June 2006 Archive

Dance digression

I finally made it to a Dance Boom! event this year, thanks to the good graces of my neighbor Andrew Simonet of Headlong Dance Theater. Don’t miss a chance to see something good and go to tonight’s performance, the last one so far as I can tell. Headlong’s Shosha, based on an Isaac Basheves Singer story, was quirky for its structure–half performance and theater, half dance, and totally original. It was also totally moving. Choreographer Keely Garfield’s Scent of Mental Love was a series of stylish parodies of the traditional pas de deux in dance and in love songs–also quite ... More » »

Rip, Rig & Panic: Resnikoff, Khaisman, Dubinskis

Death of the Sunshine Patriot (front), by Isaac Resnikoff, and paintings by Anda Dubinskis on the walls Isaac Resnikoff’s picnic table looks just right in this hot weather, center stage at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, part of a three-man show that also includes Anda Dubinskis and Mark Khaisman. On the table sits a mix of carved tools, beverage containers, a hand as umbrella, fat candles, a guitar, a gas can–all the makings of a summer weekend of puttering around the house, hanging with friend, or pitching woo. The delicate paint drips applied along the side add a nice touch of dripping sweat, ... More » »

Breaking News…5 County Arts Fund App Due Tomorrow

This in from John McInerney intrepid art administrator at the Cultural Alliance and Mr. Philly Fun Guide himself… We strongly encourage people to apply for the 5-County Arts Grants by the June 30th deadline, especially in the 4 suburban counties. They traditionally have fewer submissions but a large pool of funds. [Decoded: You have a much better chance of getting one.] The original press release is here. And here’s a couple of examples of 2005 grantees in the visual arts: Marianne Ham – For a series of exhibits of photographic images of women farmers that express their passion for the ... More » »

Moe Brooker at June Kelly Gallery–Delicious!

Opening tonight at June Kelly Gallery in Soho, and running through July 28, are the ebullient, heart-felt paintings of Moe Brooker, one of Philadelphia’s best abstract artists. I did a studio visit with Brooker a while back when he asked me to write the catalog essay for the show. It’s no secret that I’ve been a fan of Brooker’s art for many years. I’ve written about him for the Weekly and for artblog. And I think this new body of work — somehow simpler, bolder and more risk-taking — is just great. (click the images to see them big) I’m ... More » »

Weekly Update – Student shows rise above

[This week's Weekly has my review of some of this Spring's curated student shows. Here's the link to the art page and below is the copy with some added pictures.]School Daze The graduate shows revealed a fascination with entrapment and vulnerability. Blaine Siegel’s Gobdiddlymuck at Slought, a tour-de-force piece with humor and thoughts of society’s decay. Many of the student works seemed to be about decay. I made it to five of the dozen or so graduating student shows in town this spring—Philadelphia Sculptors’ “Five Into One” at Moore College of Art & Design, “Voxumenta” at Vox Populi, Penn’s M.F.A. ... More » »

Philly goes to New York

Anthony Campuzano at Bellwether A Bigger Story, by Anthony Campuzano The eye-popping, politically charged work of Anthony Campuzano opens at Bellwether Gallery June 29. Bellwether is a gallery that has had its finger on the pulse lately, and Campuzano, who shows in Philadelphia at Fleisher-Ollman Gallery, does too. The show, “Choplogic,” includes work by Melissa Brown and Amy Wilson, too. Tamara Kostianovsky at Exit Art Mitosis, by Tamara Kostianovsky Wild Girls, “celebrating the next generation of female artists,” at Exit Art in New York opening June 24, includes work by Philadelphia artist Tamara Kostianovsky. The group show includes work by ... More » »

Artblog goes to the movies: Junebug

Frank Hoyt Taylor as the artist David Wark and Embeth Davidtz as the dealer,Madeleine. It isn’t often I see movies with complex characters who challenge my expectations and cause me to rethink my loyalties in the course of the story arc, but Junebug, which has a pretty amazing outsider-art subplot, does just that. At the same time the movie raises issues of social class and culture in complex ways. We get to meet the outsider artist early in the movie, because his existence is what sets the plot in motion. The plot, which starts pretty slowly, involves Madeleine, an attractive ... More » »

Wonders of America: USPS thinks outside the envelope

I went to the post office for stamps yesterday. I love the big stamp sheets so when they had a nice colorful one, “Wonders of America” I snapped it up. The whole thing is super-kitschy and super P.T. Barnum and really, actually, ahem, very George Bush. But it’s also kind of pretty. Then, the clerk said did I want something to put the stamp sheet in I said sure, thinking I’d get one of those nice glasine envelopes they put stamps in. Wrong. The stamp sheet is so super-sized that it’s too big for the glasine envelopes they use. The ... More » »

Depew, Hoving and Gates: Embellish

My post-Chelsea droop factor got fixed right here in Philadelphia at Falling Cow Gallery. Embellish, the exhibit there, is an exuberant take on decoration as fine art and fine art as decoration, with work from three women, two familiar, one not. The artists are New Yorker Sara Gates and Philadelphians Candy Depew and Jackie Hoving. Best of all, the work–an installation by Depew, an installation by Gates, and a group of paintings and prints by Hoving–is about more than decoration. Sara Gates Gates created a bedroom with screen prints of one image printed multiple times on chair fabric, on pillows ... More » »

New York hotties, pics and passes, part 2

Sarah Sze, adult peering into interiorAs Libby said it’s summer and it’s hot–always a good time to go to museums. We knew that but we went to Chelsea instead. So we sweated our way through the streets, but saw some fair stuff. Our cheeriest siting all day was when we ran into Paul Santoleri and his wife Helene strolling in front of the Empire Diner (we had just exited after having iced tea (Libby) and lemonade (me). It was so great to see the homies!!! Helene, a cellist who plays in a band (sorry I forgot the name) had a ... More » »