It’s the last week of the Perth International Arts Festival so mystylelocal.net has lined up the best in music, visual arts, theatre and dance for you to choose from.

Beck’s Music Box  

Tue 26 Feb, The Bad Plus - 8.30pm, Beck’s Music Box  

Breaking the rules of Jazz this tri perform a lively set of their own tunes as well as reworking classic tunes such as Tears for Fears’, David Bowie and even Chariots of Fire.

After a standing ovation for their show at Watershed Wines in Margaret River this is a night you will remember.

The Bad Plus

Wed 27 Feb, Feist - 8.30pm, Beck’s Music Box

Feist’s vocals have been compared to the soul of Dusty Springfield, Björk’s confrontational exploits to Joni Mitchell’s warmth. The result, a distinct sound that oozes sex, power, allure and charm with subtle electronica to indie-rock influences.

Feist 

Nouvelle Vague, 28 Feb SOLD OUT

Nouvelle Vague
Fri 29 Feb , Okkervil River - 8.30pm, Beck’s Music Box                  

Okkervil River is a band who skillfully performs an energetic set of sounds which mixes majestic, brooding and raucous indie rock.

Lou Reed has described the band as one of his favourites whilst ‘The New York Times’ says about front man Will Sheff ‘he writes like a novelist’. This six-piece which includes guitar, bass, keyboards, trumpet, mandolin and drums will perform heartfelt ballads from their new album.   

Okkervil River  

Sat 1 March , Soul Jazz Sound System - 8.30pm, Beck’s Music Box

Soul Jazz Sound System will perform a dynamic set dropping tracks that mix reggae, dub, funk, jungle, Latin, soul, dancehall and more. Guaranteed to get you dancing this Saturday.  

Soul Jazz Sound System

Sun 2 March, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings 8.30pm, Beck’s Music Box

‘Queen of soul’ Sharon Jones will take centre stage with the Dap-Kings in the final night of the Beck’s Music Box.

Performing an energised set of old-school soul and funk music that draws traditional rhythm and blues roots don’t miss this performance and celebrate what has been a fabulous season at the new home of eclectic solid sounds Beck’s Music Box.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

Other Music

Tues 26 Feb, Goldner String - 7.30pm Perth Concert Hall   

Goldner String Quartet and acclaimed Scottish pianist Steven Osborne will provide an evening of unforgettable string quartet’s including  two popular piano quintets: Schumann’s surging romantic masterpiece and Shostakovich’s neo-classical response to his first denunciation by the Stalinist regime.

Expect to also hear Australian composer Richard Mills’ first String Quartet and explores the sensual world of Debussy’s best-known Préludes.

Richard Mills String Quartet no 1 (revised 2007)
Dmitri Shostakovich Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57
Claude Debussy Préludes (Book 1), nos 6-10
Robert Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44

Goldner String Quartet and Steven Osborne

Thu 28 Feb, Fri 29 Feb, Cesaria Evora - 8pm , Perth Concert Hall

Theatre

The Turning Tue 26 Feb, Wed 27 Feb –Fri 29 Feb, Sat 1 Mar, Sat 1 Mar, Sun 2 Mar, Tue 4 Mar, Wed 5 Mar, Wed 5–Fri 7 Mar, Sat 8 Mar, Sat 8 Mar. Times vary so check www.perthfestival.com.au/theatre/theturning for more.

The Turning

The emotional and dark story of the Lang family explores their demons, distresses, opponents and obsessions based on the Tim Winton novel The Turning.

Spanning three generations from the 70s to the present we see the twists and turns of heartache, slow awakenings, nasty surprises and accidents, resolutions made or broken.

Bill McCluskey captures the core of Winton’s intricate characters, while celebrated director Steve Jodrell completes this story through a blend of film and live performance which is reverting.

The performance features Jai Courtney, Reg Cribb, Michelle Fornasier, Caroline McKenzie, Samantha Murray, Pia Prendiville, Nick Simpson-Deeks, Steve Turner, Alison van Reeken.

Writer Bill McCluskey, Director Steve Jodrell ,Associate Director Melissa Cantwell, Set and Costume Design Sam Hobbs, Lighting Design Joseph Mercurio, Music Iain Grandage, Sound Design Kingsley Reeve, Image Design Jon Green, Script editor Ken Kelso, Dramaturg Stephen Sewell, Production Manager Adam Parsonage, Stage Manager Anna Dymitr-Hawkes.

