Fleisher Art Memorial @ the White House
Student Zulmarie Nazario, 16, attended a ceremony on November 2 at the White House where she received the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from First Lady Michelle Obama on behalf of the Fleisher Art Memorial. The prestigious award is for Fleisher’s work to develop learning and life skills in young people through the arts and creative experience. Nazario is one of many students who participate in Fleisher’s after school program in which a number of activities help young people explore their artistic and creative abilities.

Matt Braun, Executive Director of Fleisher and Zulmarie Nazario with Michelle Obama.

Barnes continues education with construction workers

Construction workers listen to an art lecture courtesy of the Barnes Foundation.

Although the old Merion location may be closed, and the new building not yet complete on the Parkway, the Barnes Foundation has not stopped its mission of art education.  Philly.com reports that the construction workers laboring on the new Barnes building have been receiving in-depth classes about art and aesthetics every Wednesday courtesy of John Gatti, painter and education director for the foundation.  Classes are in the construction trailer across the street from the new Barnes site.

Mural News
Two upcoming mural programs look great. First is the The Roots Mural Project courtesy of the Mural Arts Program and South Street Headhouse District honoring Philly’s hometown heroes and internationally recognized band, The Roots. Catch Questlove at the press conference on Monday, November 7 at 10:30 AM at Headhouse Square. Second, on Sunday November 13 Sonia Sanchez will kick off Peace is a Haiku Song, also a Mural Arts Program, in conjunction with First Person Arts Festival. The project is a collaborative haiku poem in which anyone can participate. The products will become part of an art installation designed by Anthony Campuzano and displayed during the First Person Festival,  We think it’s inspired programming to have word artist (Campuzano) do a word art mural through First Person Arts (which is all about words) and the Mural Arts Program (all about imagery).

An exploration of recorded sound by Bill Moriarty

Bill Moriarty

Venturing into the ephemeral realm of sound, hipster Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction is showing, er playing the sound art of Bill Moriarty this month. The mixing artist, recording engineer, sound designer, and record producer has worked with Man Man, Dr. Dog and lots of other bands. The audio show opens tonight, November 4 (reception 6-8 PM) and runs through November 27.

Anti-Wall Street art on Lancaster Avenue (and beyond)

Previously Occupied: 1984-1988 will showcase a number of works made by Virginia Maksymowicz during the mid 1980s, when she worked a day job as a temporary secretary for major Wall Street firms. The opening doubles as a fundraiser for Occupy Philly, accepting donations in the form of checks and warm clothing, blankets, etc. (please, no food). The reception is on November 11 from 6-9 PM.

Schuylkill Center Hawk Mountain trip

The Schuylkill Center wants to take you to Hawk Mountain, the best place in the Northeast to view the fall raptor migration now underway.  Check the Center’s upcoming trips scheduled for more (the next Hawk Mt. trip is November 5)  (Did you know raptors migrated?  We at artblog are amazed because they never come through our backyards.) Cost is $25 for members and $35 for non-members. Space is limited so call 215-482-7300 x 110 or email scee@schuylkillcenter.org for more info.

Opportunities

You’ve heard of CSA’s? That would be Community Supported Agriculture.  Now there is CSA, Community Supported Art, a new nationally-syndicated program in Philadelphia’s Office Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy that seeks to hook up collectors and artists to foster the economic stability of artists and the art community.   Community Supported Art Program is sponsored byf the Knight Foundation. The deadline for application is November 30 and you can find a PDF with more info here.

The Schuylkill Center is looking for artists and crafters for a family craft event December 4. There is a $20 fee for a vendor table, but, give a 45-minute children’s workshop the day of the craft fair and  your table is free. The deadline to apply is November 11.

Here’s news about Artspace and Artist’s Space, so don’t be confused now.  Artspace is offering a chance to win a free trip to Art Basel Miami Beach in exchange for signing up for a free membership. And Artist’s Space in New York endured a short occupation by a splinter group of Occupy Wall Street recently.  The group had its own hashtags (#Occupy38), campers, and a dance party, naturally.  via Art Fag City

Hello yogis and hard bodies. Culture Monster reports that performance artist Marina Abramović is “seeking dynamic adult men and women, 5’– 6’ tall, with excellent physical stamina, focus and discipline” for an upcoming show at LA MOCA. All ages welcome. For more info, visit her Facebook page.

The Gallery at Delaware County Community College is seeking fiber artists mainly working in a sculptural format for an upcoming group exhibition to be potentially included in FiberPhiladelphia 2012.  via InLiquid

Wexler Gallery is seeking a Gallery Administrator to replace current admin, Phil Jackson, who is moving to New York.  via InLiquid.

Artist News

Penn Design professor Terry Adkins has a major upcoming show at Tang Museum. This is a big traveling show with a catalog.

