Paradise Lounge exhibit celebrates
25 years of rock history
By Susie Davidson
CORRESPONDENT
25 rockinÕ years, two dozen artists,
more than 100 exhilarating images and countless memorable moments come together
in ÒVisions of Paradise,Ó a live concert photography exhibit now showing at the
Paradise Lounge, 969 Commonwealth Ave., through Oct. 22.
In conjunction with CambridgeÕs Out of
the Blue Gallery, the collection of historic and contemporary color and black
and white shots links the history of the club to its rock and roll raison
dÕetre. In a comprehensive look back, through artful archiving of live
pop culture in both onstage glory and behind-the-scenes candids, selected
regional photographers vividly portray a sociological melding of music and art.
The show features the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Screaming Trees, Sonic Youth, Peter Gabriel, Phish, Peter Wolf, U2, Mission of Burma, ÔTil Tuesday, AC/DC, Bauhaus, The Sheila Devine, Matthew Sweet, Joe Strummer and other rock acts.
Contributor Julie Kramer, who pilots the popular midday ÒLeftover
LunchÓ 80Õs retro show on WFNX (101.7 FM), attests that she Òcame out shootingÓ
at birth and never laid the lens to rest. Kramer, who holds a bachelorÕs degree
in fine arts in Photography/Visual Design from the University of Massachusetts
at Dartmouth, has shown her self-dubbed Òenvironmental portraiture of people,
places and spaces,Ó which includes series of pregnant women, restaurant diners,
and musicians, at area venues.
Although the North Shore native attended
Hebrew School, the future DJ was, oddly enough, too shy to have a bat mitzvah.
ÒI was too nervous to get up in front of people,Ó she recalled. ÒI just
couldnÕt do it.Ó But thereÕs hope; married 14 years, Kramer just had her first
child, and is considering participating in a combined bÕnai mitzvot when he comes
of age.
Kramer studied Jewish literature over her four years at SMU. ÒIÕm Jewish through and through,Ó she said. ÒI grew up celebrating holidays; we did the Sabbath, I belonged to BÕnai BÕrith groups and hung out at the JCC.Ó KramerÕs two sisters are similarly art and music-oriented; Lori, a poet, has co-written songs for AudreyÕs band the 360s. ÒMy whole family is musical,Ó she said. Her mother, active in Hadassah and ORT, was a schoolteacher and piano teacher; her father, a business consultant, was a director of the Brotherhood at Temple Isaiah in Lexington and helped produce its booklet on member Holocaust survivors. KramerÕs maternal grandfather, Harry Harris, came from Russia when he was 12; her fatherÕs parents emigrated from from Kiev at the ages of 8 and 12.
Cambridge-based Fenway Recordings
manager and Lexington native Mark Kates. who volunteered at WBCN at age 16 and
signed Beck, Elastica and other big names while working for the Big Time group
in Los Angeles, was bar mitzvah'd at Temple Isaiah under the tutelage of the
late Rabbi Cary Yales. Last year, he orchestrated the wildly successful,
internationally-staged reunion tour of the seminal Boston punk band Mission of
Burma.
Photographer, filmmaker and musician
Michael Galinsky, who released five albums with the 90Õs rock band Sleepyhead,
is known for his underground music documentaries and feature films; ÒScraps,Ó
his book of music photography, was published in 1999.
Melrose resident Paul Robicheau, whose
writing and photography have regularly appeared in national and local media,
has photographed concerts since 1978. His subjects have included Miles Davis,
Sun Ra, Pete Townshend, Phish, Nine Inch Nails, U2, Talking Heads and Stevie Ray
Vaughan.
Geoff Kula, a senior photographer at
Stuff at Night, studied print and photojournalism at Boston University and is a
freelance photographer and journalist. Gail Rush, a landscapes photographer and
Boston music archivist, studied at The Art Institute of Boston and the New
England School of Photography. Silkscreen artist Dave Tree, who fronted the
band Tree and currently fronts Drug War, studied photography at Framingham
State College and the Museum of Fine Art.
Other contributors include Kathy Chapman,
BC Kagen, Steven Tackeff, Liz Linder, Joshua Dalsimer, Eric Law, Wayne Viens,
Chilly Kurtz, Jay Hale, Lindsey Walker, Doug Slade, Brooke Imsach, Michael
Grecco, Eric Antoniou and Kelly Davidson.
The Paradise Lounge opened its gallery
in November of 2002. Showings have included the visual art of former Weezer
bassist Mikey Welsh, paintings and silk screens by Jack Moorefield and David
Vincent Conley, and work by Sandra Cohen, Asa Brebner and Wayne Viens.
Out of the Blue Gallery
(www.outoftheblueartgallery.com), located at 106 Prospect St. in Central
Square, Cambridge, curates shows at their gallery and at many other area
spaces.
For more information, please contact
the The Paradise Lounge at 617-562-8814 or visit www.thedise.com. To contact photographers,
please call Ami Bennitt at 617-876-7363 or email ami.bennitt@verizon.net.
Hi Ami,
Can you hook me up with emails for
Peter Wolf, Julie Kramer (if Jewish, I believe she is), Galinsky and any others
in this who are Jewish so I can cover it for the Jewish Advocate (the JA has
30,000 subscribing area households plus newsstand sales)? I've done an article
on Mark Kates who is also Jewish before so have info on him. Thanks very much,
Susie Davidson
JA
Community News Co.
jkramer@fnxradio.com
Hi Julie,
I write for the Jewish Advocate and
the Tabs and was interested in doing a piece for the Advocate on this show,
perhaps focusing on three or so Jewish participants. I have material on Mark
Kates from covering the Burma reunion shows, and will try for a couple of
others like Wolf and Galinsky.
Do you have any Jewish background,
past or current (i.e. where you grew up, in what sort of Jewish home, were you
bat mitzvahed, did you have any Jewish activities then or any affiliations with
any Jewish organizations then or now, does Judaism influence your life at all?)
Thanks very much, I need perhaps 2-3
short paragraphs, and if there is a jpeg photo please have it sent to
editorial@thejewishadvocate.com with "For Susie's story on Julie
Kramer/Visions of Paradise Rock Concert Photography article" in the
subject line.
Thanks again,
Susie
PS Love the Leftover Lunch! My era!
MOTOR*MANAGEMENT!
Eleven Jay Street, Floor One,
Cambridge, MA 02139 617.876.7363 ami.bennitt@verizon.net
6 prominent characters who will lead
Visions of Paradise next month (jpgs available):
Some of her favorite rock images are
the last portrait taken of Roy Orbison before he died, Matthew Sweet, and Joe
Strummer.
Julie Kramer
4 Santry Road
Marblehead, MA 01945
<mkates@fenwayrecordings.com>
Galinsky. He spent the nineties
documenting the underground music world, and more recently has focused on
filmmaking. His book of music photography, Scraps, was published in 1999. He
has shown in New York and throughout Europe. Michael spent most of the 1990s in
the rock band Sleepyhead. They released 5 albums, many EPs and singles. Along
with partner Suki Hawley, he has made three feature films that deal with
underground culture: Half-Cocked (1995), Radiation (1999), and Horns and Halos
(2002).