Morrison Hotel Gallery Celebrates Kurt Cobain's 50th Birthday with the exhibit "Grunge - The Rise of a Generation"

 

Happy Birthday Kurt Cobain!   In honor of what would have been Kurt Cobain's 50th birthday, Morrison Hotel Gallery is announcing its next exhibition: Grunge - The Rise of a Generation, a photography exhibit celebrating grunge music, the fashion, the attitude and its impact on anyone who has listened to Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam or worn a flannel shirt.   Nirvana's Bleach was released 30 years ago this year. Soundgarden's Superunknown will celebrate its 25th anniversary on March 8th. Grunge is making a comeback and it's happening now.   Opening March 8th in New York City, Los Angeles and Maui, Grunge - The Rise of a Generation is a collection of images taken by legendary photographers who were in the middle of all things grunge.   All images are available for purchase at the gallery locations and via the website www.morrisonhotelgallery.com Media can RSVP to the private/invite only opening receptions on March 7th in NYC and LA. Please e-mail me for more info. Images are available upon request for coverage and several photographers are available for interviews. Kurt Cobain 'The Last Session', 1993 © Jesse Frohman From Sonic Youth to Soundgarden Morrison Hotel Gallery Kicks Off  Grunge Month with Grunge: Rise of a Generation Characterized by frayed fashion, a brooding sense of apathy and slow, riff-heavy sounds, the grunge era not only soundtracks an angst-ridden coming of age but moreover defines the general sentiments of an entire generation. A musical genre unlike any other, grunge took the aggression of punk and the intensity of heavy metal and added elements that gave the music its signature grinding, sludgy distortion. Hitting its commercial stride by the early 90s, "the Seattle sound" gives rise of a pantheon of grunge gods including but not limited to Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and the evergreen Kurt Cobain once dubbed by Time as "the John Lennon of the swinging Northwest." As Nirvana's debut Bleach celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and Soundgarden's Superunknown turns 25 on March 8th, Morrison Hotel Gallery kicks off Grunge Month in celebratory recognition of the genre that would provoke an entire pop cultural movement with the unveiling of Grunge: Rise of a Generation, a photographic exhibition highlighting the work of Lance Mercer, Jesse Frohman and many other exceptional photographers who helped define a cultural phenomenon which continues to resonate with audiences throughout the world.   Among the photographs highlighted in the exhibit are images that encapsulate the unvarnished vibe that ran throughout the grunge scene. There from the beginning was Seattle-born photographer Lance Mercer who began documenting what was to be a seismic shift in American music and culture from its very onset. From 1991 to 1995, Mercer went on tour with Pearl Jam as their official photographer. During that time, he photographed the band's elevation to legendary status - Eddie Vedder's raw energy onstage juxtaposed with him relaxing backstage next to a bottle of booze, as well as the band posing in a pile on a Seattle hillside. From Alice in Chains onward, Mercer's stunning work takes viewers back to a time when dirty and unpolished became the new paradigm in sound and style.     A number of other extraordinary photographers were also poised to capture the grunge movement's visual culture dating back to 1986 when Ebet Roberts photographed Sonic Youth performing onstage at NYC's CBGB in a series of shots that would ultimately capture the infancy of the entire grunge era. Additionally, early images of Soundgarden by Karen Mason-Blair and Jay Blakesberg resonate with the many reasons the band would come to define the distinct Seattle sound, whether they show a long-haired Cornell and crew sweating and whipping the audience into a frenzy or crowd-surfing across a wave of fans. Furthermore, in one of the last official photo shoots with Nirvana before the untimely death of Kurt Cobain, Jesse Frohman captured a series of shots of the front man swathed in a leopard skin cardigan, hunting cap and oversized enamel sunglasses covering his head and face. Aloof yet strangely vulnerable and connected, these portraits draft the legacy of an unlikely icon.   "With Grunge: Rise of a Generation, we are not only celebrating the 30th anniversary of Nirvana's Bleach, the 25th anniversary of Soundgarden's Superunknown, or those artists whose contributions exist within the time capsule of a genre; we're also celebrating the durational implications of a cultural phenomenon," said Marcelle Murdock, Gallery Director. "Featuring the pioneering contributions of grunge predecessors like Sonic Youth in dialogue with the usual suspects like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Hole, and L7 among others, Grunge: Rise of a Generation provides the framework for a more holistic yet all-encompassing conversation between the super famous and the fringes of a definitive movement's coming-of-age."   In addition to the exhibition, Jesse Frohman will give a talk on March 14th, at the NYC gallery, where he will discuss his photo shoots with Cobain and Cornell. His book, Kurt Cobain: The Last Session, will also be available for sale.   "As someone who came into adulthood within the era, I never imagined the possibility-much less, the importance-of revisiting the period through fresh eyes in collaboration with some of my favorite photographers and artists of all time. With that, I am eager to present this special exhibition of such social and personal significance this spring at Morrison Hotel Gallery." adds Murdock.   Grunge: The Rise of a Generation will open to the public on March 8th and will run through March 31st.   Photographers featured in the show: Richard Bellia Jay Blakesberg Justin Borucki Danny Clinch Henry Diltz Jesse Frohman Lynn Goldsmith JJ Gonson Bob Gruen Karen-Mason Blair Clay Patrick McBride Catherine McGann Lance Mercer Dustin Rabin Amy Rachlin Ebet Roberts   Bands featured in the show: Alice in Chains Hole L7 Mudhoney Nirvana Pearl Jam Sonic Youth Soundgarden Stone Temple Pilots   About Lance Mercer Lance Mercer, born and raised in Seattle, started photographing at 13. Through his involvement with the local music scene in Seattle, Washington specifically portraits of the late Andrew Wood, Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone, he was invited to tour with Pearl Jam (1991-95) as their official photographer. This endeavor quickly established him as a sought-after photographer for a host of other well-known bands including Alice In Chains, Beck, and The Presidents of the United States to name a few. Other music clients then followed including projects for: Epic, Columbia, Capitol, Warner Brothers, Geffen, A&M, Sony, Microsoft, Redbull, VH1, MTV. Lance's work quickly appeared in publications like: Rolling Stone, Spin, Time, Vanity Fair, and Alternative Press among others.   In 1997, he collaborated on a retrospective book of Pearl Jam photographs called Place/Date, with Seattle photographer Charles Peterson. In 2007, 5X1 Pearl Jam Through the Eye of Lance Mercer was published, further chronicling Lance's experiences with the early 90's grunge rock era.   Presently, Lance continues to create striking photographic work with special focus on documentary, editorial, commercial and music photography.   About Morrison Hotel® Gallery Morrison Hotel® Gallery (MHG) was founded in 2001 by former record company executive Peter Blachley, music retail industry professional Richard Horowitz, and legendary music photographer Henry Diltz. In 2012, author, director and photographer Timothy White joined the team, launching an additional West Coast gallery at The Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood. In 2016, the gallery launched its third location at Mick Fleetwood's General Store in Maui, Hawaii.   MHG is the world's leading brand in fine art music photography representing over 125 of the world's finest music photographers and their archives. Their vast catalog of photography encompasses jazz, blues, and rock imagery spanning several generations through to today's contemporary music artists and now includes iconic photographs in the world of celebrity and sports as well. MHG has a robust online presence, featuring over 100,000 images searchable by photographer, music artist, band or concert. www.morrisonhotelgallery.com    Morrison Hotel Gallery 116 Prince Street || New York, NY 10012 212.941.8770   Morrison Hotel Gallery Sunset Marquis 1200 Alta Loma Road || West Hollywood, CA 90069 310.881.6025   Morrison Hotel Gallery Fleetwood's General Store 744 Front Street || Lahaina, Hawaii 96761 808.669.6425 (MIC

