? MM ─ My late brother started as a violinist, but his passion for Bach led him to switch to musicology and keyboards. He was the one who gave me my first score of Bach suites, for my 11th birthday, which means I probably started playing the first suite over 60 years ago! I still treasure that copy of the score because it includes a facsimile of Anna Magdalena Bach’s handwritten copy. It’s so beautiful, and I love to look at it for inspiration. A long time ago, my great teacher Rostropovich told me that, no matter how much you play the Bach solo suites, there’s no program more challenging. You’re alone on stage, and it requires one hundred percent of your concentration and energy to keep the audience’s attention. Sometimes concert organizers worry that Bach won’t land well with audiences, but that’s total nonsense. Of course, if the player chooses to play it “intellectually,” then it needs an audience of so-called connoisseurs to appreciate it. But if it’s played with heart, then anyone who has heart can enjoy and appreciate this music. Now, I’ve played Bach suites all over the world, from 2,000-seat concert halls to churches that only fit 40 or 50 people. They’re usually my best-selling concerts, and recordings of Bach suites are by far my best-selling recordings. Sometimes people meet me backstage and say, “Oh my God, you made this music so great.” But the only thing I try to do is to destroy Bach’s music as little as possible. This music is so great that no matter how hard we try, we inevitably pull it down closer to earth, but we should try as much as possible to lift ourselves and the audience up to the music. It’s an endless process. If music is my religion, then I think of the Bach suites as my Bible. Just like the Bible, there are incredible possibilities for interpreting Bach. I have over 55 recordings of Bach suites at home, and sometimes you can barely recognize that they’re all playing the same music. I haven’t discovered the feeling of boredom yet. Bach is never boring at all! Even though I played all six suites in Toronto just a few years ago, I’m happy to come and do it again soon, because it’s never the same. My recordings already feel outdated—they’re like photos taken at different times in life. That’s one reason I’m wary of anyone who says they know “the truth” about how to play something. First of all, there are many different truths, particularly in music. But more importantly, music is a living organism. It’s dormant when it’s on paper, but the moment we perform it, we wake it up and bring it to life, where it can evolve and change. sM | Rostropovich once described you as “one of the most outstanding talents of the younger generation.” How have the new crop of emerging cellists caught your ear in a similar way? MM ─ There’s an amazing number of remarkable young cellists now. It’s incredible to see how the level of cello playing has just skyrocketed. I remember listening to the semifinals of the Queen Elisabeth Competition a couple of years ago while I was awake with jet lag. Everyone sounded so good that I called my wife and I told her, “It’s just amazing what these youngsters do. Maybe I should retire. Maybe I’m getting too old.” But then when I listened to the finals, I thought, “Maybe I shouldn’t retire!” My point is that the technical level of playing is phenomenal, but that can lead young cellists to think that, in order to succeed in that environment, they need to practice even more so they can play even faster, louder, and cleaner. There’s a danger that, subconsciously, the priorities get switched around: the instrument becomes the most important thing and the music is only used to show how wonderful you play your instrument. This is completely wrong. If I had to pinpoint the most important thing I learned from Rostropovich, it’s that a musical instrument is only what the word “instrument” implies: a vehicle that helps us reach the music. We always try to get a little closer to all kinds of perfection, of course, but perfection is an illusion, like trying to reach the horizon. As long as you know you’ll never touch it or reach it, there’s no frustration in the process. On a daily basis, I encounter such great composers and legacies that I feel so humble and insignificant by comparison. No matter how hard I try, I will never even come close to the greatness of this music, but I keep trying to improve a little all the time. When people ask me what my best recording is, I say, “I hope it’s the next one.” sM | How has the invasion of Ukraine impacted you as an artist? MM ─ Every day I want to wake up and realize it was all just a nightmare. It’s horrendous what’s going on, and it’s totally despicable. My parents both came from Ukraine. I was born and raised in Latvia after the war, but I grew up in the Soviet Union and my cultural roots have a very strong Russian influence. I have many Ukrainian friends and colleagues, and I hear stories about their families on a daily basis. I also know so many Russian people personally who are incredibly generous and warm, so this whole situation is literally unbelievable. I just hope that somehow, miraculously, it will stop as soon as possible. Anybody with a heart is deeply feeling this situation—something like this happening again, in the 21st century, in the middle of Europe, is literally unbelievable. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

