Arts for the Weekend (1/22-23) & a Monday Reading

Friday January 22:
There is an Opening Reception for the new exhibition today at 5 p.m. in the Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan. The German-born multi-media Julika Rudelius is known for her video "projections" in which people talk about their private lives in a public setting. These "confessions" can be unsettling yet also allow the viewers to be "voyeurs", to be let in on secrets, no matter how frank or banal.
The exhibition will be "up" through February 28.  For more information, go to www.wesleyan.edu/zilkha.
For more about the artist, go to www.rudelius.org.

Boney's Music Lounge, lower Court Street, welcomes back Shakedown, the area's premier Grateful Dead tribute group and a fine "jam band." They'll get going around 9 p.m. 

Saturday January 23:

The Buttonwood Tree presents The SophistiCats, the Connecticut-based jazz quartet  led by guitarist Bill Liswell and his wife, vocalist/composer Lorraine Ceder Liswell.  Along with bassist Louis Chatey and drummer Steve Hodgetts, the foursome blends jazz, rockabilly, gypsy swing, British Isles folk, and blues into its original music along with impressive musicianship. The combination of music, fine guitar work, a adept and swinging rhythm section and Lorraine's smooth vocal style, makes for a fun evening.  The music starts at 8 p.m.  For more information about the band, go to www.bandlmusic.com. 

LPG, led by the irrepressible percussionist Liviu Pop, returns to Boney's Music Lounge.  Special guest is Boston-based vocalist Toni Lynn Washington.  They'll get you up and dancing from 9 p.m - 1 a.m.

Monday January 25:

Reader's Theater, a group founded and led by Myron Gubitz from West Hartford, presents a staged reading of "Art", the 1994 play written by Yasmina Reza and translated by Christopher Hampton, at 7 p.m. in the Hubbard Room of The Russell Library. The play centers around 3 men, friendship and how one of them jeopardizes the relationship by purchasing a painting. The work of "modern art" is white, nearly completely white, and causes quite a rift when one character call the painting "a piece of white s**t."  The play deals with how friendships can be manipulated, how one views relationships with friends, and the art of compromise.  Featured readers are Mr. Gubitz, Steve Liskow, myself and Naomi Kamins as the narrator of stage directions.  It's an adult play, rated PG-13 for language.  The reading is free and open to the public.  For more information, call 860-347-2528, extension 135.