May 2011 Archive

Templeton Spotlights 9 emerging artists

In the small open-call show Spotlights at Rebekah Templeton, the nine artists in the exhibit do a great job of making fresh work from the old tactic of making silk purses out of sows ears.

People and places in Four Blocks Square at Ven and Vaida

Four Blocks Square, on view at Ven and Vaida Gallery through May 31, is the result of a yearlong collaboration between Judy Breslin and Anthony Latess. Like their exhibition, Some People’s Lives from 2009, this project also involves community engagement. However, in this new collaboration, each artist produces a distinct body of work. Together, they conceived the project’s framework, with each artist working within the same designated area of historic Old City. Running from Race to Walnut (North to South) and 5th to Front (West to East), the project encompasses a sixteen block area.

artblog needs WordPress whiz!

If you’re reading this and you have solid web skills, we want to talk with you! artblog is looking for a part-time tech guru to start ASAP. Tasks will include installation of WordPress updates, tech support for artblog staff, and assistance with design upgrades (long term project). Expertise in all facets of WordPress is a must. Familiarity with template options, including Thematic, is also a must. Knowledge of programming languages and graphic design is a plus. Work is off site on your own computer with flexible hours. Hours vary based on tasks needed each month with an average of 5-10 hours/month.  Monthly staff ... More » »

Tristin Lowe at Fleisher/Ollman is Stellar

It is always refreshing to find an artist with a body of work that is as solid as it is diverse. At Fleisher/Ollman’s May exhibition Voyeur, Tristin Lowe proves that he is just such an artist – working in mediums as divergent as cell phone photography, felt sculptures, and glowing neon lights. Lowe’s explorations range from abstractions on a personal level to images of cosmic proportion, and he does so with an unabashed, yet accessible amount of curiosity and humanism.

News: Black cartoonists, punk rock, grants, and more

Free workshops at black comix convention The 10th Annual East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention is back! Philadelphia will again host the convention on May 21 at The Crown Plaza Hotel on 1800 Market Street from 10 am – 7 pm.

A Present Absence: Ai Weiwei in London

It was rather ominous to see, a few weeks ago, a group of twelve wrapped sculptures populate the courtyard of Somerset House (a neoclassical building in Central London that once housed The Royal Academy and now is home to The Courtauld Institute and various art events). Ominous because their creator, Ai Weiwei, had himself been under wraps, imprisoned by the Chinese police and not heard from since the beginning of April (recently, he has been allowed a a visit from his wife). Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads is both the first contemporary art installation in the historic courtyard and the first ... More » »

Weekly Update – ICA’s focus on collaboration and Warhol

Collaboration is a road paved with landmines, and the way to avoid those is to stay focused on the goal. Luckily for the artists involved in the Institute of Contemporary Art’s “One is the Loneliest Number,” they have their eye on the prize. The exhibit features five collaborative teams, each comprised of two emerging artists who’ve been working together for four, six, even 10 years. Some of the work feels like the call and response of two individual voices, while other works sing with one voice. The show is haunting, as several pieces focus on isolation or miscommunication, shedding light ... More » »

2011 PEI awards to organizations big and small

Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative just announced their 2011 grantees. Nice to see the grants to alternative spaces and organizations–Marginal Utility, Megawords, Vox Populi, Asian Arts Initiative, Slought (in addition to awards to some of our favorite local big guys — ICA, PMA, the Fab Workshop and Philagrafika)!  $874,900 were handed out to nine recipients — five for exhibitions and four for planning.  Since 1997, PEI has awarded 112 grants for a total of $11 million to bring excellent visual arts programming to the area — and to help foster excellent local programming. Here’s a link to the press release for full information ... More » »

Chicago on the last weekend in April: a panel at Art Chicago, a brief visit to the Art Institute of Chicago and airplane reading about Public Space

Twenty years ago, when I had just moved to Chicago, Art Chicago was the only fair in the U.S. devoted to contemporary art, and my introduction to the genre. Now that fairs are so common, it may be hard to remember that Art Basel existed only in its home city and New York had many galleries, but no fairs. Art Chicago was then held at Navy Pier, in a charmless state of decay: endless, dirty, green shag carpets that made it clear that the week before the space had held farm equipment, and the following week would likely exhibit motorcycles. ... More » »

Deep thoughts at Extra Extra, on artblog radio

The triumvirate who run Extra Extra aim their exhibitions at fellow artists. For the gallery’s team of Derek Frech, Joe Lacina and Daniel Wallace, success is not defined by sales. Rather, it’s defined by ideas, the conversation and the buzz the exhibit generates in Philadelphia’s alternative art community. They want to get people thinking, and they themselves do a lot of thinking. Here’s what they had to say. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Right click to download Extra Extra 54-second sample