smART x Stratford Pt.1: "King Lear" Paul Gross delivers a Lear of a lifetime WORDS BY EMMA SCHMIEDECKE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY OLLIE ALI | NOTTINGHAM | THE smART ENSEMBLE FOURTH WALL JUN 12, 2023 | ISSUE 12 Eddie Glen (centre) as Patsy with members of the company in Monty Python’s Spamalot. Stratford Festival 2023. Photo by David Hou SHAKESPEARE’S KING LEAR DIRECTED BY KIMBERLEY RAMPERSAD FESTIVAL THEATRE MAY 30 — OCTOBER 29 TICKETS: www.stratfordfestival.ca ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ Gordon Patrick White (left) and Paul Gross with members of the company in King Lear. Stratford Festival 2023. Photo by David Hou King Lear is about a man on the threshold of his twilight years. Many productions chose to cast Lear by an actor who is also at a moment of transition in his career. As they age, handsome men who have enjoyed playing romantic leads graduate from these characters to play their fathers or even grandfathers. Paul Gross, who makes his return after twenty years to the Stratford stage, is a perfect choice to take on the role of Shakespeare’s aged king. After a career playing leading men on television, most notably for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the popular Canadian television series Due South , Gross both has the experience and skills, garnered through a productive and long career, to play the monumental titular role of Shakespeare’s masterpiece . The play begins with Lear demanding that his daughters express their love to him before he divides his kingdom as a part of him stepping down from his throne. The first two of his children, Reagan and Goneril, grandiloquently put into words their deep and unyielding affection for their father. Cordelia, Lear’s favorite child, boldly tells her father that her love cannot be put into words. Whether he was mad to begin with to ask for this petty performance from his daughters, or the perceived betrayal of his most beloved issue causes him to descend slowly into madness, we do not know. But mad he does become. And his descent is further fomented by Reagan and Goneril’s petty reduction of the entourage that a king — though no longer a ruler — has grown accustomed to enjoying. Gross takes on the tragic role of Lear with humour, which becomes both necessary and refreshing considering the plays three-hour run time. Gross punctuates the descent into madness of an ageing king with biting laughter. He finds the comedy in the king’s daughter’s unnatural and ridiculous mistreatment of their father, which contrasts his horror and anger of what his daughters are capable of doing in the name of power. For their part, Reagan and Goneril, played by Dejah Dixon-Green and Shannon Taylor respectively, begin with feelings of sympathy for their ageing father only to turn cold with a lust for power and fear of losing their inherited territory. D. Dixon-Green (centre) as Regan, R. Wilkie (right) and A. Alamian in King Lear. Stratford Festival 2023. Photo by David Hou It is fitting that the production at the Stratford this season tells Shakespeare’s tragic story, both metaphorically and literally, in darkness and light. These themes are represented literally by Judith Bowden’s desolate, multi-tiered set, which includes dark, earth-textured walls that are sliced perpendicularly by bright, blinding fluorescent lines of white light. The effect of these lights is both to illuminate, but also to project shadows on the panelled doors or walls in which they are set. The most theatrical moments of Stratford’s production engage these set features. The Heath Scene is an intense moment of pathetic fallacy. Lear, cast out from his castle and the homes of his daughters into the untamed British countryside during an intense storm, has Gross topple a floor-to-ceiling column, creating a precarious path from up to down stage. As the storm rages, Gross crosses to centre stage, Lear is lit from above as hail drops from the fly, the light catching each small droplet of ice as it tumbles to the ground. Paul Gross as King Lear in King Lear. Stratford Festival 2023. Photo by David Hou. Later, in another of the scant theatrically exciting moments of the long play, when Reagan and her husband tear out the eyes of Gloucester, the white lights beam at full strength, blinding the audience while leaving everything else in the theatre pitch black. Lear’s costume literally goes from black to white, as he undergoes the trauma and loss of the action of the play. In contrast, the women’s costumes are colourful, which seem to contrast the dark/light, black/white features of the set. The costumes seem to traverse the styles of the dark ages when the mythical figure of King Lear ruled, the Renaissance when the play was written, and our contemporary moment when this production is being staged. These costumes are too often distracting. They are often awkward, stiff, and sculptural, seeming to hinder some of the movement of the actors, specifically