This week, you have a chance to take home your very own piece of art from the Walker Art Center in exchange for bringing a cup to trade yourself at an intriguing centered around Tetsuya Yamada’s exhibition. Other enticements this week include a “house show” where the house is the main character at Open Eye, gospel music celebrations at the Cowles Center, and Maiya Lea Hartman’s first solo exhibition at Hair + Nails. At the Ordway, Shruthi Rajasekar honors South Asian culture and family, and at Icehouse next Wednesday, Mary Prescott ventures into the unknown.
Tetsuya Yamada: The Cup Exchange
Bring an ordinary cup to the Walker Art Center on Thursday and exchange it for an original art work by Tetsuya Yamada, as part of an event held in conjunction with Yamada’s solo exhibition at the museum. In the exhibition, Yamada meditates on the intersections between everyday life and what we consider art: from a kind of cityscape made of off-white cups called “Everyday City” (2006), to artful stools, an homage to Marcel Duchamp, works made from found materials, pieces that celebrate both the materiality of the art and the process for which it is made.
Yamada’s first “Cup Exchange” took place over 20 years ago, and revives the practice for one night only. It takes place Thursday, February 15 at 5 p.m. (free). More information here. A second event brings Yamada in conversation with artist/musician/instrument maker Douglas R. Ewart, who explore ceramics and sound. That’s on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Walker (free). More information here.
Honey, I’m Home
Real Estate becomes fuel for comedy in Madeleine Rowe’s “Honey, I’m Home,” where the performer embodies a possibly haunted house for sale that’s been on the market for 87 months. Employing clowning, a series of games, and laughter into the show, Rowe serves up the original work as part of Open Eye Theater’s 2024 Guest Artist Series.
Thursday, Feb. 15, Friday, Feb. 16, and Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m., Monday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m., through Feb. 24 at Open Eye Theater ($15-$22). More information here.
The Sound of Gospel
Journey through the history of Gospel music with an evening of song, stories, and dance. “The Sound of Gospel” has an all-star team behind it, including producer Rev. William Pierce, director and Twin Cities legend Jevetta Steele, and Grammy Award winner Billy Steele as music director. They bring the richness of Gospel music’s history to the Cowles, in one of the last performances to be seen on the stage before it goes dark indefinitely.
Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. at the Cowles Center, ($35-$65). More information here.
Maiya Lea Hartman: I Pray My Soul Is Still Eternal
In Maiya Lea Hartman’s first solo exhibition, the self-taught artist culls family photos in mixed media and hyper-saturated creations. The kaleidoscope two-dimensional and three-dimensional paintings weave memory, longing and playful love together in textured works, vivid works. The opening reception takes place Saturday, Feb. 17 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., with the works on view through March 24 at Hair + Nails Gallery (free). More information here.
Shruthi Rajasekar: Parivaar – A Celebration of Community as Family
Composer, soprano, and Carnatic vocalist Shruthi Rajasekar curates a love letter to family and community connections, and South Asian culture for a Schubert Club Mix event. The musician, who draws on both South Indian and Western classical traditions, has a new composition in store for the occasion, as well as dance, writing, music and South Asian foods during intermission. Sunday, February 18 at 3 p.m. at Ordway Concert Hall ($33, kids and students free). More information here.
Mary Prescott
Twin Cities-based composer, pianist and interdisciplinary artist Mary Prescott takes a break from her ground-breaking interdisciplinary performances, like the engrossing “Tida” she performed last year at Public Functionary last year— to focus on solo improvised piano. Prescott told me she truly won’t know what she’ll be performing until she starts playing, and everything will unfold from there. That being said, her recent influences include Dikir Barat from southern Thailand, her mother’s home region, the sine wave drones of La Monte Young’s “Dream House” installation in Tribeca, and imagery and soundtracks from 1960s Japanese films like films scored by composer Hikaru Hayashi, she tells me. Wednesday, February 21 at 7 p.m. at Icehouse ($20 in advance, $25 at the door, $35 balcony). More information here.
Sheila Regan
Sheila Regan is a Twin Cities-based arts journalist. She writes MinnPost’s twice-weekly Artscape column. She can be reached at [email protected].