Posted on: Friday, May 18, 2001

Critics' Choice

Advertiser Staff

Stage

"Grace and Glorie": A warm and wonderful character study of an old country woman dying of cancer and the transplanted New Yorker who volunteers as her hospice caretaker. Beautifully acted and neatly paced to allow room for both humor and discovery.

Art

• "Na Maka Hou: New Visions" (Honolulu Academy of Arts, through June 17, 532-8700) — This broad overview of work by contemporary Native Hawaiian artists is not to be missed. Included are works by artists who were instrumental in the Hawaiian renaissance that emerged in the 1970s and works by craftspeople who have uncovered the art-making practices of their ancestors. Conceptual pieces, particularly a powerful and moving installation by Kau'i Chun, bring the exhibition into the 21st century. In celebration of the opening of the Luce Pavilion, for now devoted to the art of Hawai'i, the academy is offering free admission Saturday and Sunday.

• "Tropical Energy: Recent Ceramic Sculptures and Drawings by Jun Kaneko" (Honolulu Academy of Arts, through July 22, 532-8700) — Grand ceramic sculptures are installed throughout the museum, several at the front entrance. A wall of ceramic tiles in the Graphic Arts Gallery is a masterpiece of color and pattern. Kaneko, born in Nagoya, Japan, has lived in the United States for 38 years and is among the foremost ceramic sculptors in the world.

• "Pupu o Ni'ihau: Ni'ihau Shell Leis" (Honolulu Academy of Arts, through Sept. 30, 532-8700) — Lei made from the delicate shells for which Ni'ihau is famous provide a glimpse into the cultural history of the privately owned island of Ni'ihau.

• "Drawing Is Another Kind of Language" (The Contemporary Museum, through June 10, 526-1322) — This exhibition, drawn from a private New York collection, presents a broad range of works on paper from the past half century, the earliest a Barnett Newman dating from 1946. The artists are mostly Americans and mostly minimalists or those who explore related trends. Most striking about the exhibition overall is the amount of freedom evident in what would seem a constraining aesthetic. Also noteworthy is the intermingling of art-world notables like Jasper Johns and Ellsworth Kelly with less well-known though no less interesting artists.

• "Bamboo in Japanese Culture" (East-West Center Gallery, through June 29, 944-7177) — Bamboo in all its guises is on display, including objects made of bamboo and those decorated with bamboo motifs. Some extraordinary textiles are exhibited, but it is the baskets that steal the show.