Rarely seen artist Gino De Dominicis in NY

Up next at P. S. 1: Gino De Dominicis

On view October 19, 2008 - February 9, 2009

The contemporary art space P. S. 1 in Long Island City will be the first American museumt to mount an exhibition of Gino De Dominicis, the Italian artist b. 1947 in Ancona, and d. at the age of 51 in Rome. The show will will focus on his paintings made from the 1980s until his death in 1998. An Italian artist whose life was shrouded himself in mystery, he was an idiosyncratic figure whose work cannot be categorized as part of an artistic trend or movement. Even the news of his death was suspect; for years earlier he had reported his own demise in a fictionalized autobiography. De Dominicis rarely exhibited in North America. This will be a rare opportunity to view his art first-hand.

This exhibition is organized by P.S.1's soon-to-retire Director, Alanna Heiss, with assistance from Curatorial Advisor Andrea Bellini, and Fondazione Merz Curator Laura Cherubini.

P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
22-25 Jackson Ave at the intersection of 46th Ave
Long Island City, NY 11101
(718) 784-2084
Hours: 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Thursday through Monday, closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day.

Admission is a $5.00 suggested donation for Adults, 17 and older; $2.00 for students and senior citizens; free for MoMA members and MoMA admission ticket holders. benefits.

Italian film at the Brklyn International Film Festival

Here is a great opportunity to see the latest in Italian film at some interesting venues: The Brooklyn International Film Festival takes place from May 30 to June 8 at several sites - Brooklyn Lyceum, Park Slope; Brooklyn Heights Cinema; Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza; East Coast Aliens, Greenpoint; and Lumenhouse, Bushwick. Specializing in work by young filmmakers from throughout the world, the festival will include feature films, documentaries, short subjects, animation, and experimental work.

A few Italian films are part of the roster:
- Suddenly Last Winter, 2008, a feature directed by Gustav Hofer of the South Tyrol region (www.suddenlylastwinter.com)

- Apollo 54, 2007, a feature by Giordano Giulivi (www.apollo54.com)

- ABC Columbia, 2007 a joint Italian/French/UK/US/Finland documentary by Enrica Colusso, originally from Rome

Most tickets are $10; the festival offers ticket pass and packet options on their website. Schedules and locales, as well as info on every film, is available at www.wbff.org.



-

Brooklyn Bridge turns 125 - Buy some gum!

This Memorial Day Weekend, New York is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge. Congratulations, Bridge!

Our contribution to the big celebration is to let everyone know that the iconic Brooklyn Chewing Gum (ubiquitous in the tabacchi of Italy) can be purchased in Brooklyn, and at a great shop - Stinky Bklyn. This wonderful cheese store on Smith Street not only carries the gum for $1.50 a pack, but an impressive variety of Italian cheeses (brescianelle stagionata anyone?). You'll find both the common and rare at Stinky Bklyn, as well as a lot of advice on cheeses and wines to drink them with.

Check out Stinky Bklyn:
261 Smith Street @ DeGraw
www.stinkybklyn.com

Play Bocce in Brooklyn!

Interested in learning how to play bocce ball? Try Floyd New York, a new-ish bar on Atlantic Avenue. This neighborhood spot on the edge Brooklyn Heights is decorated with old portraits, has worn furniture, and a decent jukebox (plenty of indie rock). Not much of a menu, but there's cheap beer and bourbon. Also, you can bring your own food in case you want to spend an afternoon celebrating a birthday have a get together work friends.

So OK, not very Italian, but there aren't many other places in town where you can play bocce on an indoor clay court. Bocce is one of the oldest games on earth. Similar to lawn bowling or shuffleboard, it is played on a long court and can be played with 2 or 3 teams. Floyd, NY has a 40-ft. indoor court made of packed red clay and they host the city's only year-round bocce tournament along with Union Hall. Go to http://floydny.com/index.htm for their tournament schedule and more information.