Chicago Stories: Recent works by Carlos Javier Ortiz and David Schalliol

 

Chicago Stories: Recent works by Carlos Javier Ortiz and David Schalliol (April 11 – July 7, 2019) The Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP) will present Chicago Stories: Recent Works by Carlos Javier Ortiz and David Schalliol from April 11 – July 7, 2019. In response to Birmingham, Alabama, 1963: Dawoud Bey/Black Star, this exhibition showcases photographs and films by Carlos Javier Ortiz and David Schalliol pulled from the museum’s permanent collection and the Midwest Photographers Project (MPP). Both artists separately investigate forms of systemic racism in Chicago and beyond through the lens of individual stories. Carlos Javier Ortiz (American, b. 1977 Puerto Rico) considers contemporary black life in comparison to the ideals of the Great Migration, which took place from 1915 to 1970 when six million African Americans left the South to find new opportunities in the North. Illustrating socioeconomic patterns that have paved the way for a cycle of poverty and violence, his two projects, A Thousand Midnights (2016) and We All We Got (2014), document youth and families in Chicago from multiple perspectives over the course of many years. Ortiz focuses on those affected by gun violence, casting light on the larger forces fostering recurring tragedies in the city of Chicago. Long interested in the abandonment and dereliction of residential structures, sociologist and photographer David Schalliol (American, b. 1976) questions the ever-changing urban landscape as it relates to larger race and class inequities. His feature-length film, The Area (2018), follows a community activist, Deborah Payne, as she fights a multi-billion-dollar intermodal freight company in its quest to buy and demolish over 400 homes owned by African American families in her Chicago neighborhood of Englewood. The film is paired with Schalliol’s images of lone buildings centered between vacant lots, appearing as shrines to disappearing neighborhoods. “Instead of seeing one peculiar building, we see the legacy and immediacy of urban transformation," says Schalliol.  "Instead of asking ‘What happened to this house?’ we ask, ‘What is causing this phenomenon?’” On Thursday, May 2, the MoCP will present a panel discussion entitled Chicago Stories: Unpacking Segregation in Chicago, Then and Now, which will explore the segregated history of Chicago neighborhoods, which is a primary theme of the exhibition. The discussion will be moderated by Natalie Moore, WBEZ South Side reporter and author of The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation. Panelists include exhibiting artists Carlos Javier Ortiz and David Schalliol, artist Tonika Johnson, archivist Lucy Baird, and community activist Deborah Payne. The event is free and open to the public. Chicago Stories is curated by MoCP curator of academic programs and collections Kristin Taylor.   About the MoCP The Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago is the world's premier college art museum dedicated to photography.  As an international hub, the MoCP generates ideas and provokes dialogue among students, artists and diverse communities through groundbreaking exhibitions and programming. MoCP Sponsors The MoCP is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The Museum is generously supported by Columbia College Chicago, the MoCP Advisory Board, Museum Council, individuals, private and corporate foundations, and government agencies including the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Copyright © 2019 Museum of Contemporary Photography, All rights reserved.

White Castle® Inducts Twelve Devoted Fans Into Its 18th Annual Cravers Hall of Fame

 
  

WHITE CASTLE^® INDUCTS TWELVE DEVOTED FANS INTO ITS 18^TH ANNUAL

CRAVERS HALL OF FAME

Craveworthy video games, love stories and birthday traditions round out the 2018 Cravers Hall of Fame class

 White Castle, America’s first fast-food hamburger chain, has built a passionate fan base, commonly referred to as “Cravers,” that are loyal, dedicated, and willing to do nearly anything to satisfy their Crave. That’s why White Castle created the Cravers Hall of Fame in 2001, as the industry’s most exclusive, honorary club to recognize the restaurant chain’s most zealous fans.
For the past year, White Castle customers from across the country have gone to great lengths for the opportunity to be inducted into the coveted Cravers Hall of Fame as part of the 2018 class. After judging nearly 500 entries with personal, funny and heartfelt stories, White Castle selected 12 of the most dedicated fans to be honored forever in sliderdom as part of the celebratory club. Each member was formally inducted into the 18th annual White Castle Cravers Hall of Fame during a special ceremony at the White Castle Leadership Conference in the chain’s hometown of Columbus on February 19, 2019. In addition to full travel, dining and hotel accommodations, each inductee received a celebratory plaque in front of hundreds of White Castle leadership and operations team members.
“Every year, we’re amazed by the creative and touching stories we receive from Cravers who’ve made a tradition out of visiting our restaurants,” said Jamie Richardson, vice president of White Castle. “We receive hundreds of entries each year, many telling the stories of growing up with our brand, sharing our food with younger generations, celebrating weddings and anniversaries with us, or even traveling across the world to get a taste of the one-of-a-kind flavor our sliders offer.”
To determine the Hall of Fame’s most deserving Cravers, the judges set criteria based on brand loyalty, creative presentation, originality and magnitude of the Crave. In 2002, White Castle added the “Craver in Extremis” category to recognize public figures, celebrities and pop icons; including Alice Cooper, Kal Penn and John Cho, Telfar Clemens and the late Stan Lee, who have all publicly expressed their love of White Castle.
To date, 215 inductees have been honored with this distinguished award.
The Class of 2018 inductees includes:

