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Boston Globe
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Thornton Willis, who brought emotion to geometric painting, dies at 89
What he was painting — or, in a sense, defending — was a unique brand of geometric abstraction imbued with the energy, personality, and intense material focus of the midcentury New York School. Beginning with horizontal stripes and proceeding through zigzags, wedges, lattices, triangles, and crenelated shapes, often rendered on very large canvases, Mr. Willis spent a lifetime patiently excavating the problems and possibilities of the painted surface — in terms of color, texture, process and space. Advertisement His first well-known series, which he called 'Slat' paintings, was made on the floor with 4-inch paint rollers. For a few years in the 1970s, he gained widespread recognition and success with his wedges: upright, mesa-like shapes reminiscent of box-cutter blades. Then he dropped them in favor of overlapping lines and patterns of triangles that evoked isometric drawing. However the details evolved, his interest in creating balance and tension out of nothingness, in converting his own passing emotions into colors and brushstrokes, never wavered. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'In a sense, I've been painting the same painting since I started,' he suggested in the 2009 documentary short 'Portrait of an American Artist,' directed by Michael Feldman. 'It's like each painting is still sort of part of the painting before. It just seems somewhat impractical to work on the same actual canvas for an entire lifetime, and so you sort of move on — but each painting is kind of a segue into the next.' Advertisement Thornton Willis died June 15 in Manhattan. He was 89. His wife, painter Vered Lieb, said he died in a hospital from complications of COVID and pneumonia. An undated image of Mr. Willis. VIA THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA SARAH MOODY GALLERY OF ART/NYT Though Mr. Willis was deeply affected by the action and grit of painters such as Franz Kline and Willem de Kooning, he also took in such ostensibly contrary influences as Piet Mondrian and later hard-edge painters, resolving them all in canvases that balanced rich, organic brushwork against precisely organized, rigorously abstract composition. Often improvisatory but generally also with a touch of engineering about them, his paintings demanded sustained attention. From a certain distance, the arrangements of color and shape would seem to be the point, whether large or small, simple or complex. On closer view, those same thoughtful patterns dissolve into mere scaffolds for innumerable small decisions about the application of paint. In his 2014 painting 'Three Totems,' three vertical yellow bars nearly 6 feet tall float on a purple ground; four bars seem to overlap in an endless rectangle in 'Rashomon' (1986); and in 'A Painting for You,' made in 1988, irregular pieces dazzle in half a dozen colors. His own influence was both broad and substantial. Artists who visited his studio included painters Brice Marden and Sean Scully and sculptor Richard Serra. In a phone interview, painter James Little, a close friend, called him 'a major American painter' who 'punched above his weight and stayed there.' Painter Neil Jenney, in remarks at a memorial service, declared, 'With the passing of Thornton Willis, we say goodbye to the greatest abstract expressionist of them all.' Advertisement Mr. Willis's "Mass Driver," acrylic on canvas, 1987. THORNTON WILLIS, VIA THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA SARAH MOODY GALLERY OF ART/NYT Thornton Wilson Willis was born in Pensacola, Fla., on May 25, 1936, the elder of two sons of Edna Mae (Hall) Willis and Willard Willis, a Church of Christ minister. His family moved frequently around Florida and Alabama as his father took up posts in different congregations. His mother had a nervous breakdown and was eventually committed to a state institution. By high school he and his brother were back in Pensacola, living with their paternal grandparents. After serving in the Marine Corps for three years, Mr. Willis went to school on the GI Bill, eventually earning a bachelor's degree in painting from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1962. Though he had drawn well as a child and been keenly interested in the Sunday comics, his first exposure to the larger art world came in a college art appreciation class, which introduced him to Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso. While he was briefly enrolled as an architecture student at Auburn University, a show of work by students of Hans Hofmann came to campus and changed his life: Mr. Willis visited every day for a month. In 1964, he enrolled in the MFA program at the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa to study with painter Melville Price, who became a close friend and mentor. In a 2009 essay, Mr. Willis recalled marching 'hand in hand up Dexter Avenue' in Montgomery with Price and his wife during one of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1965 marches. In 1967, after teaching in Mississippi for a year, Mr. Willis moved to New York for a job at Wagner College on Staten Island. Advertisement 'Everybody went around saying, 'Painting's dead,'' he said in a 2022 interview, describing the atmosphere at this time. 