of Cordelia. The subplot of the play is masterfully delivered by Andre Sills, Edgar, the son of Gloucester, and Michael Blake, Edmund, Gloucester’s bastard issue. Blake is clever and sly as he crafts a scheme to tarnish the name of his step-brother Edgar in the name of his father. These performances are some of the most riveting, next to Gross as Lear of course, in the production. Despite rich material, the three-hour play lacks drive. In any case, if you’re looking for a (long) evening of watching a master of his craft, witnessing Gross take on this epic role is worth your time. But if you’re looking for a less laborious theatrical event, even one that also happens in pre-renaissance Britain, Stratford has other offerings, some that take us back to mediaeval Britain as well, that might be more enjoyable for you. ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Ralph Remington Meet the Cultural Director of the San Francisco Arts Commision WORDS BY EMILY TRACE | SAN FRANCISCO | VISUAL ARTS SPACES, HUBS & HUDDLES JUN 13, 2023 | ISSUE 4 Ralph Remington by Kalya Ramu ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ ​ Fresh into his new role as the Cultural Director of the San Francisco Arts Commision (SFAC), Ralph Remington reflects on how artists drive a city’s identity and how whitewashed depictions of history can be remedied by centering BIPOC voices. As a former theatre producer, director, and playwright with firsthand experience in how the arts can jumpstart an audience’s empathy system, Ralph seems to be an ideal leader to oversee the payout of basic income to local artists, supply supports for educators operating in a digital environment, and provide much-needed funds for arts organizations through the SFAC’s robust granting apparatus. With a generous background in government, arts leadership, and the non-profit spaces where they make contact, Remington is focused on ensuring that the arts landscape that people return to is significantly more vital and equitable than they left it. sM | How is the SFAC contributing to the equity and diversity efforts of San Francisco arts organizations? RR — SFAC has a legislative mandate that dates back to the early nineties, requiring our public funding to prioritize BIPOC communities and artists as well as women and people with disabilities. So this cultural equity endowment fund is one of the first of its kind in the nation. We give millions of dollars a year to these historically underserved communities. But our work has evolved to do even more over the last decade; we’ve upped our game in terms of outreach and technical assistance to ensure that the artists we commission for public art, who exhibit in our galleries, or those we fund through our grants are representative of these BIPOC or LGBTQ communities that define San Francisco’s rich diversity. The cultural centres we support are rooted in communities of colour, and more recently, San Francisco voters passed legislation to stabilize arts funding from year to year with an emphasis for funding BIPOC-led and BIPOC-serving organizations. We’re also going to roll out, in the coming weeks, funding to serve the Black community as part of the city’s effort to reallocate funding from law enforcement. Post-George Floyd, Mayor London Breed moved $120 million from law enforcement to cultural efforts. So doing our work with an anti-racist lens is ongoing because inequities will remain for a long time. Our country was built on it—in fact, I almost left and went to Canada if the election had gone otherwise [laughs]. Fortunately it didn’t, not that I wouldn’t have wanted to live in Toronto. The fund reallocation is pretty exciting and forward-thinking. The whole Defund the Police movement is really taking shape with a practical lens. It’s one thing to say “Defund the Police,” but it’s another thing to ask: if resources are going to be reallocated, where are they going? And I was a city councillor in Minneapolis; George Floyd was killed right down the street from where Pillsbury House Theatre is, the theatre I founded in Minneapolis, so I knew that community intimately…yeah. Life is wild. sM | What are some affordable and impactful goals that the Commission might pursue to support the city’s artistic community? RR — COVID hit the arts community hard; our artists and arts organizations are hurting, and the end of financial duress is not yet in sight. What the SFAC did was administer, through a non-profit organization, a Universal Basic Income grant that supported 130 artists with $1000 a month for 6 months. And we provided funds for organizations to reopen safely so they can get back to serving the public and earning revenue. We provided arts educators with the supplies and support that they need to do their work in a digital environment now, and we’ve pivoted just about all our funding and general operational support so that organizations can use these grants for their most pressing financial needs like salaries and rent. So the city of San Francisco is incredibly committed to its non-profit arts sector because we know that the arts are a cornerstone to recovery—not just for our sector but for the city as a whole. This