• Warren Davis, Los Angeles, CA – “Craver. Gamer. Hall of Famer” – Warren came face-to-face with the Crave as a teenager in Brooklyn after being drawn in by the sliders’ sensuous aroma. His hometown Castle was also featured in Saturday Night Fever, a moment that brought him great pride. In the 1980s, Warren was in the early stages of his career as a video game developer.  The first game he developed – Q*bert – is now a video game classic and Warren admits he may have never finished the game without the late night slider sustenance provided by the nearby Castle.   
   
• Noah Martin, Chicago, IL – “A Prince of Sliders” – Noah’s Crave is one that affects him daily, to the extent that he’s eaten 10 of the tasty sliders every day for the last 12 years. But eating wasn’t always easy for him in his youth. As a child, he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and he was always a selective eater. On the day he tasted his first slider, courtesy of his father, he was hooked and had found his new favorite food choice.
   
• Mark Hammergren, Sacramento, CA – “Vegas or Bust” – Mark’s love for White Castle began in the 1980s, but he moved far from a Castle shortly after. Still, the distance never deterred him from feeding his Crave whenever he could. During the 2018 holiday season, he felt a Crave that he couldn’t resist. After some convincing, Mark and his wife packed up their vehicle for a slider excursion to the nearest restaurant in Las Vegas, more than eight hours away. After a sufficient serving of sliders, he and his wife had no doubt that the trip was worth it, and began the long journey home.
   
• Henry Leathers, Louisville, KY – “The Morning Cravers’ Club” – Henry has had a lifetime of Cravings that have resulted in friendships and routines. Growing up near a Castle, he was always an early riser and began to notice other White Castle regulars in the morning hours. Soon after, he joined a troop of Cravers who began regular gatherings at White Castle for coffee, breakfast and conversations. Henry’s wife and family are Cravers, too, and his son-in-law even asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage at a Castle.
   
• Robert Matarese, East Greenbush, NY – “Generations of Crave” – Robert began his life as a Craver nearly 60 years ago and quickly learned that the minimum order to be truly satisfied was a sack of 10. After marrying and moving away, he ingeniously developed a Crave network to continue his slider access. Today, he uses the White Castle app to alert him of nearby Castles and his grandson was recently selected to the Junior U.S. Olympic Luge team after learning how to luge during the White Castle USA Luge Slider Search.
   
• Moses and Carmen Perez, Chicago, IL – “A Match Made in White Castle” – Moses and Carmen are a true Craver couple with decades of bold and memorable moments. After meeting in church, the couple uncovered they had a lot in common, including suffering from epilepsy and valuing friendship above all; and an unrelenting desire for White Castle sliders. The couple’s wedding was complete with White Castle-catered hors d’oeuvres, appetizers and a Castle-topped cake.
   
• Dolores Brown, Alexandria, VA – “A White Castle Patriot” – Dolores’ White Castle tale begins in New Jersey and shows that Cravings know no bounds. Her work as a U.S. diplomat took her all over the world; a dream trip for some, but for others, a serious slider hiatus. No matter how arduous the trip, her first move upon re-entering the country was making a long-awaited White Castle run.
   
