July 2009 Archive

Friday reading, writing and doing

There’s a lively discussion about the Art in City Hall program over at the Weekly if you want to pipe up there and add your two cents. And to cool down afterwards, spend some time with Maira Kalman’s new blog entry, at the New York Times.  ”Can Do” is about American can-doism.  It’s a sweet shaggy dog story, and like all her musings, it’s a smile. Finally, tonight is the closing party for Pifas Place, the little town on the prairie in the warehouse on North 2nd St.  Festivities begin at 8 pm.

Friends, family, fish

I’m off to Frisco (who even says Frisco?? Maybe Frank Sinatra did.) for a meeting of the tribes–my family and my friends. We may catch some fish, too, as we plan to be on a houseboat with the friends for a few days and what else can you do on a houseboat besides drink, eat, and fish? So I’m thinking fishing and dramamine. As for the family part of things, my niece Laura is getting married to Victor. And I’ll see all the family, including Minna and Ben and Alex and Lindsey and  and  and…. Be nice to Roberta while ... More » »

Vox V–crapification and not

The crapification of materials is part of the message of Vox Populi‘s fifth annual roundup of emerging art, Vox V. The other part is the antithesis–tradition. This is not to say the show is schizo. This year’s exhibit, curated by superstar video artist Ryan Trecartin and Cerealart jefe Larry Mangel, is lots of fun, hitting the main important points in what’s happening in contemporary art here and everywhere, in subject matter and media experimentation.

Weekly Update – Art in City Hall, bound by glass cases and mired in the past

This week’s Weekly has my review of the show “In Your Dreams” at Art in City Hall. Below’s the copy with some pictures. At a time of great energy and excitement in the city’s art community, “Art in City Hall”—an exhibition program launched in 1984—is stuck doing business the old-fashioned way.

Endurance at Abington

This summer heat’s hard to endure so we’re going to tell you about a trip we took to nice shady cool Abington Art Center. Abington has this really great sculpture garden and generally we make that trip at least once a year. There’s a new show in the garden and woods that just opened and will be up through Nov. 30, Endurance: Visualizing Time.

A new library, an exhibition of book design and a bookstore: the best contemporary art in Amsterdam at the moment

Amsterdam’s usual venues for contemporary art are currently closed: the Stedelijk Museum is still undergoing expansion – they say they’ll open in 2010; De Appel has lost its space; and SMART Project Space, an alternative venue, was between shows although I had lunch with Hilda de Bruijn, Head of Exhibitions and discussed the situation. That meant the most interesting contemporary art to be seen in Amsterdam this summer involves books.

High on the High Line

A visit to Brooklyn with Alex and Lindsey last Sunday turned into a trip to the newly opened High Line, the former railroad trestle that has been converted into a park/promenade for the public in Manhattan. The park seems like a great paradigm for remaking the Reading Viaduct in Philadelphia.

Gilbert and George on politics and Union Jacks

In 2007, Gilbert & George mounted a massive retrospective at the Tate Modern that included “Mullah.” The tremendous work (2.42 x 2.02m) from 1980, featured a stone-faced icon seemingly cast from the Magic Forest. Composed of photographs of cut planks of wood (knots for eyes, nose and mouth) and collaged together in Gilbert & George’s signature multi-panel digital print in black and white, the work seems prescient these days as “mullah” gains traction across the Internet following the violent crackdown on the post-election street demonstrations in Iran.

Pifas is the place to redefine DIY

As jumble sales and neighborhood carnivals go, The current Pifas Place exhibit (at Pifas, doh) is a bit surreal. But as art goes, it’s a barrel of fun–a mix of performances and installations.

Book Review: Games and art

Cage and Duchamp utilized chance in their art. Cage was less competitive than Duchamp. He loved casting yarrow sticks and reading the I Ching.