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Kozik presents work at Kenise Barns
Apr 10, 2024
The Ontario outdoorsman and painter Tom Thomson (1877-1917) captured the essence of the far North American landscape in a series of small paintings on wood panels—executed so well that in the century since his early death (in a canoe accident) he has become the de facto Painter Laureate of Canada. A great part of his achievement is due to his skillful use of the discrete brushstroke, deliberately placed in pitch-perfect colors, likely out of a necessity for immediacy, as his landscapes were painted on location. The ‘discrete brushstroke’ as an idea appeared in 19th Century French painting (Manet and the Impressionists), liberating the art form from descriptive modeling and making the mark a gesture unto itself. This freedom opened the door to Modernism, culminating in such a painter as Ellsworth Kelly: color and gesture simultaneously made manifest in pure form.
KK Kozik employs the discrete brushstroke with impressive results, building her images out of patterns and ‘tiles’ of complex tertiary colors (vanilla yellows, resonant mauves and pinks, deep blues and sagey greens). Aspects of her carefully structured images appear as friezes composed of blips and chunks of color, reading as vegetation or light moving on the water’s surface in a dizzy fracture. Psychedelic.
Much as Tom Thomson did in his paintings of Ontario, Kozik internalizes familiar views of our New England landscape and converts them, using her logic of design and touch, into mythic states of being. In one of her small landscape views, Kozik channels Irish painter Paul Henry’s sculpted clouds—and reminds us that any landscape painter of merit needs to capture the spirit of place.
Even though Kozik is a sophisticated painter there remains in her work a childlike sense of wonder. These paintings are devoid of the cynical skepticism and irony that pervade much of contemporary painting, and that is a very good thing. In one of her night skies the stars are silver appliqués attached to the surface of the painting, much the way a middle school girl would do in an art project. Wonderful. Kozik’s work proclaims that this sweet ‘island’ floating in space which we inhabit and the fact we even exist, is indeed a miracle.
Kozik’s show, titled “Miracle Island,” will be on display at Kenise Barns in Kent through May 12.
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Classic cult TV: Worth a new look?
Apr 10, 2024
A classic cult show does something new or pushes boundaries, has a dedicated but limited audience, and usually has a short run. You see “Game of Thrones” on lists of cult shows, but in my view it doesn’t come close. Its followers are fanatical and even have their rituals and lexicon, but it ran for eight years, and its audience ran in the tens of millions.
Firefly
“Firefly” (2002) is a much better example. Its cancellation by Fox after 11 episodes generated a huge fan uprising. You can see fandom at work in the Wikipedia entry, which runs longer than the one on Pearl Harbor and expounds on every detail, e.g. why the characters curse in Chinese. TV critic Emily Nussbaum called it a “character-rich, sci-fi western comedy drama with existential underpinnings.”
I’d give it passing marks for special effects, action, and humor, but is it worth watching? Here’s a scene from Episode One. Captain Mal Reynolds and the crew of his spaceship undergo a gunfight (on horseback), escape to their ship only to be pursued by Reavers (savage, half-human space pirates). “What happens if they board us?” the ship’s whore asks the pilot. “They rape us to death, eat our flesh and sew our skin into their clothing,” she replies. This sent me back to age 14, when I read a story titled, I think, “Serena and the Sex Slaves of Sirius” in an issue of Spicy SF Stories. I fled “Firefly” for the Mets game, but if you have a teen sci-fi fan in the house, he will have fun with it. Stream on Hulu or rent on AppleTV or Amazon.
My So-Called Life
“My So-Called Life” (1994) is a teen drama that centers on Angela Chase, a pretty and confused high schooler with a crush on handsome but oddly taciturn Jordan Catalano. Some episodes concern Angela’s parents, who seem almost as confused as their daughter. This well written show was far ahead of its time, dealing with such issues as homophobia, drug use, and guns in school (this was years before Columbine). Low ratings caused ABC to cancel the show, and a fan campaign to save it was reportedly the first in the history of the Internet.
Is it worth watching? Absolutely! It’s a welcome step back from the angry, disturbed teens in more recent shows like “The End of the F***ing World,” and was called one of the best teen dramas of all time by Rolling Stone and other publications. The stars are two great reasons to have a look: Jared Leto (his first major role) plays Jordan, and Angela is played by 15-year-old Claire Danes, who grew up to play Carrie Mathison in “Homeland.” Stream on Hulu, rent on Amazon and other services.
Difficult People
“Difficult People” (2015-17) stars Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner as two cynical New York City comedians who loathe almost everyone in town, especially celebrities. The name-dropping and jokes come at you with machine gun speed, along with cameos by Nathan Lane, Tina Fey and many other A-list actors. Another plus: any show that trashed Kevin Spacey and Charlie Rose years before their public exposure deserves respect.
This is big city humor at its most abrasive, and most critics liked it. Is it for you? That depends. Are you happier with Mary Tyler Moore in Minnesota or Larry David in LA and NYC? Mary folks might pass; Larry people should jump in, which you can do anywhere. Start with Episode 3, which is total madness: Kate McKinnon does a hilarious turn as Abra Cadouglas, an alcoholic magician, Julie and Billy host a raunchy pledge week at PBS, and Martin Short makes a scornful guest appearance. Three seasons, stream on Hulu or rent on Amazon and others.
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Letters to the Editor - 4-11-24
Apr 10, 2024
The attacks are starting early
Area Dems are starting early to attack Congressional candidate George Logan. An intelligent, articulate and genuinely nice man, Logan served two terms in the Connecticut Senate and is now running for the 5 th District Congressional seat currently held by Jahana Hayes.
