Clark Art: Living With Les Lalanne

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Saturday, Oct. 23, in conjunction with the special exhibition "Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne: Nature Transformed," the Clark Art Institute welcomes Edith Dicconson, Senior Director at Kasmin Gallery and designer Brian McCarthy, to share their personal experiences of their work with the artistic duo and of their long relationship with artist Claude Lalanne. 
 
Through private recollections, the two will explore the many ways in which collectors across the globe live with coveted works by Les Lalanne and will offer a glimpse into the world created by the pair in their home and studio in Ury, France. 
 
Kathleen Morris, the Clark’s Marx Director of Collections and Exhibitions and the curator of the exhibition will moderate the discussion. This event will be presented live in the Clark's auditorium and broadcast simultaneously on Zoom and Facebook Live at 2 pm.
 
A former partner of the design firm Parish-Hadley, award-winning designer Brian McCarthy founded his eponymous firm Brian J. McCarthy Inc. in 1992. Since then, he has worked on projects and residences around the globe. A graduate of New York City's Pratt Institute, McCarthy is a member of Architectural Digest's AD100 and Elle Decor's A-List and his work has been featured in many publications, including "Architectural Digest," on the cover of "Galerie magazine," "Elle Decor," "House Beautiful," "New York magazine" (100 Best), "The New York Times," and "Veranda," as well as in several books. He is also the author of "Luminous Interiors" and "Parish Hadley Tree of Life," which he co-authored with designer Bunny Williams. McCarthy was awarded The Albert Hadley Lifetime Achievement Award from The New York School of Interior Design in 2020.
 
Edith Dicconson is a Senior Director at New York’s Kasmin gallery, where she works closely with artists and estates including Les Lalanne, Walton Ford, Elliott Puckette, Robert Polidori, and Mattia Bonetti. Dicconson has overseen several major exhibitions of work by Les Lalanne in her tenure at Kasmin, including a 2019 survey spanning 50 years of work and a focused retrospective in 2020, collaborating with Brian J McCarthy. She came to Kasmin in 2013 after seven years as the Director of The Chinese Porcelain Company.
 
This event will be presented live in the Clark's auditorium and broadcast simultaneously on Zoom and Facebook Live. No registration is needed to attend the live event, but registration is required for the Zoom transmission. Log-in information will be sent to all Zoom registrants. For more information and to register, visit clarkart.edu/events. All guests are required to wear facemasks while inside the Clark’s facilities.
 
 

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Williamstown Board of Health Looks to Regulate Nitrous Oxide Sales

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Health last week agreed to look into drafting a local ordinance that would regulate the sale of nitrous oxide.
 
Resident Danielle Luchi raised the issue, telling the board she recently learned a local retailer was selling large containers of the compound, which has legitimate medical and culinary uses but also is used as a recreational drug.
 
The nitrous oxide (N2O) canisters are widely marketed as "whippets," a reference to the compound's use in creating whipped cream. Also called "laughing gas" for its medical use for pain relief and sedation, N2O is also used recreationally — and illegally — to achieve feelings of euphoria and relaxation, sometimes with tragic consequences.
 
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association earlier this year found that, "from 2010 to 2023, there was a total of 1,240 deaths attributable to nitrous oxide poisoning among people aged 15 to 74 years in the U.S."
 
"Nitrous oxide is a drug," Luchi told the board at its Tuesday morning meeting. "Kids are getting high from it. They're dying in their cars."
 
To combat the issue, the city of Northampton passed an ordinance that went into effect in June of this year.
 
"Under the new policy … the sale of [nitrous oxide] is prohibited in all retail establishments in Northampton, with the exception of licensed kitchen supply stores and medical supply stores," according to Northampton's website. "The regulation also limits sales to individuals 21 years of age and older and requires businesses to verify age using a valid government-issued photo ID."
 
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