April 2009 Archive

Life List, book of birds

I had to share this online intro to Life List by Olivia Gentile. The book is a bio of a champion birdwatcher, Phoebe Snetsinger, whose obsession took her to the ends of the earth. The bird illustrations are by family friend and fabulous artist Rebecca Layton, who used to be a Philly gal and now lives in Austin, Texas. Austin never had it so good. If you hang on past the flash razzmatazz, the Life List website calms down and gives you more info and a link to where to buy it! I bet that birdwoman Roberta signs right up!!! ... More » »

Contest–videos, photos and writings on the wretched economy

The people who bring us First Person Festival are running a competition, First Person America, for artistic works describing how people are coping during the recession.  They are hoping to gather videos, photos and writing from all 50 states. The project, inspired by the WPA artists who chronicled life during the Great Depression, aims to document and archive creativity in the face of poverty. Thought some of you might have an interest in this!

Tom Chimes died Monday

Thanks to Rob Matthews for first alerting us to the death Monday of Philadelphia artist Tom Chimes, and to PAFA for confirming it. At the time of Chimes’ retrospective exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in 2007, he was pretty chipper and charming.

Alec Soth at Penn: road trips, stories and cell phone snapshots

Photographer Alec Soth–the man who personally redefined Minneapolis as an art mecca, came to Penn April 22 to talk about what he does.

Going to Harlem for the Kalup Linzey show

I’m very excited to see this show.  Linzey’s videos rejigger the world through his lens of color, gender and pop culture.  Anyway, see you on the other side and stay cool, cats.  I hear it’s going to be 72 today and …87 tomorrow and Sunday.  This is not valid April weather, it’s just weird.

Rhymes with both and windy

Kehinde Wiley‘s first name rhymes with windy. Alec Soth‘s second name rhymes with both. Last week they were both in town to talk about their art work and to listen to their names mangled over and over.

Look! It’s Cezanne at the PMA

In the latest edition of our video series Look! It’s Libby and Roberta, we take a look at Cezanne and Beyond at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Videographer David Kessler is the  wizard with the camera and so much more!!! Look! It’s Libby and Roberta – Cézanne and Beyond from Look! it’s Libby and Roberta on Vimeo.

Leon Kelly; New York show of a little-known Philadelphian

If Leon Kelly (1901-1982) is unknown to most museum-goers and scholars who follow American art, he has only himself to blame.  The PAFA-trained artist and Philadelphian, born and bred, spent the last forty years of his life in isolation.

Taking Measures–secret lives at FLUXspace

The secrets we keep from ourselves, from each other, are the subject of a terrific show at FLUXspace. At a time when the national conversation is focused on the secrets of CIA torture memos from the last administration, this show seems to reverberate beyond its specific focus on the personal secrets we all hold.

Weekly Update – R. L. Washington and Phil Stein’s urban wonders at Sande Webster

This week’s Weekly has my review of the two-person show at Sande Webster Gallery.  Below is my copy with some pictures.  Painter R. L. Washington and photographer Phil Stein have their eyes on Philadelphia, and their works at Sande Webster Gallery are quiet monuments to city streets and ordinary people. In his third solo show with the gallery, Washington continues to chronicle urban life—and people, especially—in dreamy works that approximate the real without giving you specifics. The artist doesn’t work from photos but from memory and observation. His scenes have a poetic concreteness—you feel their truth and accept these people ... More » »