September 2008 Archive

Weekly Update – Ed Ruscha’s woven words at the Fabric Workshop and Museum

Ed RuschaIn collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, PhiladelphiaIndustrial Strength Sleep, 2007Merino wool, cotton, and Trevira CS tapestry; edition of 7109 1/2 x 276 inches (278.1 x 701 cm)The Fabric Workshop and Museum, PhiladelphiaPhoto: Aaron Igler and Will Brown Last June the Fabric Workshop and Museum was bounced from its home at 1315 Cherry Street when its building was demolished to make way for the Convention Center expansion. In order to keep showing art, the Museum took up residence at an interim space at 1222 Arch Street while waiting for a new permanent home to be retrofitted. The new ... More » »

Metaphysical Conflation at UArts

Snippets from Conflation.  1 minute 12 seconds. One of the best collaborative installations we’ve seen in a while is down at UArts’ Hamilton/Arronson Galleries right now. Conflation/Living Above the Store brings together sculpture, video and sound in a rendering of a pre- and post-apocalyptic city. Mark Campbell, who builds installations about suburban sprawl here has created a floating city in a void of black space. Peter Rose, projects video that suggests the real world at its most lyrical — and apocalyptic. Anthony Angelicola‘s soundtrack evokes sounds of the city run through a deep sea Cuisinart.   The team also included ... More » »

Opportunities Knock

Our inboxes are groaning with great opportunities. We usually don’t list these things but we thought these were really great. FLEISHER-OLLMAN NEEDS YOU (MAYBE) Fleisher Ollman Winter InvitationalDecember 12, 2008 through January 17, 2009Submissions are due by 5pm, Monday, November 3rdMore information This is the sixth year for this show with a track record of discovering new talent and placing it in an interesting context. William Pym left for New York and passed the baton to Amy Adams so this may be a different kind of show but Amy has been running Vox so we have great expectations! SCHUYLKILL CENTER ... More » »

Complain, complain, complain–Letter from Shelley Spector

Budapest Complaint Choir Dear Libby and Roberta, I am writing to invite you and and your friends (readers of Artblog) to participate in SPECTOR Projects’ newest work. It’s called the Philadelphia Complaints Choir. To put it simply, it’s a homemade Philly choir (no experience necessary) that  performs a  song created from complaints collected from Philadelphians.  Composer, Evan Solot is creating an original piece for the choir to sing,  and he and I will work together on the lyrics. We will meet to practice four times beginning this Thursday, September 25th and following the rehearsals we’ll have two performance dates in Novmeber. Complaint Choir, St. ... More » »

Pittsburgh Sublime

Steve and I took a short walk in South Oakland early Saturday morning, just for something to do–explore a part of town near UPitt that we didn’t know. The first couple blocks south of Forbes, the main drag in Oakland, felt like a neighborhood abandoned to the anarchy of rowdy students. Pizza boxes strewn around like the party had been on the sidewalk and nobody’s mom had come out to say you’ve made a mess now clean it up. Broken glass from smashed beer and juice bottles carpeted several blocks–I imagined the kids walking on it with their flip flops ... More » »

Around and About: Gee’s Bend Quilters, Cecelia Condit and Kurt Schwitters

Ruth Kennedy Blocks and Stripes (2003) corduroy, 86 x 75in, the Tinwood Alliance The Evolution of Quilting and/in MuseumsGee’s Bend is a small and isolated African American community in Alabama most of whose population is descended from slaves who worked the local plantation.T he women of Gee’s Bend developed a repertory of quilting designs that may reflect the tradition of African textiles but has evolved into a recognizable local style; quilts from Gee’s Bend burst into the museum world in 2002 when the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFA Houston) organized an exhibition of their work that toured twelve museums ... More » »

Collaging with Zoe Strauss at Megawords

The product of somebody’s two hours. Without much anticipatory ado, the super-zine Megawords opened a storefront in Chinatown, and has packed the month with lectures, performances, and other free happenings. Last night, Zoe Strauss “led” a collage session, though her approach was entirely hands-off. She gave neither introduction nor instructions; instead, she supplied mountains of old magazines, scissors and glue sticks, and much praise as participants showed their finished works. When I arrived, she was pinning up a striking industrial landscape (collaged from old National Geographics) which had charitably been left by its maker for show on the rear wall ... More » »

Tonight’s jam is Paper Jam

We are showing another little tidbit of our own work in deep South Philly tonight. Roberta may be out of town, but I’ll be there (info below), ready to jam. The show is Paper Jam, and all the work in the show is related to the standard of the 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper. Here’s who’s in the show besides us. I see a lot of names I know of people who do great work!!! And I see lots of new names, so I can’t wait to see it. Aimee Christopher Jenny KanzlerHannah Heffner Fernando Ramos Hilary ... More » »

Through You: Contemporary photos at Penn

Thomas Ruff, Portrait (Thomas M. Schell), 1987, C-print, 210.8 x 160 cm “Hot” is what Gabe Martinez promised, trying to get Roberta and me to the photography exhibit Through You. And he’s right. It’s hot not just because it’s from steamy Miami. This the second big photography exhibit to come here from Miami to a college art gallery. Through You, at the University of Pennsylvania, is from the Martin Z. Margulies collection, widely acknowledged as one of the top collections in the country (I can’t find who ranked it, alas). (The previous Miami big photo collection exhibit, from Dennis Scholl, ... More » »

Pittsburgh ahoy

Steve and I are off to see Stella this weekend. Stay focused and attentive, you all, and see you next week.