So...much...art...

I had a great holiday and I hope you did too. We spent Saturday on a field trip to Houston, to see the Inverted Utopias exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts. The show featured Latin American art, organized into six broad categories. I must admit that I've never given much thought to Latin American art: I associate it with heat, humidity and people who don't like gringos. But I am now among the converted! It was an amazing show. The link above will provide you with a selection of images from the exhibition, so you'll see what I mean. If you have an opportunity to see it, then please do so.

That exhibition alone is worth an afternoon but we squeezed in the Diane Arbus exhibit too. Ms. Arbus was a photographer known for her work with the marginalized segments of our society. Although she photographed high society scions and celebrities (her portraits of Jorge Luis Borges are quite cool), she also spent time with the poor and the mentally handicapped. She treated all of her subjects with dignity and the results are fantastic. Unfortunately, there was an awful lot of show to cram into a few hours and I grew dizzy from the information overload. I only wish we had gotten to her stuff sooner; the show will not be in Houston much longer.

I am still working my way through The Scar. I will post an in-depth review soon but I must say that this book has some great strengths.. and some great flaws. While I was in Houston, I stopped by Murder By The Book, an independent bookstore that focuses on mysteries and suspense and one of Houston's greatest treasures. It also sells historical fiction and P.G. Wodehouse and I stocked up for the long, cold winter that's sure to come...

Highly recommended: Kirov Orchestra (cond. Valery Gergiev), Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade (Philips).