2012 Whitney Biennial Opens Today!

Sculpture, painting, installations, and photography—as well as dance, theater, music, and film—will fill the galleries of the Whitney Museum of American Art in the latest edition of the Whitney Biennial. With a roster of artists at all points in their careers the Biennial provides a look at the current state of contemporary art in America. This is the seventy-sixth in the ongoing series of Biennials and Annuals presented by the Whitney since 1932, two years after the Museum was founded.

The 2012 Biennial takes over most of the Whitney from March 1 through May 27, with portions of the exhibition and some programs continuing through June 10. The participating artists were selected by Elisabeth Sussman, Curator/Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography at the Whitney, and Jay Sanders, a freelance curator and writer who has spent the past ten years working both in the gallery world and on independent curatorial projects. Sussman and Sanders co-curated the Biennial’s film program with Thomas Beard and Ed Halter, the co-founders of Light Industry, a venue for film and electronic art in Brooklyn.

The Whitney’s fourth-floor Emily Fisher Landau Galleries will become a dynamic 6,000-square-foot performance space for music, dance, theater, and other events. This is the first Whitney Biennial in which nearly a full floor of the Museum has been given over to a changing season of performances, events, and residencies.

First Position - New Ballet Documentary at Toronto Film Fest

In her new documentary, First Position, director Bess Kargman shows us that ballet is not for sissies. It is fiercely competitive, physically demanding, and must be mastered early. First Position follows six young aspiring dancers (ages 9-19) as they prepare for the ballet world's toughest youth competition - the Youth America Grand Prix. With exclusive access to the competition, First Position offers an inside look at the extraordinary world of ballet and the determined young dancers who try to capture a dream only a few will achieve. Though the beauty of ballet is undenialable, in First Postion we get to see the drive and struggle that make ballet the pinnacle of dance.

The film is showing at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11th and 17th.

Fashion's Night Out now Fashion's Night In...

Don't worry if you can't make it to NYC for Fashion's Night Out this year. Pop princess Alex Young’s recently launched fashion line “A Young Rose” will be a participating e-tailer this Fashion’s Night Out on September 8th. New this year, Fashion’s Night Out will include online retailers, allowing people who can’t make it out a chance to still participate in the stylish evening (you just have to supply your own champagne...) To celebrate Fashion’s Night Out, recording artist Alex Young will give away a FREE DOWNLOAD of her upcoming and never-before-heard single, “Don’t Play With Me” with any purchase from her online boutique on September 8th, 2011 – the day of Fashion’s Night Out. This hot, 70s sounding new track will definitely get you dancing and is Alex’s first single off her upcoming DIGITAL CAPSULE of songs to be released fall 2011.

Listen to “Don’t Play With Me”

Shop at “A Young Rose” Online Boutique