Sarah Moore, "Backwards".

Sarah Moore‘s photography series “Expanse” is featured in this month’s issue of the online Fraction Magazine.

Knapp Gallery has a show of furniture this month – a first for the gallery .  The artist is Karl Slocum, the gallery director.

Educator Janice Merendino recently had a write up about the art workshops she designs and conducts for people with cognitive, social and physical disabilities at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Jayson Musson as Hennessy Youngman

Former Philly-ite (he’s now a Brooklynite) Jayson Musson’s alter ego Hennessy Youngman is on the bill at a comedy showcase that’s part of the big New York performance art festival, Performa.via Art Fag City

Comedy Night @ PhilaMOCA
This Saturday, October 1, at 7:00 PM, PhilaMOCA will be the site of I LOVE MITCH HEDBERG: Art for the Late Great Comedian. A number of comedy acts (including comedy by Andrew Jeffrey Wright), refreshments, and artwork are on tap. Special guest Lynn Shawcroft will screen a video of unreleased Mitch Hedberg comedy footage.

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours open this weekend
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours (POST) is the largest tour of artist work spaces in the region and it starts this weekend, October 1-2, for studios WEST of Broad Street. On October 15-16 there will be tours of locations EAST of Broad Street. The tours are free and run from 12 – 6 PM. Of particular interest for photo enthusiasts is Light Room Photography Co-op at 1909 Wilcox Street.

Artlog city guides
Artlog, in partnership with Société Perrier just rolled out The Fall Art Guides, featuring listings of all the best shows and events from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Berlin, London, and Paris. New York and LA already have their guides out, with more to be released soon. The real question is – where is Philadelphia’s guide?

Design Philadelphia guide books ready for kickoff

Guide books for Design Philadelphia are being distributed around the city, but they can’t reach everyone. If you want to lend a hand and help distribute some materials, pick up some guide books, posters, and postcards at their office at University of the Arts, 211 South Broad Street, room 1101, from 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday. The festival kickoff is on October 13.

New gallery on Lancaster Avenue
There’s a new gallery down at 3820 Lancaster Avenue called Projects Gallery (that’s right, another Philly space named “Projects”). John Phillips and Carolyn Healy have a multimedia installation on display, along with work by other artists. Opening reception is today, Friday, September 30 from 5-9 PM.

Grounds for Sculpture adds new space

"Aerial Roots" by Steve Tobin.

New Jersey’s Grounds for Sculpture will open a 7-acre addition, “The Meadow,” on October 1 at 2 PM. With the addition, the Hamilton, NJ sculpture park and arboretum spans 42 acres in all. Featured work includes “Aerial Roots” by Steve Tobin.

24-Hour Comic Challenge
Atomic City Comics hosts the 24-Hour Comic Challenge on October 1 starting at 12 noon. A comic book can take up to three months for one person to produce, but six brave, local comic artists will attempt it in the span of a day! It should be quite the challenge, and it will be very interesting to see the results.

Nexus is not finished – it’s moving!
Formerly located in the Crane Arts Building at 1400 N. American Street, the rumors of Nexus closing are false. The true story is that they are moving. We will provide you with upcoming details when we get them.

PAFA’s Party on the Plaza and new installation

Griska in his "Grumman Greenhouse"

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will be partying on the new Lenfest plaza this Saturday to celebrate the opening of the new public space. The program starts at noon and includes kid-friendly activities and free art activities until 5 PM. In the evening there will be an unveiling of the new Claes Oldenburg sculpture “Paint Torch”, as well as the unveiling of Jordan Griska’s Grumman Greenhouse installation, a de-comissioned Cold War-era plane that is a greenhouse.

Opportunities

Last call for Institute of Contemporary Art‘s juried open video call. Monday Oct. 3 is the last day to submit. The jury selects from the submissions Monday night. This is a great opportunity to get your work seen by ICA jurors and possibly shown at ICA in their video roundup. Send DVD, CV, and artist statement to: Open Video Call c/o ICA 118 S.36th Street Philadelphia, PA 19104.

Project Basho is seeking photography teachers to lead classes, weekend workshops, and private lessons at their studio. Also stay tuned for the announcement of the artists in ONWARD ’12, Basho’s annual photography competition.

Via WooLoo, Richmond, VA non-profit 1708 Gallery has a call for exhibition proposals.

Murray State University in Kentucky is seeking work that explores the role of new media in performance, photography, installation, and video for the juried exhibition “White Hot Gold“. artblog‘s Roberta is the juror! Deadline is October 28, and the entry fee is $30 for 5 entries.

Artist News

Jury Smith, ceramics professor at St. Joseph’s University, has two upcoming shows in New York. You can find the details for both here.

A work in progress by Judith Schaechter.

Judith Schaechter gives a lecture,”Surviving Your Creativity” at the MIT Glass Lab on October 5 at 6:30 PM.

