September 2008 Archive

Prefab postcard for prefab housing exhibition–cleverness award!

Front of the postcard announcing the prefab exhibit A Clean Break opening later this month as part of Design Philadelphia. Design Philadelphia, an international confab on design now in its fourth year continues to be a cornucopia of delights for those interested in design.  This year DP has 83 events and programs Oct. 16 through Oct. 22 including lectures and…an outdoor exhibit of prefab housing, titled A Clean Break,  on the vacant lot on South Broad St. near Spruce. (Echoes of MoMA’s prefab housing exhibit?  See posts.) A Clean Break — sponsored/organized by Minima and co-curated by Eugenie Perret and Elizabeth ... More » »

Money, art and Lehman Brothers

Trying to escape the financial and political news the other day, I scrolled down on artnet reading all the art news articles. These are full of gossip, financial stuff, personnel changes and other glue that sticks the art world together. Sept. 17′s column brought me right back to our financial times with a segment on how the failure of Lehman Brothers would affect the art world and especially art museums, many of which are recipients of now-bankrupt firm’s charitable giving. In addition to MoMA and the Guggenheim here’s the list of museums that have been helped by Lehman (quoting from ... More » »

What we want to see Friday and Saturday and Wednesday…

Go see some juicy paintings this weekend. We are excited about so many all over the place. Of course, photos and sculptures look great too–see the bottom of this post for more. Friday, Oct. 3 New Work by Ted Mosher at Highwire Gallery Ted Mosher, Ice Skating In Summer   oil on canvas Ted Mosher‘s joyful abstract paintings are a departure from his more figurative, cartoony works and from his Old Master-ish landscapes. Opening Reception: Friday, October 3, 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Artist Reception: Sunday, October 26, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.October 3 through November 2, 2008 Highwire Gallery2040 Frankford AvenuePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania 19125215-426-2685 Margery Amdur ... More » »

Angry Populism: Peter Saul (coming to PAFA)

Peter Saul Donald Duck Crucified (1964) oil on canvas, 63 x 59 in., collection Karen E. Tappendorf When Jeff Koons’ work sells for millions and Paul McCarthy’s chocolate butt plugs do brisk business at an international art fair, it may be hard to remember that not too long ago some art had the power to offend. Peter Saul’s anger directed at American social and political mores, delivered in a style wrought from popular culture (Mad magazine to Disney) and with his finger often directed at the eye of political correctness, did offend. And the offense outlasted all of those younger ... More » »

Ceci n’est pas un review

Michael Grothusen channeling Anish Kapoor and Quentin Morris. The show Paper Jam at My House Gallery includes not only us but some great surprises as well. Above is a piece by the wonderful Michael Grothusen, a piece with enough gravitas to hold the entire wall. Jonathan Berger also has a piece in this show. My own Eoin Burke. I got to take home a piece by Eoin Burke. I’m always a sucker for giveaways, this one available from a small carton pinned to the wall. Burke was one of the contributors to the collaboration between Peter Rose and Mark Campbell ... More » »

Manny from Mexico

Bea and Manny at the Down Home Diner in Reading Terminal Market My extended family is growing a notch. Bea and Manuel Bennett are a pair of expats who live in Cuernavaca, and Manny is an artist, 87 years young. They are soon to be related through the upcoming marriage of my niece Laura to their grandson Victor. Turns out, Manny is from South Philly. And Murray, as you must know by now, is from South Philly. In fact he wrote the book (South Philadelphia, Mummers, Memories and the Melrose Diner). So Victor showed his copy of South Philadelphia to ... More » »

Make Room for Books

Installation view of Volume Attempts; the space of books at Tyler Gallery The premise of the extraordinary exhibition, Volume Attempts: The Space of Books at Tyler School of Art’s Temple Gallery in Old City (through October 25, 2008) is that books are more than passive containers for ideas. Rather they are malleable objects with which we have intimate relationships, usually conducted in private and involving our touch as well as our gaze. It’s the only book exhibition I’ve ever seen that acknowledges that books must be held and perused page-by-page in order to be appreciated. If you love books, don’t ... More » »

Tonight’s art fix

Where shall we send you tonight for your daily art fix? Honestly, there’s something hot happening all the times these days, so We surely cannot keep up the pace. Here are the choices for this evening–(there are probably more, but these are on our minds): Popcorn alert: See Mr. Freedom, expat William Klein’s 1969 film in which the crass superhero (Mr. F.) fights the pure evil French Anti-Freedom organization. Popcorn shall be served!! All this at goes up, Oct. 10. Fleisher/Ollman at 6 p.m. Plus you can see election-related ephemera at the gallery (there for the duration of the month), ... More » »

Political action alert: Sarah Silverman wants you to visit Nana and Bubby and convince them to vote for Obama

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo. Thanks to Huffington Post and vimeo. I don’t know about you but I’m having trouble focusing on art these days when life as we know it seems on the verge of ending. Between anxiously scanning the NY Times, Huffington Post and Reuters every 5 minutes for updates, rumors, new polling numbers, etc., and listening to NPR nonstop I’m kind of a wreck. We should all get out there and make a video like Sarah Silverman….It’s the most relaxing bit of internet stuff I’ve seen in weeks.

Report from Istanbul: The state of affairs

Post by Marie H. Elcin Sultanahmet Iftar Istanbul is an overwhelming, sprawling city with over 12 million citizens, where the rich are very rich and the poor are very poor. As it is a modern metropolis, I had expected to find a hopping contemporary art center to rival New York, or at least Philadelphia, especially considering the recent rise of the Istanbul Biennial, the brand new Istanbul Modern Art Museum, and the city’s upcoming status as 2010 European Capital of Culture. I came away with mixed impressions, partly due to the quality of the work I saw, and partly because ... More » »