Open Mic

August 19 2004

7-9 pm

Open Mic/Emerging Poets Series Readers: Jane Ormerod, Geoffrey Cruickshank-Hagenbuckle, Rich Newman, Ilene Starger, Debra R. Andrews, Robert Siek, Todd Cincala, Steven Matrick, Margarita Shalina, Karl Lorenzen, Christian Georgesco, Justin Lacour and Joselyn Almeida Beveridge.

Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign

Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign

August 12 2004

6-9pm

Art Auction benefiting Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign fundraising committee: Mark Webber, Leo Fitzpatrick, James Ransone, John Buffalo Mailer, William Upski Wimsatt and Brendan Sexton III. Artists include: Ray Abary, Harvey Finkle, Tim Lynch, Melissa Farley, Squire Fox, Patrick Maisano, Melinda Stickney-Gibson, and Judy Glantzman. Curated by Gael Abary and Liz Ronk. Continue reading “Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign”

Dreams of Sparrows

July 22 2004

7 pm

Screening of the film Dreams of Sparrows. Dreams of Sparrows is a documentary that follows first time Iraqi director Hayder Mousa Daffar and his team of contributing directors as they share their vision of life in Baghdad, post war and pre reconstruction.

Open Mic

July 15 2004

7-9 pm

Open Mic/Emerging Poets Series Featuring work from readers as follows: Timothy Liu, Robert Siek, Debra R. Andrews, Rene N. Hargrove, Joel Gold, Celest Woo, Justin Lacour, Laura Rothenberg, Jane Ormerod, Rich Newman, Ilene Starger, Richard Fein and Peter Covino.

Sarabande Books

May 7 2004

10th Anniversary Celebration with Sarabande Books.

Sarabande Books is a nonprofit literary press founded in March 1994, in Louisville, Kentucky. Our focus is on poetry and short fiction, genres that in the recent past have received less than generous attention from the mainstream publishing industry. In an effort to mediate that imbalance and to nurture good writing, Sarabande Books works to provide talented authors with a final product and visibility, in short, a real “home” for their work.

First titles appeared June 1996 in beautiful, four-color, simultaneous paperback and cloth-bound editions. We now publish between eight and ten new volumes per year. We’re convinced that quality book design contributes to a literary work’s value and are committed to keeping our titles in print.

A New Theory for American Poetry: Democracy, the Environment, and the Future of Imagination

April 15 2004

Dactyl celebrates the release of A New Theory for American Poetry: Democracy, the Environment, and the Future of Imagination by Angus Fletcher.

Angus Fletcher’s previous contributions to the study of poetics have provided us with, among other valuable insights, a comprehensive account of allegory as a primary mode in literature and an intensive meditation on the shape of thinking in poetry. With his latest offering, he presents a formal description of American poetry as Continue reading “A New Theory for American Poetry: Democracy, the Environment, and the Future of Imagination”

Genius of (Mis)Translation Series

March 13 2004

Genius of (Mis)Translation Series with David Hinton, a translator of ancient Chinese poetry, Cecilia Vicuña, a Chilean poet who performs multilingually, & John Thompson, who plays the guqin, a musical instrument of China’s ancient poets.

Genius of (Mis)Translation Series

March 13 2004

Genius of (Mis)Translation Series with David Hinton, a translator of ancient Chinese poetry,Cecilia Vicuña, a Chilean poet who performs multilingually, & John Thompson, who plays the guqin, a musical instrument of China’s ancient poets.

Hinton’s translations from Chinese include The Mountain Poems of Hsieh Ling-yun (New Directions, 2001), Mencius (1999), The Analects of Confucius (1998), Chuang Tzu: Inner Chapters (1997), Forms of Distance by Bei Dao (1994), The Selected Poems of T’ao Ch’ien (1993), and The Selected Poems of Tu Fu (1989). In 1997 he won The Academy of American Poets Harold Morton Landon Translation Award for his three volumes published in 1996: The Selected Poems of Lí Po and Bei Dao’s Landscape Over Zero (both published by New Directions), and The Late Poems of Meng Chiao (Princeton). His other recent honors include fellowships from the Witter Bynner Foundation, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Chilean poet, artist and filmmaker Cecilia Vicuña is the author of fourteen poetry books, published in Europe, Latin America and the US. Honors include: The Pennies from Heaven Award, 2002, The Anonymous Was a Woman Award, l999, The Lila Wallace-Reader¹s Digest Arts International Award in l992, The Fund for Poetry Award in l995-96 and The Human Rights Award from the Fund for Free Expression in New York in l985. Her most recent books are: Instan, Kelsey St. Press, 2002 El Templo, translated by Rosa Alcalá, Situations, New York, 2001; Cloud-Net, trans. by Rosa Alcalá, Art in General/Hallwalls/DiverseWorks/ New York, Houston, Buffalo, l999; UL, Four Mapuche Poets, a Bilingual Anthology edited by Cecilia Vicuña, LALRP, Pittsburgh, 1998; QUIPOem/ The Precarious , The Art and Poetry of Cecilia Vicuña, Edited by M. Catherine de Zegher, translated by Esther Allen, Wesleyan University Press, l997; Word & Thread, translated by Rosa Alcalá, Morning StarPublications,1996; PALABRARmas/WURDWAPINschaw, translated by Edwin Morgan, Morning Star Publications, Edinburgh, l994; and Unravelling Words & The Weaving of Water, translated by Eliot Weinberger and Suzanne Jill Levine, edited by Eliot Weinberger, Graywolf Press, l992 .

