May 2005 Archive

Enduring love

Now the the “Inhabit” show has come down (sort of) at Sean Stoops’ apartment (see post), I asked Curator Sean Stoops how he liked living with all that art (“Lightswitch Daydream” by Nadia Hironaka). First of all, he’s still living with a lot of it. “I still have most of the work up,” he said. Not that it makes him unhappy. “I like that when you live with art, you notice new things,” Stoops said. “Parts of the show will stay with me. I’ll alway think of that switch [by Nadia Hironaka] being on the wall after the switch is ... More » »

1801 Overture, the finale

I began telling you about the artists of 1801 Howard St. (or 119 W. Montgomery Ave., the building straddles the two blocks) in a previous post. Here I’m going to run some pictures of the apartment/studios I visited. I am sorry I don’t have more true studio shots. What was I thinking? I spent time in the studios of Carrie Cook and Jon Schoff, Steven Earl Weber, Sonny and Ellen Fleming and John Gibbons and Isobel Sollenberger. And each space was unique and a kind of labor of love involving lofts, partition walls, wall-removal and other unique touches made by ... More » »

1801 Overture

I met the artists of 1801 Howard St. over the weekend. They were kind enough to show me around the studio/living spaces and the exhibition they had in the ad hoc gallery they created in their warehouse building in Kensington. I had missed their one-day open studio event the previous weekend. (Left to right are Jon Reeb, Brian Boutwell, Carrie Cook, Michael McJilton, Steven Earl Weber, John Gibbons, Isobel Sollenberger, Ellen Fleming and Sonny Fleming. Other members of the group not pictured are Patrick Beckhorn, Angela Lackey, Naomi Litell and Jon Schoff.) I’ll run some pictures from the group exhibit ... More » »

1776 and 9-11

mccullough, davidOne of the smart things author David McCullough said last week when he spoke to the sold-out auditorium at the Free Library, (part of the subscription lecture series Steve and I go to with our friends Ed and Ann) was that in spite of what you may think — and many do — this is not the darkest time our country has lived through. That’s nonsense, said McCullough (pictured above), of the post-911 sentiment that the world is scarier now than ever. McCullough, a jovial white-haired man who spoke for over an hour without notes and with a case ... More » »

CFEVA kids at the office

smith, adam parkerLots of Americans have the day off today for Memorial Day so I thought I’d run a few pictures from a show that I saw in an office building that’s probably deserted on this Memorial Day but was bustling the day I was there. The show is a large group exhibit by CFEVA artists in the lobby of Morgan Lewis and Bockius at 17th and Market Streets.sharp, keith I love when art pops up in public spaces. And this show of new talent is good. (CFEVA, formerly Creative Artists Network, juries emerging artists into its mix and then ... More » »

2005 Pew fellows!

bowlby, astridPost by Rob MatthewsAstrid, Zoe, M. Ho, and Gerald Cyrus Jr. won the Works on Paper Pews. Congratulations! I wish there would have been a pool going. I guessed 3 out of 4 of them. I had Randall [Sellers] picked instead of Gerald. (image is detail from Astrid Bowlby‘s installation at the recent Scope-NY.) Here’s the winners: Works on paperAstrid BowlbyGerald Cyrus, Jr.Melissa Ho Zoe Strauss (above are Strauss‘s photo “Sheila and William”)and Ho‘s “Untitled,” seen at the recent “A Closer Look” at Arcadia) Media artsBarbara Attie and Janet GoldwaterPablo ColapintoCheryl HessFilmon MebrahtuJoshua Mosley (image below is still from ... More » »

Chris Martin, meet Strong Bad

martin, chrisartblog contributor Douglas Witmer sent us a link to a piece of writing by Chris Martin over at the Brooklyn Rail. Read. Martin is a New York artist whose paintings Libby and I both loved when we saw them in the group show “Field Questions” at Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery. Here’s my post and here’s Libby’s. And here’s an artnet gallery page with lots more Martin images. (image is Martin’s “The End of the Movie, 1980-2005″) Now I know this will be old news to some of you who read the Brooklyn Rail and digested the piece when it came out ... More » »

Sea of love and my guy Krishna

The two artists showing at Gallery Joe are as different as can be, and yet–I ended up thinking about how sexy their work is.raja, sabeen The description is no surprise for the work of Sabeen Raja, whose often humorous Persian miniatures of social interactions express a sensuality in each fine line and often in her subjects. I’ve been looking forward to seeing more of her work ever since she was in “Figure Out,” a group show last spring at Gallery Joe (here’s a link to one of her images from that show). On the other hand, Linn Meyers is one ... More » »

Another prescient mom revealed!

hoeber, julianPost from Ditta Baron Hoeber [ed. note: Hoeber is referring to my earlier post about the show "Very Early Pictures" coming to Arcadia this fall.] Yo Roberta and Libby. If you look at the very early art names you will see another Philadelphia connection — my kid Julian (Julian Hoeber) who also has a mom who saved his drawings. A drawing he made at age 7 of “KISS” (pictured right) was used for the show’s announcement card. –Ditta Baron Hoeber is a poet and photographer whose work was recently seen at Philadelphia Art Alliance.

Cooking books

The exhibithouser, jimI hadn’t gotten to Jim Houser’s installation /exhibit, “Babel,” at Spector Gallery until last week, and boy was I bowled over. He has borrowed from super graphics and set design and his own inconography to transform the space with images and incantatory words into someplace inviting and energized with magic spirits. Roberta did go on about it in the Weekly, so I don’t see that I have much to add other than enthusiasm (left, “Babel” installation detail). The book is cooking, indeed Speaking of enthusiasm, more of Houser’s book, also called “Babel,” (Gingko Press/ May 2005, 9″x 7″, ... More » »