THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR FEB 17 - 23 

• Courtesy Photo

Van Gogh 360 @ The Leonardo
Technology has changed the world of visual art forever—not just in terms of the tools artists now have at their disposal to create new work, but in terms of the way people can experience art that has existed for centuries. Images of great works are now at our digital fingertips, true, but technology has also provided opportunities to get up close and personal with classic art in entirely new ways.

Following on the heels of its popular From Monet to Kandinsky exhibition, which launched the new IDEA virtual exhibition space, The Leonardo now presents Van Gogh 360, an immersive experience featuring more than 300 celebrated works by the legendary Vincent Van Gogh. While projected images of Van Gogh paintings are part of the exhibition, this is much more than a simple "slide show" of the greatest hits. Instead, it's a multi-media presentation that incorporates the words and ideas of the artist. "In this experience you are guided through the work by the artist himself as the show shares excerpts from letters he wrote to his brother Theo," says The Leonardo's executive director, Alexandra Hesse."Throughout the show, you will learn about Van Gogh's passions, inspirations, suffering, and ambitions to express his creative vision on canvas."

Van Gogh 360 is currently scheduled to run through Feb. 26 at The Leonardo (209 E. 500 South). Reservations are required for specific showtimes, with tickets $17 - $30 and including full museum admission along with the immersive presentation. Visit theleonardo.org for tickets and current health & safety protocols. (Scott Renshaw)

• Sergio Garcia Photography

Margaret Cho
It's the little things that can startle you about the passage of time—like the realization that Margaret Cho's professional career now stands at 30 years and counting. It seems like only yesterday that Cho was breaking out as a rare example of an Asian-American female stand-up comedian, with a distinct enough voice that she landed her own sitcom in 1994, All-American Girl. That experience, unfortunately, turned out to be more of a nightmare than a dream-come-true, as network interference and expectations for her physical appearance sabotaged both the show itself and Cho's health, leading to a spiral into substance abuse.

For some performers, that might have been the end. But for Cho, it provided the raw material—emphasis on "raw"—for her 1999 one-woman show (and subsequent best-selling book and concert film) I'm the One That I Want, chronicling the struggles related to her ethnicity and body image. She's barely slowed down in the two decades since, becoming a vocal activist for a variety of causes, launching a podcast and continuing to tour as a standup comic, including being named as one of the 50 Best Standup Comics by Rolling Stone in 2017. Her comedic voice remains distinctly her own, no matter how much she has changed and grown over the years.

Cho visits Salt Lake City for four performances at Wiseguys Gateway (194 S. 400 West), Feb. 18-19 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. nightly. Tickets are $35; face coverings are recommended for all audience members except while actively eating and drinking, but not required. Visit wiseguyscomedy.com for tickets and additional event information. (SR)

• Nikkita Nouveau

Craft Lake City Celebration of the Hand: Faces of Creativity
Early in the COVID pandemic, the cliché went that lockdown would be the opportunity for everyone to finally finish—or, more likely, begin—that creative project you've long been pondering. Things were more complicated than that, but that doesn't mean the time has passed for anyone still pondering how to get those creative juices flowing. By way of offering some possible inspiration, Craft Lake City is using it's Temporary Museum of Permanent Change public art spaces to showcase alumni from previous years' DIY Festivals.

Faces of Creativity brings together 14 local artists and previous DIY Fest vendors who were asked to create self-portraits representing their distinctive styles. Participating artists include Nikkita Nouveau (pictured), Megan Hindman (whose illustration represents her as a female knight in armor), Trishelle Jeffery (showing herself as a printmaking artist-at-work), Mojdeh Azani, Chris Haggqvist, Noelle Margetts, Elaine Lee, Beatrice Teigen, Maddie Morrill and more. Whether through photography, painting, digital art or illustration, these works showcase the challenge of presenting oneself to the world through one's art, and what you're telling the world about the creative side of yourself.

Faces of Creativity will be up in locations on 300 South between 200 East and 200 West, now through April; the exhibition is free and always open, and COVID-friendly in its open-air, view-when-you-wish environment. On Tuesday, Feb. 22 at noon, you can join a virtual "Lunch & Learn" discussion featuring many of the exhibition's participating artists. Visit craftlakecity.com to register for the virtual event, or for additional artist information. (SR)

• Netflix

Nate Bargatze
Comedians tend to break out from the pack by virtue of a "gimmick"—a unique vibe or on-stage persona that distinguishes them from their contemporaries. But it's hard to convey exactly what makes Nate Bargatze a stand-up star. Yes, he's from the American South, but he doesn't lean into the down-home Southerner thing. His material tends to be clean, but not in a way that screams appeal to the "clean comedy" set. And while many of his jokes tend to be focused around life with his wife and daughter, it's reductive to say his comedy is based in domesticity or being the "dumb dad."

Mostly, he's a storyteller, and one with such a natural delivery that the punch lines almost sneak up on you. The most memorable bits from his breakout Netflix half-hour special from 2017—about a strange encounter with at Starbucks, and a visit to a low-budget reptile house—became so beloved that he subsequently offered follow-ups in his 2019 special The Tennessee Kid. He even managed to turn COVID into humor in 2021's The Greatest Average American: "I can tell you one thing that's gone forever ... coughing in public. You drink water wrong in a restaurant? Just go walk in traffic."

Bargatze visits the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.) for four shows, Feb. 21-25. While the 7 p.m. Feb. 25 show is sold out at press time, tickets remain from $34.75 - $74.75 for other shows. Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test is currently required for all audience members. Visit live-at-the-eccles.com for tickets and health & safety requirements. (SR)