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Gwyneth Paltrow's ‘immersive retreat' blasted online: ‘Quite unimpressive'

Gwyneth Paltrow's ‘immersive retreat' blasted online: ‘Quite unimpressive'

New York Post07-06-2025

Gwyneth Patlrow's 'holistic, immersive retreat' in the Meatpacking District has some visitors stressed out.
The Hollywood star's free 'seasonal installation' at Genesis House, which also houses a Korean restaurant, is called 'The Forest Within' and is supposed to be 'a restorative and multi-sensory wellness experience.'
3 Gwyneth Paltrow's immersive installation at Genesis House first opened last month.
Neil Rasmus / Shutterstock
But some of the Goop queen's fans said they waited too long for a lackluster experience that was far too short.
The experience 'guides guests through an immersive journey centered around Korean heritage, nature, and design,' according to a news release.
'Drawing inspiration from the cultural significance of nature, Paltrow's fantasy transforms Genesis House into a meditative forest that is rich with natural elements and layered with symbolic representations of Korean wildlife — most notably the Tiger, long regarded as a guardian spirit in Korea.'
But the 'experience' 'took 5 minutes to walk through,' said one person who griped that there was 'no place to sit and admire the mediocre projections.
3 The installation runs through June 29.
Neil Rasmus/Shutterstock
3 'Umimpressive' was just one of the words visitors used to describe Paltrow's work.
Genesis Motor America
'Not something to go out of your way for,' the online critic added.
'Beautiful but literally 2 minutes long,' another commented.
Others bemoaned the excessive wait times for what was an all too brief experience.
'This was quite unimpressive after a 40-minute wait,' one person wrote online.
Reps for Paltrow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The installation is open until June 29.

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Korean American artist reflects on her parents' immigrant experience in Tustin gallery exhibit
Korean American artist reflects on her parents' immigrant experience in Tustin gallery exhibit

Los Angeles Times

time4 hours ago

  • Los Angeles Times

Korean American artist reflects on her parents' immigrant experience in Tustin gallery exhibit

When Korean American artist Wendy Park was growing up in Southern California in the 1980s and '90s, the Compton Fashion Center swap meet was her playground. 'I grew up with immigrant parents from Korea and we worked in the swap meets all over L.A. We did Norwalk, Palmdale, Paramount and Compton was a place that I remember vividly,' said Park. 'I remember it being such a beautiful, colorful place.' Park's early life at the swap meet and her parents' immigrant experience are at the center of her third solo exhibition at Various Small Fires OC gallery in Tustin. Titled 'Of Our Own,' Park's paintings explore artifacts and rituals of daily life as an immigrant and the objects that can connect a current home to one left behind. In the exhibition, the large doubled paneled work, ''90s Compton Swap Meet' captures an uncharacteristically quiet moment at the swap meet, void of both customers and vendors. A carousel of sunglasses for sale with hand mirrors tied to the display sits along side a jungle of plants, some hanging and others potted in plastic pink swans. A broom, trash bag and metal hand truck lean against the brick wall, evidence of the work being done, next to a stall that sells baby strollers and battery-operated toy puppies that bark and flip. 'My mom was telling me how this really was a place of community,' said Park. 'It used to be a Sears building and a Korean man bought it and made all these little stalls and inside there were more kiosks and stalls. It was a place where Korean immigrants who don't have access to starting a business could come and work.' Swap meets themselves tend to be place of community for immigrant populations. They are places where they hear their own language spoken and purchase products and ingredients specific to their needs. 'This is painted from a woman's perspective of that era,' Park said of the work. 'It was a place of opportunity for Korean immigrants.' The subject matter is an incredibly timely one, given the countless raids made by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement across the nation in recent weeks with immigrant marketplaces and hubs like Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet, MacArthur Park and downtown Santa Ana targeted locally. 'Immigrants are the most hardworking people. They leave their families, they leave everything they know to come and start a new life. It is tragic that they finally get here, overcome their struggles and maybe live a good life and then get taken away,' Park said about the current climate. 'It is heartbreaking to see. It is an unfair situation and done poorly.' Park received a BFA from Otis College of Art & Design and spent 13 years in Disney animation. The bright colors that inform her work draw on that experience while also reflecting her point of view as a child, how colorful and alive the world seemed to her then. She references both American pop and Korean folk art in her work and makes newspaper kiosks, coin laundry carts and pots of Tiger Balm worthy of investigation. In 'Charms Cash' wads of dollar bills are tightly rubber-banded and stored in a can used to hold hard candy. 'It's really difficult for immigrants to trust the banking systems,' said Park. 'They are afraid of how much information they have to give or what might happen. My parents would hide money in the house or store it at the swap meet in candy containers like this.' Park's father sold plants at the swap meet and she got in the habit of hiding things in the plastic swan pots popular in the era, which are present in 'Go Swan' alongside an open can of beer and lit cigarette over a Korean board game. Some pieces are also historic documentation of sites that might otherwise be lost to fleeting memory. 'Western and 5th' depicts Korean market signage that no longer exists, but Park recalled visiting the center as child with her grandmother and aunts. The memory was unearthed with the help of an old photo of the 1992 L.A. riots. The concept for the '90's Compton Swap Meet' piece is an idea Park said she has carried in her mind for a while and its completion was made possible partly by oral history shared by her mother. When the two of them couldn't agree on the coloring of the building facade of the Compton swap meet, Park used a hip hop music video for reference. 'My mom members it as a brick-colored storefront but I was telling her I remember it like a rainbow,' said Park. 'I was watching a Tupac music video and it showed it with these colors in it.' Her memories helped Park piece together a more accurate representation of the place she and her family spent long days. Hours at the swap meet were so demanding in fact, that the family often couldn't get to church on Sundays. 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Park said now is the time immigrant families like need their community more than ever. 'The biggest thing is empathy; have an open heart and protect those who need it right now,' said Park. 'A lot of people are afraid to go out and get groceries, or do simple things.' Wendy Park's solo exhibition 'Of Our Own' is on view through July 19 at VSF OC, 119 N. Prospect Ave., Tustin. The gallery is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Why Anne Burrell took a break from hosting ‘Worst Cooks in America' before her death
Why Anne Burrell took a break from hosting ‘Worst Cooks in America' before her death

