Who is the Cocteau of our era? Every generation throws a hero up the pop charts, but two decades into the new millennium we haven’t yet spotted an artistic multitasker to equal Jean Cocteau, Orson Welles or Melvin Van Peebles.
That’s why the Lucien Clergue exhibit that Valerie Gladstone writes about in this issue of CityArts is both timely and haunting. These days, artists scatter to their specialized fields, fearing to cross over into others and face the fresh regard of new audiences. But Cocteau, Welles and Van Peebles—polymaths who could write, direct, draw, perform and provoke—leapt at opportunities to try out new strategies, discover new gifts and encounter new, different audiences.
Lucien Clergue, “Jean Cocteau on the set of Testament of Orpheus, Nice, 1959” (1959, printed 2001), gelatin silver print, edition of 30 signed, numbered, titled by the artist, 16 x 12 inches. Nov. 18–Jan. 28. Westwood Gallery NYC. @ 1959 Lucien Clergue, courtesy Westwood Gallery NYC.
Showing off was how these artists expanded the arts. Their multidisciplinary approach is what CityArts constantly looks for—especially by bringing the traditional arts into the same pages as the pop arts. This issue matches Jay Nordlinger’s assessment of Wagner’s Ring to Howard Mandel’s Baedeker on improvisatory jazz orchestras. Joel Lobenthal’s observation of Merce Cunningham’s dance legacy juxtaposes Kyle Abrahams’ new movements at The Kitchen, while Robert Battle (subject of The CityArts Interview) brings Alvin Ailey’s legacy into a new era.
As Cocteau understood, mixing keeps the arts and the artist from going stale. CityArts takes on the mission of keeping arts culture and those who care about it excited about different approaches to self-expression. A review of culture is always on the lookout for what’s new. If there is a new Cocteau on the horizon, that artist might have to be as interested in dance and theater as in fine arts and digital play. When the new Cocteau appears, CityArts promises to take notice.
The On Gaming column by Steve Haske premieres in recognition of new forms of image-making and storytelling. Why? Because, as Cocteau demonstrated, multidisciplinary is the art world’s article of faith.
About the cover: Lucien Clergue was only 25 when he photographed Cocteau on the set of his last film The Testament of Orpheus—a brave assertion of artistic ambition. The young devotee captured the old master in stylish profile with actor Yul Brynner as if posing a multileveled tribute: The King and I.
