Monday, January 30, 2017

GREEN ON SIN



Roger Federer Takes Home Australian Open Title In Five-Set Classic

Roger Federer Takes Home Australian Open Title In Five-Set Classic

Switzerland's Roger Federer serves against Spain's Rafael Nadal during the men's singles final on day 14 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 29, 2017.
Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images
Roger Federer won his 18th Grand Slam title and put some extra distance on the all-time list between himself and Rafael Nadal, the man he beat 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in a vintage Australian Open final on Sunday night.
It was the 35-year-old Federer's first major title since Wimbledon in 2012, his first in Australia since 2010, and it reversed the status quo against his nemesis, Nadal.
Both players were returning from extended layoffs — Federer for six months after Wimbledon with an injured left knee; Nadal for a couple of months with an injured left wrist — and were seeded 17th and ninth respectively.
"It's been a different last six months, I wasn't sure I was going to make it here but here I am — we made it," Federer said after accepting the trophy from Australian great Rod Laver, who lends his name to the main stadium at Melbourne Park.
"I would have been happy to lose too, to be honest. The comeback was perfect as it was. Tennis is a tough sport, there's no draws. If there was going to be one, I would have been happy to have it tonight and share it with Rafa, really."
Federer had lost six of the previous eight Grand Slam finals he'd played against Nadal, and had only previously beaten the left-handed Spaniard in 11 of their 34 matches.
Nadal remains equal second with Pete Sampras on the all-time list, with the last of Nadal's 14 majors coming at Roland Garros in 2014.
He missed his chance to be the first man in the Open era to win each of the four Grand Slams twice. Instead, Federer became the first man in the Open era to win three Grand Slam titles at least five times (Wimbledon 7 titles, U.S. Open 5, Australian Open 5 and French Open 1).
After four sets where the momentum swung alternately from one player to the next, the fifth had all the tension and drama that these two players are famous for.
Nadal went up an early break and it seemed as if the injury time-out Federer needed after the fourth set may have been an indicator of things to come.
But the Swiss star rallied, and broke back in a pivotal sixth game and took control in a period when he won 10 straight points.
Nadal saved three break points in the eighth game but lost momentum again when Federer finished off a 26-shot rally — the longest of the match — with a forehand winner down the line.
Consecutive forehand errors gave Federer the pivotal break for 5-3, but Nadal made him work for the very last point.
Serving for the match, Federer had to save two break points with an ace and a forehand winner.
At deuce, he was called for a double-fault but challenged the out call on his second serve. The call was overturned, and he got to play two.
Not long after, he fired an ace to get his second match point and hit a forehand crosscourt winner to finish off.
His celebrations were delayed, though, when Nadal challenged the call. Federer watched the replay on the tournament screen, and leaped for joy when it showed his last shot was in. His 100th match at the Australian Open ended with his fifth title at Melbourne Park.
"Congratulation to Roger ... Just amazing, the way he's playing after such a long time of him not being on the tour," Nadal said. "For sure, you have been working a lot to make that happen. So congratulations."
Nadal spent two months recovering from a left wrist injury before heading to Brisbane for a warmup tournament, breaking his usual routine. He reached the quarterfinals there, and had no expectations of reaching the final in Australia.
"I had some hard time not being able to compete in full condition. ... some injuries, well not new for me, but still tough when it happens," Nadal said. "I fight a lot these two weeks. Today, a great match, probably Roger deserved it a little bit more than me."
No two players had met more often in Grand Slam finals in the Open era, and Nadal had previously dominated. But they hadn't met in a major final since the 2011 French Open, won by Nadal.
Three months ago, they were both on breaks when Federer joined Nadal in Mallorca for the opening of the Spaniard's tennis academy and the pair joked about ever being able to contend for majors again.
Yet here they were, first Grand Slam tournament of the season, renewing the classic rivalry that saw them dominate tennis a decade ago.
The long-odds final — No. 9 against No. 17 — unfolded after six-time champion Novak Djokovic was shockingly upset by No. 117-ranked Denis Istomin in the second round and top-ranked Andy Murray, a five-time losing finalist in Australia, went out in the fourth round to left-handed serve-volleyer Mischa Zverev.
Federer beat Zverev in the quarterfinals and U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka in an all-Swiss semifinal to reach the championship match. The six years between his Australian titles set a record, too, longer than the five years that both Boris Becker and Andre Agassi had between championships in Melbourne.
It capped a remarkable weekend for 30-somethings — all four singles finalists were 30 or older — after Serena Williams beat her sister Venus Williams in the women's final to capture her Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam title.

