April 2005 Archive

Peaking early and other thoughts

ishiguro, kazuoI was listening to “Fresh Air” on the radio and heard a Maureen Corrigan review of Kazuo Ishiguro‘s new novel “Never Let Me Go” and it reminded me I wanted to tell you about hearing the author at the Free Library last week. Not so much to tell you about his new book, which I haven’t yet read (but which sounds awfully interesting: it has to do with cloning. Corrigan called it “frustrating and unforgettable”). But I thought Ishiguro, who was being interviewed by Alvaro Ribeiro, S.J., a Jesuit teacher at St. Joseph’s University, had much to say about ... More » »

Notes in our email box

Got this note that Rah Crawford, whom Roberta and I first met when he was hawking his art on the street on a First Friday last spring, just got juried into an exhibition by Pulitzer Prize winning art critic Jerry Saltz at Makeready Press | Gallery 214, 214 Glenridge Ave., May 2 to 15, 2005. For info go here (image, Crawford’s “24K Godz”).crawford, rahAlso the video of printmaker Charlotte Yudis by Vince Romaniello is complete and on line–very personal and you get a chance to see her at work, the latest in Romaniello’s archive of Philadelphia artists at work (right, ... More » »

Night moves, day dreams

Roberta wrote the other day about going to Space 1026 and seeing cheerful work by Canadian cartoonist-artist-doodler Luke Ramsey‘s “Finding Joy” (post here) and how it seemed like an antidote to all the dark artwork that we’ve been seeing so much of. Well, it’s been pretty dark in the galleries since then (see my post here on post-apocalyptic art from Kathryn Frund). After Frund, I saw some work by Robert Godfrey at Bridgette Mayer Gallery — more darkness mixed with touches of hope ( left, installation of Godfrey’s “Odd Lips” and “Tall Tales” series) . The only big break in ... More » »

Skowhegan news

macdonald, jenniferPost from Jennifer MacdonaldDear Roberta and Libby, Hi there, I just randomly saw that you guys posted an image of mine, from James Wagner’s site. Thanks. I was looking on artblog to read about my friend Zoe Strauss‘s upcoming show [May 1 under I-95 in South Philadelphia. See post for more] and I was surprised to see my drawing…Things are good here. Justin [Matherly]and I are enjoying NYC & Hunter. I have some news. I’ll be going to Skowhegan this summer, so i’m excited about that. Take care,–Jen Macdonald is a former Philly artist now in New York attending ... More » »

Budgeting beauty

Meeting of the tribes

paris, normThree openings on Friday night brought people out in spite of the drizzle and gloom. I ran around with the rest of the tribes dipping in and out of the shows and taking a few photos.heyman, daniel I’ll run the pix without much commentary — but with some gossip (oh, yes).houser, jim artblog pal and contributor Colette Copeland‘s “Abortion Dialogues” installation at Carbon 14 was my first stop. (installation shot at top) The big gallery is nicely installed with ghostly photographs floating at about eye level, a projection on the back wall and some reading and listening stations on ... More » »

True fairytales

Cartoons and fantasy painting, although currently a hot art fashion, has always been a thread in artmaking. Whereas a lot of the young painters making this kind of work have been heavily influenced by Japanese manga, R. Crumb and the underground comics scene, and Dell comics superheroes and monsters, cartooning and fantasy come in many colors.dinkin, rochelleRochelle Dinkins, who has work hanging at ArtForms Gallery, however, is not young. She has been painting heavily patterned narrative cartoon fantasies for years. And the work has less to do with manga, underground comics or superheroes, and more to do with fairytale illustrations ... More » »

Carpenter’s tools

carpenter, sydI met Syd Carpenter at Sande Webster Gallery last Saturday for an interview. It was a great chance for me to catch up with the diminutive clay sculptor whom I hadn’t seen since I met with her and New Orleans-based ceramic artist MaPo Kinnord-Payton at Swarthmore in 2003. I wrote a story for PW about Kinnord-Payton and a project she is involved with in Ghana. I’ll chase down that link later. Here I want to run some pictures and encourage you to get out and see the show, which is up to April 29. (top image is “Three seasons ... More » »

Revving it up in New York

revsI’m catching up with my reading. Here’s one item, from the NY Times, don’t know how long it’s been up but it’s great. An audio slide show by culture reporter Randy Kennedy about the return to the street after an absence of years by grafitti artist Revs who is now a sculptor. Revs is still a street artist, although he puts his work up legally now getting permission from building owners before he bolts it down. The pictures are great and the commentary is a nice blend of questioning and deadpan wonderment. (image is a Revs sculpture in front of ... More » »

Philly cleans up

Post from Rob Matthews Friends, family, curatorial-types, writers:matthews, robThe new mid-Atlantic issue of “New American Paintings” is in well-stocked bookstores now. Philadelphia cleaned up. Lots of artists from the 215 area code are represented, including yours truly (right, one of Rob Matthews’ drawings of himself beating back the demons). Fellow Gallery Joe artists Astrid Bowlby and Emily Brown are included despite the fact that none of us actually paint. Michelle Oosterbaan has exhibited at Gallery Joe but she does paint. Look out for these Philly artists as well: Hale AllenCorey AntisMichael BartmannDiane BurkoCorliss CavalieriMorgan CraigMichael DeLucaAnthony DeMelasJoseph HuMimi OritskyJessica PumaNaomi ... More » »