Phil Jackson is moving to NYC in January with his girlfriend Leigh Metzler who will be at the New School for Social Research. Also moving is Mary Anne Friel who is leaving the Fabric Workshop for a professorship at RISD.

Chris Lawrence has a solo show in Portland, OR, at Appendix Project Space.

The bull snake Anthony Campuzano confronted. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Anthony Campuzano is in a show at Churner and Churner in New York that opens September 30. While at a residency at Ucross in Wyoming the urbanite Campuzano had a close encounter with a big bull snake when he ran it over with his bike. (Both the snake and Anthony are fine, he reports.)

Amir Lyles will be part of Philadelphia Open Studio Tours at the Mt. Airy Art Garage this weekend, October 1 and 2.

Emily Brown is part of a group show at the June Fitzpatrick Gallery in Portland, ME.

Diedra Krieger‘s Plastic Fantastic just made an appearance at Salisbury University in Maryland.

David Carrow has new work in a group show at the Grounds for Sculpture, opening October 15th.  Carrow made the metal door for Marginal Utility as part of Hadassa Goldvicht’s exhibition on view now at the gallery.

Former Philly artist Todd Gilens has made some pretty sweet bus wraps for the transit system in San Francisco.

Lee Godie, Untitled , circa 1980. watercolor and pen on silver gelatin print, 5 x 4 inches

The “facts” the photos record are facts of the imagination, using photographic surfaces that have been cut into, folded, collaged, drawn on, written on, smooshed and otherwise distanced from documentary. Strange focuses and interruptions in clarity also undercut the documented image.

May Wilson, Ridiculous Portrait (Seashore), c. 1965-72, Collage7 1/4 x 3 7/8 inches

The portrait-related work is passonate. Weird photo-booth self-portraits by Lee Godie and humorous collaged ones by May Wilson (inserting her homely face into conventional images of women) trumpet that some women not only don’t and won’t pose for Vogue, but that they have other kinds of ideas, altogether.

Miroslav Tichy, Untitled, mid 1960s to mid 1980s, Unique black and white silver gelatin print on Baryt. 7 x 5 inches

With women for his subjects, Miroslav Tichy’s oddly material unique images are taken surreptitiously with home-made cameras. The work comes from the 1960s to ’80s, but it looks like ’20s and even earlier, with its faded exposures and light leaks and lack of focus. In these odd photos the nostalgia is an illusion, but the push and pull of desire and revulsion is not.

Oliver Herring, Monika (Vertical), 2009digital c-print with metallic photo paper applied 3-dimensionally on museum board57 5/8 x 41 x 3 1/8 inches framedCourtesy Meulensteen Gallery, New York

Oliver Herring’s masked portraits, however–based on photos he took at one of his Task art events–speak of anomie, Mardi Gras and online avatars. Herring applied 3-D masks like his subjects wore at the Task event onto the 2-D photos of the masked figures (at least that’s how I understood what I was looking at). Although a Walpurgisnacht terror looms in these large pieces, there remains a Second Life-ish disengaged playfulness, and the camp thrill of cinematic sci-fi and horror flicks–capturing the tone of 21st century life as we live it as everyday escapists.

Brion Nuda Rosch, Our Past Laid Out Before Us, 2010, acrylic on paper on found book pages, 10 5/8 x 16 1/2" unframed

The landscapes in this show are anti-Transcendental, to the point of chilliness. Landscapes are gouged with red divots (Letha Wilson), blotted with rectangles (Brion Nuda Rosch), and printed onto metal sheets that are then folded into sculptures (Virginia Poundstone). Micah Danges’ puddles of printed color subvert illusions of space and depth while suggesting a plague. In this show, landscape photographers are the canaries in the mine, chirping warnings with their dying breaths. But amidst all this gloom and doom, Isaac Tin Wei Lin invades the Great Wall of China with just a stroke of the pen. Even as he seemingly mars the landscape with calligraphic graffiti, he retains the seductive beauty–and goes beyond landscape, to confront cultural issues of power and values.

Joe Murphy, "40,000" MurphyInstallation shot

A fragment of Joe Murphy’s collection of portraits–of family and celebrities posing with Joe–are classic barbershop decor, except Joe enhanced the faces, painting or drawing odd eyebrows, red mouths–a child-like intervention all the more poignant for Joe being an adult. While this is outsider-y, with the resulting portraits startling and the size of the collection a marvel, ultimately Joe’s fantasy life is at once familiar and sad, and without the leaps of offbeat imagination I value in outsider art. In contrast, hanging right across from Joe’s portraits are the complex and imaginative collages of folk-artist Felipe Jesus Consalvos.

