Arts Alive San Antonio

A virtual concert you should not miss this Sunday is Duo Baldo, presented by Musical Bridges Around the World.  Consisting of pianist Aldo Gentileschi and violinist Brad Repp, this duo is great fun to watch – and we mean “watch” as opposed to just “listen.” Though they are accomplished musicians, these guys are also comedians who include pranks, quips and daredevil bits while performing a repertoire going from “Brahms to Cage, passing through Ravel, Vivaldi and Gershwin,” according to a reviewer. With a sense of humor, they also inform us that Repp plays on a 1736 Testore violin while his partner “performs on whatever piano he can find.” May 3 at 7 p.m.; www.musicalbridges.org/watch

And Agarita Chamber Players continues to broadcast whole concerts from its past seasons. Right now, you can watch “Synergy: Music & Sculpture,” a concert originally performed on March 7 of this year, in conjunction with Danville Chadbourne’ exhibit at the Semmes Gallery on the campus of the University of the Incarnate Word. Go to www.agarita.org/media.

 And there’s a bonus. If you scroll down on that same page, you’ll find beautiful images of Danville Chadbourne’s work. Chadbourne is one of San Antonio’s and Texas’ most original sculptors and the photos cover everything from gallery views to individual pieces, with precision and in vivid colors. It’s like being there.

Major visual arts organizations such as Artpace and Blue Star Contemporary are trying hard to stay connected to the public and continue their missions.

Artpace, which is known as the sponsor of artist residencies which normally result in public exhibits of the work produced, has opted to show the exhibits online, together with brief video encounters with the artists involved: Carlos Castro Arias, Milagros de La Torre and Daniel Ramos. From what we could see online, Arias’ installation, “I Came to Set the World on Fire, and I Wish It Were Already Kindled -Luke 12:49” seems, indeed, to glow with the power of fire and, we suspect, is even more powerful to see in the gallery. In a video conversation with curator Monica Espinel, the Bogota-born artist explained that he had always been interested in religion and how it shapes culture and the way we think. While in Texas, he visited multiple churches, including places where tragic shootings occurred. In his work, he explores fire as both a tool of destruction and purification, he said.

Because the fire imagery is so powerful, the other two projects, at least as seen online, seem much more restrained and intellectual. De La Torre, who is New York-based, talked about research on human faces and facial recognition, and how we measure faces and features in order to draw various conclusions about people, such as a tendency toward criminality or susceptibility to mental illness. Her interest in faces, stems in part from her facial blindness, a condition that makes it almost impossible to remember faces. The “Intervals” part of her show deals with historical systems used in such practices. From the little we could see online, at least part of her exhibit consists of convex mirrors, displaying surface patterns that look like constellations. Such mirrors are, of course, commonly used for keeping track of people entering various facilities. She explained that she decided to use “constellations” because she was thinking of a human being as a universe in itself, with a face being like a constellation.

Ramos, whose exhibit is titled “The Land of Illustrious Men” talked about his work being born out of his personal memories and experiences. He indicated he hoped that “the project would connect us to our humanity.”

Let’s hope that we will get a chance to see these three shows in person when we all get a green light to resume normal life.

But Artpace has a lot of other stuff on its website, including fun things to do with children, like creating masks with flowers, grass and tree leaves. These are not the masks that we are supposed to wear as protective facial coverage, though. These are masks to wear over the upper part of the face, like at a masked or masquerade ball. www.artpace.org

We also heard from the folks at the San Antonio Museum of Art who are looking forward to welcoming visitors again, hopefully in the near future. In the meantime, they are inviting you to take advantage of their digital resources at https://www.samuseum.org/samaanywhere

By all means, take a look! The current exhibit “Texas Women: A New History of Abstract Art” is enlightening, educational and visually diverse, especially when the curators, Suzanne Weaver and Lana Meador, take you on a tour.

As you probably already know, all arts organizations are in need of support more than ever, so, if you can afford it, consider making a donation to the nonprofit whose work you value.

One San Antonio theater has come up with a cute idea to help you help them. The Woodlawn Theater has partnered with Ace Screen Graphics to create T-shirts with a message. On the front, there’s a design containing the message “Support Arts in SA,” while the Woodlawn logo is discreetly printed on the back. To order, contact Ace Screen Graphics at 210-509-8375, print@acescreen.com

And here is a find for dancers: One of the best ballerinas in the country, New York City Ballet’s Tiler Peck, is hosting a weekly series of dance classes on her Instagram. “I want everyone to stay connected through movement,” she is quoted as saying to her hometown newspaper. “If I can give everyone an hour of normalcy where they can focus on technique and dance and bring positivity to people, I am happy to do that.” Apparently, thousands of people have joined her, as have some celebrity guests. Monday-Saturday at 10 a.m., www.instagram.com/tilerpeck/?hl=en