'I said, 'OK, painting's dead.' And I got to New York, and it wasn't dead at all.' Soon he had found a loft in Chelsea, and then one on Spring Street in SoHo; had his first solo show, at Henri Gallery in Washington, D.C.; and quit teaching. In SoHo, he was immersed in a vibrant community: artists Alan Saret and Gordon Matta-Clark were his neighbors, and the graffiti-marked brick walls visible in the neighborhood's many vacant lots inspired him. In 1972, short on money, he accepted a job at Louisiana State University in New Orleans and left New York. When he returned, two years later, painter Stewart Hitch introduced him to Lieb, who was looking to sell a loft on Canal Street before leaving town herself. Instead, the two soon found a new place to share, with room for a studio, on Mercer Street. Mr. Willis remained there with Lieb for the rest of his life. In addition to Lieb, he leaves their daughter, Rachel Willis, and his son, David Willis, from his marriage to Peggy Whisenhant. His marriages to Whisenhant and Jane Miles ended in divorce. Beginning in 1979, Mr. Willis had a run of success. A well-received show at the cooperative gallery 55 Mercer led to interest from the Oscarsson Hood Gallery, which showed him through the 1980s. He won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1979 and a painting fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1980. Around 1982, Lieb said, something changed. 'He decided he couldn't do another wedge,' she recalled. 'I said, 'No, Thornton, we've been so broke, and we're finally getting some money!'' Advertisement But Mr. Willis didn't have it in him to make art that was anything but authentic self-expression. When critic James Panero asked in 'Portrait of an American Artist' what one could learn about Mr. Willis by looking at his paintings, he replied, 'That I'm an honest, straightforward person -- that I'm struggling to deal with what I feel is real, for me, in a confusing world.' This article originally appeared in
Indian Express
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
The slap that was, or wasn't
Move over Will Smith, who had the audacity to slap Chris Rock at the Oscars, post which the clip became the most famous slap in YouTube history. That record might be broken by a similarly viral video that suggests French President Emmanuel Macron was smacked by the First Lady, Brigitte Macron. The President scoffed at the latest 'disinformation' being put out by 'crazy people' that he was pushed in the face by his wife while they were about to disembark in Hanoi, Vietnam. The footage certainly shows him looking stunned but he recovered quickly to wave to the crowd. This incident or their 'bickering and joking around', as Macron called it, spawned think pieces across the international press, with men's rights groups piping in that males can be victims of domestic violence, too. Is it, indeed, as Macron says, an ordinary moment in the lives of spouses, blown out of proportion and spectacularly distorted into something vile by the cesspool that is social media? Likely, since he says so and deserves the benefit of doubt, but cynical sceptics abound. It's an unbecoming and all-too-prevalent human trait, to interpret others' intentions in ambiguous situations, as hostile. Evolutionary biologists put the widespread attitude of assuming the worst down to self-preservation, a way of staying aware of potential danger. We survived as a species by being suspicious of odd behaviour. But it's also true, seeing others' worlds come crashing down has an element of malicious voyeurism that feeds the ego and provides welcome distraction from our own problems. It's all perspective. If we believe the French President is getting slapped around, are our mundane and far less successful lives all that bad? We come around to having a particular set of values from an abstract, messy space in our heads based on how we grew up, past regrets, future plans and pointless rumination about stuff that might or might not happen. Often, we doubt ourselves and, as a result, gravitate towards the noise of popular opinion. Watching others' lives play out is one way of understanding our own. As if all this isn't a dangerously misleading way of drawing any conclusions, our own negative experiences further colour our perceptions of reality. Chances are, someone who's in a physically aggressive relationship will gloomily believe there's more to the French President's harmless scuffle than meets the eye; while someone happily married may take a more charitable view of it. Alas, however rigorously we believe we're critiquing our thoughts and ideas, our judgement can't be divorced from ourselves; so, one, absolute truth about anything is impossible. Answers, usually in multiples, are arrived at through an ongoing process of inquiry. Only someone living in fairyland will fully believe the playful banter story between long-marrieds but that doesn't mean the opposite is true, that the first couple of France are violent codependents. In Akira Kurosawa's