DANCE

Wed 27 Feb–Sat 1 Mar, Borrowed Light - 7.30pm, His Majesty’s Theatre

Borrowed Light

Borrowed Light is a physical contemporary piece inspired by the simplicity, passion and collective morals of the American Shaker religious movement.

Eight dancers swirl, stomp and leap to the live accompaniment of the world-renowned vocal ensemble The Boston Camerata. Experience the soaring voices and melodies from eight singers accompanied by percussion that have been rarely heard outside the Shaker communities.

The show combines the talents of multi-award-winning dancer-choreographer Tero Saarinen and a white light spectacular designer Mikki Kunttu. This is a not to miss experience.
 

Visual Art

Perth Festival’s Architects Project

The Perth Festival’s Architects Project is encouraging you to walk the streets of Perth and imaging what distinct structures could replace vacant lots in our CBD.

Conceptualize our city scapes being shaped by strong designs rather than common, quick fix sky scrapers.  Architects, architectural practices and artists have been invited to design vision statements for five empty lots in the CBD. The designs have been rendered and now being displayed as billboards on each site.

Architects Gresley Abas, Iredale Pedersen Hook, Jonathan Lake Architects and Simon Pendal Architect are distinctive, emerging voices in the world of architecture contributing to a unique Western Australian design aesthetic.

Artist Callum Morton, who represented Australia at the Venice Biennale in 2007, spans the gap between art and architecture playing with architectural forms and motifs in a dramatic and humorous way.

Visit the billboards then email your thoughts to the Perth Festival’s Architects Project, architectsproject@perthfestival.com.au
Billboard sites:
609 Wellington St, Perth
701 Wellington St (cnr Milligan St), Perth
Cnr of James St and Lake St, Northbridge
In front of St George’s Cathedral, 38 St Georges Terrace, Perth
M2000 Car Rental, 166 Adelaide Tce, East Perth

NOTE: OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS LOOK OUT FOR ART AS IT APPEARS IN THE MOST UNLIKELY PLACES IN OUR CITY! THROUGH A NEW PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE FESTIVAL AND WESFARMERS ARTS, THIS YEAR SEES THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF ART INSTALLATIONS THAT WILL ENLIVEN THE CBD DURING FESTIVAL TIME FROM 2008-2011

Art Gallery of Western Australia 

Rhinoceros,  Photography: Jenni Carter

West Australian born artist James Angus, who is now recognised both nationally and internationally for his sculptures, is currently showing at the Art Gallery of Western Australia until March 2nd.

Ordinary objects are transformed into finely crafted sculptures as Angus explores the original properties of sculpture using computer design.

Visual Artist 

Emily Wardill at Pica, until March 30.

Award-winning London-based artist Emily Wardill’s film references two case studies on the nature of hallucination and paranoia.

Shot in colour but appearing black and white, Ben is a precariously balanced psychoanalytic puzzle that eludes resolution.

 Skin to Skin - Fremantle Arts Centre, until March 30.

Image: Kirsten Hudson, FALTER

Skin to Skin is a new exhibition which highlights the relationship fashion and contemporary art have with influencing each other.

The show aims to give the viewer the chance to appreciate fashion beyond the aesthesis and function it holds to many people.

Experimenting with micro-organisms; architectural and sculptural influences plus a live male body performance are all highlights.

The exhibition is curated by Lia McKnight and features works by Georgina Cresswell, Elizabeth Delfs, Anne Farren, Angela Ferrolla, Donna Franklin and Gary Cass, Davina Homer, Kirsten Hudson, Justine McKnight, Minaxi May, Megan Salmon, Louise Snook and collective Poets of the Machine. 

The exhibition is now showing at the Fremantle Arts Centre .

Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, UWA - CREATING TASTE, until March 30.

Image: [detail] Charles Blackman, Facade, 1959, Oil on Canvas, The University of Western Australia Art Collection, the Joe and Rose Skinner bequest 1981 © The Artist’s Estate

Thanks to Rose and Joe Skinner’s passion for contemporary art from WA this significant collection, which they generously donated to The University of Western Australia can now be viewed. 

The collection dates from the 1950s through to the 1970s and features some of the best artists of the time, including Ian Fairweather, whose paintings of China in the mid-1930s use dynamic gestures to capture fleeting moments of everyday life, and an important series of Fred Williams paintings that go deep into the Australian bush. Paintings by Robert Juniper, George Haynes and Brian MacKay demonstrate Rose’s support for and interest in the Western Australian art scene.