pandemic has made everyone think differently about what is a workplace, what is the role of society, what is the role of government in a society for everyday people? How does government work? Canada has a great history of subsidization and the United States has just depended on the free market in a lot of cases, just letting people fend for themselves in a Darwinian way. San Francisco seems to have more of a commitment to humanity and to the soul of individuals, and realizes that artists drive a society. Artists not only tell us who we are, but also who we were and who we aspire to be. That’s why arts and culture are so important and why people fight over it, why they fight over statues coming down because they sometimes have an erroneous idea of who we are or who we were, and they have a discordant idea about where we’re going and what that’s based on. Is it based on white supremacy, or is it based on some new future that we can imagine together as a progressive society? Those are the battles; that’s what we’re fighting for right now. But the U.S. is in a worshipful relationship with money; and not just the U.S., but the western world worships money in a way that’s unhealthy. It’s given us technology and benefits too, but the bad things, the greed, the colonialism, taking over space and pushing people out of space, the space itself becoming unaffordable…It's a crucial problem that we need to get our arms around to become a better place in the future. We often say in the United States, “Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to be free,” but do we really mean that? I’m assuming that we do, so let’s put our money where our mouth is. sM | How will the SFAC evaluate which of the city's monuments should be retained, and what will you bring personally to the process? RR — We are launching the Monuments and Memorials Advisory committee process that engages the public in determining the guidelines we as a city should follow, especially when considering which monuments should come down and which should stay up—and that they have additional didactics that tell the full historical narratives which are so often whitewashed with these statues. So it’s important that the city doesn’t make those decisions in isolation because it's the public that we’re serving. Too often, Black and Indigenous communities are traumatized by seeing the ideal of white supremacy venerated in the public realm. We can talk about equity and representation but until we address the celebration of colonialism, slavery, and violence embedded in the narratives of these monuments, then it’s just talk. So we’re looking at how the future monuments can venerate ideals, events, and individuals that speak to inclusion, racial equity, and feminism in these public artworks. That’s the focus, and I’ll be co-chairing that committee. My personal mantra is to try to give space and voice to marginalized and disenfranchised people, to provide a platform for them. To me, in this new role with SFAC, if we centre the BIPOC community then we are centering America, and ostensibly the globe as well. It’s only when we don’t centre BIPOC people that we aren’t actually centering the country, that we aren’t centering the globe. And if we don’t centre women, we’re not actually centering the country. It’s by centering marginalized and disenfranchised populations—the LGBTQ community, the disabled, the economically disenfranchised, youth, our senior community—these are people that are often forgotten or abused or misused and pushed to the margins. If we don’t centre them we’re not actually centering America and we’re not adhering to “Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to be free.” And that’s what we should be doing. That’s who we are. That’s who I am. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

BUMP Festival 2022 How a Mural Festival is Transforming Calgary’s Concrete Jungle WORDS BY AUGUSTA MONET | NEW YORK CITY | VISUAL ARTS SPACES APR 10, 2023 | ISSUE 5 Mural by Wenting Li - Photo by Asim Overstands ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Mural by Curtia Wright - Photo by Tyrell Bonnick.jpg Mural by Alex Kwong - Photo by Jevan Bailey.jpg The Beltline Urban Murals Project – better known as the BUMP Festival – is steadily rising as one of Calgary’s premier street art festivals. The month-long festival of urban art murals started in 2017 as a way to show that public artworks “enrich communities, create beautiful and captivating places, challenge our ideas, provoke discussion and add beauty to the everyday.” The festival is funded by heavy hitters such as TD Canada, the City of Calgary, Parks Canada, and more, and is set in the Beltline area of Treaty 7 territory in Moh’kins’tsis, the indigenous name for Calgary. In just five years, BUMP has grown to be a cultural event of national significance, garnering international attention. Most notable this year is the completion of the world’s tallest mural. Painted by German graffiti artist Mirko Reisser (DAIM) and standing at 310 feet, 9 inches tall, this staggering mural was a two-year undertaking, and with its completion, puts Calgary on the map in the world of international urban