December 2007 Archive

Keith Newhouse’s demons cackle at LaPelle

Keith Newhouse, Tornado, 27 x 21 inches The “jittery gibberisher” who yacks in pen and ink all over Keith Newhouse’s collaged drawings at Rodger LaPelle Galleries is part artist and part demon, living in a world of terrors, large and small. The phrase, which appears more than once in Newhouse’s drawings, seems to be a self-description of an artist who cannot stop writing words, which serve as decorative elements contained in outlined spaces or wander all around the page. I haven’t been in LaPelle for a long time, but these drawings–there are 59 of them!!!–chock full of semi-readable prose, demons, ... More » »

We need your feedback!

We sure do love those slide shows because they are way easier for us to put up–but we can use some feedback on them. Someone wrote that they totally were missing the pix and couldn’t get into Flickr to see things. Please tell us what works best for you. If the slide shows are a big problem, we’ll ditch. Otherwise, we may do a mix of slide shows and pictures so everyone can have what they want (except us, who’ll have to still add the picture code). You can respond in the comments after this post or by email.

Photo post: William Kentridge’s shadows on the shifting landscape at the PMA

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.At the William Kentridge talk and opening of his Tapestries exhibit at the PMA. Here’s the Flickr photo set if you want to spend time and see them bigger. A chance to hear William Kentridge at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and to get an early look at the exhibition William Kentridge: Tapestries attracted a whole clacque of admirers of the South African artist, including us. The exhibit is the fourth in the Notations series on contemporary (and global) art, curated by Carlos Basualdo, to show off some of the PMA’s contemporary art holdings. Among the Kentridge ... More » »

Jane Irish at Locks–Vietnam vs. the good life

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.To view this set at your leisure and see the details of the lettering, go to my Flickr set here. Jane Irish’s exhibit Paintings for Winning Hearts and Minds at Locks Gallery moved me to tears. The paintings, some of them 11 or 12 feet long, are of sumptuous, historical-looking spaces painted atop anguished words–poems and quotations–from the Vietnam War era. Perhaps I was primed to be affected because I had just the week before had a conversation with Pheoris West and James Dupree about how their high school classmates who weren’t college-bound all died in the ... More » »

Oliver Herring opening at FLUXspace–SMASHING!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR. I just wanted to share my photos from last Saturday’s opening at FLUXspace. I’ve never seen a more focused party! Everyone was busy, busy, busy…in a good way. And there was much interaction as strangers or mere acquaintences approached one another looking for help with a task. Nothing seemed silly at the time (I led a pencil parade) in the atmosphere which was both giddy, heady and expectant. I never made it to a happening in the 1960s (although I created my own in the 1970s) but this was a Happening, for sure. Don’t miss the ... More » »

Hauswerk photo post

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR. Hauswerk, a series of installations by 15 Tyler students (with some alums also involved), continues until Jan. 4. I took the train to Paoli last Saturday for the opening and hopped the free Tyler shuttle to the Haus — the train/shuttle connection was wonderful! The place was abuzz with students, friends, family and others. A jolly good experiment in Haus beautiful, Haus scary, Haus friendly, Haus that’s not home. The students are from Jennie Shanker‘s materials class, an occasional offering, says Shanker. (Last time she taught the class her students curated a show at Sharktown — ... More » »

Weekly Update – Vox Populi’s December shows–cool

This week’s Weekly has my review of the current shows at Vox Populi. Below is the copy with some pictures. More images at flickr. Crazy Like a VoxFirst Friday has moved out of Old City. Old City is becoming a hard sell on First Fridays. Chinatown North galleries Vox Populi, Copy, Screening, Space 1026 and (coming soon) the Fabric Workshop and Museum constitute a critical mass of openings that are far more exciting than what’s on display in the old art neighborhood. Max Lawrence’s electronic installation (detail) from 2006 at Vox Populi. The coming together of Vox, Copy and Screening ... More » »

How Miami did for Philly

Great gossipy Philly sale Drawing by Randall Sellers, Richard Heller Gallery’s booth at Pulse Art Fair Miami. artblog got an email blast from artist Randall Sellers with his latest news: “Takashi Murakami bought two of my drawings at the Pulse Art Fair in Miami last weekend!!! “(Richard Heller, my longtime dealer in Santa Monica, had a few drawings downthere. Miller Block, my Boston gallery, also represented me at AQUA.)” Great gossipy Philly purchase Untitled 2007 (let them eat mussels), Rirkrit TiravanijaMirrors, gas tank, mussel shells, EDITION/SET OF: 4h: 90 x w: 90 x d: 90 cm / h: 35.4 x ... More » »

Yo, emerging artists, listen up!

Bambi Gallery and Boutique on Frankford Ave. in fabulous Fishtown. Why wait for the Whitney Biennial when you can be in the Bambi Biennial??? We’re jurying this show. Deadline for submissions is Dec. 29 $20 to enter ($15 for students) and the show dates are Feb 1-Mar 18, 2008. Super Bonus !!!!Three artists will be chosen from this exhibit for a three-person show at Bambi Gallery. You still have 12 days to get your submissions in for this break out event — sure to be a bright spot in the dead of Philly’s gray winter (if we don’t say so ... More » »

nuts and berries: objects and not

Little Berlin 1801 N. Howard St., Philadelphia.Friday, December 14th- ? A wall of found and manipulated objects, priced from low to “priceless” nuts and berries: objects and not bills itself as a “visual agreement between daniel petraitis and martha savery” and each would-be capital letter was printed lower case as it is reproduced here. I can only assume the use of lower case implies that the artists (or the space) are extremely modest about their craft and its place in society. I think an adept parallel would be when a band chooses to play on the floor, becoming a part ... More » »