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Jades and movies at the MFA; kung fu and more @ Green Street
BY RANDI HOPKINS
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The Museum of Fine Arts is widely — and rightly — renowned for its collection of Asian art, which it owes to the pioneering group of connoisseurs who began acquiring Chinese and Japanese objects for the MFA as early as 1870, long before other American institutions began to appreciate such art. An afternoon spent among these treasures is always a respite — whether from the heat, the cold, or the exigencies of everyday life. And as Boston swelters through a tropical summer, the MFA is offering a chance to cool off with "Chinese Jades from the Hartman Collection," which will be on view from August 26 through next summer. Jade has long been admired as a durable and luminous mineral, and from ancient times people have seen it as sacred, carving it into ritual objects that were believed to assist in communicating with the celestial world. This metaphysical spirit grows out of a culture that seeks to live in harmony with nature, placing as much importance on the metaphysical as on the physical. For "Chinese Jades," collectors Alan and Simone Hartman have lent more than 200 exquisite jade objects dating from the Neolithic period (the fourth through the third millennium BC) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), including pendants, vessels, animals, and scholar’s objects. The catalogue is written by Chinese art expert Robert Kleiner; his introduction amounts to a thumbnail history of China from the perspective of a jade aficionado. Remember too that the MFA’s "Heroic Grace: The Chinese Martial Arts Film" series (which Chris Fujiwara wrote about in the August 1 Phoenix) continues to the end of the month, showcasing a very different aspect of Chinese culture. This weekend you can see The Blood Brothers and Golden Swallow on Friday and Come Drink with Me and Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan on Saturday. For our reviews, see "Film." Or try kung fu vegetables: Wednesday nights are movie nights at the Gallery @ Green Street during August, and on August 20 and August 27 respectively, the JP gallery will show The Wizard of Oz "to the tune of Dark Side of the Moon" (that per Green Street director James Hull — a trippy twist on the emerald journey?) and Dr. Strangelove. Okay, you’ve seen them before, but not like this. Both nights will start out with locally produced short films including Jeff Warmouth’s hysterical "Kung Fu Kitchen," a live-action satire with an all-vegetable cast. It’s a nice way to unwind after peering at jades and other goodies at the MFA, and a great way for the Gallery @ Green Street to kick off its video and DVD lending library, your new source for borrowing some of the most unusual viewing material around. "Chinese Jades from the Hartman Collection" is at the Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, from August 26 through August 2004. "Heroic Grace: The Chinese Martial Arts Film" runs through August 31; call (617) 267-9300 or visit www.mfa.org. "Summer Movie Nights" at the Gallery @ Green Street, 141 Green Street in the Green Street MBTA Station on the Orange Line, Jamaica Plain, take place on August 20 and August 27 at 9 p.m.; call (617) 522-0000.
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