December 2009 Archive

Shepard Fairey Does Venice, Silvio

Shepard Fairey, who rose to fame and made his mark with his wildly successful and now controversial Obama campaign poster, has left his mark here in Venice as well.  During the June international art orgy known as the Venice Biennale, Fairey was brought to a tiny bar in the San Polo quarter near the Rialto Bridge by two Biennale hostesses, according to Guiliano, the bartender at Boteri Cafe.

Another Merry Christmas greeting

With a picture.  Merry Xmas everyone!  Safe travels, happy gatherings and an excellent new year!

Merry Christmas

Yo! stop reading artblog; commune with your family. Love, Libby

Tatted–made in Philadelphia about people everywhere

If you’re still looking for a great Christmas present for someone, Marianne Bernstein’s Tatted, locally published and locally photographed by Philadelphia artist Marianne Bernstein is just the ticket. Mostly it’s about people, and finds the tender side of people, some of them pretty rough looking, whom she encountered on South Street, sporting tattoos. Here’s today’s Inquirer story by Natalie Pompilio about the book.

Weekly Update – Postmodernist Flurries in Fleisher-Ollman’s emerging artist show

This week’s Weekly has my review of Fleisher-Ollman’s emerging artist invitational.  Below’s the copy with some pictures.  More photos at flickr. The world is a diminished place in “I Don’t Watch the Internet,” Fleisher-Ollman Gallery’s seventh annual emerging artist survey. A non-themed invitational that’s big on miniatures and works that whir and clack, the show rounds up modest-scale sculptures, and drawings and forlorn videos that fit with the current economic climate.

Westcott prints available now

This just in from Spector Projects (Shelley Spector’s freelance curatorial and products division), a new line of digital prints of paintings by the late Rebecca Westcott is available for purchase at the project’s website. The four, poster-sized works (largest is 49 1/2 x 34″) are based on four paintings by the Pew-winning Westcott, killed in a road-side accident in 2004 shortly after winning the fellowship.  The paintings on which the new digital prints are based are currently in the National Portrait Gallery as part of the show Communities — on view through July 10. (Andrea told you about that show ... More » »

Supergirl! all-girl videos at Nexus

At this moment when video has become an enormous presence in Philadelphia, one of the smartest and up-to-date video group shows around is at Philadelphia’s vintage collective, Nexus.  Supergirl!, an exhibit of work by nine women, is provocative–both for its post-feminist content and its art historical chops.

Quick links to Cai Guo-Qiang in Philadelphia

Just in case you missed Cai Guo-Qiang’s gunpowder burn up at the PMA and inside at the Fabric Workshop and Museum on Dec. 11, here’s great coverage at Funnel Pages by Dave Kim with a couple YouTube videos for that You Are There moment. Also on Funnel Pages, Dave has written a review of the Haverford College show Imaginative Feats which Andrea covered for artblog. Thanks Dave for sending on the coverage, and we should mention that we love Funnel Pages.  It’s looking great!

The Return of Liberta–awards for 2009

2009 is the year artblog had its sixth birthday and graduated to a WordPress design and a real logo and new maps and listings!  Liberta made it to the Miami art fairs this year for the first time.  Loved it, won’t be going back — we’ll take Manhattan. Volta New York is still our favorite art fair.   This also was the year Liberta realized some people hate her. Frankly we don’t give a damn and will carry on as if everybody loved us. Hey we love everybody almost.

2009 Liberta Awards coming soon!!

We hope. Lunch first.