September 2011 Archive

Belknapʼs bizarro world at Rebekah Templeton

Ordnance, Timothy Belknapʼs solo show at Rebekah Templeton, is a humorous and fun explosion of colors, textures, and forms. in this comment on the dangers in the American dream, Belknap deploys a surrealist and almost cartoonish eye to mash up the everyday benign with a suggestion of real physical harm or deformity. Some of the unexpected occurrences in this strange world include plastic skeletons coming to life, a lawn mower squirting its engine into the air, and a display of succulent fancy cakes concocted out of multi-colored fireworks.

“A Series of Tests” scores high marks – Fringe review

New York’s AGGROCRAG returned to the Philadelphia Fringe Festival this year with a farcical indictment of the American medical establishment, A Series of Tests. This world premiere combined hospital drama and science-fiction, with a generous amount of Egyptology thrown into the mix.

Annette Monnier video version is up

We added the video to our artblog radio interview with Annette Monnier.

Annette Monnier talks about guilt, community, humor and values

Perhaps you remember the Tiki Bar at Copy Gallery. Annette Monnier, one of the group that ran Copy Gallery, calls it one of her favorite shows there–a kind of social experiment in which people expect to find a gallery with one set of rules, but instead enter a bar with a whole other set of values. She talks about her confused relationship to the American Flag and about how guilty she feels in spending time making art when there are so many problems in the world. Her antidote to that guilt is her job running the ClayMobile program. She talks ... More » »

The red scare and Adrienne Skye Roberts

Adrienne Skye Roberts‘ reading of her family history, with visual aids, is a magical thing, occupying its own unique space between a performance and a talk. I heard her Swimming Lessons and the Red Scare at the Coral Street Arts House, with about 20 other people, a couple of whom figured in her story. You can hear her Friday, Sept. 23 at Vox Populi if you missed her Coral Street talk (details at the end; a talk for tomorrow night has been cancelled).

Jenny Sabin’s curious greenhouse at APS Museum’s Jefferson Garden – an interview

Back in August, I had an appointment to talk with Jenny Sabin, architect, designer and Pew Fellow, at the APS Museum‘s Jefferson Garden (across 5th St. from the Museum). Sabin had designed and was in the process of building a very curious looking greenhouse as a temporary art installation at the site. It was two weeks before the soft opening and 3 weeks before there was to be a real opening AND a Fringe festival play performed in and around the structure.

New news! Bruce Conner screenings, urban farming documentary, Phillies mural and more!

News Latest issue of Nicola Midnight St. Claire On September 11, the newest issue of the Nicola Midnight St. Claire came out. In this installment, there are some articles on Katie Murken’s installation Continua as well as Bodega’s show Mobile Device. There is also a video “centerfold” and a curious take on a relic from 9/11 on display in the Penn Museum’s show Excavating Ground Zero: Fragments from 9/11. And in breaking news ...this just in from Matt Kalasky, editor of the Nicola: “Tonight at 7 PM in Temple Gallery the editors of the Nicola Midnight St.Claire will be presenting ... More » »

Words and images – Rob Wynne’s IN COG NITO and Neysa Grassi’s Rose Gatherer at Locks

Two solo exhibitions take over Locks Gallery now through Oct. 8. Neysa Grassi ‘s Rose Gatherer on the third floor showcases the last ten years of paintings by the Philadelphia artist.  The abstract paintings reveal the artist’s attention to mark-making and to the physicality of her process. Rob Wynne’s IN COG NITO on the first floor shows the New York artist’s fascination with the relationship between art and language. From his first explorations in the 1970s to his most recent work, IN COG NITO provides a survey of Wynne’s interest in text-based art.

Interview: Albo Jeavons and gangsters in suits

An anti-corporate guy like Albo Jeavons couldn’t possibly work with a gallery. He’s constitutionally indisposed to men and women in suits. So tomorrow night (Friday, Sept. 16th), he is mounting his own show in his own apartment. The digital prints are all based on the Sistine Chapel, with voluptuous figures of corporate godhead and equally voluptuous figures of the rest of us non-corporate shmoes.

Grizzly Grizzly – the parallel processes of Skye Gilkerson and Sarah Steinwachs

Subtle, intricate, and intelligent – that is how to best summarize Out of Context at Grizzly Grizzly. The show consists of two artists with a similar process, but vastly different products – Skye Gilkerson and Sarah Steinwachs – and runs until September 24.