March 2007 Archive

Art in the Age vlog

The folks who brought you Black Floor Gallery (RIP) also do the wonderful Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction website with real commerce (buy some prints and t-shirts!) and real art commentary on their blog–and now artist interviews on their vlog. Among other things, AiA’s blog now has book/zine reviews courtesy of artist and long-time bibliophile (who knew?) Damian Weinkrantz. Virgil Marti, left, interviewed by Annette Monnier, on Art in the Age’s new vlog. As for the vlog, Art in the Age blogger and new Copy Gallery member Annette Monnier is hosting an interview video show. The first video ... More » »

Armory Show stats FYI

Headline on the email that came from the happy Armory Show folks: 52,000 visitors and $85 million in sales at The Armory Show 2007 Some talking points from their report: Attendance rose to 52,000 visitors, an increase from 47,000 in 2006. Based on gallery’s reports, total sales exceeded $85 million, rising from $62 million in 2006. Zach Feuer (New York) sold out 90% of his stand within the first hour, reaching record sales for Edgar Bryan, Daniel Gordon and Danica Phelps and securing museum interest in many of the gallery’s artists. “The fair couldn’t have been better.” White Cube/Jay Jopling ... More » »

Sarah Gamble’s Gothic at Pageant

Tempera on paper, drawing by Sarah Gamble from her show at Pageant Gallery. Sarah Gamble paints a particular type of girl-goth. I’ve been intrigued with Gamble’s work for some time partly because I don’t really “get” it but I want to. (You can see her work now in a solo show at Pageant Gallery through April 8). The work is goth in the sense of Gothic (cathedrals, dark mountains, the woods — things that are overwhelmingly big, beautiful and scary). But also goth in the sense of dark night of the soul where weird devils and fanciful emanations prowl. This ... More » »

Multiplication, Compression, Depression at Abington

Aggregate, by Lisa Murch, 2007, seed pods, steel, paper, feathers Sculptor Lisa Murch is easy on the eyes. Her sculptures of nature’s fertility and sexy abundance are great fun–realistic and Pop at the same time. Murch is one of four artists in the second series of solo shows at Abington Art Center. The others are Richard Ryan, Mauro Zamora and John Franklin. Murch, who showed a sculpture of reeds made of venetian blind slats in Abington’s sculpture garden, is ever inventful with her materials. A trail of ants made of seed pods bridge the corner of a room. A ladybug ... More » »

Flaky fabrics

There’s a great-sounding exhibit coming up at Drexel about future-world fabrics. It’s hands on. Visitors will be allowed to touch, squeeze, pull, twist and squish innovative textile samples, like clothing made from touch-sensitive textiles that can control a wearer’s iPod! athletic wear that emits light in the dark! and concrete that becomes translucent through the inclusion of light-transmitting glass textiles! The exhibit will be at Drexel’s Paul Peck Alumni Center, 3189 Market St., from April 10-18. The opening is April 10 at 6. The exhibit is the sidebar for a lecture series, Textiles: The Next Horizon, April 10, 11, 12, ... More » »

Badach and Frischkorn’s men and boys

Vek, by Justina Badach Two photographic portrait exhibits at the Philadelphia Art Alliance borrow from the old masters to very different effect. Justyna Badach’s Bachelor Portraits exhibit is quite different from other work I have seen of hers. This time she is using straightforward C-prints with no digital whiz-bang alterations, and her subjects are human beings. The portraits are quite satisfying and material, presenting quite a different sensibility from her immaterial landscapes devoid of people. By including in each large portrait details of that person’s home and interests, Badach is falling back on the portrait tradition that includes symbols of ... More » »

Telling stories: Daniel Heyman and Ditta Baron Hoeber

Disco Mosul, Amman series, drypoint, 22x 27 Two exhibits at the Print Center are not the sort of thing you can glance at and breeze through. They are work by two artists intent on telling stories, so you need to slow down and listen. Daniel Heyman’s stories are notable for their grip on reality, for their political juice, and for the method of installation. They are part of Daniel Heyman’s Abu Ghraib prisoner interviews. Heyman witnessed the interviews with former detainees of Abu Ghraib when he traveled to Amman, Jordan this year as part of a team pursuing a class ... More » »

Weekly Update – Creepy Sweet

This week’s Weekly has my A-list review of Jenny Kanzler‘s Creepy Sweet at 201 Gallery. Below is the copy, and see more pictures at flickr. Fallen babies, painting by Jenny Kanzler Pocketbook full of bug casings. Jenny Kanzler’s painting of cherub-like dead babies falling from the sky and landing on a tacky old mattress might put you off. But if it doesn’t, her purse full of bug carcasses probably will. The young Kanzler applies masterly technique and colors to her domestic-grotesque subject matter. Mattresses and bodies conjure up Vuillard on a bad LSD trip. Elsewhere, a girl’s toothy eating of ... More » »

Miracle on 36th Street: Zoe Strauss, the movie

Zoe Strauss’s photo that named the new documentary movie, If You Break The Skin You Must Come In. A red carpet and an Oscar couldn’t have upped the audience excitement at the ICA Friday night for the screening of “If you Break the Skin, you Must Come in,” David Kessler‘s film of Zoe Strauss and the project the two of them did last summer with a group of teens who were under the care of DHS. The movie was made under the auspices of ICA and Big Picture Alliance . The film, which is nearly feature length, is amazing. Each ... More » »

Albo is a Saatchi finalist!

Hey! Albo Jeavons made it to the finalist round in the Saatchi Showdown art contest! See post to refresh your memory on this art world competition. Albo emailed that he needs your vote now again to move up the ladder to the final showdown. Vote for Albo! Do it today.