John Wood, Birds and Racer, c. 1960s, Collage, gelatin silver print mounted on board, 18 x 14 inches

Even much of the contemporary work in this show looks a little retro, partly because of the dominance of black & white. But, with 60 works, there’s a lot to think about, from Anthony Campuzano’s contemporary photographs of his drawings embedded in his drawings–sly syllogisms to ponder–to photographer John Wood’s mixed media experiments that offer a journey to the mind and the eye.

Frank Bramblett, photo by Roberta

Frank Bramblett, who recently retired from Tyler, is just such a person. And so, in honor of him, some of his students got together to do what they do best thanks to him. They threw him an art show.

Austin Lee and Katrina Mortorff, who organized the team that put on the show

Thanks.Frank organizers Austin Lee and Katrina Mortorff, corralled work by 33 artists (themselves included), all Frank alums, including art luminaries Trenton Doyle Hancock and Anthony Campuzano. The Lee-Mortorff production got help from their Tyler friends, too many to mention individually, but you can see the list of other participating artists at the end.

Anthony Campuzano, Double Frank, resting on a pediment at the Elkins Estate

The object of everyone’s affection, Frank, himself, was blown away, touched beyond belief. He said he was nervous when he arrived. He still looked nervous a couple of hours later. Wherever he stood on the night of the opening, Aug. 27, a receiving line of well wishers and admirers formed to hug him, shake his hand, and let them know how much he matters to them.

The opulent Elkins Estate where the show hung, on the balcony.

The show is at the barococco Elkins Estate, which is worth a visit in and of itself. The ladies who volunteer there stood watch at the drive and the door, being helpful. They told us Tuesday night was a good one for docent-led tours.

Lineup of Frank's soda cans

I liked that the tables of nibblies included Frank’s sodas–of course. Megan Bartley Matthews, who had a piece in the show, said the soda brand, which used to be a Philadelphia supermarket staple, was not so easy to track down.

Megan Bartley Matthews, who told us about the Frank's sodas

Megan was one of our students when we taught a class at Tyler with Frank. Well, really Frank taught the class, and graciously carried us when we were unsure of ourselves, which was most of the time. He never let on that we might need some help. The mix of learning from him and just being around him and seeing how his mind worked was an incomparable experience. What comes out of his mouth is elegant, complex and straight to the core of things. He could speak calmly about the encoded sex or race or violence implied in a student’s work without raising the young artist’s hackles.

Austin Lee, Face, one of the pieces in the show

So sure enough, just in case you thought he was retiring quietly, he popped one of his classic post-length comments  August 31(on Andrea’s post about art fakes at the National Gallery in London), just a four days after the Thanks.Frank opening reception. Now we know at least one of the things Frank will do in his retirement.

Katrina Mortorff, Phranks

The show runs to Sept. 21
1750 Ashbourne Road, (input 750 Ashbourne Road when using a GPS or online mapping service), Elkins Park, PA
Saturdays, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Tuesdays 5-8 p.m.

Here’s who else was in the show:

3axap Bakc, Amy Lincoln,Alngela Washko, Arden Bendler Browning, Bridget Purcell, Christopher Ulivo, Colleen McCubbbin Stepanic Dorian Dean, Dustin Metz, Esmeralda Montes Joe Piconi, Jonathan Allmaier, Joy Payton, Julia Schwadron, Kelly McRaven, Lauren Whearty, Liz Markus, Maanik Singh, Maggie Van Scoyk, Maria Walker, Michael Ambron, Rebecca Saylor Sack, Robert Goodman, Sarah MD Kohn, Sean McBride, Stephen Pentak, Thomas Vance, and Tony Lopez. UPDATE: A couple more artists joined in last minute. They are Ryan McCartney and Liz Atzberger (per comment from Austin Lee below).

Art Gallery at City Hall, installed with the current show, On the Rise

The gallery is not part of the Art in City Hall program, which will continue in the glass cases on the 2nd and 4th floor.  Rather, it will be run separately with the help of an Advisory Council made up of arts professionals, Steuer said.  Upcoming this summer is a Philadelphia School District exhibit; and in the fall, a Design Philadelphia exhibit.  ”Every effort was made to ensure the space was as “green” as possible,” Steuer told me in an email. “Special non-VOC paint was used, flooring is made from recycled material, ceiling fans installed to reduce heating and cooling needs.” Check out the gallery at the open house tomorrow, June 17, 10 am – 4 pm.  Read more on Gary Steuer’s blog.  More about the show.
Art Gallery at City Hall, Room 116

Vogel Collection @PAFA
Herb and Dorothy Vogel are newsworthy not only for having given away one of the best contemporary art collections in existence but because they are humble characters – he was a postal worker and she a librarian – who lived on one salary and spent the other buying art obsessively.