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Why Anne Burrell took a break from hosting ‘Worst Cooks in America' before her death

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Advertisement For Burrell, taking a leap into the theatrical world was a whole new experience. 8 Anne Burrell at the Food and Wine Festival. Scott Moore/Shutterstock 'I'm like, 'OK, I've never taken an acting class. I don't know, this is new to me.' I wonder if these delightful and super talented kids look at me and they're like, 'What's this old lady doing here?'' she said at the time. Burrell added she was 'just dipping my toe' into acting. Advertisement 'I feel very excited about it,' she gushed. 'I've got a few other things that I'm working on as well, which I'm not quite ready to share yet. Hopefully, exciting [are] things coming.' While on the podcast, the kitchen guru also got candid on tying the knot with Stuart Claxton in 2021 and becoming a step-mom to his son, Javier. The couple first met on the dating app Bumble in 2018. 8 Anne Burrell at a Grand Tasting. 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Squid Game Season 3: director promises a 'crazy, insane, nuts' finale
Squid Game Season 3: director promises a 'crazy, insane, nuts' finale

Yahoo

timea day ago

  • Yahoo

Squid Game Season 3: director promises a 'crazy, insane, nuts' finale

Director Hwang Dong-hyuk has said he wasn't sure he made the right choices while writing the finale of Squid Game. That's right: after billions of views, record-breaking audiences for Netflix and fuelling the Korean wave around the world, the show is finally coming to a close. 'I had to make a big decision at the end of the season, because it's a finale for the whole series,' he said during a virtual press conference for the show. 'That decision was so difficult to make. I was still thinking about whether it's good or not. But the audience and the viewers will see.' The cast and crew were speaking ahead of the launch of Squid Game Season 3, which launches on Netflix on June 27. A continuation of the second season – which saw main character Gi-hun (Lee Jung-Jae) rejoin the games in order to defeat them from the inside – it promises more iconic pink suits, more games and a looming showdown between Gi-Hun and the sinister Front Man. It may be the final instalment, but it's hard to imagine what an ending will look like for a show that delights in pulling the rug out from under its audience's feet. Fortunately, the cast have been dropping hints. During the press conference, they were asked to provide three words to illustrate the Squid Game finale. Hwang Dong-hyuk chose 'crazy, insane, nuts,' while Lee Jung-Jae chose 'Finale, forgiveness, harmony.' 'Director Hwang keeps saying it's a finale,' added Lee Byung-hun, who plays Front Man. 'But I when I first read it, I felt it could be a finale. At the same time it could be a new start.' The cast also talked about the emotional impact of saying goodbye – while at the same time, putting to bed rumours of another season after this one. 'From 2019 to 2025, it's been a long time,' Hwang said. 'It brought me a lot of memories, good memories. I never expected this level of success with Squid Game. I mean, how could I? 'Your show becomes a world phenomenon. It's crazy. But it's time to say goodbye, I thought. So, that's why I called it the finale. It's time to move on to my next project.' And it seems as though the cast agree. 'I believe that director Hwang came up with the most adequate, the most unpredictable, the most meaningful, and the most intriguing and entertaining ending possible,' Lee added. 'So, personally, I am very happy with the finale and you all are going to be able to see where it all ends soon, but I can guarantee you it's not going to be what you think.' Squid Game Season 3 airs on Netflix from June 27

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