1. ccent
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2008
SECTION
D
Matter of Laugh or Death Stage Struck
Bill Dunn is finished talking about “The Music Man” is a can’t-miss
his vacation — not. 2D with 5 stars at the Bushnell. 2D
COMMENTARY
Benedict: The
man who can?
WORTH
saving
‘Dirty,’ ‘Daisies’ among
the list of readers’ faves
ast week, I shared a list of
L which network TV shows
CARRIE
will be renewed next sea- FOGG-ART MUSEUM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
MACMILLAN Botticelli, ‘The Mystic Crucifixion,’ circa 1500.
son, and which will not.
t the dawn of the
A
I asked readers to tell me if “Pushing
16th century, the
Renaissance master
Daisies” and “Dirty Sexy Money” — both of which will TRACEY
Botticelli unveiled a
O’SHAUGHNESSY
painting known as “The Mystic
return — are worth my time. I’ve recorded the shows
Crucifixion.” It’s a creepily
evocative image of a slingshot-
thus far on my DVR but hadn’t bothered to watch
wielding angel screaming out
of the blackened heavens,
since I thought either or both might get canceled.
clutching a tiny lion, ready to toral attention.”
set Florence aflame. Well, Flo- Pastoral attention was the
Renee Watterworth of Waterbury tells me I
rence deserved it, but not near- central motif in the pope’s re-
ly as much as Rome, which was cent five-day visit to the U.S., a
“need” to watch “Dirty Sexy Money.”
then toxic with randy, grasping visit that many Catholics found
popes and riven with ecclesias- invigorating and others found
See MUST-SEE, Page 2D tic dissension. wanting. Today’s church may
The angel is said to represent not be as degenerate as that of
the notorious Girolamo the 16th century, whose tales of
Savonarola (1452-98), of “bon- simony, incest and lechery are
fire of the vanities” fame, a a grotesque stain in Catholic
rather sanctimonious Domini- history. But the clergy scandal
can intent on purifying the de- counts 13,000 victims, netted
bauched church. At the foot of 5,300 priests and cost the
the cross, the ever-repentant church $2 billion. Catholics
Mary Magdalene, representing may not need another
the Catholic Church, clutches Savonarola — ultimately
the cross, as the wolf of clerical hanged and burned in 1498 —
vice flees from under her robe. but it needs something. The
The painting hangs inside the question for the devout, and I
Fogg Art Museum at Harvard, count myself among them, is: Is
just a stone’s throw from the Benedict it?
epicenter of the priestly pe- It may be that the level of
dophilia crisis in Boston. I turpitude by these priests and
was queerly transfixed by the the emotional evisceration
painting, not least because I were too grave to salvage the
was looking at it only days after faith of the victims. As one of
Pope Benedict XVI had met the victims, Olan Horne, of
with victims of the abuse, Lowell, Mass., told the Boston
telling them that it was impor- Globe:
tant that “those who have
ABC/BOB D’AMICO
suffered be given loving pas- See CHURCH, Page 2D
Peter Krause stars as Nick George on ABC’s ‘Dirty Sexy Money.’
Fenn Gallery welcomes spring, 4th season, with a little ‘Fever’
like window screens, in her
BY TRACEY O’SHAUGHNESSY Fenn Gallery’s “Spring monotypes to create a grid-like
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Fever” runs through May 11 atmospheric.
at the gallery, 345 Main St.,
At its best, spring is a tender, The grid, too, is a frequent
South, Woodbury.
auspicious season, tinged with motif, used to convey atmos-
subtlety. phere or geography. White in-
Call (203) 263-3449
Fenn Gallery has assembled terrupts these textures with
for more information.
a trio of artists who display deli- bands of varicolored paper or
cate, ethereal attention to tex- sharp tendrils, suggestive of
ture, pattern and color. The color in nonrepresentational wind. Those overlapping of
work makes up in delicacy what format, White creates minimal- transparent layers create tex-
it lacks in bombast. ist landscapes of surprising ture and tension within her
These are tender, evocative tonalities and textures. A mono- minimalist landscapes.
pieces of textural intrigue and type is the printing of an image Conversely, Tom Stavovy’s
harmony. where a smooth plate is painted work is bolder, and more visu-
That’s particularly true in the with ink or paint and then ally bracing. His fields of citrus
monotypes of Zemma Mastin passed through the etching color, interrupted by variously
White, which open the show. process. White mixes it up a lit- COURTESY OF FENN GALLERY
Recognized for her bold use of tle by using textured objects, See EXHIBIT, Page 2D The works of (from left) Thomas Stavovy, Nancy McTague-Stock and Zemma Mastin White.