'Picasso' at the Aicon Gallery

I was just in one of my favorite plays, Steve Martin’s genius work “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.” I played a woman pining for Picasso, falling head over corset after the dashing artist follows her home and draws a dove on her hand. Dreamy girls have always been wooed by artists. They appeal to our desire to be the only one who can see the same colors they can.

Which is why my ears perked up last night at an opening at Aicon Gallery in Palo Alto, when I heard an art collector talking about Picasso. But she was referring to M.F. Husain, who is often called the Picasso of India.

One could write quite a play about this artist. In his 90s, the prolific artist has had a lengthy career marked by achievement and controversy. At Aicon, which has just opened an exhibit of modern South Asian masters, one image by Husain fairly gallops across one wall; the painted horse ripples with gold and copper, exhibiting all the energy of the young stallion Pablo. The collector regarded it wistfully.

Across the room was a bird series from 1980. These four drawings were in a medium I would not expect to find in such a glossy gallery: marker on board. I had to leave and walk back several times before the jagged, angular works started to make an impression on me.

Did the medium and the hand have an innocent feel? In a way. But there was something deeper about them, like discovering the world for the first time but already seeing the inevitability in it. “Bird Series 2-Colrain” also has the feeling of falling, a man tumbling into a bird, soaring toward Earth. Is that how Picasso felt when he painted “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” tumbling full force into the new century and artistic immortality? Did he know how fully new his art was becoming?

There were many other works that I stood in front of for long moments. In “Man With Sitar,” a 2001 mixed media on paper work, Shyamal Dutta Ray gave watercolor a sharpness and strength I never imagined it could have. And Sadequain’s “Loves,” an oil on canvas, depicts such a gentle, purposeful embrace with all the peacefulness that the Demoiselles could never find.

The exhibit is also an enlightening introduction for anyone whose Western art classes never ventured into India and Pakistan. Check it out.

Pictured: "Bird Series 2-Colrain" by M.F. Husain.

Why is there no Bigfoot opera?

Today was a banner day at the Weekly, what with the Palo Alto Bigfoot story breaking, and everyone foaming at the fingertips to hear about it. Approximately 9 quadrillion people came to our website to read about two guys claiming to have found the body of Bigfoot.

Readers were also pouring through the phone lines trying to find out more about the hairy 8-foot man, which kept receptionist Janice on her toes. They were phoning in from everywhere. I tried to ask Janice a question about something else, but had to stand in line behind a caller from Nebraska.

There are many enduring mysteries about Bigfoot. One is, “Why would two guys from Georgia decide to hold a press conference in Palo Alto?”

Another is, “Why is there no A&E angle to the Bigfoot story, therefore keeping me out of all the excitement?”

The two guys have released some blurry photos of Bigfoot. Stop the presses. Answer me this: Have you ever seen a clear photo of Bigfoot?

Or just watch this and titter.

Angela Bassett

In "Waiting to Exhale", Angela Bassett was none too happy as a hot property dumped by her unfaithful husband. Now she has closed on her hot property in Los Angela's Hancock Park.
Ms. Bassett bought the house more that ten years ago and has lived there with husband Courtney B. Vance for the past ten years. The 5 bedroom 7 bathroom house is a French Colonial built in 1940. It has a gourmet kitchen, full gym, and hair salon. She added a 1,380 square foot two story guest house. Although the property was originally listed for $4,999,999 it sold for $3,900,000. Her decor style seems to be conservative and classic. I'm not sure where Ms. Bassett has found new digs but I hope to get a glimpse soon.

Angela Bassett in, "Waiting to Exhale"

Angela, Courtney and twins

A thought went up my mind to-day

If Jane Austen's words can fuel a musical or two, why not write an Emily Dickinson opera?

"Divide Light" is based on the complete works of Dickinson (in one act), and fittingly the words take center stage. Singers sing and wear them, set against a video installation of poems. The show is the vision of New York artist Lesley Dill, who calls it the culmination of her life's work.

You can get snippets of the "mystical opera" online even if you can't make it down to Saratoga next Wednesday for the Montalvo Arts Center premiere.

Costume photo from dividelight.com.

Scarlet summer

A friend in L.A. emailed me to ask: "Are the fires in your area out? The air quality must really stink." Insult, meet injury.

But the sky is placid today, and the most sweltering thing in front of me is a painting called "Red Hot." And a pastel called "Red Hot Summer Night." Both by artists named Terri.

This month, the 14 artists at Viewpoints Gallery all decided to create works in red. I thought the results would look like an explosion in a tomato factory, except that tomatoes don't come from factories. Nice mix, though, with Terri Hill's visual ode to movie sweets, Sue Lyttle's splashy "Beach Umbrellas," and the subtlety of Floy Zittin's "Redwing & Night Heron."

Nature doesn't have to shout to make a point (a redder redwing might get eaten like that), and when she does, there's often something wrong. The rush of "Red Hot Summer Night" is seductive, but it does call to mind forest fires and the flashiest sunsets I've seen in years.

Pictured: "Red Hot Summer Night" by Terri Ford.