Jim Hodges (Born 1957), Blanket (Peter Norton Family Christmas Project), 1998 Woven wool textile, 52 x 72 inches, The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, 2008.31.19

At a certain point their apartment was too full and they gave the art away to the National Gallery – which couldn’t hold it all, so passed some on to museums in each of the 50 states. PAFA is the recipient of 50 Vogel pieces, mostly small works on paper, 31 of which go on view this month.  Visit works at PAFA by Richard Tuttle, Lynda Benglis and other legendary artists, then rent the documentary, Herb & Dorothy, and see the tiny aging collectors tottering around New York going on studio visits and talking with Tuttle.  It’s your guaranteed summer feel-good activity.
June 26-Sept. 12
PAFA
118 N. Broad St.
pafa.org

Summer Studio @ICA
ICA’s Summer Studio with Anthony Campuzano — the free, month-long series of drop-in art activities like film screenings, art-making, exhibits, classroom re-enactments, bull sessions and more — offers art school ambiance without the assignments, grades and guilt.  Organized by the Tyler-trained Campuzano, who showed at ICA in 2009, this summer school-ish experience follows on the heels of Ed Winkleman’s classroom-in-a-gallery in February and March. Bravo, ICA for plunging into this new art-edu-tainment territory.
July 1-31
ICA
36th and Sansom
icaphila.org

Bravo’s Work of Art
OMG these artists are so cute and the art is totally cool and Jerry Saltz is awesome did you see him tell that guy he’s not an artist???!!!  Seriously, if you’re not watching this tv art competition originated by Sex in the City’s Sarah Jessica Parker, what are you watching?
Bravo, Wednesdays at 10 pm

KAT CULCHUR @FLUXspace
Fresh from the three-day celebration No Soul For Sale at Britain’s Tate Modern, FLUXspace will re-create its Cat Culture (however it’s spelled) project, a faux anthropological exploration of how cats died out as a species in 2019.

Kat Kultur at FLUXspace, image from the free broadsheet

See the Cat Moon Bounce and pick up a copy of the broadsheet with theory by Jacques Derrida translated into icanhascheezburger language.  Meow mix hysterical.
June 26-Aug. 15
FLUXspace
3000 N. Hope St.
thefluxspace.org

David Kessler at IHouse
David Kessler’s documentary video portraits, screening on a monitor at International House’s lobby, feel like National Geographic shorts devoted to the citizens of Philadelphia’s outer reaches.  As with Errol Morris’ documentaries, Kessler’s works have no narrative voice-over to help you figure out the back story or orient you to the morality (or lack thereof) of the persons portrayed.  But that’s part of their appeal.  Stop by for a dose of reality after summer school at ICA.
To July 2. International House

Shore reading
Vox Populi’s new book We’re Working On It celebrates the member gallery’s 21st anniversary. Typical of the community-spirited nature of Vox, a large part of the 120 page book – 25 pages — is not even devoted to the member gallery—but to a historical timeline documenting the Philly alternative scene from the 1960s to the present. Vox’s story is a triumph over continued economic adversity.  And the timeline of the Philly alternative scene – compiled by Arcadia Art Gallery Director Richard Torchia – makes you understand that our town is a natural incubator of collectives.  Right now we’re in a particularly fruitful period — with 24 alternative galleries, projects and publications established in the last three years — and that doesn’t include the three or four that opened after the book went to press.  $30, available at the gallery
Vox Populi
319A N. 11th St., 4th floor
voxpopuligallery.org

Read this story at PW.

Jennifer Levonian, Her Slip is Showing (left) and Buffalo Milk Yogurt (right) installed at Fleisher/Ollman

Her Slip is Showing is one of two videos Levonian has on view in her first solo show of the same name at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery this month. The other video, Buffalo Milk Yogurt, has a wonderful image of a young man dousing his hair above the vegetables during a “produce spraying is about to begin” moment at a Whole Foods-like market.

Levonian’s movies are like silent films, visually jumpy, the action sometimes explicated with titles or text, and no dialog. In Her Slip, the background music is provided by Nathan Parker Smith with titles by poet Polly Pauley. The music in Yogurt is by Corey Fogel. But the throw-back to silent movies is misleading. The work is utterly contemporary and timely. The titles in Her Slip are written on iPod screens advanced by the push of a finger.

The videos capture the the ludicrous quotidian in things we take for granted in our daily lives. In Her Slip, she skewers the conventional pre-wedding world, from the future bride’s chorus line of girlfriends sniffing the scented candle gifts; to the fruit cut-outs on sticks, arranged like a bouquet, at the wedding-shower buffet; to the bride kicking her feet with pleasure as she unwraps the shower loot. Likewise in Yogurt, Levonian skewers the self-righteous consumers of crunchy-granola specialty foods, blind to their own foibles, including driving gas guzzlers to pick up their no-steroids no-chemicals all-natural foods.