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Turner Contemporary exhibits works by artists who expand the possibilities of embroidery, weaving, and sewing

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Turner Contemporary exhibits works by artists who expand the possibilities of embroidery, weaving, and sewing
Installation view of Phyllida Barlow, Untitled: Broken Shelf, 2015 at Entangled: Threads & Making, Turner Contemporary. Courtesy Turner Contemporary. Photo: Stephen White.
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MARGATE.- Turner Contemporary puts making and materiality centre stage. Entangled: Threads & Making is a major exhibition of sculpture, installation, tapestry, textiles and jewellery from the early 20th century to the present day. It features over 40 international female artists who expand the possibilities of embroidery, weaving, sewing and hand-made processes, often incorporating unexpected materials such as plants, clothing, hair and bird quills.

Entangled: Threads & Making is curated by writer and critic Karen Wright, with Turner Contemporary. Wright became fascinated by the various methodologies of making she witnessed during many artist studio visits as part of her regular ‘In the Studio’ column for The Independent newspaper. The idea for Entangled: Threads & Making evolved out of these visits, in particular one with renowned American artist Kiki Smith while she was working on her epic tapestry Sky, 2012.

Grounded in the work of 20th century pioneers of textiles, fashion and handcrafted practice, such as Anni Albers, Louise Bourgeois, Sonia Delaunay, Eva Hesse and Hannah Ryggen, the exhibition traces their impact on younger generations of artists who incorporate similar materials and processes into their work. Entangled: Threads & Making also brings together 10 new works, created especially for the show. Surveying over 100 artworks created between 1918 and 2016, the exhibition aims to reveal and celebrate the compulsion to make which lies at the heart of many of these artists’ diverse and varied practices.

20th century weavers Anni Albers and Hannah Ryggen, who elevated tapestry to the status of fine art, are being shown alongside contemporary artists who are constantly reinventing the medium. Ryggen’s monumental political tapestry 6 . oktober 1942 has never been exhibited in the UK before. Since its completion in 1943, it has been hugely influential on generations of textile-based artists working in Scandinavian countries, such as Norwegian Ann Cathrin November Høibo, who uses a loom to create abstract works, incorporating natural and synthetic materials found on her travels. November Høibo is one of a number of artists who have made new work for the exhibition at Turner Contemporary. German artist Christiane Löhr creates delicate sculptures made of seeds, tree blossoms and plant matter. For Entangled , Löhr created a new work made from a column of locally sourced horsehair which spans the height of the gallery.

Both Eva Hesse and Susan Hiller began their careers as painters but went on to make experimental, handmade sculptures in the 1960s and 70s using the language of minimal and conceptual art. Entangled: Threads & Making includes a series of Hesse’s fragile forms in cheesecloth from 1969 alongside Hiller’s Painting Blocks, 1974/75, consisting of recycled canvases cut up and sewn together to form sculptural blocks. Ursula von Rydinsgvard’s Thread Terror , specially commissioned for the exhibition, is a large sculpture in cedar, carved by the artist to suggest thick thread or reams of fabric. Sonia Gomes draws on the traditions of indigenous cultures in her native Brazil for her colourful, abstract sculptures made by binding different fabrics around wire, whilst Phyllida Barlow recycles bits of timber, plywood and other discarded or everyday materials to create her brightly painted assemblages such as Untitled: Broken Shelf (2015).

A costume for Fokine's ballet Cleopatre designed by Sonia Delauney in 1918 is shown in dialogue with the work of contemporary artists Aiko Tezuka, Arna Óttarsdóttir and Maria Papadimitriou, who work with clothing and textiles in various ways — the latter producing garments for or with others, as demonstrated by her collection of Roma coats included in the exhibition. Finally, a new interactive commission from Paola Anziché takes the form of a group of suspended tubes in raffia, wool, jute and other natural fibres, inviting viewers to walk through and within the sculptures, to physically get inside her chosen materials and providing an immersive exit from the show.

A new publication accompanies the exhibition, with essays and interviews by Ann Coxon, Stina Högkvist, Siri Hustvedt, Kathryn Lloyd, Rosa Martínez, Marit Paasche, Frances Morris and Karen Wright.

Available from Turner Contemporary’s shop.

Karen Wright, Curator says: “When we first set out to create Entangled: Threads & Making, over 3 years ago, I was initially overwhelmed by how many artists wanted to take part in the show. It gave the idea currency, at a time when little had been done in investigating this area both in terms of gender, but also in terms of materials. For me, the show is an opportunity to re- evaluate the political status of women in the market place as well as the way that they use materials and express their concerns.”

Sarah Martin, Head of Exhibitions at Turner Contemporary says: “Entangled: Threads & Making promises to be a rich show with a diverse range of artists. A number of new works have been made – and are still being made – for the exhibition and the positioning of these in dialogue with each other, and with 20th century pioneers will make for new and intriguing parallels. Whilst they all have ‘making’ in common, they explore it in entirely different ways.”




Installation view of Joana Vasconcelos, Slash, 2011 at Entangled: Threads & Making, Turner Contemporary. Courtesy Turner Contemporary. Photo: Stephen White.