1) FILM / TELEVISION
CITIZEN K - (Documentary, 2019, Amazon Prime)
Directed by acclaimed documentarian Alex Gibney, this documentary takes a deep dive into the political landscape that is modern day Russia. If you are curious what the hell an oligarch is, or how such men became the wealthy and powerful of Russia, this is a good place to start. Gibney mainly showcases the story of oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and his political opposition to President Vladimir Putin.
It’s pretty much all packed in here, ranging from topics like the collapse of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin, Russia “democratizing” itself, how Putin rose to power, how the oligarchs became wealthy, wrongful convictions, cover-ups, and murder. Here is the trailer for Citizen K:
2) MUSIC / PODCASTS
BILL EVANS - (Jazz Pianist)
Playing piano on what many critics consider the greatest jazz album ever made, Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis, Bill Evans made a name for himself in the jazz world, and solidified his almighty genius on the 88’s.
“William John Evans was an American jazz pianist and composer who mostly worked as the leader of a trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block chords, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines continues to influence jazz pianists today.” - Wikipedia
I do not remember the first time I heard Bill Evans play the piano. It was likely on that damned good Miles Davis album, the one I own a vinyl of, the one that sends me into a creative orbit when my ears turn on and synchronize my mood with it.
I do wonder, whenever I press play, and Evans strikes the keys and his trio lights up a dark stage, if I wasn’t born in the wrong era, and if I didn’t choose the wrong profession.
3) ART
ÉLISABETH VIGÉE LE BRUN - (French Painter)
“Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, also known as Madame Le Brun, was a French portrait painter, especially of women, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Her artistic style is generally considered part of the aftermath of Rococo with elements of an adopted Neoclassical style.” - Wikipedia
More information about the artist can be found here: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/international-womens-day-elisabeth-louise-vigee-le-brun
SPECIAL ARTWALK NEWSLETTER OFFER: FREE AUDIBLE TRIAL:
4) BOOKS / WRITING
TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY: IN SEARCH OF AMERICA by John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in Literature, after releasing Travels With Charley: In Search Of America, in 1962. For me, it’s hard to beat a travelogue across America. On The Road by Jack Kerouac was my first exposure to such a style of writing. Steinbeck had his own experience with it, and this is where you can drink it all in.
-From the back cover…(Penguin Books)
“To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light — these were John Steinbeck’s goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years. With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. And he reflects on the American character, on racial hostility, on a particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and on the unexpected kindness of strangers that is also a very real part of our national identity.”
Purchase here: TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY: IN SEARCH OF AMERICA by John Steinbeck
5) PHOTOGRAPHY / CINEMATOGRAPHY
ALEX HINSON - (American Photographer)
I recently became a big fan of Alex Hinson’s after I came across his photography on Instagram. You see, I have been messing around with 35mm film photography lately, and it’s been a lot of fun. A lot of trial and error, but fun.
Well…cut to me looking at Alex Hinson’s work with 35mm film, and I immediately crawl into a creative shell. Judging my own creative worth, a place that can divide the artist into either destruction, or inspiration. I must choose inspiration.
Alex’s Instagram is Must-Follow!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexxhinson/
Website: https://alex-hinson-photography.myshopify.com/
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