Tag Archive "blaise-tobia"
Bell’Italia Art New and Old – An observation on art in Italy in three parts, Part 3
by Virginia Maksymowicz and Blaise Tobia Part 3: Sicily The railroad from the Italian mainland to Sicily must cross the strait of Messina, bypassing the twin perils of Scylla (a rock formation) and Charybdis (a whirlpool) that challenged the mythical Odysseus. Since there is no bridge, the only means of transport is a ferry. At Villa San Giovanni, the back of the huge ferry opens like the jaws of an alligator, swallowing up the entire chain of carriages. At Messina, the front end opens and the train is spat out onto a set of tracks on the other side. So ... More » »
Bell’Italia Art New and Old – An observation on art in Italy in three parts, Part 2
by Virginia Maksymowicz and Blaise Tobia Part 2: More Rome, on to Naples The best part of visiting any city is wandering its streets; in Rome, of course, one expects chance encounters with marvelous churches, sculptural monuments, historic ruins and scavi (archeological excavations). But contemporary street art abounds as well. Some of it is obvious, such as the graffiti in the metro that transported us (as native New Yorkers) back to the 1980s of Lady Pink and DAZE. Some of it is subtle, like the small, black and white stickers of a man sporting sunglasses and a priest’s collar, stenciled ... More » »
Bell’Italia Art New and Old – Observations on art in Italy in three parts, Part 1
by Virginia Maksymowicz and Blaise Tobia Part 1: Verona, Milan, Padua and Rome We spent the months of November and December traveling through Italy in connection with Blaise’s new photo project and Virginia’s sabbatical research leave. We’ve visited Italy nearly a dozen times now, and speak the language reasonably well. We’ve also learned an important lesson: in order to fully experience this country, one must not overplan the day. Galleries that should be open might be closed. Museums that should be closed, might let you in if you knock. Appointments to meet people may fall through, but chance encounters can ... More » »
News post – Preservation push, Aqua Dice’s NYTimes nod, NextFab’s grand opening, opportunities and more!
News Above: the magic that happens when Photoshop wizardry and Philadelphia’s most iconic statue find one another. For their New Year’s greeting, the PMA’s Department of Indian and Himalayan Art created this gem, featuring Rocky in his typical composure, but joined by a surprising companion: the Hindu deity Krishna, who in this iteration is “Krishna Dances and Holds Aloft Two Stolen Balls of Butter,” The copper alloy sculpture was made in Orissa, India in the 17th century, 1994-148-262. This comes to us from the Stella Kramrisch Collection at the Department of Indian and Himalayan Art. 2 in preservation news - 1. Created by Philadelphia’s own Conservation ... More » »
Art in China, Part 2 – Hidden galleries in Hong Kong, factory-produced paintings in Shenzhen and mega-education center in Guangzhou
By Virginia Maksymowicz and Blaise Tobia After ten days in Beijing, we flew to Hong Kong, which we absolutely loved. In many respects—including scale, sheer beauty, wonderful public transportation, fabulous and varied food—it may be the greatest city in the world. But unfortunately, these superlatives don’t apply to its contemporary art scene, which is extremely underdeveloped in view of the city’s financial and mercantile power. Although galleries exist, it was hard to find them. The gallery guide we picked up on the mainland didn’t include Hong Kong and the gallery map we snagged at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre ... More » »
Art in China Part 1 – A visit to galleries and artist studios in Beijing
By Virginia Maksymowicz and Blaise Tobia This trip to China was different in many respects from our first, in 2008: One of us was participating in an exhibition; our travels were entirely self- directed; and half of our trip took place in the huge Hong Kong-Shenzhen-Guangzhou urban continuum that is home to about 120 million people. (Read Blaise and Virginia’s 2008 post.) The exhibition in which Blaise participated was a show of nine studio faculty members of Drexel’s Art & Art History Department, aptly titled 9 (partly because arabic numbers need no translation in China). It took place at the ... More » »
News post – Julien Robson in Vienna, Alison Klayman discusses Ai Wei Wei, Tobia & Maksymowicz return to China, opportunities and more!
News At least now there’s no ambiguity as to what they’re after – Temple Gallery is now Temple Contemporary! In keeping up with the times, they’ve re-focused on reacting to local, national and global issues in real time. A calendar of their free events, chosen by scholars, local high school students, and community leaders from across Philadelphia, can be seen here. Indy Hall’s recent renovations have brought not only improved quarters for its loyal coworkers, but a series of new works by Sean Martorana, one of Indy Hall’s resident artists. “The Essence of Life and Line,” curated by Martorana and fellow Indy Hall-ers Kara ... More » »
News – Nichols Berg, Cambridge Street Studios, Divine Lorraine,Data Garden, opportunities and more!
NEWS Gallery classes – Beginning this spring and continuing through the summer, Nichols Berg Gallery will host workshops in the gallery taught by Clarissa Shanahan (teaming up with Scott Nichols of Nichols Berg) on subjects including encaustics, manuscript illuminations and printmaking. And Cambridge Street Studios, a new realist atelier in Philly, is having their Grand Opening Gala this coming Saturday, March 31st. The studio/school also has classes. Check their website. Boundary-defying record label and journal Data Garden is running a plant-based audio exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art April 13-15. Four large tropical plants outfitted with specialized electronic sensors to process their physiological data will produce ... More » »
News – Artists in the Media, Philly.com content sharing, Wikipedia blackout, and more!
News In the Media Iain Ball‘s show Pangea: Rare Earth Sculptures at Extra Extra is featured in this month’s issue of Art Papers. Joe Girandola‘s duct tape paintings look great in a Stylelist.com article. Zoe Strauss‘s photo-billboards appear in an editorial in the Philadelphia Daily News that compares them favorably to the city’s many murals. Amber Dorko Stopper is named Craft Editor at InCultureParent Magazine.
On the avenue – Lancaster Avenue that is
Queries, or queer eyes, as the show’s organizer, Blaise Tobia, pronounced the title when I visited, gathers human-centric works — mostly photographic — that take you on an exploration of the world. It’s a quirky trip, led by five able and idiosyncratic artist-explorers. And as Tobia says in his curator’s statement …”these works function…in a way that I wish more art functioned — playful, but by no means trivial; evocative rather than didactic; formally astute but not self-satisfied.”
Next Page »