In 2000, Ms. Hayes narrowly defeated Mr. Logan despite outspending him by a margin of 3 to 1.
In 2022, Dems attacked Logan by deliberately misrepresenting his position on abortion. This year, they claim (3/21/24 letter) that his candidacy should be ignored because one of his donors, Blackstone, invests in houses and thus harms affordable housing efforts.
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager and has invested in hundreds, if not thousands, of industries over the years.
Fifth District voters might be interested to know that Blackstone has a charitable foundation who’s mission is “to foster economic opportunity and career mobility for historically underrepresented groups.” One of its arms is dedicated to helping minority students and students at community colleges develop career paths. Thus it is scarcely surprising that Blackstone would support Logan, whose parents immigrated from Guatemala.
Nineteen donors to Ms. Hayes 2022 campaign gave more than Blackstone gave to Logan. And so far this year, Ms. Hayes has raised over $1 million, compared to $425,000 for Logan. Are we to assume that no one would find anything to criticize among the hundreds of major donors to her campaign? Such as the $314,000 spent on her campaign by the NEA Advocacy Fund, a Super PAC?
As for Ms. Hayes’ efforts in supposedly securing $9 million in affordable housing funds for the 5th District, $9 million was the total of all appropriations for projects in the 5th, only two of which (totaling $410,000) were for affordable housing. This money was part of the $1.2 trillion spending bill recently passed by Congress. Our Committee is a strong supporter of affordable housing and we are grateful for Ms. Hayes help in getting some federal funding for this effort, even if it was not the $9 million touted in the recent letter.
Tom Morrison
Chair, Salisbury Republican Town Committee
Lakeville
Need for a second trooper in Kent
Over fifty years ago, I served the town of Kent as the Resident State Trooper from July 1, 1969, to March 1, 1975. The town has grown considerably and we still have one Resident Trooper. It is time to go from the 20th to the 21st century.
On or about Dec. 1, 2023, I submitted a request by letter to the Kent Board of Selectmen that a 2nd Resident Trooper be added to the 2024-2025 budget.
This letter was read at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Dec. 4, 2023, by First Selectman Martin Lindenmayer. This letter contained my reasoning that a 2nd Resident Trooper would provide the town with seven day coverage especially on weekends to combat the speeding on our town roads, Route 7, Route 341 and South Kent Road. The Trooper would be a First Responder, conduct criminal investigations and become familiar with the town that is very important.
I also provided information to the Board of Selectmen that Kent’s Town Attorney, Randall DiBella’s suggestion that he made in September, 2023. “That the Board of Selectman may vote to have an Informational meeting that is simply a request for a gathering of residents. However, this meeting would not be binding.
The Board of Selectmen had a meeting on March 6, 2024, that I was unable to attend. I reviewed a video of that meeting and there was no discussion or vote on my request for a 2nd Resident Trooper or having an Informational meeting, however, they did discuss other alternatives such as cameras. Residents and Taxpayers were not given the opportunity to share their views on both issues.
In regards to cameras, I have many questions to ask and here are a few: 1.The identity of the person driving the vehicle? 2. Where would the cameras be located and how many? 3. Who would do the investigation on each and every speeding violation as to the operator of the vehicle, especially motorcycles riders who frequently pass my residence in a group 60 to 70 miles per hour? 4. Would it be our Resident Trooper who has many other duties? Another reason for a 2nd Resident Trooper.
Andrew C. Ocif
Kent
Judicial training in abuse cases
Upon reading the article about domestic abuse in The Lakeville Journal, April 4, I began to wonder what, if any, kind of training and education a judge receives before he begins his tenure. I am referring to a domestic violence case from September, 2017.
It is shameful that the judge in this case (Edward McLoughlin) with his level of education and work experience, was so ignorant regarding domestic abuse. Hypothetically speaking, if a daughter of his had been a victim of domestic abuse, I’m sure he would have become very informed on the topic of DV. He would have learned that the most dangerous time for a woman living in a DV situation, is right before she leaves her abuser. Thus, a woman just can’t just up and leave whenever she wants to.
His finding that Nikki Addimando did not meet the requirements of a reduced sentence, is pathetic and laughable. But, Addimando was not laughing.
Those who are in power, police, judges, and politicians, to name a few, must be educated and exposed to the true root of why women stay with their abuser, When the abuser and the victim end up in a courtroom, it is even more imperative that those who are making life altering decisions, be thoroughly appraised of the multiple causes for a woman to stay with her abuser.
Until the denial, naivete and apathy ends, which afflict many court cases involving DV, relief and healing for the victims of DV will be little if any at all.
Laura J. Kisatsky
Cornwall
Sharon Housing Trust goals
Thank you for your coverage last week of the efforts of the Town of Sharon and the Sharon Housing Trust to agree a plan for the renovation of the Town’s moribund community center building on North Main Street into affordable housing units. Thank you also for your correction that the three buildings next to the community center, 91, 93 and 95 North Main Street, which already contain affordable housing units, belong to the Sharon Housing Trust and not the Town.
It is the goal of the Sharon Housing Trust to, with the cooperation and approval of the Town, rehabilitate all four structures into a moderate income, 10-unit housing campus of which the Town can be proud. The Sharon Housing Trust is a private nonprofit organization that has only recently begun its latest wave of activity and fundraising. We expect that Town residents and your readership will hear much more from us in the future!
Richard Baumann
President,
Sharon Housing Trust
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