But the videos go beyond mere slices of life. They are ah-hah moments crystallized in a fairly innocent illustrational style and low-tech look of the animation–very Martha Colburn– that seduces with its apparent safety at the same time that it pulls the rug out from under societal assumptions. Whether it’s the metaphor of the raccoon trying to climb in the window at the shower, or the nude yoga practitioner among the cantaloupes, Levonian always goes somewhere slightly surreal to question the values and organization of a society that has lulled itself into complacency.

The watercolor cutout shapes Levonian uses to create her videos are also on display. Levonian is also at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to May 31, with her new video Take Your Picture with a Puma in the Live Cinema program. (Colburn’s Join the Freedom Force video comes next, in June; Philadelphia artist Joshua Mosley’s new sculpture-based stop-action animation, International, is scheduled for July).

Also at Fleisher/Ollman Anthony Campuzano has his third solo show All Right-Still! at the gallery. Campuzano has made a successful career exploring the familiar media of our lives–daily newspaper headlines and stories, phrases, media images and now coloring book pages–but his approach is the exact opposite of Levonian’s. Rather than soothe with the imagery before pulling out the rug, he removes the familiar, creating a threatening landscape of agitated marks and spatial disruptions, a world of static and jumpiness, where the normal unsettles. He virtually fills Fleisher/Ollman’s large gallery space with 15 works–10 drawings and two sculptures.

Anthony Campuzano, Collide (left) and Collide, Weather-Related Version (right), diptych, 2009-2010, colored pencil, graphite, ink, photographs on board, each 40 x 30 inches.

In the diptych Collide and Collide, Weather-Related Version, the glamor of photos from romance novels is disrupted by lines and dots that bring to mind film, lenses, television test patterns, champagne bubbles and the good life–gone bad. The fate of the original Collide, which was damaged (these two pieces are a re-creation and on the right a re-creation incorporating photo details of the original), becomes a metaphor for all the threats that can destroy art, romance, myth-making and life. And just as an fyi, the diptych is hung next to a drawing of the studio where the original Collide met its dismal fate.

Anthony Campuzano, AM/PM

In the drawing AM/PM Campuzano notes the different ways two news stories get played in the AM and PM editions of a paper, another vagary in the value-laden world of textual communication. Weighting with scale two versions one against the other becomes an exercise in nonsensical meanings and meaninglessness and futility.  In Campuzano’s existential search for meaning in the scratchings of his fellow humans, Campuzano keeps coming up against the craziness of it all.

Anthony Campuzano, detail, For Alexander Girard, 2009-2010, plexiglas with colored pencil on found coloring book pages, 41 x 43 x 10 1/2 inches

In the center of the gallery, the plexi bookshelf construction For Alexander Girard, Campuzano undercuts the prescriptive lines of coloring book pages with atypical use of color and unexpected matings of shapes. The disruption creates a group of jittery products that compete with themselves and each other (Modernist textile designer Alexander Girard wiki page here). The ultimate effect is somewhere between annoying and charming–more of an exercise in bad boyness, in coloring outside the lines (well he doesn’t really). The awkward plexiglas structure is at once furniture-like and store-displayish. The and standard plexi picture frames are arranged in coy family portrait pairings. This goofy pairing ultimately (and surprisingly) lifts what I take as a mere exercise into something that annoys me enough to interest me. It screams for attention and promises with glittery surface and hokey display something it ultimately refuses to deliver–a safe, familiar place. This frustration is classic Campuzano and although I wanted to reject it, I ended up finding myself signed, sealed and delivered in its favor, although I surely wouldn’t want to spend more than 3 minutes in its presence.

Anthony Campuzano, Juan Gris Portrait of Max Jacob 1919 Via Elena Sisto Circa 1997, 2010, colored pencil, graphite, photographs & ink on board, 20 x 20 inches. Sisto was Campuzano's drawing teacher

On the other hand, I was deeply moved by Juan Gris Portrait of Max Jacob 1919 Via Elena Sisto Circa 1997, that in recreating a portrait of poet Max Jacob on a postcard over and over, Campuzano creates a portrait of himself and his own driven mark making. In typical Campuzano mode, he makes you fight your way through the words and imagery, but this time he hands you the rationale on a silver platter, tips his hand on who he is.

Anthony Campuzano, Unpainted Painted Sculpture

Gallery director Amy Adams mentioned to me that the word sculpture Unpainted Painted Sculpture was fabricated by the high-tech machinery at Next Fab. Like the Juan Gris Portrait…. piece, the work is about art history as well as present-day art making.  Adams explained that after David Smith died, Clement Greenberg expressed his distaste for the artist’s painted sculptures by leaving them outside to be stripped bare of color by the elements. Campuzano’s barely readable words say: Clement wanted all of the paint to all fall off David Smith’s sculptures. (Campuzano’s piece offers one unpainted surface for Greenberg, the rest coated in honor of Smith; clearly, Smith comes out the winner).  This piece, which though fragile in feeling, like a giant Mark Mahosky, is the height of a person and made of metal. Whether that fragility refers to Greenberg, that bastard who now is much maligned, or to Smith, whose work was threatened, I cannot say, but the piece has a great presence.

