November 2004 Archive

Our friend the muralist

Our friend Ann Northrup has just completed her third mural in Philadelphia working with the senior citizens at Center in the Park, as well as students from Germantown and Lincoln high schools (image, the mural “Growing up in Germantown”). When Roberta and I stopped by while this was a work in progress, people were madly painting by number on huge sheets of parachute cloth that eventually got mounted on the wall. No way could I relate what I saw them painting to what might appear on the side of the church. But the end result was spectacular, taking on the ... More » »

From the fiction editor

Guilty as charged. In a previous post I somehow got the end date wrong for the “Spector Great (re) Masters” show. The show’s up through Dec. 10 not Dec. 3 as stated in the post.

Cafe art

Art that hangs on the walls in cafes and restaurants usually seems mismatched to the venue. Not so Matt Bollinger’s ink and graphite drawings at the Green Line Cafe in University City. Previously, the cafe had had work from other serious artists–some paintings and some photos. The paintings, although they were lovely pieces of work, were the wrong scale and the wrong affect for the tiny cafe. The photos just melted into the walls, failing to catch enough casual attention, perhaps because photos are so much a part of our everyday world. But Bollinger’s drawings seem to have just the ... More » »

Upcoming

I just got some mail that mentioned the ICA will be showing work by appropriation artist Richard Pettibone starting April 30, along with a group show, “Springtide,” that will include work from Louise Bourgeois, Troy Brauntuch, Patty Chang, Berline De Bruyckere, and Erick Swenson. It’s the second show that sets my heart ticking (image from Patty Chang video, “Contortionist”).

Who’s who in "Great"

When we stopped by Spector Gallery for its opening of “Great (re)Masters” Friday the place was filled with the artists and their buddies (see Roberta’s post on the show). Two Sarahs We saw Sarah McEneaney (top) standing in front of gallery owner Shelley Spector’s own NFS tribute to the late Rebecca Westcott. The work was based on “Coral #1 and 2.” McEneaney was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s “Rain” to paint her own garden in a downpour. We also saw Sarah Roche (right), who contributed a full-size copy of Gustave Corbet’s “The Wave,” 18″ x 22″. She also contributed a ... More » »

No turkeys here

I ran around last week and saw bunches of things. While I’m reviewing much of it for PW (see Dec. 1 paper) I’ll give you a little preview here. Lapelle in Pawprint First off, I stopped in to see artblog pal and contributor, Rodger Lapelle whose Lapelle Gallery is one of the longest running venues in the city. Lapelle, (right, in front of a painting by Romi Sloboda) is also an artist whose work is shown around town. His gallery consistently exhibits work I can get excited about. Among the figurative painters in his stable is the edgy, my family ... More » »

Welcome to earth

Post by Francisco Cadavid Rah Crawford’s innovative works at Qbix contain a swirl of designs riddled across the faces and other body parts of individuals, which in turn have hidden words and symbols which are key to deciphering the meaning of the paintings. Crawford deals with very human issues, ranging from sin, to race, to narcissism, capturing what makes us truly human. As a result, the title of the exhibition, “Welcome to Earth; Act 01: Human,” is not surprising. Crawford’s vivid use of color accents his inventive method of hiding the meaning of the work in the relationship between the ... More » »

Running on empty

I finally made it over to Janet Biggs’ video installations at Moore College, but it served as a reminder that I’d been running around in circles and not getting too far. Take that poor horse — duplicated on two enormous screens — running on a treadmill. So much effort and no scenery as a reward. It rather reminds me of “The Mile,” a Burt Barr video I saw recently in Chelsea, with a runner who runs and runs and runs in scenery that is undifferentiated (see post here). And behind the horse on a third screen, a group of water ... More » »

Paul’s last day and Ben’s ongoing

Joy Feasley wrote to remind us that today is the last day to see her partner, Paul Swenbeck‘s witchy, Night on Bald Mountain installation, “Specter of the Brocken” at PAFA‘s Morris Gallery. Next up in the Morris, opening Dec. 11, is an exhibit of work by Quentin Morris, known for his black-themed works. What would Ben do? That’s not the exact question posed by the nice Kip Deeds-organized Ben Franklin theme exhibit at the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, NJ, but the group show has local and non-local artists ruminating on all things Franklin, and the works are serious and some ... More » »

A correction for the record

[Note: Last summer I wrote about a show at Vox Populi featuring the Boston collective, Oni. Jennifer Schmidt, who was in the show, wrote us yesterday to correct a mis-attribution. Sorry Jennifer.--Roberta] Post from Jennifer Schmidt hi libby and roberta, i just stumbled upon a review that you wrote of the oni gallery (boston, ma) exhibition “a different world” at vox populi last summer. [See post] thank you for taking the time and insight to write about the show. from what i read, it seems that the show was not labeled or organized very well to convey which artists made ... More » »