The Point, Benefit Exhibition

December 9 2003

DACTYL FOUNDATION  and ART+COMMERCE Invite you to give the gift of art this holiday season, all proceeds benefitting THE POINT CDC & BRONX CHARTER SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS, Offering the children and families of Hunts Point safe places to learn, create & grow.An evening of good cheer to purchase original works by professional and amateur artists of all ages while helping two non-profit organizations in the South Bronx. Continue reading “The Point, Benefit Exhibition”

The Genius of (Mis)Translation Series

October 30th 2003, 7pm

Further poetry readings in The Genius of (Mis)Translation Series featuring Jen Hofer, Mónica Nepote, Cristina Rivera-Garza, and Laura Solórzano. Partial support for this series has been provided by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Mexican Consulate.

Judy Glantzman, paintings, drawings & monoprints, exhibition

September 13th – November 8th 2003

“Paintings, Monoprints & Drawings” is Judy Glantzman‘s third solo exhibition at Dactyl Foundation for the Arts and Humanities. Since her first show at Dactyl, her career and work has continued to mature at both the professional and artistic level. Glantzman was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2001. A selection of her work is currently at P.S.1 (Museum of Modern Art) in a group show, “Site and Insight.” Dactyl Foundation has always appreciated Glantzman’s work as a tremendous contribution to contemporary art. Continue reading “Judy Glantzman, paintings, drawings & monoprints, exhibition”

Trauma at Home: After 9/11

June 6th 2003

7pm

Discussion: Trauma at Home: After 9/11 (University of Nebraska Press, 2003) Speakers will include: Jim Berger, Elizabeth Baer, Donna Bassin, Judith Greenberg (editor), Marianne Hirsch, Irene Kacandes, E. Ann Kaplan, Nancy K. Miller, and Richard Stamelman.

The Secret Agent

May 18th 2003

2pm

The Secret Agent  is adapted & directed by Richard Kimmel, featuring Tony Torn as Secret Agent Verloc and Wayne Adams, Dominique Bousquet, Steve Cuiffo, Andrew Garman, Jordan Lage, and Gary Wilmes. Development of THE SECRET AGENT is supported in part by a grant from NYSCA’s Individual Artist Program

Neil Grayson, Fundraiser

February 1-28 2003

Erotic drawings by Neil Grayson Proceeds to Benefit Dactyl Foundation Reception/Fundraising Benefit.

In these pieces, the artist’s gaze is so intensely focused on the nude that the images are abstracted to the point of becoming mysteriously potent icons of the erotic or bold graphic symbols of porn. Abstract art in this sense is representational, but it is so free of context that what it represents is not immediately obvious. The viewer is placed so close to the female buttocks that initially it is difficult to recognize. The first glance sees only the medium on the paper, the dark lines forming a cross and touches of color. In this way, these extraordinary drawings connect Eros with western culture’s most powerful symbol.
Each drawing is unique. Some are done on thick and irregular sheets of hand-made rag paper, some on Arches cotton paper, and others on canvas.The drawing is done in strong charcoal strokes that define the shape of the buttocks and the gap between the legs as the center of focus. Grayson conveys full body posture with just a few simple lines. In a few, the unseen rest of the figure would seem to be standing up straight; in others relaxed, hand on hip. Metal leaf overlays the drawing, delicately defining the smooth texture and luminosity of the skin. In several of these works, suggestions of viewfinders or sight scopes—-done in raw umber, ochre, or black oil paint-—float on a plane some distance from the image, nearer to the viewer. In all, the experience of these drawings is a viewer’s, how one sees-—intensely, obsessively—-rather than what one sees.
–Victoria N. Alexander, Curator