Directions: Floyd, NY is 131 Atlantic Avenue between Henry and Clinton Streets, on the border of Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Garden. F, G Trains: Get off at Bergen Street and walk to Atlantic Avenue. Make a left and walk several blocks. 2, 3, 4, 5 Trains: Get off at Borough Hall. Walk down Court Street, make a right on Atlantic Avenue and walk 2 blocks. R Train: Get off at Court Street. Walk down Court Street, make a right on Atlantic Avenue and walk 2 blocks.

Pope took reminder of Brooklyn back to Rome

When Pope Benedict XVI left JFK Airport on April 20 on “Shepherd One,” he took with him a replica of the stained glass window of the Immaculate Conception that adorns St. James Cathedral Basilica in Brooklyn. Created by the Franz Meyer Company of Munich, the window was placed in the downtown Brooklyn church in 1904 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation by Pope Pius IX of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Pope Benedict accepted the glass replica, as well as a bouquet of white and yellow flowers, from four elementary school-age children who presented the gifts at the conclusion of the departure ceremony that took in an airport hangar. Vice President Cheney joined the Pope at the closing ceremony, along with 4,000 others. The Pope delivered brief remarks after the Fort Hamilton Army Band played the Vatican and National Anthems. A program of sacred music and recitation of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary in various languages also took place. Charles Mallia, director of music for the Diocese, led a series of performances by the Diocesan Vicariate Choir, the Diocesan High School Choir and the Diocesan Youth Choir. The St. Francis Prep String Ensemble and the St. James Cathedral Brass also performed. Thanks for visiting, Pope Benedict!

Best of Youth: New Italian Cinema at the BAM Rose Theater

A survey of great recent Italian cinema will be presented at the Bam Rose Theater from April 16—20. Italian cinema has experienced an explosion of young talent over the last ten years and these films, all by up-and-coming Italian filmmakers, affirm this creative resurgence. Curated by Fabio Ferzetti in collaboration with Filmitalia and the Italian Cultural Institute New York. All films in Italian with English subtitles.

Here's the line up:

Salty Air (L’Aria salata) (2006) 87min Wed, Apr 16 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm. Buy TicketsDirected by Alessandro Angelini. With Giorgio Pasotti, Giorgio Colangelia. Swift-paced, intensely shot, and superbly acted, this visceral film follows a prison counselor and his new case—counseling his estranged father, who is imprisoned for murder. “Proving again that emotionally riveting movies are made of imagination and not a bulging pocketbook, Alessandro Angelini’s small powerhouse Salty Air may qualify as the Italian debut of the year.”—Variety

Private (2004) 90min Thu, Apr 17 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm› Buy TicketsDirected by Saverio Costanzo. With Mohammed Bakri, Lior Miller. This gripping film, winner of the David di Donatello Award for best new director, observes a group of Israeli soldiers and a Palestinian family dealing with Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Raw camerawork and knockout performances give this “superior, suspenseful drama” (Time Out) a jarring immediacy."…distills the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a nightmarish microcosm.”—The New York Times

Three Step Dancing (Ballo a tre passi) (2003) 107min Fri, Apr 18 at 2, 6:50pm. Buy Tickets Directed by Salvatore Mereu. With Yaël Abecassis, Domenica Arba. Four vignettes in contemporary Sardinia: a group of pre-teens voyage to the sea for the first time; a reckless pilot engages a naive shepherd in a lustful afternoon; a nun leaves her convent to attend her sister’s wedding; and a feeble old man prepares dinner for a prostitute. This film has “the pace and patient, nonjudgmental gaze of a Taviani Brothers epic...” (The New York Times)

The Spectator (La Spettatrice) (2004) 100min Fri, Apr 18 at 4:30, 9:15pm. Buy Tickets Directed by Paolo Franchi. With Barbora Bobulova, Andrea Renzi. First-time director Franchi’s tale of urban alienation is worthy of Antonioni. A translator spends nights at the window watching the opposite apartment. Her obsession with this neighbor intensifies until they meet and he becomes obsessed in turn.

