Street Surfer (1986), by Robert Vickrey.Art: The technique of egg tempera painting, perhaps most memorably wielded by artists such as Giotto, was eclipsed by oil painting in the 15th century.
But egg tempera still draws creators, and the acknowledged modern master of this technique was the American artist Robert Vickrey, whose paintings of nuns, children, and long, dark shadows distinguished him as an artist whose aesthetic was appropriate for a time of societal unease. Vickrey died April 17 at age 84 in Naples, only nine days before a retrospective of his work was to open at the Boca Raton Museum of Art.
Robert Vickrey: The Magic of Realism opened Tuesday night, and will run until June 19. The exhibit contains about 40 paintings that show the breadth and innovation of Vickrey’s style, which has something of the stillness of Edward Hopper and Giorgio di Chirico. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. Tickets are $8, $6 for seniors, and $4 for students with valid ID. Call 392-2500 for more information.
Markus Rygaard and William Jøhnk Nielsen in In A Better World.Film: This year’s Oscar winner for best foreign-language film has taken a while to be distributed in the United States, but the wait has been worthwhile. It is In a Better World, directed by Susanne Bier, who made the original Danish version of Brothers and dabbled in the Hollywood pool with Things We Lost in the Fire. Her latest is a meditation on violence in various permutations, but centrally about a young boy who is new to a small Danish town, the misfit who befriends him and the bullies who goad them to exact revenge. Bier knows how to involve an audience and impart a little wisdom, even if it comes wrapped in melodrama. Opening locally today. – H. Erstein
Carolyn Defrin in The Sparrow.
Theater: The Arsht Center deserves credit for scouting, finding and bringing to South Florida a remarkable piece of stagecraft from The House Theatre of Chicago called The Sparrow. Directed with simplicity and imagination by Nathan Allen, it is a fable about a small town devastated by a tragedy 10 years earlier when a train crashed into school bus full of kids that mysteriously drove onto the tracks. Now, the one survivor (the wondrous Carolyn Defrin) returns to town to finish high school and, unfortunately, remind the townsfolk of their loss. The production, part dance piece, part metaphysical science fiction and entirely terrific, has been likened to Carrie crossed with Mean Girls and Wicked. At the Arsht’s Studio Theater through Sunday only. – H. Erstein
Eglise Gutierrez.Music: The Cuban-born soprano Eglise Gutierrez has been appearing in local opera productions for some time, and memorably so as Lucia in Florida Grand Opera’s production of Lucia di Lammermoor last season.
This weekend, she joins the Miami Symphony Orchestra for two concerts with the Master Chorale of South Florida featuring the music of Gabriel Fauré: His immortal Requiem (Op. 48) and the hauntingly beautiful Pavane (Op. 50). Gutierrez will sing a selection of arias for the concert, titled Death and Resurrection by conductor Eduardo Marturet.
The Master Chorale is making its last appearance with director Joshua Habermann, who is leaving to take over the chorus of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He’s done strong work with the chorale in his tenure, and this concert will be a good way to say farewell.
The program will be heard twice – at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Wertheim Center on the campus of Florida International University, and at 8 p.m. Sunday at Gusman Hall on the campus of the University of Miami in Coral Gables. Tickets for the concerts range from $30 to $60; call 305-275-5666 for more information.
Tim McGraw.Tim McGraw has one of the most enviable records of achievement in all of contemporary country music, with no less than 32 No. 1 singles in the course of his career.
He’s also branched out into other kinds of stage work, including an appearance this season as the host of Saturday Night Live, and film work in Country Strong (with Gwyneth Paltrow) and The Blind Side. But his music remains central, and this weekend, he and his Dancehall Doctors will be appearing with Luke Bryan and The Band Perry on McGraw’s Emotional Traffic tour.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. show at the Cruzan Amphitheatre range from $25-$85, and are available through LiveNation or Ticketmaster.
Jeff Beck.SunFest continues its remarkable lineup of performers this weekend with appearances tonight from Gregg Allman, from Toad the Wet Sprocket and Ziggy Marley on Saturday night, plus guitar legend Jeff Beck on Sunday night.
There are many other fine performers during the three remaining days of West Palm Beach’s biggest yearly blowout, and music fans who want to take in all of it will find themselves able to hear acts on the progressive scene, such as Circa Survive (5:30 tonight), MGMT (9:30 p.m. Saturday) and Sick Puppies (3 p.m. Sunday), and long-established bands such as Styx (9 p.m. Saturday) and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band (2:15 p.m. Sunday).
Passes for SunFest range from $34-$66; hours for the festival on Flagler Drive from Banyan Boulevard to Lakeview Drive run from 5 to 11 p.m. today, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. Call 800-786-3378 or visit www.sunfest.com.