Art Hounds: Plein air paintings, immersive dance and a West African–Celtic music fusion

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above.

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Everyday beauty, captured outdoors

Painter Adam Swanson of Cloquet recommends seeing the work of painter Matt Kania at Duluth Pottery, on view now through February. The exhibit “From There to Here” features Kania’s plein air paintings. There is an artist reception tonight from 5 to 7 p.m.

Swanson says Kania is a prolific artist who takes the time to notice — and paint — both landscapes and scenes of everyday life.

Dance meets science

Rachel Doran is co-director of Hothouse, a dance arts space in Northeast Minneapolis. She can’t wait to see Black Label Movement's show “Rules of Life,” which combines dance with findings from cancer research.

Performances are Jan. 16 and 17 — Friday at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. — at the Barbara Barker Center for Dance in Minneapolis. Please note: this 45-minute show seats audience members in pods for an immersive and up-close experience of the dance; no late-comers will be seated.

Rachel says: Black Label Movement, a local contemporary dance company helmed by Carl Flink. They are premiering a new work, “Rules of Life,” on Jan. 16-17, which has been in development for years, through Carl’s collaboration with cancer researchers David Odde and Paolo Provenzano.

BL’s work is physical-to-the-max, impressively so, pushing limits of what the dancing body can do, and what dancers can do together. I can’t wait to see this culmination of research and output come together on stage.

— Rachel Doran

A fusion of West African and Celtic music

Spoken word artist Ibrahima Kaba, known as IBé, of Robbinsdale loves the West African–Celtic blend of the musical group Canadh Croí, which means “singing of the heart” in Irish Gaelic and is pronounced “Conna Cree,” just like Conakry, the capital of Guinea (and hometown of drummers Fodé and Sana Bangoura).

The Twin Cities group combines West African rhythms with Irish and Scottish melodies. Their debut album is called “Badenya,” which is Mandinka for a family relationship that encompasses extended family. There is an album release concert Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Celtic Junction Art Center in St. Paul.

Ibrahima says: There is something nostalgic about the sound, how it both transport and transfixes. It both reminds me of the Guinean ceremonies and celebrations, and the feeling I get when I see pictures and videos of the Irish countryside.

I think a blending of music tradition gives a result that's truly more than the sum of its parts. When I listen to Canadh Croí, they don't only take me to Guinea and the Ireland I imagine, but also a place totally different, new and refreshing, a place that I believe is as American as the Statue of Liberty.

This is especially important to remember and celebrate in today's immigration climate, that one of the amazing and beautiful things about America is the opportunity it gives to bring together seemingly different cultures, to create something new, fresh and totally wonderful.

— Ibrahima Kaba (IBé)