October 2008 Archive

Kvetcherfest

Post by Shelley Spector Photo of the Philadelphia Complaint Choir rehearsing. Photo: Talman Koots I wrote to you earlier about the Philadelphia Complaint Choir, a project that I (SPECTOR Projects) am working on in collaboration with First Person Arts. This weekend we begin our performances in and around the city. The choir, which has grown to about 80 people will perform eight times during three days. (see below) The performance is ten minutes long. I highly recommend it and it’s free. Check out, Complaints Choirs of the World Home, where our performances, once documented will presented as part of this international project. Here are the scheduled performaces: Saturday, November ... More » »

Red Light Special–the art of baseball!

We can hardly contain ourselves–the Phillies, the Phillies, the Phillies!!! Go Phillies!!! How about them Phillies!!! We’ve got the Phever!!! Don’t forget to wear red!!!

The Rape of Europa–a documentary gem

Hitler and Goering look at art. The documentary film The Rape of Europa which I just saw on DVD is a magnificent movie about a sad topic — the Nazi looting of fine art from museums and from Jewish families during WWII.  We’ve all seen Schindler’s List and know something about the looting but this movie shows the extent of the crimes and how the art was stolen — systematically and with grand plans to show it all in personal and state-run Nazi museums.   The thievery went on for 12 years, and while much of the art was restored ... More » »

Peek-a-boo–Margery Amdur at Projects

[This is the fourth in several ultra-brief posts I hope to get up this week about work I've seen recently that have given me tremendous pleasure or piqued my interest in some way. I'm sort of overwhelmed with outside-the-blog life, but I really wanted to tell you about this stuff.--libby] Margery Amdur, Wisp 5, 31 x 44 inches Margery Amdur‘s luscious floral confections in her exhibit Bloom at Projects Gallery look juicy enough to eat, and frilly enough to hang in the boudoir. The paintings/drawings/cut mylar frothiness and the peek-a-boo vivid colors are downright sexy. These are paintings posing as ... More » »

Pliessnig at Wexler and Yousri at Knapp, two bundled reviews

Below are two gallery reviews by students in artblog pal Colette Copeland‘s critical writing class at the University of Pennsylvania. Matthias Pliessnig at WexlerBy Daniel Li Providence, a furniture piece by Matthias Pliessnig at Wexler. Matthias Pliessnig is a furniture artist who questions the boundary between furniture (functional form) and sculpture (non-functional form). His works are created with steam-bent oak, and they incorporate both furniture and boat-making techniques. Pliessnig’s oak pieces seem to have fluidly shaped themselves to his will, and their forms are aesthetically pleasing and inviting. (Although the prominently displayed “please do not sit” signs discourage any viewers ... More » »

Fidelio Mio

Academy of Music, (opened 1857) in the rafters above the stage where the gilt statues live, and the red curtains whisper. The Academy of Music, that lusty old palace of red velvet and heroic gilded statuary is a great place to see opera. Fidelio, the only opera Beethoven (1770-1827) ever wrote, would seem to perfectly match the Academy. Arias and duets about love and freedom that are achingly lovely soar to the rafters and transport you to …well, usually to scenes of 19th Century interiors, bucolic fields and evil villains. Cate and I visited the Academy to see the Opera ... More » »

Weekly Update – Missing Masters at Woodmere

This week’s Weekly has my review of the Lewis Tanner Moore collection exhibit In Search of Missing Masters at Woodmere. Below is the copy with some photos. More pictures at flickr. Claude Clark, We Are Sisters, 1949 Lewis Tanner Moore’s collection of African-American art, on view at Woodmere Art Museum, is chock full of great work by artists whose names you’ve probably never heard and whose art you’ve probably never seen. Raymond Steth, Institution Series #1, 1980. lithograph African-American artists are often excluded from the mainstream art world. A local collector and the grandnephew of Postimpressionist painter Henrey Ossawa Tanner, ... More » »

Lot’s Going on in Philadelphia

A Clean Break installation, part of Design Philadelphia, at 313 S. Broad Street. photo courtesy of City Paper Design Philadelphia’s Urban VisionsThere’s a lot to see at the moment. Firstly, Design Philadelphia has events all over the place. Don’t miss the group of eco-friendly, affordable and occasionally pre-fab projects for improving urban living that are set up on a vacant lot opposite the Kimmel Center with work by an international group of designers. A Clean Break (also covered by Libby, below), organized by Minima Gallery (up through Oct. 30th) features projects that are realistic and/or in actual use, such as ... More » »

Prefabulous, and a chat with Bruce Schimmel

 A Clean Break, organized by curators from Minima. The show is part of the two-week confab, Design Philadelphia.  This is a view looking towards the Kimmel Center. People were rushing around putting on last-minute touches to the pre-fabs exhibit A Clean Break, part of Design Philadelphia, when we arrived there on the vacant lot on South Broad Street last Wednesday, about an hour before the opening. Habitat Home–Habitat for Humanity will place this in Philadelphia next month. Here it’s just a scrim to represent the house. The funkiest and in some ways the best thing there was the Habitat for ... More » »

The Best Ship is Friendship–alchemy at Little Berlin

[This is the third in several ultra-brief posts I hope to get up this week about shows I've seen recently that have given me tremendous pleasure or piqued my interest in some way. I'm sort of overwhelmed with outside-the-blog life, but I really wanted to tell you about this stuff.--libby] Zachar Vaks, Explocean Who couldn’t love an exhibit named The Best Ship is Friendship”?  It’s the two-man exhibit of work by Zachar Vaks (3axap Bakc) and David Bratton at Little Berlin, until the 24th.  What these two young artists have in common is not just their friendship, but the use ... More » »