artworks. Like the gargantuan size of this mural, the many artists, coordinators, and volunteers involved in the BUMP Festival are also quite staggering. Calgary is one of the biggest, busiest cities in Canada, and home to many voices and perspectives. A sprawling grey jungle of urban development, it’s sometimes too easy to lose the experiences and voices of the many people that call Calgary home. BUMP is helping to reimagine the concrete jungle as a multi-faceted playground of art, colour, and vibrancy. Growing outwards from the Beltline area, BUMP is transforming the city into an urban outdoor gallery, showcasing the art and ideas of many local, national, and international artists. In addition to beautifying the downtown area, urban art of this sort can also help change perspectives on what classifies as art. ​ The murals in BUMP come in many forms, from visual depictions of biodiversity, gender, myths, legends, world events, the human spirit—even just the joyful depictions of patterns and colour. Individual artists and artist collectives apply by the hundreds every year to be a part of this August-long event, and BUMP increases its outreach by additionally hosting live music, outdoor movie nights, artist talks to the public, graffiti jams, and art-making events. It’s hard to imagine how the festival will top its facilitation of the world’s tallest mural next year, though it’s fair to say that they don’t have to. Simply by existing and creating these much-needed opportunities for creative growth in the city, this festival will reach new and more colourful heights each year. Find out more about the BUMP Festival at www.yycbump.ca ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Mining Minimalism Ecocriticism meets a revisionist history of minimalism WORDS BY NICOLAS HOLT | ARTS & LETTERS FEB 28, 2023 | ISSUE 11 Illustration By Xiaotian Wang ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ ​ Continue reading in Issue 11 During the 1960s, the glossy surfaces and industrial fabrication of minimalist painting and sculpture heralded a radical new approach to the usage of materials in art. What’s been left unsaid in the history of minimalism – and is an increasingly pressing concern today — are the extractive processes that produced many of minimalism’s iconic materials, such as aluminum and the crude oil byproduct, Plexiglas. There are two contemporaneous pieces that can help excavate the ways the process of extraction has materially informed minimalist art, and point towards an ecocritical revision of its history. The first is Frank Stella’s Avicenna , first exhibited in 1960 at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City. Technically a dodecagon (a twelve-sided shape), this painting had one notch in each of its four corners. The apexes of those notches point diagonally to a cavity in the center of the canvas itself, exposing the wall upon which it is hung, thus creating a continuity with its exhibition space. Compositionally, the painting is nothing... ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Chet Tilokani “My role also has a caveat of staying out of the way of the story as much as possible.” WORDS BY RACHEL WINDSOR | TORONTO | VISUAL ARTS IN FOCUS FEB 27, 2023 | ISSUE 11 "Blue Tone" by Chet Tilokani ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ ​ Continue reading in Issue 11 Toronto-based multimedia artist Chet Tilokani resists creative conformity, instead allowing his interest in various art forms to intersect with and inspire one another. His visual art is equal parts bold and precise, attending to how the interplay of light, shadow, and colour forms an artistic narrative. Skilled in drawing and painting, Tikolani is perhaps better known as a photographer and cinematographer; so much so that his 2019 project, Bit Playas , earned him a nomination for Best Cinematography at the T.O. Webfest. His work spans genres of music videos, commercials, fashion shoots, and short films─most notably, I Thought I Told You to Shut Up!! (2015), winner of the Best Documentary Short Film at the American Short Film Awards. His latest credited project, short film Blueberries for Iris — also featured in this magazine — is set for release in 2023. Born in New Delhi, Tilokani immigrated to Canada with his parents at the age of two, and went on to graduate from Toronto Metropolitan University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Production. With an artistic spirit that finds expression in various visual mediums, Tilokani’s reflections on his process are themselves ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Puppet Master: Toby Olié How the British puppeteer is redefining the creative potential of the art form. WORDS BY TASH COWLEY | LONDON | THEATRE FOURTH WALL NOV 16, 2022 | ISSUE 7 Toby Olié by Michael Wharley ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Toby Olié by Michael Wharley Neil Gaiman's The Wolves in the Walls at LittleAngelTheatre by Dan Tsantilis “These are twice life-size...so, including the body, they’re about 12ft!” Dialing in via Zoom from his studio in London, Toby Olié has pulled the disembodied head of Pinocchio’s father, Geppetto, from a set of shelves