July 2010 Archive

Molly Mullahy at Bohdi Coffee

A tiny show of works on paper by Molly Mullahy at Bohdi Coffee on Head House Square has some pieces that strike gold.

Restoration puts the drama back in the Gross Clinic

By Peter Crimmins The restoration crew at the Philadelphia Art Museum likes to say that The Gross Clinic now looks like it did when it came off Thomas Eakins easel in 1875. Only partially true. The way it is presented in the Museum’s Perelman Building is nothing like the debut the painting had at the 1876 Centennial Expo in Fairmount Park.

Off to New York this weekend

Hello, campers, Steve and I are slipping away to the summery ambiance of glass, steel and concrete in New York. We are hoping to do some museums (PS1; Whitney; Met) and maybe look for a hidden treasure or two. See you next week!

In focus

Gallery 339’s 10-artist summer show, In Review, doesn’t quite come together as a statement about contemporary photography—the fluffy press release extols the work’s “lively, complex, and intelligent dialogue about meaningful issues.” Nonetheless, the uniformly polished work is attractive and occasionally insightful.

“Matisse; Radical Invention 1913-17″ at MoMA

Matisse; Radical Invention 1913-17 at the Museum of Modern Art through Oct. 11 is not for those take the artist at his word that a painting should be like a good armchair: familiar and comfortable, presumably. Rather it’s for those who like a challenge and find that almost a century later some of his work is still unsettling and disturbing; paintings such as the Portrait of Yvonne Landsberg (1914, Philadelphia Museum of Art) defined entirely by scratched lines which radiate like a force field around a sitter who merges with her chair; or the Portrait of Olga Merson (1911, Museum ... More » »

Weekly Update – Warhol’s celebrity photos

Andy Warhol loved to take pictures of people, especially celebrities. Warhol was a potent combination of socially awkward and a voyeur; he killed two birds with one stone by frequently taking refuge behind a camera lens in social situations, and his prodigious output shows it: At the time of his death in 1987, the pop artist had amassed more than 60,000 snapshots and Polaroids of his social circle and celebrities.

Pause for something completely different

Suddenly at the University of Chicago I discovered I could no longer tolerate literary criticism. I had noticed that anthologies of poetry and anthologies of art criticism seemed to have the same authors–Ashbery, Benedikt, Schjeldahl, O’Hara, et cetera–and all these writers seemed to live in New York. So I transferred to Columbia and decided to interview poets for my dissertation. Why not? Sexual Politics by Kate Millet had been a Columbia dissertation.

artblog radio is coming

Our first podcast interview with Jennifer Dalton and William Powhida, jurors of Vox VI, is almost in the can! Here’s a sample clip. We think it will make you want to hear more. Look for the full interview next week — it’s great! Jennifer Dalton – 28-second clip This interview is the first of our planned series of bi-weekly interviews, artblog radio.  Philly alternative comic con is the sponsor for our first episode.  If you want to sponsor an episode — or the series — check our ad rates page.  The link is in the nav bar at the top ... More » »

Lovely Love park paintings

Ben Volta makes water into art.  That doesn’t make him Jesus.  But I have faith in what he’s doing with these kids in Love Park.  They’re painting with water from the fountain and they’re loving it!  See the short, sweet YouTube video after the jump.

Monday morning tidbits

Hey, it’s Monday!  Wake up and try these links for a mix of fun and thoughtful stuff.