Today: September 20, 2024
Today: September 20, 2024

Arts

Arts

High art becomes body art as visitors to Amsterdam's Rembrandt House Museum get inked

Henk Schiffmaker’s needle whirrs as he tattoos the familiar lines of an elephant on Lilian Rachmaran’s back. “Highbrow to lowbrow” is how the famous Dutch tattoo artist describes his latest project — inking sketches by Rembrandt van Rijn onto the skin of visitors to the building the Golden Age master once called home. Or call it high art to body art. The Rembrandt House Museum has transformed one of its rooms into a tattoo parlor for a residency it calls “A Poor Man’s Rembrandt,” featuring Schiffmaker and other top Amsterdam tattoo artists for a week starting Monday.

June 19, 2023
High art becomes body art as visitors to Amsterdam's Rembrandt House Museum get inked
Arts

Giorgio Armani, Zegna present fluid elegance for the next hot season as Milan Fashion Week wraps up

Milan Fashion Week opened and closed under a beating early summer sun. Zegna wrapped up four days of shows Monday with an outdoor event set among bales of raw linen behind Milan’s City Hall, allowing city workers a view out of their windows. For the sweltering fashion crowd, Zegna fashion offered iced coffee and linen baseball caps to keep things cool. With temperatures rising, Milan designers focused on fluidity in dressing, allowing the body to move without constrictions. With one notable dissenter, runways offered thigh-revealing Bermuda shorts as an alternative to trousers even for city dressing. Gone

June 20, 2023
Giorgio Armani, Zegna present fluid elegance for the next hot season as Milan Fashion Week wraps up
Arts

Houston rapper Big Pokey dies after collapsing at show in Texas

Milton Powell, a Houston rapper who performed under the name Big Pokey and is credited with elevating the city’s hip-hop scene, died after collapsing during a show in Texas, a local official said Monday. Tom Gillam III, a justice of the peace in Jefferson County, where Powell was performing when he collapsed Sunday, said an autopsy to determine the cause of death was pending. He said Powell was 48. Powell was a member of Houston’s rap collective Screwed Up Click that was formed by the late DJ Screw. Powell was performing at a bar in Beaumont called

June 20, 2023
Houston rapper Big Pokey dies after collapsing at show in Texas
Arts

Ancient Rome temples complex, with ruins of building where Caesar was stabbed, opens to tourists

Four temples from ancient Rome, dating back as far as the 3rd century B.C. stand smack in the middle of one of the modern city’s busiest crossroads. But until Monday, practically the only ones getting a close-up view of the temples were cats that prowled the so-called “Sacred Area,” on the edge of the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated. With the help of funding from Bulgari, the luxury jeweler, the grouping of temples can now be visited by the public. For decades, the curious had to gaze down from the bustling sidewalks rimming Largo Argentina (Argentina

June 20, 2023
Ancient Rome temples complex, with ruins of building where Caesar was stabbed, opens to tourists
Arts

Singer Bebe Rexha says she's OK after being hit in the face on stage by thrown phone

Pop star Bebe Rexha was hit in the face and injured by a cellphone hurled from the audience at a hometown show in New York City Sunday night, and a man was arrested, police said. The Grammy-nominated, multiplatinum-selling singer-songwriter was taken to a hospital after the phone hit her, police said. A bruise and a bandage were visible above her left eye in social media posts she made Monday. “I’m good, yeah, I’m feelin’ alright,” she sang in a TikTok video, taking a line from “I’m Good (Blue),” her recent hit with DJ David Guetta. Rexha,

June 20, 2023
Singer Bebe Rexha says she's OK after being hit in the face on stage by thrown phone
Arts

Graffiti has undergone a massive shift in a few quick decades as street art gains social acceptance

Tagging, once considered vandalism, has gained cachet and economic value in the art world. Ashim D’Silva for Unsplash.com, CC BY-SA Graffiti has become so mainstream in recent years that auction houses, museums and entire art shows cater to street art connoisseurs and collectors around the world. Images in the news of young vandals responsible for marking walls have been replaced by sleek websites belonging to global phenoms such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey. In cities around the world, graffiti is now associated with “street artists” rather than violent street gangs. Today, many cities, from Pittsburgh to Pretoria, invite street artists

June 20, 2023
Graffiti has undergone a massive shift in a few quick decades as street art gains social acceptance
Arts

