Tag Archive "black-floor"

Annette Monnier on liking–and not liking–art, next on artblog radio

Before the Vox building became a stacked art building, it was home to Black Floor Gallery. The groundbreaking Black Floor and its successor, Copy Gallery, are both gone, but they will remain remembered as among the best collective galleries in town in the first decade of the Twenty-First Century. One of the founders of both spaces is artist Annette Monnier, who came to town after art school in Cincinnati.  Monnier is still making art. But most of her time is spent running the ClayMobile program out of the Clay Studio. And she writes a blog about art, One Review a ... More » »

High Art, Cheap Beer and Regionalism

Annette Monnier, one-fifth director of Copy Gallery and one-sixth founder of the now defunct Black Floor Gallery, will be writing on artblog from time to time, by way of introduction her first post is on the relationship between place, art, and cheap beer. Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) Before I moved to Philadelphia I thought of PBR as the beer in the David Lynch movie, Blue Velvet, it was somewhat unusual and hard to find and even a little bit avant garde. “The Hard to find” part of that idea was quickly displaced upon arrival in Philly. One of the first ... More » »

The changing scene, part 2: Annette Monnier interview

This is part 2 of a post about Annette Monnier, including an interview I had with her in May. Part 1 is about her exhibit at Padlock Gallery, up through November. Flower Arrangement #12; This time Monnier made the vase out of papier mache–a breakthrough, she decided. Just out of the Art Academy of Cincinnatti four years ago, Annette Monnier came to Philadelphia because a bunch of people she knew had come here. The group– which included Nick Paparone, Jamie Dillon, Elsa Shadley and Carrie Collins, plus Monnier and her sweetheart Gerick Forston–founded Black Floor Gallery, which, after three years, ... More » »

The changing scene: Annette Monnier at Padlock, plus an interview

This is part 1 of a two-part article on Annette Monnier. Part one is about the exhibit at Padlock Gallery, and Part Two is an interview about her various collaborations with Nick Paparone, Jamie Dillon and others to create first Black Floor and then Copy galleries. Annette Monnier standing in the Portal of History, 2006-7 her installation about art history, time and space. Because the portal is opposite a mirror above the fireplace mantle, Monnier spelled out art historian Giorgio Vasari’s name in reverse. The word under the mantle is Today. It is not backwards. Annette Monnier has staked out ... More » »

Weekly Update 2 – Spring art emerges and looks good

This week’s Weekly has my Spring art roundup. Below is the copy with some pictures. More images at flickr here. And see some “before” shots of the new Vox Populi and new Black Floor/Copy, sill under construction when I visited a couple weeks ago.Be Still My Aching ArtPhilly’s scene retools for spring. The emerging artist scene is, well, emerging this season, with big changes at several venues. Vox Populi moves, while Black Floor assumes a new name. Art Syndicate loses its space but will partner with Jinxed for an upcoming show. Meanwhile, at the institutions and established venues, life goes ... More » »

March madness: ICA snow and Inliquid ice capades

No this is not a basketball post. But there are many good art events to choose from this weekend–in addition to the Photo Booth at Space 1026 on Saturday afternoon (see post) here are a couple events that sound like fun. If you’re like me you’ve been back to ICA once or twice since the opening of Locally Localized Gravity, the show that keeps on giving, on a daily basis, as events and workshops and parties take place scheduled by the various collectives. OK, so you’re not like me. Maybe you haven’t even been to see LLG (and the other ... More » »

Weekly Update – ICA, LLG and collective energy

This week’s Weekly has my review of the Locally Localized Gravity show at ICA. Below’s the copy with pictures. Here’s Libby’s post and my post with links to other picture sites. Give Me FeverThe ICA’s buzzed-up show celebrates collective energy. Opening night. Participant deeply engaged with the interactive installation by, I believe, Red 76, at the opening of ICA’s Locally Localized Gravity. The Institute of Contemporary Art‘s winter shows opened in an atmosphere of exuberance, noise and energy. Fueled by the preshow buzz about “Locally Localized Gravity”—a show celebrating four prominent local collectives—more than a thousand people jammed the barn ... More » »

Counting at the ICA

Space 1026′s treehouse adventure park The Institute of Contemporary Art invited eight artists and artists’ group to create installations, as part of the Locally Localized Gravity show. One of the main ideas here is that the installations will serve as staging areas for special events impressarioed by the eight. The exhibit opened Friday to a crowd so large the walls practically bulged. Three of the Philadelphia collectives–Space 1026, Black Floor and LURE–have quite a number of members altogether, so the artists themselves contributed to the swollen crowd. Ultimately, more than 100 artists will perform or show or contribute in some ... More » »

Weekly Update – Pay to Play at Black Floor Gallery

This week’s Weekly has my review of Pay to Play, the guest-curated show at Black Floor Gallery. Below is the copy and here’s the link to the art page. Here Comes the BribeBlack Floor’s “Pay to Play” show is topical but shallow. Albo Jeavons’ “corporate” takeover of the Black Floor website. Beware of going to the website because it may freeze your computer. I got in and out on my mac but others have had trouble. The basic requirement to get into the “Pay to Play” show at Black Floor was the artists had to offer creative bribes to the ... More » »

Paper snippers across America

DSCN7964Originally uploaded by libbyrosof. Stopping in with Roberta to see the installation at Black Floor Gallery by Swoon, Alison Corrie and Solovei, I couldn’t help but mull over how this was part of an art trend. The three women who created the phenomenal La Boca Del Lobo installation are part of a phalanx of artists now snipping, following the success of Kara Walker and her silhouettes. Other recent snippers I’ve seen include Hunter Stabler recently at Pageant (see posts here and here), and Sarah Daub at Vox and at Arcadia’s Works on Paper Biennial. Since paper cuttery has international traditions ... More » »