legendary film from the 1950s, Rashomon, the story of a rape and murder is told from the viewpoint of several characters who all provide different accounts of what happened. Recall, it turns out, depends on where you stand in relation to a situation and the movie has become a metaphor for the unreliability of memory. The 'Kurosawa Effect' suggests that we're all slightly deluded about ourselves, and the larger world. Making sense of things, while being bombarded with a relentless torrent of contradictory information, is one of the biggest challenges of the social media age. The Macrons' emotionally charged exchange, friendly or not, reveals mainly that when it comes to romance and marriage, only the two people involved know what's actually going on. The writer is director, Hutkay Films
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Highest 2 Lowest' Review: Denzel Washington Finds A Great Role And A$AP Rocky Finds A New Career In Spike Lee's Entertaining Kidnap Drama
Yet again a filmmaker has gone to the throne of Japanese giant Akira Kurosawa for inspiration. Among the lauded director's films Hollywood has turned into English-language adaptations are Seven Samurai, which became The Magnificent Seven twice (including once with Denzel Washington); Rashomon, which became Paul Newman's The Outrage; Ikiru, remade a few years ago as Living; Yojimbo, which led to an uncredited inspiration for A Fistful of Dollars; and 1958's Hidden Fortress, unquestionably an inspiration for George Lucas and Star Wars. Now chalk up another one with Spike Lee's new take on Kurosawa's 1963 drama High and Low, in which Toshiro Mifune played a shoemaker executive who is torn between paying the ransom to his chauffeur's son's kidnapper after the criminal nabbed him by mistake instead of the executive's son, who was safe. It becomes a moral dilemma, especially as the exec really needs the money himself to save his business. What would you do, it asks? More from Deadline Cannes Film Festival 2025 In Photos: Wes Anderson, Guillermo del Toro, 'The Phoenician Scheme' & 'The Richest Woman In The World'Premieres &More Cannes Film Festival 2025: Read All Of Deadline's Movie Reviews Breaking Baz @Cannes: Spike Lee Croons Rodgers & Hammerstein On The Beach But Tunes Out As Talk Turns To Him Making A Movie Musical His Next Project And that is exactly the setup for Lee's thrilling and entertaining new drama Highest 2 Lowest, which has been reset to the contemporary music industry with Washington as David King aka 'King David,' a hugely successful music mogul who finds his Stackin' Hits Records is about to be taken over and now has plans to start a new label and return to the top of the charts. When his son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) and godson Kyle (Elijah Wright in a film debut) and son of his best friend and driver Paul (Jeffrey Wright) are mistaken for each other by the inept kidnapper, that criminal demands David pay the $17.5 million ransom anyway or Kyle dies. Again, what would you do? RELATED: The riveting answer to what David will do is played out in this tense cat-and-mouse game. Should he refuse, he is told social media will just destroy him anyway for the heartless act of turning his back on his friend Paul and his son who are definitely living on a wildly different class level than the Kings do. But David is torn. He is convinced that a return to the top of the heap is imminent and all he needs is the money. Why give it up for someone else's child? His wife Pam (IIfenesh Hadera) is distraught at first, thinking the guy had their son, but now has definite ideas of her own about how to proceed. There's also a trio of NYPD detectives on the case (Dean Winters, LaChanze, John Douglas Thompson). The tension mounts as they try to lure the kidnapper, who slyly barks his demands and tries to one-up David in some phone encounters. Will they be able to trace the calls? Can they find him? Who is he? RELATED: Well, it turns out to be a guy whose life's dream was to be discovered by King David and handed a contract for Stackin' Hits as the next great rapper. His name in Yung Felon, and he is played in a sensational supporting turn by A$AP Rocky, whose romantic partner Marisol (Isis 'Ice Spice' Gaston) might hold the key to finding him. RELATED: The first film shot in Lee's native NYC in more than a decade is one of his best. It has been in various forms of development over 30 years for the likes of David Mamet, Chris Rock and others, and now Washington helped get Lee on board with it for a new take from screenwriter Alan Fox, who adapts material from Ed McBain's book King's Ransom and the original Kurosawa movie. The premise fits like a glove with the music industry, and Washington is smooth as silk, delivering one of his best recent performances as a man caught in an impossible moral quandary. With his fifth collaboration with Lee (Malcolm X, He Got Game, Inside Man, Mo Better Blues), he really finds his groove on this one to be sure. His initial showdown in the recording studio through the music producer's glass window as Yung Felon is putting down a track is worth the price of admission, with Washington turning the encounter into a bravura rap that