March 2005 Archive

Visions of heaven and hell on earth

Two must sees at Gallery Joe–Annabel Daou’s “ideas about the thing and the thing itself” and Rob Matthews’ “The Assumption.” The Matthews work is in the vault and out front, the work from Daou (right, Rob Matthews saving himself from from evil). I already had some idea of what Rob Matthews would show. The clever guy sent along an invitation to his show wrapped in an envelope printed with biblical text, along with a CD of his drawings. I wondered if the CD was his way of suggesting that my fly-by-day photos left something to be desired. Or perhaps he ... More » »

Milwaukee in the art news..er forum

nauman, bruce Thanks to artforum news for a refer to a March 25 story by Mary Louise Schumaker in the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel about a curatorial appointment at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Joseph D. Ketner II. director of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, will be the MAM’s new chief curator. Ketner is a specialist in modern and contemporary art and according to the article, one of his first projects will be a show of interactive light works by Bruce Nauman. Nauman — and here’s some news — lived in Milwaukee as a boy. But his work has never been ... More » »

Building toward a new m-o

pollock, bruceMy piece today in the Weekly focuses on Mark Campbell‘s art. Read here. Campbell is one of the artists in “Building References” at Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery which I told you a little about here. It’s a great exhibit and worth chasing down in these last few days (it’s up to April 3, Saturday.) Here I’d like to say a little more about Bruce Pollock‘s small wood houses in “Building References.” The three tabletop works, which are surprising because they are so different than what I have seen previously by Pollock and thought of as “Pollock” work, are painted with many ... More » »

Text messaging

stafford, markArt in City Hall continues to surprise and frustrate. The current show, “Art Full Text,” which runs to June 24, has some delights and some work made utterly inaccessible by the glass cases (image, Mark Stafford’s “Antithesis: Document,” which uses “The quick brown fox…” typing exercize as a pattern to create a network of words).murken, kate On the surprise side, the star of the show is an installation that makes the most of the clumsy vitrines–an installation by Kate Murken, “A Journey Upwards and Downwards” (top) that takes you on a trip of poetic words created by yarn or ... More » »

American in Perpignon

bruegel, pieter elderPost from Kitty Thompson[Ed note: My friend, Kitty’s wending her way through France to Bologna for the Childrens Book Fair where she is an exhibitor and will participate in a special exhibition honoring book illustators, The Emperor's New Illustrations. Kitty brings her watercolors along with her on her travels and spends much time drawing and painting. She's made several artist's books based on these trips. Here are two email missives I got recently from her that resonate as from another time.]zoller, charles Greetings from Perpignon, March 29, 2005I spent the Easter holiday in Argeles sur Mer and celebrated ... More » »

New Phila story at artnet

matthews, robMy new Philadelphia Story is up at artnet. Read here. If you’re familiar with the Philadelphia scene from reading artblog and the Weekly you’ll see some familiar faces and work. Here’s something brand new, an image of a Rob Matthews‘ drawing from his (now up and ready for visitors!) exhibition at Gallery Joe‘s vault. I stopped in to see the work last weekend and it’s super fine…as is the game-themed work by Annabel Daou in the main space. image is Matthews drawing, “Conquering Demons (After Blake).”

Party with artblog

Two years old in two weeks and still cooking here at artblog! So come celebrate with us Sunday, April 10, at the Standard Tap. We’ll be there from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Between 5 and 6 p.m. the beer’s on us. After that you’re on your own. Upstairs, downstairs, at the bar? You’ll have to look. Hope to see you. Love, us

Philly in NY, NY in Philly, Philly at home

finklea, kevinThe Spring flood of shows begins this week. There’s too much to deal with in one post but this morning, in the rain, rain, rain, I’ll note these NY-Philly connections as the tip of the tulip announcing the glorious sunshine to come. (I’m rushing to get this post up this morning. I’ll try to put some links to what we’ve written about these artists later) Artblog contributor Kevin Finklea wrote to say his show at Margaret Thatcher Projects, “We Float,” is up. Finklea says he will be in the Chelsea gallery on Saturdays in case you’re in the neighborhood. ... More » »

Gotta pension plan?

As tax time rolls around and money is on your mind, I thought I’d pass along this article in Wired Magazine about artists pension plans. By time I got to the end of the piece, I realized that most of the artists I know would never get a shot at this, but it was interesting, none-the-less.

Look closer

Every time I grasp an overriding theme that applies to all four artists in Arcadia’s “A Closer Look,” the theme slips away in the midst of my argument.skoogfors, anneThe show, a regular event that draws four artists from the previous year’s “Works on Paper” show at Arcadia, this year was curated by ICA Director Claudia Gould. This year’s fab four are M. Ho, Bruce Pollock, Anne Skoogfors and Carl Fudge.ho, m.The show as a whole seems like a curious meditation on color (see Roberta’s post on how it’s a musical show). Skoogfors’ “Botanica,” 28 cyberprints of scanned-in flowers, offer the ... More » »