Campuzano also has another gig, Summer Studio, coming up this summer at the ICA, where he will transform the second floor into an studio and classroom space beginning July 1. Dead of Summer sounds more like art than instruction, but it also sounds like fun, plus it’s free and open to the public.

These two exhibits run through June 12, 2010.

Anne Seidman (2008 fellow), Untitled, 2006, water based paint, 15”x13” Photo courtesy of Pew Fellowships.

Melissa Franklin of the Pew called us up to give us the scoop.

“We’ve thought about this for a while. We’ve had it on our minds that there has to be a better way to review materials. We want to put into place a more thoughtful and thorough review process” She also said the context for the grant making has changed because the art has changed.  We asked her if applications were down and she said they were down slightly and we think that has to be a concern.

Franklin said the grant criteria will remain unchanged.  Pew will award grants on the basis of artistic excellence, artistic commitment and on the impact of the grant on the artist and impact of the artist’s work on society.

The traditional categories into which they forced artists to define themselves have been given the heave-ho.  ”The categories have always been problematic for a lot of artists. We have artists who have to squeeze themselves into categories. Others work in ways that defy the categories. Now we’re looking at any artistic discipline this year.

Jennifer Levonian (2009 fellow), still from You, Starbucks, Watercolor and White-Out on found map, size varies. Photo courtesy of Pew Fellowships.

As for the application, it’s been changed as well.  ”Our old questions are not very good. For example, we don’t need to know what people will do with the money.  But what we do need to know is what they’re thinking about and where they want to go with their art.

“Another thing, in the past we’d give $60,000 and say ‘See ya.’ And that’s not good enough. We need to engage more deeply with the recipients. We’re going to work out what each artist needs, whether it’s to make connections or introductions or technical assistance.”

The nomination process.

In the new nomination process, 30 nominators will select 2 artists each. The artists who are nominated are invited to apply. The categories will be literature, visual arts, dance and music, etc. (see all the categories on the Pew website).  The nominators — who Franklin said will be people with deep knowledge of the arts in the region — will change every year and they will be anonymous to protect them from undue influence and pressure from their friends. The nominators will have to write the reasons for their selection and that narrative will become a part of the information about the artist as they go through the selection process. ”An outside person can often talk about the work better than the artist.”

Charles Burwell (2008 fellow), Red Line with Three Figures, 2006, oil on canvas, 36”x36” Photo courtesy of Pew Fellowships.

After the nominated artists apply they will be evaluated by  experts around the country, who will look at the materials. Only those artists ranked high enough will go to the final interdisciplinary panel (same as now).

“The old open application assumes it’s more egalitarian and it also assumes people know about us. But some people may not even apply to us.”  (Pew historically had a 97% rejection rate of all applicants –that gets around and people who ought to be applying sometimes get discouraged).

Now the 60 nominated applicants have a 20% shot.

“This new method gives us the freedom to be proactive about people doing interesting work right now.” We asked if she could give us an example of who that might be and she mentioned King Brit and young artists in general.

We asked if the names of the 60 artists nominated would be made public each year and the answer was no. When the 12 grants are announced Pew will release the 12 names and the names of the final evaluators.

Anthony Campuzano, Pew Fellow. Photo courtesy of Pew Fellowships

Franklin told us she’d been working for a year on this overhaul. She said she worked with Cynthia Mayeda, head of external affairs at the Brooklyn Museum on the review. Franklin also said she consulted with USA Artists, Creative Capital and artists who had been on the Pew panels in the past like Amy Sillman and Kevin Young.

Over their 18 years in operation, Pew Fellowships has had 7,900 applications and has given grants to 237 artists.

“We hope people will welcome this change,” Franklin said.

For more information about this big change check the Pew Fellowships website which has a FAQ page and other information.

Joshua Mosley‘s “dread” and Anthony Campuzano‘s “touch sensitive,” in ICA‘s upstairs galleries, are sophisticated narrative disquisitions on the world and mankind’s place in it.  The pieces are in other respects nothing alike.

Joshua Mosley "Dread" at ICA. This is Pascal.

“dread” is a multi-part installation with a display of five small bronze sculptural figures and a six-minute black and white computer animation.

Dread installation at ICA. That's Mosley, sitting against the wall, watching with everyone at the opening.

The animation – projected large in a dark gallery with benches for seating — marries gorgeous landscape photographs, a lyrical soundtrack and animated figures based on clay sculptures the artist made of a dog, a cow and the philosophers Rousseau (1762) and Pascal (1669).

