Author Archives: JMN

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About JMN

I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.

Pithy Gristle

Posted on December 5, 2020 by JMN

David Orr reviews Vijay Sheshadri’s volume of poems “That Was Now, This Is Then” (Graywolf Press). Reviewers who are poets are especially equipped with spicy pronouncements. Poetry has a long, proud history of acting as if readers don’t exist. Often … Continue reading →

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Incandescent Kandinsky

Posted on December 4, 2020 by JMN

I’ve lost the article from which I clipped this painting — something about vicissitudes and provenance. No matter, the painting is the thing. It trips and snares me. It’s like a knotty, naughty doodle done with psychedelic syrups from a … Continue reading →

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‘High-End’ Jinks in ‘Opulent’ Joints

Posted on December 3, 2020 by JMN

Ninety-one people broke the state’s 50-person limit at an October wedding held at the North Fork Country Club in Cutchogue, NY. Afterwards, 30 tested positive for the virus and 156 wound up quarantined. In a second New York event in … Continue reading →

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Less Majesty

Posted on December 1, 2020 by JMN

Lèse-maj·es·té: “the insulting of a monarch or other ruler.” Oliver Dowden, the UK culture secretary, wants Netflix to play a “health warning” before The Crown so viewers are aware that the historical drama is a work of fiction. “It’s a … Continue reading →

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Pictures Matter

Posted on November 30, 2020 by JMN

Richard Frishman is a photographer based near Seattle. You can follow his work on Instagram. (Photographs and Text by Richard Frishman, “Hidden in Plain Sight: The Ghosts of Segregation,” NYTimes, 11-30-20) (c) 2020 JMN

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Derek Fordjour

Posted on November 29, 2020 by JMN

“I love learning other ways to have a conversation,” Mr. Fordjour said after the rehearsal, a collaboration with the puppet artist Nick Lehane. “Painting has its utility, but performance is another register.” “… Black funerary tradition is on my mind,” … Continue reading →

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The King’s Alphabet

Posted on November 28, 2020 by JMN

… [Thai protestors] have… called for the king, Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, to… (Richard C. Paddock, “Thai Hotel That Put American in Jail Gets New Label on Tripadvisor,” NYTimes, 11-11-20) (c) 2020 JMN

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From Concept to Chrome

Posted on November 27, 2020 by JMN

“Detroit Style: Car Design in the Motor City, 1950-2020,” an exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts, opens this month and runs through next June. … The D.I.A. exhibition set out to communicate the journey that started with a designer’s … Continue reading →

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Attire Power

Posted on November 27, 2020 by JMN

The pussy-bow blouse: the quintessential working woman’s uniform in the years when they began to flood into the professional sphere; the female version of the tie; the power accessory of Margaret Thatcher, the first female British prime minister. (Vanessa Friedman, … Continue reading →

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Knots Bound [CXIX]

Posted on November 25, 2020 by JMN

[XCIX]Otros días vendrán, será entendidoOther days will come, there will be heardel silencio de plantas y planetasthe silence of plants and planets.¡y cuántas cosas puras pasarán!And so many pure things will happen!¡Tendrán olor a luna los violines!Violins will have a … Continue reading →

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