GLR September-October 2025

ARTS BRIEFS idea was to represent what he called “the evolution of consciousness.” Bruises, gags, and deteriorated bloodied bandages also dis tinguish each head. Two painted globes and a repurposed supermarket poster stenciled with bestial imagery fill out the display.

flamboyant Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) and the melancholic Reynaldo Hahn (1874– 1947). Perhaps the most surprising pieces are those by the great Polish harpsichordist Wanda Landowska (1879–1959), who re veals a dark and passionate soul in three works, especially the dramatic “Nuit d’au tomne.” An arrangement of the ever-popular “April in Paris” by Charles Trenet (1913– 2001) makes for a perfect conclusion. In this imaginatively planned and executed program, Kadouch takes us into the inti macy of personalities who were sometimes bruised and sometimes liberated by their “forbidden loves.” I look forward to listen ing again many times to this exceptional disc. C HARLES T IMBRELL BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN Directed by Ang Lee River Road Entertainment Rewatching a beloved film decades later can be crushing: Scenes that felt fresh and vital may seem mawkish; once-resonant themes can become embarrassing. Brokeback Moun tain (2005), rereleased in theaters upon its twentieth anniversary, has lost none of its power. If anything, its relevance feels re newed as conservative culture warriors ex pand their attacks on the LGBT community and films centering queer characters seem in danger of disappearing. Seeing Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist again, tiny beneath the expansive Wyoming sky, with an entire soci ety seemingly arrayed against their desire to be together, feels like an apt metaphor for the cyclical nature of history. Heath Ledger’s performance as Ennis re mains a startling portrayal of a borderline nihilist trying to survive an inhospitable world. He doesn’t dare dream of voicing his love for Jack—he can only express his feel ings through violence or quiet, lonesome tears. As Jack, Jake Gyllenhaal intuitively understands and tries to accept Ennis as he is, saving their bloodied shirts like a valen tine after a fistfight that is subtextually about Ennis’ inability to say he doesn’t want to lose Jack. Seeing Brokeback Mountain again in middle age, I’m struck by the film’s under standing of the walls we build around our selves and those small gestures and mementoes that mean nothing to anyone else but convey a lifetime of emotion for one person—or two. Ennis and Jack found the loves of their lives herding sheep on a mountain in the summer of 1963, and they spent the rest of their days trying to find their way back there. J EREMY C. F OX

DAVID WOJNAROWICZ Hall Art Founda ti on, Reading, VT May 10 to November 30, 2025

Artist-activist David Wojnarowicz (1954– 1992) came of age in New York’s 1980s East Village gallery scene, alongside Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. His art was highly political, angry, and belligerent, taking an aggressive stance that reflected the harshness of his adolescence on the streets of Manhattan, which included drug use and sex work. He also lived with AIDS. He was often in the crosshairs of the Culture Wars before his untimely death in 1992. This exhibition’s centerpiece is an eight foot-square, four-panel painting titled Dad’s Ship (acrylic and enamel on Masonite, 1984). It depicts an ocean liner in flames: billowy clouds and churning seas, layered with frantic brush strokes that allude to the psychological and physical abuse inflicted by the artist’s merchant seaman father . In the upper quadrant, an image of a prone dog floats in relief. On an adjoining wall hangs a painting of a mugging (collaged paper, acrylic on Masonite, 1982), its violence car toon-like, a wristwatch, ring, and wallet fly ing into the air. A fiberglass model of a shark collaged with map fragments (1984 ) serves as a peaceful counterbalance to the mayhem in the paintings. Wojnarow icz often drew on animal imagery as a reas suring talisman. The second gallery contains eleven sculp tures of disembodied heads (acrylic on plas ter, 1984). Each is embellished with its own distinct mix of torn-up maps, money, paint, and differently colored eyes. The artist’s

The seventeen paintings and sculptures on view are political, but they contain little of the homoeroticism that was an essential part of Wojnarowicz’ dissident vision. Some inclusion of his media works, published screeds, and performance footage would have added considerably to the gestalt. AMOURS INTERDITES Played by pianist David Kadouch Mirare Produc ti ons It’s high time we had a CD devoted entirely to piano music by gay and lesbian com posers—and not played by just any pianist, but by the internationally renowned David Kadouch. Born in Nice in 1985, Kadouch has been praised for his elegance, insight, emotional power, and eloquence as a per former—all of which are on display here. “Hommage à Édith Piaf,” by Francis Poulenc (1899–1963), is a lovely, expres sive opener, and his “Mélancolie” is also very affecting. Brilliant virtuosity is on dis play in Percy Grainger’s “Paraphrase on the ‘Waltz of the Flowers’” from TheNut cracker by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840– 1893) and the “Variations on a Polish Folk Theme” by Karol Szymanowski (1882– 1937), a colorful major work that ends with tumultuous exultation. Late-Romanticism also shines through in miniatures by the J OHN R. K ILLACKY

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