Dread --Pascal and Rousseau in the woods

In the video, the philosophers take a walk in the woods, talk of God, and encounter death.  The piece suggests that man may write philosophy about God’s existence and nature’s goodness but that truth lies elsewhere: Nature is beautiful but ultimately unknowable and God has better things to do than take care two philosophers in the woods.

Dread--the cow. The dog, named Dread (not pictured) is based on a dog Eadward Muybridge photographed in his motion studies.

The small catalog for the show documents the film and sculptures and includes a pithy essay by historian Harvey Mitchell.

Anthony Campuzano. Self-portrait via Donald Crowhurst, 2008. ink, colored pencil on board. 40x30"

Campuzano‘s word art in framed poster-sized pieces and pinned to two free-standing cork boards is based on anecdotes from news sources ranging from pop culture magazines to obituaries in local newspapers.

Everything is filtered through the artist’s wry philosophy, a combination of belief in Murphy’s law and praise of the common man who carries on.

Anthony Campuzano. detail of Various titles, Various times 1 and 2. ink on paper, pushpins, cork, wood, acrylic, hardware, enamel and steel. 72x48 1/2 x 20

The large and small hand-lettered works tell stories in streams of urgent-looking upper-case letters that grow bigger towards the bottom and rush down the page with no punctuation to stop them.

Campuzano uses words for their content.  He loves the obituaries for their ability to distill a life down to a few labels: “exceptional woman; historian, had green thumb; volunteer fundraiser; educator; Texas judge; Hee Haw performer, real estate agent; lawyer and activist” are a few examples from “Various Titles, Various Times #1 and #2″.

Various titles, Various times, 1 and 2. installation

But the words are graphic design tools as well and many of the pieces have raking diagonals or two-column newspaper-like formats that imbue them with a modernist look.  They are highly self-referential however and highly post-post modern.   In fact they’re like hand-made blog posts waiting for comments.  (Campuzano is indeed a blogger — his ice station zebra blog is a several-times-a-week stream of music and movie clips and thought posts.)

Bucking the rising tide of skin deep art, Mosley and Campuzano tackle big questions that are as important today as ever. Both artists recently participated in a group show of drawings at the University of the Arts, and Campuzano was also featured in “Rich Text” at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery last month.

Joshua Mosley: dread and Anthony Campuzano: Touch Sensitive, to Mar. 29. ICA,  118 S. 36^th St.  215 898 7108.

A marvel of a drawing Howard Finster made for Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts) graces the entrance of the exhibit Drawing in the World at the Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery at UArts. The drawing made in 1981 for an outsider art exhibit in the same gallery — organized by Elsa Weiner (Elsa Longhauser) — stopped us in our tracks. Our eyes traced the banners of names of artists animating the surface; we admired the way Finster used Martin Ramirez-like arcs of lines to define and fill space; we pondered the past and the present all represented in this drawing–Philadelphia art history, outsider art history, and the school’s history and Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery’s history. (RWG, now run by Sid Sachs, who stepped us through the show, mentioned the gallery’s impressive list of directors including Longhauser, Paula Marincola, Janet Kardon, Leah Douglas and Gerard Brown!)

Here’s what we say about the Finster:  Keep this iconic piece out of storage already… and make it into a poster or something! We at artblog declare it a treasure–a signature piece of the school’s and the gallery’s identity.

Cynthia Lin, Crop1Gmouth815, 2006
graphite on paper, courtesy of the artist. Lin’s enormous, extreme closeup of lips is the sexiest piece in the show, and suggests some sort of electronic process behind it, whether it’s xerox or digital.

The rest of the show lived up to the Finster! It’s a far-reaching exhibit, showing a wide variety of contemporary and traditional approaches to drawing, and it is filled with outstanding work, even though it grew out of a humble mission to support the drawing curriculum. (See the results of the school’s recent drawingathon in the Hamilton Foyer gallery across the street from RWG.)

Pencil or pen never touch paper in Josh Mosley’s totally cyber-made drawings

Plus so much of the work in this show is related to work now showing at the ICA and Fleisher/Ollman–all serendipitous concordance. Sachs said he didn’t know about this show’s harmonic convergence with Anthony Campuzano‘s and Josh Mosley‘s solo exhibits at the ICA right now.

Mel Bochner, Indifferent 2007, ink on paper

He was surprised when he saw that Campuzano, Mel Bochner, and Isaac Resnikoff are also currently in the Rich Text exhibit at Fleisher/Ollman.

Anthony Campuzano, Vietnam/Iraq, Cronkite/Woodward, 2007
colored pencil and graphite on illustration board

Crazy! But it all works great for the artists — a trifecta for Campuzano and double whammy for the others. 

Isaac Resnikoff,