June 2010 Archive

Weekly Update – Butch’s straight and gay vision

Butch Cordora’s dream was to make a glossy fantasy photo calendar and a movie portraying a gay man (himself) with selected straight men. The straights are nude in the pictures and … OK, Butch’s dream is a very special niche dream, but it’s one that he’s turned into a reality.

Public art–there’s an app for that

I’ve done a lot of snarling at Philadelphia’s public art from time to time, but an unusually well thought out, user-friendly public art project has been unveiled recently that brings rhyme and reason plus history and art history to some of the sculptures that I’ve rejected or ignored over the years (not to mention to a bunch of favorites, like the Charioteer of Delphi, shown below). The city’s main tenders of public art, the Fairmount Park Art Association, have created a terrific audio tour–Museum Without Walls: AUDIO–of public sculptures. On the hoof or at home online, the tour works in ... More » »

Public art–this post is postponed

I’m having some technical problems with this post and will be posting it again some time in the future, when things are back under control. Sorry if you clicked over to see it!

First computer song and other recordings enter Library of Congress

Because we all like a little change, and because I love this stuff, and because archiving is an important human activity and it’s fascinating what makes it into archives, here is news about 25 classic recordings that made it into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress this year.

Philadelphia Painting Story at Woodmere

Since that wonderful 1940 George Cukor movie, The Philadelphia Story, the phrase Philadelphia Story has become a punning way for media outside our fair city to report on our doings.   artnet.com had a column called Philadelphia Story that I wrote for several years. And here’s a recent Philadelphia story on a Cleveland website — it’s about the Phillies.

Traffic Jam: Pascale Marthine Tayou at Gare Saint Sauveur, Lille

My travels this summer were plagued by museums undergoing restoration (the Stedelijk and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam and the Museum of Modern Art at Villeneuve d’Ascq, just outside Lille, with its great but little-known modernist collection) but a surprise was the new art facility created by the city of Lille last year at the 1861 cargo rail station, Gare Saint Sauveur.   Franklin Azzi used a light touch in converting two buildings on the almost 4-square mile site into a multipurpose art center that is glamorous and up-to-date while acknowledging the buildings’ industrial past. There’s a huge exhibition space, a cafe looking onto ... More » »

Subtle and mysterious photos of Daydream Nation

Post by Emily Friedman Daydream Nation, PPAC’s 1st Annual Contemporary Photography Exhibition, opened several weeks ago in the Crane Arts Building.  Philadelphia Photo Art Center received 170 entries for the juried show, from which they chose 34 photographs by 34 different artists and awarded three prizes. Jock Reynolds and Joshua Chuang, respectively Yale University Art Gallery’s Director and Assistant Curator of Photographs, judged the entries.

Tim Hawkinson in LA at Blum & Poe

Tim Hawkinson’s signature whimsy is somewhat limited at his work on view at Blum & Poe in Los Angeles (closing today). I’m not saying the show wasn’t interesting or that the work was a bust. I’m just saying, the biggest pieces in the show were a bit ponderous.

How half of artblog lost its power

Feeling lucky! Our power outage was only 30 hours long. And the PECO guys in their orange t-shirts and overalls never looked better. Wish I had taken a picture of them. One of my neighbors, Mary, kept saying, “I love you.” Judy called them “Rock stars.” That about sums in up!

Art, With A Chance of Attitude

Little Berlin’s group show, Forecast, places work by newly admitted members of the collective alongside pieces by founding members. As the press release notes, with a moderating dash of sarcasm: “Get a glimpse into the future through the artwork we make. Hence the clever title, FORECAST.” Indeed, the show gives a sense of what’s happening—some good, some still coming along—here in Philly. New collective member Leslie Rogers’ video account of a mugging, “The Meeting,” is undoubtedly the highlight of the show.