September 2010 Archive

Weekly Update 2 – Videos in the subway concourse at Design Philadelphia

DesignPhiladelphia (Oct. 7-17, designphiladelphia.com) arrives with about 150 exhibits, talks, panels and events sprinkled around town in a 10-day celebration of the sleek, the efficient and the sustainable— a festival marking the city’s status as a leader in design.

Weekly Update – Fall roundup of maps, photos, artists’ self portraits and more

Hundreds of shows open in Philadelphia this fall, far too many to include in this short roundup. Six shows caught my fancy, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Nowhere at Arcadia (Sept. 23-Nov. 7. arcadia.edu)

Stephen Talasnik at Battat Contemporary in Montreal

Over the past eight years, New York-based artist Stephen Talasnik has been working to perfect his sculpture Nimbus (2002-2010), conceived specifically for the Battat Contemporary. While looming large over the rest of the pieces in his first Canadian show, the massive 25-foot-long (and sometimes 9-foot-high) sculpture equally embodies the ideas explored in the other sculptures and drawings in the show Panorama: Monolithe intime. Notions of past and future, craft and design, nature and structure, science and art all seem to converge in an art that is broad ranging and hard to define. Regardless of the deeper meanings and inspirations, the ... More » »

Next week on artblog radio – Dufala brothers on collaboration, sibling rivalry and making things

Episode 5 next Monday features Steven and Billy Blaise Dufala discussing their art, their collaboration and growing up in New Jersey.  In the short sample below, hear them discuss their working dynamic…  Listen to the entire episode on Sept. 27. 30-second sample, Steven and Billy Dufala.

Save the Dates: films by Mona Hatoum and Shirin Neshat on Oct. 9, and others at I House

Once again International House (I House) is the best venue in Philadelphia for films about art or by artists as well as early film classics.  The upcoming season includes : Thursday, Sept. 23 films by the Lumière Brothers and Georges Méliès. The beginnings of French cinema that established many of its conventions. Méliès particularly loved special effects.

Process makes it – Bambi, Projects and Vincent Michael

Process, layering, and a love of materials are evident this September at Projects Gallery, Bambi Gallery, and Vincent Michael Gallery. Projects Gallery Fresh! 2010 is the third edition of Projects Gallery’s annual season opener of emerging artists. One of the criteria in organizing this exhibition, co-curated by Gallery Director Helen Meyrick and artist Brooke Holloway, is that the participating artists must have been educated or live in Philadelphia. The show includes eleven recent BFA and MFA graduates of local art schools, and even though eight of them graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the individuality of each artist’s ... More » »

Humor at Work: Beauvais Lyons at the American Philosophical Society and The Dufala Brothers at Haverford College

I’d met Beauvais Lyons and been aware of his work before I  met my friend, Barbara,  in the garden opposite the Museum of the American Philosophical Society (APS) where Lyons had set up his display last week (on through tomorrow).  Most of those who stopped by, however, had no reason to know this wasn’t another educational display within Independence National Historical Park.

Under Construction–Chris Lawrence at Extra Extra

Chris Lawrence’s installation Ultracoital Oasis at Extra Extra [September 10-28, 2010] is the work of one depraved do-it-yourselfer. The artist very effectively assembles materials of the type you find at Home Depot—but not at all according to the DIY guidebook.

Breaking news – Knight Foundation launches $9M Philly arts grant program

Wowza! look at this, y’all. Money available for arts projects regardless of whether you’re big fish, little fish, non-profit, struggling alternative gallery, arts organization or artist, even. A two-question application, submit it between Oct. 5-31 (application not open yet). Have a great idea for a project–apply for funds. The catch: You must find matching funds for what you request from Knight. Read the press release below.

Weekly Update – Punctum(s), it’s all in the details, at Tiger Strikes Asteroid

Adam Blumberg’s art is about many things, mostly related to the culture of small-town, Midwest America where he grew up. The objects, drawings and photographs in his solo show, Punctum(s), at Tiger Strikes Asteroid have an anthropological feel—a take on the informal modern tribes to which we all belong (motorcycle riders, protesters and shoppers, for example). It’s all a little elliptical, and while you don’t have to do the reading assignments (although Roland Barthes’ Camera Lucida and George Baker’s October magazine essay “Photography Expanded” are both excellent reads), it may help to know the theoretical underpinnings to the works and ... More » »