Sailing Home (Tornando a casa) (2001) 88min Sat, Apr 19 at 2, 6:50pm› Buy TicketsDirected by Vincenzo Marra. With Aniello Scotto D’Anutono, Salvatore Iaccarino, Giovanni Iaccarino. This “brooding, naturalistic tale” (Time Out) follows fishermen who illegally fish the waters of North Africa, risking their lives and their reputations. This throwback to neorealism boasts beautiful cinematography and well-orchestrated tension.“[T]here’s real tension on and off board and a correctively sympathetic perspective on immigration.”—Time Out London

Maximum Velocity (Velocità massima) (2002) 111min Sat, Apr 19 at 4:30, 9:15pm. Buy TicketsDirected by Daniele Vicari. With Valerio Mastandrea, Cristiano MorroniVicari, winner of the 2003 David di Donatello award for best new director, frames a coming-of-age story within the world of illegal drag racing. Claudio, a boy with a knack for cars, becomes apprentice to local mechanic Stefano who gives him shelter and friendship, but soon betrays his trust.

La Capagira (2000) 71min Sun, Apr 20 at 2, 6:50pm. Buy TicketsDirected by Alessandro PivaWith Dino Abbrescia, Gianna Giannotti, Mino Barbarese. Two small-time crooks zoom through Bari on a vespa in search of a misplaced drug shipment in this madcap comedy. Sharp direction and a side-splitting script earned Alessandro Piva the 2000 David di Donatello Award for best new director.“ A portrait of the various classes of criminal of the Italian heel town of Bari, this bears traces of sub-Jarmusch comedy, as two petty drug mules hang out waiting, not for Godot, but a crack delivery from the Balkans.”—Time Out London

One Man Up (L’uomo in più) (2001) 100min Sun, Apr 20 at 4:30, 9:15pm› Buy TicketsDirected by Paolo Sorrentino. With Toni Servillo, Andrea Renzi. Two men—a honey-voiced crooner whose relationship with a minor ruins his career and a successful footballer whose life deteriorates when he suffers an unexpected injury—lead parallel lives in this compelling drama.

Info:

Telephone: 718.636.4100

Tickets: Click the "Buy Tickets" link on individual films to purchase online.
General Admission: $11.Buy online, by phone at 718.777.FILM (theater ID #545), or at BAM Rose box office.
BAM Cinema Club Members: $7
Seniors, Students & Children: $7.50**Discounts available at BAM Rose box office only. Students: 25 & under w/ valid ID, Mon—Thu, except holidays.

A purveyor of Tuscan Ricotta in Williamsburg

The folks behind Lunetta, a Tuscan restaurant in Boerum Hill, have launched Salvatore Bklyn Ricotta. Betsy Devine, a sous chef at the the restaurant, along with Rachel Mark, studied ricotta making in Tuscany from a cheese maker in the tower-filled town of San Gimignano.

Devine and Mark make their ricotta using local cow's milk mixed with whey (the Tuscan version uses only whey). The milk is heated, curdled, mixed with lemon juice, then drained. The result is a light and creamy cheese, different (and certainly more delectable!) than what you'll find at your local grocers. Try it with some good quality honey and you'll imagine you are in Tuscany. Also try a dollop over some pasta pomodoro or on bruschetta.

You'll find Salvatore Bklyn Ricotta for sale at Blue Apron in Park Slope, Stinky Bklyn on Smith St. in Carroll Gardens, and Marlow & Sons in Williamsburg. Starting in April, it will be sold at Brooklyn Flea, the large outdoor market in Fort Greene (Sundays through early fall starting April 6, at Lafayette and Vanderbilt Avenue. It's also on the menu at Lunetta, 116 Smith Street, between Smith and Dean in Boerum Hill.

Now mangia!