becomes one of the actor's finest screen moments. A$AP Rocky, who was seen in the film Monsters, proves he can go toe-to-toe with Washington and shows he has dramatic chops to shine here. Wright as always is superb, as is Hadera. RELATED: As is the case with most Lee joints, this one has a superb, soaring musical score from Howard Drossin that really feels NYC to its core. Matthew Libatique's sharp cinematography also shows off New York City to its full potential here. The film had its world premiere Monday night Out of Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where Lee debuted his masterpiece Do the Right Thing 36 years ago today. Producers are Todd Black and Jason Michael Berman. Title: Highest 2 LowestFestival: Cannes (Out of Competition)Distributors: A24 Films and Apple Original FilmsRelease date: August 22, 2025Director: Spike LeeScreenwriter: Alan FoxCast: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, IIfenesh Hadera, Aubrey Joseph, A$AP Rocky, Dean Winters, La Chanze, John Douglas Thompson, Isis 'Ice Spice' Gaston, Michael Potts, Rick Fox, Elijah WrightRating: RRunning time: 2 hr 14 min Best of Deadline Broadway's 2024-2025 Season: All Of Deadline's Reviews Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winners Through The Years Deadline Studio At Sundance Film Festival Photo Gallery: Dylan O'Brien, Ayo Edebiri, Jennifer Lopez, Lily Gladstone, Benedict Cumberbatch & More
Indian Express
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Kamal Haasan recalls seeing 6 fan theories predicting under-production Virumaandi's story
Kamal Haasan's directorial Virumaandi (2004) is a fan favorite for its intricate narrative based on the Rashomon effect. The film, featuring Kamal himself, Pasupathy, Abhirami, and Napoleon, was a critical and commercial success. Kamal recently shared that fan theories existed even back then, and some of them were good. 'While the shoot was going on, I came across at least six stories," he said.
Indian Express
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Kamal Haasan recalls coming across six fan theories predicting Virumaandi's story while its production was underway: ‘The fifth one was actually really good'
While Kamal Haasan's contributions to Indian cinema are immense, his directorial Virumaandi (2004) remains a fan favourite, particularly owing to its smartly intricate narrative based on the Rashomon effect. The third movie to feature him at the helm after Chachi 420 (1997) and Hey Ram (2000), Virumaandi featured Kamal himself as well as Pasupathy, Abhirami and Napoleon in the lead roles and ended up becoming a major critical and commercial success. Interestingly, the actor-filmmaker recently shared that fan theories and plot predictions existed even back then, and recalled coming across a few while making Virumaandi, adding that he liked a few of them. At the trailer launch of Thug Life, which marks Kamal's reunion with ace filmmaker Mani Ratnam after 38 years since Nayakan (1987), the duo was asked whether they had seen any posts speculating about the upcoming movie's plot. In response, Kamal quipped that if they started reading such posts, their story might end up changing accordingly. 'Some stories would actually be good,' the actor said. Also Read | 'Today, Shah Rukh Khan probably wouldn't greet me like he used to': Abhijeet Sawant reflects on declining fame, recalls hobnobbing with stars during prime He added, 'While the shoot of Virumaandi was going on, I came across at least six stories. I thought, 'The fifth one is actually really good. But what to do? The production is already underway.' I replied to the person who wrote it (the fan theory), saying I would consider this story for one of my future movies. I told him, 'Your story is actually very good. But I have already decided on another story, and mine is not the same as yours.'' Besides being celebrated for its technical brilliance and exceptional performances, Virumaandi also created quite a bit of controversy right from its production stage onwards. The film was initially titled Sandiyar, a Tamil term that glorifies a rowdy or a goon belonging to an oppressor caste in the Southern region of Tamil Nadu. The Thug Life trailer launch also witnessed some deeply emotional moments, as actor Abhirami — who played the female lead in Virumaandi and now portrays a key role in Thug Life — teared up on stage, overcome with emotion. Sharing that she was left speechless after watching the trailer and seeing the audience's reaction, a teary-eyed Abhirami said the moment awakened the little girl Divya (her birth name) within her. 'Love you, sir; love you both,' she told the two legends, her voice trembling with emotion. 'I still can't believe that such a thing happened in my life.' A post shared by KJ-The Shutter Bug (@kj_theshutterbug) On the occasion, the anchor recalled that Divya had adopted the screen name Abhirami out of her admiration for Gunaa (1991), in which the female lead Rohini (Roshini) is called Abhirami by the protagonist Gunaa (Kamal Haasan). In a touching gesture, Kamal consoled Abhirami by calling out to her the way Gunaa did for his Abhirami in the film. Overjoyed, Abhirami shared a warm hug with Kamal on stage.
