May 2010 Archive

Caution: Art in Here; Group Exhibition by PMA Art Handlers at Cerulean Arts

It’s no surprise that good artists know other good artists; curators and gallerists always turn to artists for recommendations. Nor is it surprising that artists fill the ranks of museum art handlers. Art handlers are almost exclusively artists, as are many behind the scenes museum workers; all but curators, for some reason. What is a surprise is how strong and varied the exhibition is that Hiro Sakaguchi organized of work by thirteen of his colleagues at the Philadelphia Museum of Art ( PMA), showing at Cerulean Arts through June 18. It’s a good indication of how pluralistic the current art ... More » »

Levonian and Campuzano at Fleisher/Ollman

The only image I’ve ever seen of a woman shaving her armpits is in an ad or commercial for shaving products. But Jennifer Levonian’s stop-action animation Her Slip is Showing begins with just that. It’s a dead-on metaphor of a woman trying to make herself acceptable and beat back her natural self as she dresses for a childhood friend’s wedding shower.

Here today, gone tomorrow, still worth buying

In one of our chats yesterday about Manya’s piece in the Weekly on selling art, I said, We as a society spend $100 or $150 for seats at a rock concert, but why not for an ephemeral piece of art that might last a day, a year, five years, giving us pleasure? I wouldn’t have had this thought perhaps if Roberta and I weren’t talking together. The following thoughts ensued from the original conversation:

Thursday morning reading roundup

From blogs to zines, here’s some interesting quick reads. Two from Culture Monster Architecture critic for the LA Times, Christopher Hawthorne, writes about Frank Gehry’s new Cleveland Clinic for Brain Health in Las Vegas. What a crazy looking building — my brain is jumping up and down just looking at it.

Food for thought from Manya Scheps – sell your art y’all

Manya’s article about the art market in the PW today strikes a chord with us.   Young artists in Philadelphia need to learn to sell their art. That’s part of the equation in growing a collector base. If the art’s not for sale, how can anyone collect it? How can we all move forward? Performance artists, you can sell your work. Figure out a price and how to display some performance memorabilia and market it. If Rirkrit Tiravanija can sell a pot of mussel shells that was part of a cooking performance, you can surely figure out a piece of ... More » »

Barnes movie screening tonight with popcorn — It’s a steal!

Drexel prof Blaise Tobia sent us this notice saying the school was screening The Art of the Steal tonight, 7 PM — FREE with free popcorn. Drexel prof Robert Zaller, who appears in the movie and is against the Barnes move, will be there for the public discussion after the movie. Wed. May 19 7 PM FREE Drexel University, Bossone Center, 3128 Market St. (the big glass wedge building near 32nd and Market) Mitchell Auditorium more info

Small World

Discussion of globalization in the art world most often addresses the situation of artists, the art market, and large international exhibitions, many of them held periodically such as Documenta or biennial exhibitions in Sao Paolo, Istanbul, Sharjah and elsewhere. There has been less general discussion about what globalization means for other art institutions, so I was interested to find the book, The Global Art World; Audiences, Markets, and Museums, edited by Hans Belting and Andrea Buddenseig (Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern:2009, ISBN 978-3-7757-2407-4), which is much less dry than its title.

West Prize application now open

Hello everybody.  We just got an email from Lee Stoetzel at the West Collection that the application for the 2011 West Prize is now live on their website.  The application deadline is November 1 and the new process for awarding the $25,000 top prize/grant is explained (basically, each of the ten finalists must propose a project and one project will be chosen for funding by Paige West.)

See what happens – Evolutionary artwork at Projects, Bambi, and Little Berlin

At Projects Gallery, Susan B. Howard’s exhibit “Tipping Point” features expressionistic paintings of animals in natural environments. At a cursory glance, these brightly colored pieces seem to embody the harmony of peaceable kingdoms. “Actually,” Howard said, laughing when I suggested this, “each painting is more like a mini soap opera.”

Minimal, Emotional, and Visceral in Old City

Two types of minimalism sit side by side on 2nd street this month. At Larry Becker Contemporary Art Max Cole: Light and Line contains thirteen recent paintings in black and white. Cole’s work has changed in subtle shifts over 30 years and this new work is very consistent with her painting style while continuing that steady development. Horizontal stripes dominate the paintings, but on inspection some of the wide swaths are constructed of tiny parallel vertical lines that blend together into soft, tonal areas. As hairs combine to create the solid mass of a paintbrush, these individual strokes merge into ... More » »