• Peter Bevilacqua, Nanuet, NY – “A Birthday Crave” – After tasting his first slider at the age of five, Peter’s love for White Castle grew into a tradition. For 57 years, he celebrated his birthday at a Castle in New York, where he developed a family-like relationship with team members. Peter recently passed away and was represented at the ceremony by his close friend, Thomas Lombardi.
   
• Ronald Cherry, Bellerose Manor, NY – “Spreading the Crave” – Ronald began a tradition of sharing sliders on his birthday at the age of five. Since then, he’s made a tradition of sharing the Crave with others. In college, Ronald and his mother graciously donated 100 sliders for his fraternity brothers to enjoy. While volunteering at a local veteran’s hospital, he facilitated the donation of 200 sliders to surprise patients. Legend has it, he’s still introducing White Castle to future Cravers to this day.
   
• Adam and Whitney Ross, Fort Worth, TX – “A White Castle Love Story” – Adam and Whitney have a White Castle love story like no other after saying “I do” during the first-ever White Castle Royal Wedding in Las Vegas. When the couple met, they had different slider backgrounds. Adam grew up near a Castle in New York while Whitney developed her White Castle love through the frozen sliders. Their White Castle wedding experience was complete with a rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony, reception and their favorite craveable menu items. To cap it off, they enjoyed a five-night honeymoon in Belgium and stayed in a real Castle, fit for a true Cravers Hall of Fame couple.

About White Castle^®
White Castle, America’s first fast-food hamburger chain based in Columbus, Ohio, has been making Bold Moves™ as a family-owned business for 98 years. The company was founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921, serving The Original Slider^®, made from 100 percent USDA inspected beef. Today White Castle owns and operates nearly 400 restaurants in 13 states. The pioneering original slider, Time Magazine’s most influential burger of all time, is served alongside a menu of creatively crafted sliders and other tasty food options. White Castle’s commitment to maintaining the highest quality products extends to the company owning and operating its own meat processing plants and bakeries as well as three frozen food processing plants. The retail division markets White Castle’s famous fare in grocery, club stores, convenience stores, vending operations and concessions across the United States and in a growing number of international locations, including military base exchanges around the world.
Cravers on-the-go can access sweet deals and place a pick-up order any time in the official White Castle app. Download the app today from the iTunes App Store or Google Play. For more information on White Castle visit whitecastle.com.

The 55th Chicago International Film Festival Announces Call For Entries

‌ ‌ ‌ THE 55TH CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES CALL FOR ENTRIES CHICAGO - The Chicago International Film Festival has announced entries are now being accepted for all programs of the Festival’s 55th edition taking place October 16-27, 2019. Filmmakers can now submit feature-length, documentary, and short films on the Festival’s website through FilmFreeway or Withoutabox. Competitive programs in the Festival include the International Feature Film Competition, which awarded the Gold Hugo for Best Film to Alice Rohrwacher’s Happy as Lazzaro in 2018, along with the International Documentary Competition, New Directors Competition, Short Film Competition, and more. The Festival continues to be an Academy Award-qualifying festival for the winners of the Best Live Action Short and Best Documentary Short competitions. Submission deadlines for the 55th Chicago International Film Festival for all films are: Early Deadline - April 8, 2019 Regular Deadline - June 17, 2019 Late Deadline - July 8, 2019 Full submission guidelines and eligibility requirements can be found at https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/submit/. Questions about submissions can be directed to entries@chicagofilmfestival.com. # # # Facebook: facebook.com/chicagofilmfestival/ Twitter: @ChiFilmFest Instagram: @ChiFilmFest Hashtag: #ChiFilmFest Download Document About Cinema/Chicago Cinema/Chicago, the presenting organization of the Chicago International Film Festival, is a year-round nonprofit arts and education organization dedicated to fostering better communication between people of diverse cultures through the art of film and the moving image. Cinema/Chicago's programs include the Chicago International Film Festival, Summer Screenings Program, CineYouth Festival, and year-round Education Program. Celebrating its 55th edition October 16-27, 2019, the Chicago International Film Festival is North America's longest-running competitive film festival. For more information, please visit www.chicagofilmfestival.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. ‌ ‌ ‌

Chicago International Film Festival | 212 W. Van Buren St, Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60607