teeming with curious creatures. A jewel-green, spindly-legged cricket, and an inquisitive bird with sapphire plumage are just two of the many puppets peering down, longing to be picked up and given a pulse. Toby is a serious name in this world; as a Puppetry Director and Designer, Toby’s rich catalogue of work in the theatre includes War Horse, Pinocchio, A Monster Calls, Little Shop of Horrors, and many more. In the midst of developing two new projects, Toby sat down with smART Magazine to discuss his process, the changing face of live artistry, the pivotal role of playfulness on stage, and the need for puppet-makers to be as flexible as their subjects in order for the art form to survive. sM | During the developmental stages for your puppets, what comes first; the internal structure, the external aesthetic, or the way they should move? TO — I'm a big believer in developing the puppet on the hoof. I don't create a blueprint and say, “this is how it's made.” I’m a trial-and-error kind of person because every puppet is different, as is every puppeteer, and it feels good to be as responsive to that as possible. Generally, my starting point is understanding how many hands I've got to animate the piece. For example, I’m currently working on a production of Animal Farm , and we've been talking about how to do the pigs. We knew the cast size was capped at 14, so we couldn’t have a three-person pig (one person on back legs, one on front legs, and one on the head) because we’ll run out of puppeteers in a crowd scene! Therefore, I knew that each pig needed to be two people, and that the puppeteers’ actual legs needed to be two of the pigs’ legs. The number of hands on stage can dictate the movement of the puppets, and decide for us which bits are directly animated, and which will be passive or behave of their own accord. I also prefer not to disguise the mechanics of a puppet in the design; if something has gaps in its neck to allow it to move, I like to show that to an audience and invite them to understand the mechanisms within the solid structure. When creating Ursula for Walt Disney Theatrical’s Little Mermaid , her tentacles were crafted from those wooden gift shop snakes that you find, the ones that are cut around the middle. We didn't cover that up; instead, we celebrated it. I generally build the aesthetic around the movement and mechanics, and always strive to showcase the joints and segmented parts that make up who they are. It’s also important to prioritize control points in both the brain and the body. The eyes should be really clear, the breath should be real, the movement of the feet and the gravity of the puppet should be on point. So generally, I'm thinking “Where's the brain control point, and where is the body weight?” Also, as a puppet designer, you’re always trying to anticipate what materials you should use, but I believe that if a bit of bungee going through a handle gives you all the articulation that you need in the joint, then great! It should just be that! sM | You’ve said previously that your company with Finn Caldwell, Gyre & Gimble, was founded with a desire to create puppets capable of carrying the same emotional weight on stage as actors. How has the world of stage puppetry evolved since Gyre & Gimble was born? TO — We generally say there are two kinds of puppet: beautiful life-like puppets that can do fantastical things that nothing else can do, and puppets who are central characters opposite the actors. Obviously you can have a combination of the two, but Finn and I have both striven to make work where you need to invest in the puppet’s character as much as you would an actor playing Hamlet or Rosalind. We both worked on War Horse at The National Theatre, and off the back of that show there was this question of, “where can puppetry go now? It feels like it's really peaked!” But it was a great future test because it was the first time an audience had been asked, in a mainstream popular show populated by actors, to invest in a puppet as a protagonist, one who is on that stage the whole time and who doesn’t speak. I think we both really wanted more stories that have puppets at the centre, and we were fortunate that lots of theatres were hungry for that. We're also aware of the need to consistently ask how the form can keep surprising people. The fact is that you have people on stage who are there, but not there; so how can you use that to your advantage? A lot of the work we have done recently has been more abstract, with fewer clear-cut conventions. We’re becoming more experimental with the role of the puppeteer and how involved they are, or how they can step out and comment on the action. That’s something that, both as a company and as separate artists, we’re playing with. We can afford to be a bit trippier and more playful. Audiences are really used to puppets. It’s a currency now that people believe in and sometimes even expect to see. We're now trying to imagine the next level that puppetry can reach. Weirdly, I feel like it's evolving to reflect a more primitive form. In my opinion, puppetry gets stronger when it exposes its bare bones. It’s like good acting—the less you do, the more