Posts By jennifer zarro
Infinite Mirror – Images of American Identity at the James A. Michener Art Museum
–In her review of the new show at the Michener, Jennifer talks about the iconography and shifting, multi-faceted identity of America and Americans.–the artblog editors————————>Images of a Chicana woman and a wheelchair-bound grandmother hang on the gallery walls adjacent to a young, white Rockabilly family. Nearby, Doris Bittar’s oil on linen, Camo-Flag 1 marries stars and stripes patterns with Islamic abstraction. Facing all of these works, from across the gallery, is the the visage of the great African-American artist, Elizabeth Catlett-Mora. Infinite Mirror: Images of American Identity, currently on view at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, is an exhibition ... More » »
That Person Who is Your Creation – Iranian feminist art at the Asian Arts Initiative
The current exhibition at the Asian Arts Initiative is small in scale but presents big ideas. That Person Who is Your Creation includes five paintings and two videos. Together these works create a narrative about identity and Iranian women artist’s investigations and negotiations in and of western culture. The paintings from Mona Shomali’s Naked Folklore Series show female nudes or age-old stories such as that of Adam and Eve. There is also a portrait of the poet Forough Farrokhzad, whose poem, Call to Arms, inspired the title of this exhibition. The feminist themes in many of the works are inspired by ... More » »
Is There a Future for Cultural Journalism?
Since the economic nosedive sent traditional print journalism into crisis mode, the health and future of culture and arts journalism has been a topic of serious concern, especially in the arts community. The Philadelphia Inquirer, for example, had a twenty percent profit margin in 2000 but by 2012 it had lost seventeen million dollars. These statistics were shared by Bill Marimow, Editor of the Inquirer, at a recent panel discussion, “Plotting the Future of Cultural Journalism” held at WHYY’s Hamilton Commons. Marimow said that newspapers have yet to find a sustainable business model in the current economic climate which includes ... More » »
Louise Fishman at Woodmere Art Museum talks of family and other influences
The inimitable Louise Fishman was at the Woodmere Art Museum this past Sunday to speak to a huge crowd about her life, her paintings, her mother, Gertrude Fisher-Fishman, and her aunt, Razel Kapustin. All three artists are part of the Woodmere’s “Generations” exhibition, a powerful show about the strengths, styles, and inspirations shared among these three great, related painters. Fishman told us that she proposed this show after realizing that her mother’s artistic reputation was in danger of suffering the same forgotten fate as her aunt’s. Razel Kapustin was at one time a vital member of the Philadelphia art world, ... More » »
Edgar Heap of Birds’ signs and a lecture at Temple Contemporary
This past Thursday, Tyler School of Art alum, Edgar Heap of Birds (b.1954) presented a fascinating lecture about art and life to a huge crowd in Temple Contemporary Gallery. An internationally recognized artist, Heap of Birds’ conceptual art employs text, abstraction, and installation to reference his Native American identity and culture, or other global indigenous cultures. Heap of Birds is a professor of art and Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He has travelled widely to teach, live, and make work about the stories and lives of people whose cultures have been forcibly erased. Part of his practice ... More » »
Make your own thunderstorm in D minor—a new work by Chris Klapper and Patrick Gallagher debuts at the Skybox
A storm is brewing in a cavernous warehouse in Port Richmond. For over a year, New York-based, Tyler School of Art-educated artists Chris Klapper and Patrick Gallagher have been working in this 30,000-sq. ft., donated studio/warehouse to realize their first collaborative piece: Symphony in D Minor, an epic, interactive installation with sculpture, video and audio, which will allow participants to create a symphonic thunder storm. Opening at The Skybox at 2424 Studios on October 20, Symphony in D Minor is the artists’ most ambitious project to date. A large-scale installation like this is possible in Philadelphia because of the massive ... More » »
A Sneak Peek Behind the Fence – Mauro Zamora Prepares for Wave Hill
Mauro Zamora has been working hard to get ready for the September 19 opening of his exhibition at Wave Hill in the Bronx, and he recently let me visit his studio for a sneak peak at what he’s been preparing. Wave Hill is a 28-acre public garden and cultural institution that overlooks the Hudson River. Its manicured gardens and breathtaking landscape are the perfect foil for Zamora’s paintings that are all about nature’s impulse to thrive despite human-made restrictions.
On Making Lots of Woodchips – Evelyn Keyser at 87
Philadelphia artist Evelyn Keyser recently turned 87. An amazing woman, she successfully managed home-life and a stunning career as an artist. I had the good fortune to be able to speak with her about her sixty year career, during which she sold nearly every piece she ever made and completed nine public commissions for the city of Philadelphia.
Joseph Hu and Mauro Zamora: Forest Reverie at Vox
Joseph Hu and Mauro Zamora team up this month at Vox Populi to present an installation that suggests the possibilities and limits of daydreaming in nature.
Candy Depew at Design Center and installations at Park Towne Place
Candy Depew’s new installation at the Design Center feels like an escapist fantasy. The radically altered black bicycle in the entry hall becomes the perfect vehicle on which to hit the road and not look back.