Dr. Dre to receive first Hip-Hop Icon Award from music industry group ASCAP

Dr. Dre will need to make room in his trophy case for another prestigious award. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers said on Tuesday that Dr. Dre will receive the first-ever ASCAP Hip-Hop Icon Award. He’ll be honored at the organization’s Rhythm & Soul Music Awards on Thursday in Los Angeles. “Dr. Dre’s groundbreaking early work laid a foundation for hip-hop as we know it today,” Paul Williams, chairman of the board and president at ASCAP. “As a champion for some of today’s biggest artists and a successful entrepreneur, he changed the culture around

June 20, 2023
Dr. Dre to receive first Hip-Hop Icon Award from music industry group ASCAP
Arts

Rapper Quando Rondo jailed on drug, gang charges in Georgia

The rapper Quando Rondo has been jailed after being indicted on drug and gang charges in his hometown of Savannah. The 24-year-old rapper, whose given name is Tyquian Terrel Bowman, was behind bars in the Chatham County jail Tuesday. According to court records, he has a bond hearing scheduled Friday. Bowman and 18 others were indicted by a grand jury Wednesday. The indictment charged Bowman with four counts, including being a manager of an illegal street gang known as “Rollin’ 60’s.” Other charges say Bowman conspired with others to distribute marijuana and to buy pills of

June 20, 2023
Rapper Quando Rondo jailed on drug, gang charges in Georgia
Arts

Actor Jonathan Majors domestic violence trial scheduled for Aug. 3

Actor Jonathan Majors’ domestic violence case will go to trial Aug. 3, a Manhattan judge said Tuesday, casting him in a real-life courtroom drama as his idled Hollywood career hangs in the balance. Judge Rachel Pauley wished Majors’ “best of luck” as she scheduled his trial. “Yes, ma’am,” Majors said, standing with his lawyers in front of Pauley’s bench in Manhattan’s domestic violence court. Majors, 33, is accused of twisting a woman’s arm, striking her head and shoving her into a vehicle in New York City in March. He is charged with several misdemeanors, including assault,

June 20, 2023
Actor Jonathan Majors domestic violence trial scheduled for Aug. 3
Arts

'Like Water for Chocolate' brings food, magic, spice and lust to NY's grandest ballet stage

How do you choreograph a scene of mass food poisoning? A young woman in an erotic frenzy? Or a couple whose passion is so intense, they literally catch fire? These were just a few of the storytelling challenges awaiting choreographer Christopher Wheeldon — for decades one of the most inventive minds in ballet and more recently on Broadway, too — as he adapted the hugely popular 1989 novel “Like Water for Chocolate.” It gets a splashy New York premiere this week at American Ballet Theatre. Wheeldon is no stranger to storytelling challenges, either in ballet, where

June 21, 2023
'Like Water for Chocolate' brings food, magic, spice and lust to NY's grandest ballet stage
Arts

What it's like to get a Wes Anderson education, from 'Rushmore' to 'Asteroid City'

When Tony Revolori, then a 17-year-old with little Hollywood experience, was beginning to shoot Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Jason Schwartzman took him aside to give some advice. No one knew better than Schwartzman what Revolori, who was starring alongside Ralph Fiennes, was in for. Schwartzman was by then a regular member of Anderson’s troupe, but he was also 17 when he first broke through as Max Fischer in Anderson’s “Rushmore.” “He looked at me and he said, ‘None of this is going to make sense until you’ve actually gone through it,’” Revolori recalls. “Your

June 21, 2023
What it's like to get a Wes Anderson education, from 'Rushmore' to 'Asteroid City'
Arts

Many Broadway shows see box office jumps after Tonys exposure

New Broadway musicals “Kimberly Akimbo,” “Shucked,” “Some Like It Hot” and “& Juliet” — as well as the play “Leopoldstadt” — all saw nice bumps at their box offices after the Tony Award telecast. Data from The Broadway League released Tuesday shows many of the musicals and plays featured on the June 11 awards show benefited financially from getting valuable exposure in front of millions. The top Tony winner, “Kimberly Akimbo,” about a teen who ages four times faster than the average human, won five awards including best new musical and grossed $695,405 over eight performances