you invite the audience in. For me, some of the most absorbing moments I’ve witnessed have been bits of a carrier bag or newspaper, used so well in their abstract form that you can make a complete story out of them. If puppetry can stay that front-footed and confident in its own form, it'll outlast us all. sM | One of the most astonishing moments you can witness as an audience is when the actor behind the puppet disappears from the collective consciousness, and the puppet stands, breathes, and lives for itself. How difficult is it to find actors capable of bringing puppets to life in this way, and what do you look for? TO — It truly varies from project to project. You have shows like War Horse where you want people to completely disappear and give the entirety of their energy and focus to the puppet. And then there's a long sliding scale, leading all the way up to The Lion King and Avenue Q where you have a “double event,” someone performing alongside their puppet, both playing the character and sharing it. I think whatever quality or skill set you're looking for in a performer, at the centre it's purely about their ability to immerse themselves in the imaginative act of play, and their investment in the thing that they're operating. Some people disappear more quickly than others. A lot of performers learn early on that they need to do less with their face, because if the actor is portraying each emotion and the puppet’s face doesn't move, then your attention as an audience will be drawn to the nearest living thing—to a living thing. It's often an exercise in stripping away the “self” and putting the intention and focus on the puppet. Being free and playful enough, and willing to play the games that we all play when we're kids, is so important. That childlike sentiment is pivotal, “I'm not here. This thing in my hand? That’s the living thing.” sM | What’s next for you? TO — I'm currently working on a new stage version of George Orwell’s Animal Farm , adapted and directed by Robert Icke. That’s going to open in the UK and tour from January. It has 35 life-size animals, and every character that is not a human is a life-size puppet, so it's easily the most puppet-centric show I have done! I’m also working on the first ever stage adaptation of the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away , which opens in Japan at the end of February. Every other character is a puppet or a mask or something; there’s a truly huge database of techniques being used. They’re two of the most ambitious projects I’ve had yet, and they are right on top of each other! ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Between Pheasants Contemporary Fowl play is encouraged in this unique gallery experience WORDS BY EMILY PITTMAN | KERNS | VISUAL ARTS SPACES FEB 26, 2023 | ISSUE 11 Between Pheasants Contemporary Courtesy of the Gallery ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ ​ Continue reading in Issue 11 Beginning as a passion project for Alexander Rondeau, Between Pheasants Contemporary (BPC) is a thriving one-of-a-kind display space for artists and curators across all stages of their careers. BPC’s function is exactly as its name presents: art installed in a pheasant coop, with or without the pheasants present. Many artists choose to take advantage of this unique opportunity to share their exhibit with the coop’s feathered residents, allowing the curious hens to live among (and possibly interact with) their work. The building has a charmingly unassuming appearance, with its symmetrical window boxes and board and batten siding that provide only a little hint of the arts programming within. Nestled on a farm in rural Northern Ontario, BPC offers contemporary art discourse amid a practical, functional farm. Artworks are fastened to chicken wire and hung from wooden beams, each show is accompanied by well-considered statements, and the small exhibition space feels as polished as any urban white cube. With a curatorial mission of championing the emerging and underrepresented, the work displayed in this unorthodox space is selected for its thoughtfulness... ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Madison Cunningham’s Manic Elegance The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter on her new album, her family, and touring. WORDS BY HELEN CHEN | LOS ANGELES | MUSIC ALT.ITUDE MAR 13, 2023 | ISSUE 10 Madison Cunningham by Claire Vogel ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Madison Cunningham Cover Art for "Revealer" Following her debut album Who You Are Now – which earned the singer-songwriter a Grammy nomination – Madison Cunningham paid homage to the artists that shaped her own music via the release of her cover EP Wednesday. For her latest studio album, Revealer , Cunningham returns to her own creative base, drawing inspiration from intimate and familiar subjects, including conversations with friends and family. Working with producers Mike Elizondo, Tyler Chester, and Tucker Martine (the producer behind Alela Diane’s Looking Glass ), this album features Cunningham’s signature staccato guitar playing, evocative and panoramic lyricisms, and a voice that soars to an altitude much