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Arts Rundown: 'Intergalactic,' First Friday And More

Provided by the production

Ah, first Friday and galleries are open. There are lots of things to see, including Carmon Colangelo and others at Bruno David, Maurice Meredith at Portfolio, Gail Cassilly at the Bonsack and the formal opening of the Shearburn Gallery. The Vaughn Center is hosting the Faces Project, which showcases portraits of child victims of gun violence.

Hap Phillips and Nita Turnage’s work can be seen at SOHA Studio and Gallery; and the Creative Exchange Lab is putting up a show that examines the redevelopment of Old North St. Louis.

Plus, Queeny Park has declared it to be spring, with its juried art show. The details of these are below – along with an event that we certainly hope does not get rained out.

But the event that touched a spark this week is not an art show – although it relies heavily on art.

The “Intergalactic Nemesis Book One: Target Earth" will be at the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts at McKendree College, Lebanon, Ill., at 7:30 tonight. Book One and "Book Two: Robot Planet Rising" will be at the Edison Theatre on the Washington University campus Friday (Book One) and Saturday (Book Two) -- both at 8 p.m.. (Hettenhausen tickets; Edison tickets)

To understand the production, we first went to its own website.

There it is described as “a mash-up of a radio play and comic book. We take the comic-book artwork, remove the word balloons, and project it panel-by-panel on a huge screen while three actors voice all the characters, one Foley Artist creates hundreds of sound effects, and a keyboardist performs the score.”

The man wielding the pencils and inks for Book One is Tim Doyle.

Doyle is the cofounder of Nakatomi Print Labs in Austin, Texas, and has produced works for such big players as Disney, Lucasfilm and Mattel.

One of Doyle’s specialties has been providing TV locations, such as the “Kwik-E-Mart on The Simpsons; the RV in Breaking Bad; Castle Greyskull in Masters of the Universe; these locations are as important to their show as Homer, Walt or He-Man,” according to Germain Lussier in a film blog.  The article promotes the show “UnReal Estate III” in which Doyle puts his unreal spin on such shows as “Game of Thrones” and “Six Feet Under” – as opposed to the real world of the Simpsons.

In a long interview with Tony Straussfrom Weng’s Chop, Doyle talks about college and learning to become an artist.

"The one thing they can’t teach—which is why most of these people become teachers—is how to get a job as an artist. You need to have real social networking skills; you need to know how to romance a client (in a strictly platonic way…obviously); you need to know how to manage your finances, how to negotiate a price, how to stick up for yourself when it comes to contract negotiations; you need to know how to walk away from a bad deal. These schools can fill your head up with theory and self-doubt and crippling self-examination. And don’t even get me started on artist statements. I’d just chuck that shit out the window Day One. Sure, you can self-analyze and tear apart what your inner machinery is to find out why you make art—but it can be like pulling a grandfather clock apart: you’ll never get all the gears back in the right place. It doesn’t matter why you make art; it just matters that you do make art."

Oh and that event

Saturday is International Pillow Fight Day hosted by STL Improve Anywhere. #pillowfightstl

Come to the Tunica Pavilion in Tower Grove Park at 2 p.m. April 5.

As the release says, this “is an all-ages, outdoor event simply for the fun of it. Dress wacky, bring a pillow, spend the day outside laughing, making friends, and tapping into your inner wild child.”

There is a no-no list: No zippers or other hard things on pillows; no features; no violence, which goes with the admonition not to swing at anyone who does not have a pillow or who is holding a camera. And, please, take off your glasses.

THE BASICS

Shearburn Gallery Opening

When: 5-8 p.m. April 4

Where: 665 S. Skinker Blvd.

Gallery Hours: noon-5 p.m. Monday-Friday

Information: www.shearburngallery.com/

Gail Cassilly at Bonsack Gallery

When: Opening reception 5:30-7:30 p.m. April 4; exhibit through May 7

Where: 755 S. Price Rd.

Gallery Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday

Information: jburroughs.org/arts/bonsack-gallery

The Faces Project at the Vaughn Center

When: 5-7 p.m. April 3

Where: 3707 Grandel Sq.

Gallery Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday

Information: www.facebook.com/events/586308714787397/?ref=22

Bruno David Gallery

Carmon Colangelo: Storms

Thomas Sleet: Modern: Topology

Lana Z Caplan: Woman in the Dunes

When: Opening reception 5-9 p.m. April 4; exhibit through May 3

Where: 3721 Washington Blvd.

Gallery Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays

Information: www.brunodavidgallery.com/

Portfolio Gallery and Education Center

Photographer Maurice Meredith: Moments: The Time of Your Life through May 30

When: Reception 7-9 p.m. April 5; exhibit through May 30

Where: 3514 Delmar Blvd.

Gallery Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays

Information: portfoliogallerystl.org/index.html

SOHA Studio and Gallery

New Magic: a collaborative exhibit by Hap Phillips and Nita Turnage

When: Opening reception 6-10 p.m. April 4, exhibit through April 23 when there will be an artists’ talk at 7 p.m.

Where: 4915 Macklind Ave.

Gallery Hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays

Information: www.sohastudioandgallery.com/

Creative Exchange Lab – The Center for Architecture and Design STL

Context\Contrast -- Old North St. Louis Neighborhood Revitalization: A Vision Realized

When: Opening reception 6-8:30 p.m. April 3; exhibit runs through June 7

Where: 3307 Washington Ave.

Information: creativeexchangelab.com/

Spring Art Fair at Queeny Park

When: 6-9 p.m. April 4; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. April 5; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. April

Where: Greensfelder Recreation Complex, 550 Weidman Rd.

Cost: $5; free to those 18 and under

Information: www.ArtFairAtQueenyPark.com

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Donna Korando started work in journalism at SIU’s Daily Egyptian in 1968. In between Carbondale and St. Louis Public Radio, she taught high school in Manitowoc, Wis., and worked at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the copy editor and letters editor for the editorial page from 1973-77. As an editorial writer from 1977-87, she covered Illinois and city politics, education, agriculture, family issues and sub-Saharan Africa. When she was editor of the Commentary Page from 1987-2003, the page won several awards from the Association of Opinion Page Editors. From 2003-07, she headed the features copy desk.