June 21, 2023
Many Broadway shows see box office jumps after Tonys exposure
Arts

Armie Hammer and his wife, Elizabeth Chambers, reach settlement in divorce

Armie Hammer has reached a divorce agreement with his wife, Elizabeth Chambers, nearly three years after she filed to end their marriage. Hammer’s attorney filed documents in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday informing a judge that the actor and Chambers have come to terms over child custody, child support, spousal support and division of assets. A judge will need to sign off on the proposed agreement and declare the two divorced. The settlement comes weeks after LA County prosecutors declined to charge Hammer in an investigation stemming from a woman’s allegation that he sexually assaulted

June 21, 2023
Armie Hammer and his wife, Elizabeth Chambers, reach settlement in divorce
Arts

Pharrell fuses entertainment and fashion for confident Louis Vuitton menswear debut

Unveiling a new chapter in its illustrious history, Louis Vuitton made an indelible mark on Paris Fashion Week’s men’s shows as they premiered the debut collection by the acclaimed musician-turned-designer, Pharrell Williams. Appointed in February to fill the immense shoes left by the tragic departure of the late Virgil Abloh, Williams unveiled his design prowess to the fashion world with a show that exuded confidence and creativity. The breathtaking venue for this sartorial spectacle was none other than Paris’s iconic Pont Neuf. The historic bridge, typically resplendent with time-worn stone, was transformed into a golden runway —

June 21, 2023
Pharrell fuses entertainment and fashion for confident Louis Vuitton menswear debut
Arts

Television veteran Geraldo Rivera says he's quitting Fox News' political combat show 'The Five'

Geraldo Rivera has quit as one of the lonely liberal voices on Fox News’ popular political combat show “The Five,” saying Wednesday that “a growing tension that goes beyond editorial differences” made it no longer worth it to him. The last scheduled appearance on “The Five” for the television veteran, whose 80th birthday is on July 4, is next week. “It has been a rocky ride but it has also been an exhilarating adventure that spanned quite a few years,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I hope it’s not my

June 21, 2023
Television veteran Geraldo Rivera says he's quitting Fox News' political combat show 'The Five'
Arts

Hollywood writers at rally say they'll win as strike reaches 50 days

Fifty days into a strike with no end in sight, about 1,000 Hollywood writers and their supporters marched and rallied in Los Angeles for a new contract with studios that includes payment guarantees and job security. Speakers at the Writers Guild of America’s WGA Strong March and Rally for a Fair Contract on Wednesday emphasized the broad support for their cause shown by other Hollywood unions — including actors in their own contract negotiations — and labor at large. “We’re all in it together, we’re all fighting the same fight, for a sustainable job in the

June 22, 2023
Hollywood writers at rally say they'll win as strike reaches 50 days
Arts

Presto! Rare Maurice Sendak picture story, 'Ten Little Rabbits,' will be published in 2024

A rare Maurice Sendak picture story, originally a pamphlet for a 1970 museum fundraiser, will be coming out in book form next year. HarperCollins Publishers announced Thursday that Sendak’s “Ten Little Rabbits” is scheduled for Feb. 6. “Ten Little Rabbits” is a “count-along picture book,” according to HarperCollins, about a boy magician named Mino and his magic hat. Sendak sketched out Mino and the hat in black and white, while filling in the rabbits in yellow and blue among other colors. “Maurice’s black and white line drawings have a playfulness and charm that stand up to

June 22, 2023
Presto! Rare Maurice Sendak picture story, 'Ten Little Rabbits,' will be published in 2024
Arts

Billy Crystal and Queen Latifah headline this year's class of Kennedy Center Honors recipients

You know you’ve made a cultural impact when Henry Kissinger quotes your own joke back to you. That’s what happened to Billy Crystal, one of five iconic artists selected for this year’s Kennedy Center Honors. The others selected for the lifetime artistic achievement award are rapper and actor Queen Latifah, opera singer Renee Fleming, 1970s music icon Barry Gibb and prolific hitmaker Dionne Warwick. All will be honored with the traditional gala celebration at Washington’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 3. Kennedy Center president Deborah F. Rutter called this year’s crop of inductees “an

June 22, 2023
Billy Crystal and Queen Latifah headline this year's class of Kennedy Center Honors recipients
Arts

Dee Snider — rocker, actor, DJ and now writer — draws on Long Island childhood in 1st novel 'Frats'

Dee Snider is taking a novel approach to life after rock stardom. The former singer for the ’80s glam rock band Twisted Sister just released his first novel, “Frats,” about the madness, cruelty and alcohol and testosterone-fueled bravado of the 1970s high school fraternity scene on Long Island, New York, where he grew up. His debut as a novelist follows his previous stints as a radio disc jockey, TV voiceover artist, Broadway actor, horror film writer and of course the drag-wearing (more about that later) face of the band best known for the hits “We’re

