September 2007 Archive

Emphasis on Experience: Richter and Serra

By Daniel Payavis With Richard Serra’s retrospective exhibition (it closed Sept. 10) at the Museum of Modern Art (see post) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Notations: Kiefer, Polke, Richter currently up (see Look! video here), I have had ample opportunity to ponder the work of both Richter and Serra, certainly two of the most significant artists in the last thirty years. Their names reach out as far into the realm of common knowledge as contemporary artists’ names go; their work maintains international interest, yet it would seem that this is as similar as the two artists get. After all, ... More » »

Words from Anthony Campuzano, Anissa Mack at Fleisher/Ollman

Anthony Campuzano, After Note from Mothercolored pencil and graphine on illustration board, 200720 x 15 inches The words embedded in Anthony Campuzano’s drawings continue to amaze me, with their witty excerpts from magazine and news sources; they reveal the pulp fiction behind pulp culture, asking–and answering–just what the heck is really going on here. Some people have conspiracy theories and space invaders as their answer; Campuzano has the embedded meanings behind the words that parade before us, and he gives them a pulsating visual vibe with supernatural intensity. Campuzano has been part with the Fleisher/Ollman Gallery–and a presence on the ... More » »

Ferocious lace: Robert Rahway Zakanitch at Locks

Robert Zakanitch, Red Squirrel (Lace Series), 2001acrylic on canvas55 x 69 inches Some thing worth squeezing in before it’s gone– Robert Rahway Zakanitch’s paintings of lace and embroidery, at Locks Gallery through tomorrow, use monumental scale, the shifting instability of fabric, and the gloppy texture of material extruded from tubes to take what seems like it might be a decorative enterprise into not so much a comfort zone as a discomfort zone in need of mending. Robert Zakanitch, installation shot, Locks Gallery, Philadelphia The coarseness, the irregularities, the earnest sentimentality that teeters on ferociousness represent a yearning to recapture in ... More » »

Mexabinxes on 9th St. at Bobo’s

Jesse Greenberg, Megabinxes, posing at his studio at Philadelphia Society for Advanced Studies in Kensington. I’ve been meaning to tell you about my studio visit with Jesse Greenberg, a RISD grad and friend of Ryan Trecartin and company and of the Bobo’s on 9th crowd. They’re all here now here in Philadelphia–a little RISD tributary that’s run right into our Schuylkill. Greenberg, whose work you may have seen at FUEL last year, is making wonderful interactive sculptures that look like R2D2 with the logic board missing. I will tell you about the studio visit soon. But first, you must go ... More » »

Street with a camera: Public art from the Beeb

Screen grab from Perry Bard’s Man with a Movie Camera web page The BBC has entered the public art arena in a way U.S. television stations wouldn’t dream. They are expanding their program of bringing big screen, LED video projections beyond the usual news and tidbits of daily local life. They are adding art commissions to the mix of what gets projected. The screens are in public spaces like downtown Manchester and Leeds. I learned about the project from a New York artist named Perry Bard, who was at a my friend Lenore Malen’s art opening (see post). Bard had ... More » »

We’ve adopted a cause

We just heard about this sweet little site called Donors Choose, that raises funds for teachers who have some project they otherwise could not provide their students. Living here, the City of Brotherly Love and its poor schools inspired us to help a teacher who wants to buy subscriptions to Time for Kids news magazine for her students this year. All she needs is $286! We thought, hey, we could accomplish this for her! What’s in it for you? The reader who gives the most will win a free ad for a year on artblog (one of the small ones ... More » »

NYC Downtown and Up

Post by Andrea Kirsh Lower East Side Minsuk Kim’s pavilion of hula hoops for Storefront’s anniversary Walking East from Soho to Little Italy, I passed the intersection of Lafayette St. and Centre St. I didn’t realize that small triangle has a name: Petrosino Park. A group of people were constructing a large igloo out of hula hoops that towered over the playground equipment in the tiny park, and almost stretched from sidewalk to sidewalk. It was obviously an artwork. (I returned home to find the N. Y. Times had a photo of it that day). When I asked what was ... More » »

Arts fundraiser/rally for Nutter!

To read the flier, click on the image, then click on all sizes and select large. Money is a surefire way to put the arts higher up on the agenda in City Hall when the expected victor, Democratic mayoral candidate Michael Nutter, takes over. A fundraising rally for him, organized by people in the arts, will be held Sunday, Oct. 7, 4-6 at Pier 5, Main Riverdeck. Nutter will be there. The goal–to make sure the arts get their due in city planning and funding. The minimum donation for admission is $100). RSVP by Oct. 4 to kdavis@artsandbusinessphila.org

Weekly Update – Evoking Spirit, Embracing Memory

This week’s Weekly has my review of Evoking Spirit, Embracing Memory in Baobab Park, an exhibit of bottle trees sponsored by Village of Arts and Humanities. Below is the copy with some pictures. More photos at flickr. Message in a BottleVillage of Arts and Humanities’ new project shines. Martina Johnson Allen’s Flight of the Songbird, detail, honoring Tammy Terrell. The bottle trees of Baobab Park at 11th and York stand in a circle like a convention of totems. A project of the nearby Village of Arts and Humanities, the 12 sculptural trees by 12 different artists don’t necessarily look like ... More » »

Leaves, dead or alive: Mike and Doug Starn at The Print Center

Doug (in stripes) and Mike Starn at The Print Center before the opening, with Executive Director Elizabeth Spungen behind. Doug and Mike Starn (they are identical twins) grew up in Absecon, N.J. But their art career is pure New York, and they have never shown here in Philadelphia. They are at The Print Center with an exhibit called Black Pulse 2000-2007: Doug + Mike Starn. I stopped by the day the exhibit opened, and got to ask Doug Starn lots of questions. The plan for the South Ferry Station installation. The high point was his video iPod with touch technology. ... More » »