Exuberant Works in a Metropolitan Museum of Art Hockney Retrospective

 

Hockney Retrospective
Image: metmuseum.org

A Cresskill, New Jersey, resident, Nanci Perle Kushner maintains a strong community presence through volunteer work at Englewood Hospital. Nanci Kushner also has a passion for cultural activities and enjoys trying out new restaurants and attending theatrical performances and museum exhibits.

Through February 25, 2018, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is presenting a major retrospective of David Hockney that is uniquely designed as a series of separately curated mini-exhibitions. At the center of the exhibition are large-scale depictions of the pool, garden, and wraparound terrace at Hockney’s home in Los Angeles.

Far from simple depictions of a painter’s life, they incorporate reverse and multiple perspectives in ways that carry on the legacies of Cubism, Fauvism, and Post-Impressionism. The palette expands on one pioneered by Matisse in a way that is vibrantly Hockney’s own and combines expansive colors with “fastidious details.”

As the New York Times puts it, the 80-year-old Hockney imbues his paintings with an exuberant visual sense that captures “forthright joy and forward motion” as he explores how life and art serve to feed each other.

Outdoor Light and Sphere Installation in Madison Square Park

 

Madison Square Park
Image: madisonsquarepark.com

New Jersey resident Nanci Perle Kushner is a fitness instructor and community volunteer who serves on multiple Englewood Hospital committees. Also an avid traveler, Nanci Kushner enjoys taking in movies and theatrical performances, as well as cultural and art exhibits at museums.

In late November, an outdoor installation by artist Erwin Redl opened to the public in Madison Square Park. Incorporating 900 transparent spheres, the work spans the central Oval Lawn and is 180 feet long, 110 feet wide, and 12 feet high The globes are suspended in the air through a steel pole grid and cabling system, with white LED lights embedded in each orb. This creates a “luminous white carpet” that features alternating north-to-south and south-to-north wave pattern sequences.

The digitally sequenced patterns are intended to serve as a source of illumination for the public during winter months. The kinetic movement and repetition techniques that Redl employs are inspired by the Southern California Light and Space movement and are intended by the artist to cause viewers to reassess their typical relationships with light.

Pilates Shown to Be Effective in Treating Lower Back Pain

Pilates
Image: prevention.com

The recipient of a master’s in education from Fordham University, Nanci Perle Kushner is a skilled Pilates instructor who most recently taught at her own studio in Cresskill, New Jersey. Nanci Kushner enjoyed working closely with clients through private, semiprivate, and duet classes to help them achieve their personal goals. Pilates has a wide range of benefits for people who practice it, including helping with lower back pain.

A recent study in Complementary Therapies in Medicine found that Pilates was effective at diminishing pain intensity, minimizing disability, and improving function among individuals with chronic lower back pain. The study, conducted at the University of Jaén, in Spain, involved 98 individuals with chronic lower back pain. The baseline pain level for these participants ranged from 3 to 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most excruciating.

During the study, 34 individuals participated in a Pilates mat class and 34 in a Pilates apparatus group, while 30 people served as a control. Those participating in Pilates classes attended two 50-minute sessions weekly for 12 weeks. Assessments were conducted at baseline, halfway through, and at the end. In the end, the control group saw very little change in pain level, whereas the two Pilates groups reported pain that was about three levels lower.