June 22, 2023
Dee Snider — rocker, actor, DJ and now writer — draws on Long Island childhood in 1st novel 'Frats'
Arts

Hail pummels concertgoers before Louis Tomlinson show near Denver, injuring dozens

Seven people were taken to the hospital and up to 90 were treated for injuries after hail pummeled concertgoers at Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver on Wednesday, firefighters said. None of those hospitalized suffered life-threatening injuries, West Metro Fire Rescue said. The injuries included cuts and broken bones, it said. The hail piled up like snow at the amphitheater in Morrison before a scheduled show by the singer Louis Tomlinson, formerly of One Direction, as strong to severe thunderstorms blew through the Denver area. The show was initially delayed because of the weather, with fans told to

June 22, 2023
Hail pummels concertgoers before Louis Tomlinson show near Denver, injuring dozens
Arts

Fashion, star power and a martial aura fuse at Givenchy's collection at Paris Fashion Week

History, fashion, and star power came together at Givenchy’s latest menswear show at Les Invalides in Paris. Steeped in the martial aura of the former military hospital with its cast iron cannons, the show was the first of its kind across the monument’s sprawling balcony. Film star and musician Jared Leto was among the luminaries who applauded the spectacle. Here are some highlights of Thursday’s spring-summer 2024 menswear collections, including an interview with designer Matthew M. Williams: GIVENCHY GETS CONFIDENT In recent seasons, the creative heat at Givenchy under Williams had seemed somewhat tepid. However, this latest

June 22, 2023
Fashion, star power and a martial aura fuse at Givenchy's collection at Paris Fashion Week
Arts

Sam Elliott on '1883' and achieving his best at 78: 'There's not going to be a better one'

In Taylor Sheridan’s interconnected “Yellowstone” TV shows, Sam Elliott is proud to be No. 1. His prequel “1883” was the first “Yellowstone” spinoff. “I’m glad I was there at the beginning and not three or four or five shows down the line,” said Elliott, who played Shea Brennan, a guide tasked with helping Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Isabel May’s characters migrate west to settle land. The role earned him a Screen Actors Guild award earlier this year. “1883,” which debuted in 2021 exclusively on the Paramount+ streaming service, tells the beginning of the “Yellowstone” saga about Kevin Costner’s John

June 22, 2023
Sam Elliott on '1883' and achieving his best at 78: 'There's not going to be a better one'
Arts

Pop star Kesha and producer Dr. Luke settle longstanding legal battle over rape, defamation claims

Pop star Kesha and producer Dr. Luke have settled nearly a decade of suits and countersuits over her accusation that he drugged and raped her and his claim that she made it up and defamed him, they announced Thursday, with the singer saying that “only God knows what happened that night.” Dr. Luke, meanwhile, said he was “absolutely certain that nothing happened. I never drugged or assaulted her.” Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed, as both she and he revealed on Instagram that they had agreed to “a resolution” of the case and to

June 22, 2023
Pop star Kesha and producer Dr. Luke settle longstanding legal battle over rape, defamation claims
Arts

Rapper Kodak Black faces arrest after warrant says he missed a drug test

Rapper Kodak Black is facing another arrest in South Florida after a warrant claims he missed a drug test that was a condition of bail in a drug case. According to a warrant issued last week by the Broward Sheriff’s Office, Kodak Black, whose legal name is Bill Kapri, didn’t show up for a June 9 drug test. Kapri was arrested last July on charges of trafficking in oxycodone and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was freed on a $75,000 bond, and regular drug testing was a condition of his release.

June 22, 2023
Rapper Kodak Black faces arrest after warrant says he missed a drug test
Arts

Masked detective prevents YNW Melly from facing accuser in murder trial, defense attorneys say

Defense attorneys argued Thursday that rapper YNW Melly was being denied the right to face his accuser when a masked witness took the stand to testify about alleged gang connections during the performer’s double murder trial in South Florida. Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy permitted Broward Sheriff’s Office Detective Danny Polo to testify with his face covered because he has received death threats from people unrelated to the case against YNW Melly. Defense attorney Jason Roger Williams said jurors are supposed to consider the demeanor of a witness to determine his credibility, and they can’t

June 22, 2023
Masked detective prevents YNW Melly from facing accuser in murder trial, defense attorneys say

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