April 2007 Archive

A book by any other name…

Post by Andrea Kirsh Michelle Wilson’s El Processo installation Rumor has it that the internet will put books out of business, but I don’t believe it. But I wonder whether that’s why book arts students are producing work that could readily be described as installations, sculpture … anything but books. Are they hedging their bets? I should have thought that the one characteristic that book arts and printmaking will always share is multiplicity – but no, not even that showed up in the work I saw at the MFA thesis exhibition of U Arts’ Book Arts and Printmaking students, at ... More » »

The triumph of art in Washington, D.C.

Got this email from fellow blogger and artist J.T. Kirkland: Most have you probably have not heard about “Supple.” Supple is an art show that I curated and scheduled it to be mounted at the same time that the ArtDC international art fair occurs in D.C. That is, April 26-29. Well, the fair is actually from April 27-30, but Supple was to be open from April 26-29. …Over this past weekend, the show was cancelled by the owners of The Space, the location donated to me for the show. I sent out a press release announcing the cancellation and posted ... More » »

Goners

Hi guys, I’m off now and will be back Saturday from Milwaukee, that great town on the great lake. Enjoy the week! xo roberta

Simon Says, Judith Says

We sat with Anne Minnich in the Simon Schama lecture (see post), and afterwards ran into Judith Schaechter who said she was going to run up to the front and shake the man’s hand. Later, Judith wrote me some lively commentary on the talk which I have to share. JUDITH: I loved the lecture even though I could barely follow along. He had, like, at least 10 deep concepts per sentence plus he was so WITTY! I loved finding out what was the best painting ever (“Beheading of John the Baptist” by Caravaggio). And I will never, ever be able ... More » »

Simon Says at the ICA

Historian and art historian Simon Schama spoke at ICA last Friday. The house was packed Friday night for Simon Schama‘s talk, The Beast in Art, at ICA. Steve and I sat in the front, eager to hear an author we’ve long admired for books like The Embarrassment of Riches and Citizens, as well as his pieces in the New Yorker. Schama, London-born and Cambridge-educated historian and art historian now teaching at Columbia, is so popular and so busy, that Claudia Gould, introducing him, said “We booked this two years ago and we’re so delighted to have him here.” The talk ... More » »

Interview with Matthew Pruden: Photos of ghosts

Matthew Pruden on Second Thursday at Nexus After seeing Matthew Pruden’s exhibit, Magnetic Sleep, at Nexus, I caught up with him to ask a few questions. The exhibit is of a group of small, Victorian-looking photographs of supposedly supernatural phenomena, a terrific sound track of scary noises, and a projection from the eyes of a skull onto a screen. The photos, which were inspired by the 19th century photos of spirits and other supernatural phenomena, are sly–just this side of believable. And the sounds are almost haunted house staples–but also just enough off to raise questions. A video projection from ... More » »

Free tickets for you–Best marketing stunt ever

Check out this email if you love chamber music–or if you want to try it out! I just discovered your fabulous Artblog and it set me thinking that the readers of Artblog are probably very similar to the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s (PCMS) audiences: lovers of the arts, creative, educated, inquisitive individuals. Our 2006-07 season is winding down with only four of the 63 concerts still remaining. On Wednesday, May 2 at 8 pm, PCMS will present the American String Quartet with guest pianist Lydia Artymiw, at the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center. The program includes quartets by Haydn ... More » »

Sticks and Stones: Austin Heitzman’s elegant junk sculpture

Austin Heitzman’s sculptural bark at Gallery 201 The art Austin Heitzman makes is a combination of scrap lumber, scrap fabric, twigs, stones, cardboard, pulp paper and rope– all held together with string. The ambiance is skeletal: Elbows and limbs poking the air every which way and no fat on the bones. But while bodies are evoked, so are boats and animals, anthropological digs, shipwrecks and Robinson Crusoe — that progenitor of today’s Survivors. The ambiance is travel but these are rafts of a different kind. Their journey is post-apocalyptic — and North Philadelphia. Their journey back to civilization comes after ... More » »

Honors and successes

detail of Henry Bermudez’ Basketball Game Two of Projects Gallery’s artists, Henry Bermudez and Steve Cope, were amongst the 40 artists selected to be included in The Open Studios Press “New American Paintings”. Stephen Bennett Phillips, curator of the Phillips Collection mentioned both artists in the curator’s introduction. If you know of any other Philadelphia artists included in this edition, or if you have a web page with the info about who’s in this particular edition, please add it below in the comments.Super localSan Miguel Church, by Ed Bronstein, was painted ‘en plein air” in San Miguel (Mexico) in 2004. ... More » »

Tschotschkes, Popular Art or Big Boys’ Toys?

Post by Andrea Kirsh Jamie Hewlett, White Murdoc There’s a lot of new stuff out there I’m discovering: some is plastic, others plush or ceramic. And artists are behind all of it. When produced by Cereal Art and distributed at high-end international art fairs, it’s called “Limited edition art.” Cat Eye Guy by Kenny Scharf, from Cereal Art Cereal Art is a Philadelphia success story: according to their own publicity, the three-year-old company produces “designs … conceptualized by critically acclaimed internationally recognized contemporary artists who are interested in exploring the possibilities presented by consumer culture.” For $100 you can buy ... More » »