higher than her years. Recorded after the unexpected death of her grandmother, Revealer is less a coming of age album and more of a recognition of sentiments that have always existed. Joining smART Magazine from Los Angeles, Cunningham brings us into the realm of her budding discography, her gratitude for family, growing up in a household of five sisters, and balancing that with a tour van filled to the brim with bandmates. sM | So many of your fans first heard your voice on the album Wednesday . How have some of the artists you cover in this album helped craft your style, and the type of sound that you want to create? MC ─ All of the songs on Wednesday were chosen carefully for a couple different reasons. It was such a weird time to release music because I was covering all these songs in the middle of a pandemic. It felt like it was so easy to release something that was not in tune with the times. What blew my mind about all these songs is that they were written 10 to 20 to 30 years ago, yet they were all saying what couldn't be said for the very specific moment we were in. It was a perfect example of a timeless batch of songs. From Jeff Buckley to John Mayer, Rufus Wainwright, and The Beatles, all of those artists have shaped me consciously and subconsciously. It was like all of my favourite things in one package. Some of it is a little bit more guitar-centric and some of it's more about the melody, but all of it is just the best that songwriting could possibly get. It translates into the way that I write myself because they are these living standards of what I would hope that my music would be. It’s what I'm always subconsciously measuring myself against. sM | Let’s talk about the album cover: in it you’re sort of whirling through in a blur, in a box with these sort of winding lines. What’s the story behind this concept? MC ─ With the album cover, I knew that I wanted the picture to speak for itself. I kept coming back to the throughline of the record and there's a lot of manic elegance in it. So much of this record feels like it's boiling underneath the surface and at some points, the water starts to spurt out. It feels like it's this person who is constantly on the edge of a nervous breakdown, trapped inside their own head, running in circles. This was us experimenting and throwing paint at the wall. We were trying everything and seeing what stuck. sM | “Life According to Raechel” on Revealer is such an incredibly beautiful and tender ballad about your grandmother. How much of the album is inspired by family? MC ─ Almost entirely. A lot of the record is about the dialogue that I'm having either with myself or with other people around me. There's one lyric in “In From Japan” that says “Some things are just too hard to say out loud.” I was talking to a friend and I was distraught about what I was supposed to do with making this record because it was really hard for me to see a throughline. He said that to me and that's what I did. There's also a song called “Sunshine Over The Counter,” which is directly about my sisters and I growing up. I'm the oldest of five girls – yeah, I know, I can't believe that I grew up in that household—but I don't know anything else. It might be crazy to others but normal to me. sM | You brought a couple amazing producers along for the recording of this album, what was it like working with these producers and how did they help clear the creative space that you needed for this project? MC ─ It was a beautiful experience. Those guys are my favourite producers, so to work with each one of them was insane. Mike works quite quickly and Tucker and Tyler each work at their own speed. They all had different modes of working and building songs and it was so healthy to have that sort of balance. Everything that they brought was exactly what the song needed. And that's why I worked with all three of them, though I've never done that before. In the future, I think I would work with just one person because it can be complicated to balance all those things, but I don't regret it for this record. It was the perfect challenge and the perfect mix of sounds and ideas. All of them are masters of their craft. sM | You’re about halfway through a massive North American tour, how does it feel to be on stage again, sharing such a personal album with so many people? MC ─ I love touring. I love playing for people. There's this beautiful connection that happens with an audience of people and I really missed that the last couple years. When you're on the road, there's only a couple things that matter. It's survival, getting there on time, and delivering the best show that you possibly can. It's exhausting. It doesn't just take a certain part of your brain. It takes all of it. Touring takes all of my energy and I absolutely love that kind of focus. As the shows go on, it takes on its own routine and you can sink into that, which is a beautiful thing. Being at the top of this tour, we're learning new songs and putting ourselves as a band in the hot seat again. Getting these songs off of the ground in a live setting is such a beautiful puzzle to put together. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture