Magazine | Artistry Magazine

Sunday Killer

Northeastern’s newest girl band, Sunday Killer, is already making a splash with their playground rock sound and vibrant stage presence. Their performance at AfterHours on Jan. 26 blew friends and peers away despite being only their second gig and first stage performance. On Feb. 22, Sunday Killer opened for MICHELLE, a New York-based, genre-melding band, giving them the opportunity to debut new songs and turn the entire audience into new fans. Sunday Killer is made up of third-years Emily Wagner, Cece Ng, Hillary Nana-Adji, Becca Miller, and Hannah Wodajo, who all came together at the end of 2021.

MFA's "Real Photo Postcards: Pictures from a Changing Nation”

It is no secret that a picture can speak a thousand words. In the case of “Real Photo Postcards: Pictures from a Changing Nation,” an exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), a large collection of photo postcards tell dynamic stories about early 20th century America.

MFA Tattoo Exhibit

The art of tattooing has a long, rich history that spans cultures and generations through ink and creativity. Some of the most popular tattoo motifs of today can be traced back to early 19th-century Edo Japan (1603–1867). This is the final period of “traditional Japan,” an era of internal peace, political stability, and economic growth under the Tokugawa shogunate (a military dictatorship).

Euphoria Review

Nearly 3 years of anticipation, curiosity, and eagerness to watch all our favorite characters back on our tv screens led up to the release of Season 2 of Euphoria. It was a long awaited season and fans were very excited to see what Sam Levinson, the creator of the show, had planned for the returning characters. Every twist and turn that this season brought kept audiences at the edge of their seats. However, the lack of attention that was brought to certain narratives this season was perplexing.

Phoebe Bridgers Brings Punisher to Boston

Six months into 2020—after what some thought would be the start of another “Roaring Twenties” but instead became the start of the lockdown era—Phoebe Bridgers released Punisher, her ethereal second studio album. The timing made perfect sense – having cleverly captured the pain of loneliness and depression in her debut album, Stranger in the Alps, Bridgers builds on these feelings in Punisher, speaking to an audience dealing with the complex string of emotions felt in isolation. Over a year later, with the world having since been through an economic recession, devastation from extreme weather, an excessively bitter presidential election, an exacerbated climate crisis, and an ongoing pandemic, Bridgers has finally been able to perform the entirety of Punisher on her aptly titled “Reunion Tour,” making a stop in Boston on September 26th

Banksy Exhibit Q&A

At the heart of Harvard Square is “The Art of Banksy” exhibit – an immersive display featuring over 100 pieces of Banksy’s work that he sold to private collectors. The exhibit, which began on Feb. 17 and will last until May 1, is produced by Global Touring Productions, or GRP, and will make its next stop in Denver.

Turning Red Review

Pixar films have taken us to new places throughout the studio’s 25 year history. We’ve seen the worlds of toys, fish, superheroes, and even the complexities of human emotions. With their latest effort, Pixar has delved into a dangerous world never before seen: the crushing awkward pain of puberty.

The Rise of the Nepotism Baby

Angelina Jolie, Kiera Knightley, Jennifer Aniston–what do these three have in common? Apart from being acclaimed actresses in Hollywood, they were born to parents in the film and TV industries. They qualify as “Nepotism Babies,” a term coined for children of famous or powerful people, especially in Hollywood.

MAAM Game Changers

MassArt Art Museum, or MAAM recently opened an exhibit titled “Game Changers” that highlights art in video games. The exhibit consists of a Virtual Reality (VR) demonstration, multiple screens showing videos from video games, interactive games, and text accompanying all the work.

Napoleon Jones-Henderson at the ICA

On Feb. 17, 2022, Napoleon Jones-Henderson made his debut at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston. He was one of the first members of AfriCOBRA (African Comune of Bad Relevant Artists), which was founded in 1968 and represented a collective of artists who aspired to bring about social change by introducing Black identity and aesthetics into an art world that was predominantly created and appreciated by a white gaze. He continues to shine light on the Black experience in the United States, as is seen by his work on influential Black figures in this exhibition.

The Batman Review

“Two years of nights have turned me into a nocturnal animal,” a murmuring Bruce Wayne narrates.
He’s not kidding. The film is shrouded in darkness as we follow Batman through his harrowing journey.

The Disappearance of Kaiydo

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make any noise? Likewise, if an artist explodes onto the hip hop scene very quickly and disappears before he can cement his fanbase, will anyone remember?

Student Showcase: Henry Abrams

Henry Abrams is a third-year art and design major at Northeastern University. Henry currently works as a photographer for The Avenue, Northeastern’s design and fashion magazine. Mainly specializing in graphic design, Henry incorporates a variety of art styles and techniques – drawing from surrealism and designing modern prints. In terms of creative pursuits, he hopes to expand and try his hand at a little bit of everything.

Student Showcase: Itai Rekem

Itai Rekem is a 20-year-old singer-songwriter from South Orange, NJ. His interest in music began from a very young age, and he never stopped pursuing his passion. During the pandemic, he took a year off from Northeastern to dive deeper into songwriting and producing. Throughout the year, he gathered a collection of songs that would ultimately become his debut EP, Postcard. The EP was released in September and is now available on all streaming platforms. Catch him and his band at one of their upcoming gigs in the Boston area! Instagram and TikTok: itairekem

Student Showcase: Cristina Rodero Sales

Cristina Rodero Sales is a fifth-year art and architecture student at Northeastern from Mexico City. She works with collages, murals, and 3D creations. Some of her experience includes working with Utile, a Boston based architecture firm, as well as companies in Spain and Mexico. Her work can be found on her website here.

Student Showcase: Ashley DiLorenzo

Ashley DiLorenzo is an actor, singer, and playwright in her first year at Northeastern. She is pursuing a B.S. in media and screen studies and theatre. She was most recently in the theatre department’s production of Love and Information and writes plays for the Northeastern student theatre group, Silver Masque. Born and raised in Queens, NY, DiLorenzo fell in love with performing from an early age, studying drama and musical theatre at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School. In 2021, she won the YouthPLAYS New Voices One-Act play competition for her play, Hopefully: An Ethnodrama, and her song, "Birdy-lingo," was recognized by the American Theatre Wing the same year, winning the Musical Theatre Songwriting Challenge.

"Love and Information"

Love and Information’s title is a cruel trick on the audience. The misnomer leads the audience to believe there will be some information present in the scenes, but that is not the case. The play is a series of puzzling, juxtaposed tableaus that begin in medias res, offering no contextual information to help the audience catch up when they are suddenly lifted from a scene about talking to God and dropped into a demonstration of the actors’ bird squawking skills. The actors affectionately nicknamed the show, “British and Confusing”. Despite their criticisms, the actors performed a confusing script well, emotionally portraying characters dealing with difficult topics like shameful secrets, hidden parents, and global climate catastrophes.

"Post [ ]:" A Post-COVID Art Gallery

We are living in a world of “posts”—post-COVID, post-childhood, post-midterm season. The last two years or so have brought forth change in amounts that are overwhelming; this was the inspiration for Spark’s latest art gallery, “Post [ ].” According to student leader Caroline Lidz, Spark Northeastern is “a student-led contemporary art collaborative that seeks to connect the Northeastern campus with the Boston arts community.” “Post [ ]” is an exhibition that features student-made artwork that highlights the different “posts” in life in an attempt to make them easier to swallow.

Vincent Van Gogh Immersive Experience

The Van Gogh Immersive experience at Boston’s Strand Theater is a must-see exhibit for anyone interested in art and/or the life and works of Vincent Van Gogh. The Van Gogh Immersive experience visits ten cities in the US and some cities in Europe and Asia. Van Gogh’s life, work, and tragic death are all explored in the exhibit in a variety of mediums from three dimensional replicas of his paintings to short biographical films. The $36 tickets allow you access to a wealth of information and rooms as well as the immersive projected room. For an extra five dollars, visitors can explore a virtual reality experience where they go on a ten-minute journey titled “A day in the life of the artist in Arlest.”

Exploring Music on Campus

Northeastern is home to a wide array of extremely talented student musicians. Anya Gupta, Kevin “Hope” Daliri, and Justin Vega are three artists on campus that are incredibly unique in everything they do, from their style of music to their target audience.

NUstage's "Into the Woods"

“Once upon a time”; that’s how a story always starts. Unlike any traditional story though, Into The Woods does not have a happy ending. On Nov. 19 and 20, NUStage took over Blackman auditorium and transformed it to a storybook setting. Directed by fifth-year and club member Ben Barber, this production not only weaved through narrative obstacles present in the musical, but also had to counter the new obstacles of putting on live theatre during the pandemic.

BLKS at Speakeasy Stage

Since the mid-2010s, we’ve seen a proliferation in media from diverse creators. Artists like Donald Glover and Issa Rae have created TV shows that center Blackness and the perspectives of our own experiences without attempting to explain it to white audiences. Spike Lee and Berry Jenkins have brought similar ideas to cinema for decades. This advancement, however, has been slow to come to the theatre scene. That is, until Aziza Barnes’ 2020 play, BLKS.

Ed Sheeran's Album =

British pop sensation Ed Sheeran returns with his eighth album =, a delightful blend of catchy choruses and intimate acoustic songwriting. Sheeran has won numerous awards including four Grammys, a People's Choice Award, MTV awards, a Brit Award, and more. Some of his biggest hits in the past have included “Perfect,” “Shape of You,” “Thinking Out Loud,” “The A Team,” and other chart-topping songs. After taking a hiatus from music in 2019 to spend time with his family, he has reemerged into the spotlight with his new album. Sheeran is a beloved artist because of his candid songwriting and virtuosity, and Equals reflects no different. It has already surpassed one billion streams on Spotify and is a must-listen album for anyone interested in pop music. Equals has currently gotten him 4 nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year, Best Choreography and Best Art Direction.

Squid Game

The hit Netflix series Squid Game seemed to become an instant sensation overnight. During the following week of the show’s debut, social media platforms were swarmed with memes, clips, and spoilers. I was able to keep the show's premise a mystery until I saw for myself what all the fuss was about. The few reviews I heard about the show primarily focused on its predictability. What I discovered was a rather complex and thought-provoking show. The series offsets predictability with striking plot twists and enhances the story through the development of character relationships.

Hadestown

A road to hell was paved in the Citizen Bank Opera House for two weeks only. From Nov. 2 to 14, you could take a trip down to Hadestown to hear the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. It’s a timeless tale and an everlasting tragedy that has been passed down from ancient Greece. This modern retelling is told with jaunty songs and epic ballads and, like all legends and tales, takes on a new form from those telling it.