Tag Archive "hiro-sakaguchi"

Weekly Update – Hiro-ism in Sakaguchi’s solo show at Morris Gallery

Bad things do not happen in Hiro Sakaguchi‘s world, but the threat of bad things is everywhere. Which is why it’s hard to see the Japanese-born artist’s depictions of violent nature and vulnerable humanity without thinking of the recent cataclysmic events in Japan. But the Philly artist’s works, now in the Morris Gallery at Pennsylvania Academy, are not meant to serve as direct social commentary. Rather, Sakaguchi’s drawings, paintings and sculptures are the musings of an outsider who sees the world, imperfections and all, yet accepts and loves it to death.

Hiro Sakaguchi’s No Particular Place to Go at PAFA

By Diana Jih Somewhere between the Matterhorn and Mt. Fuji, Hiro Sakaguchi and I are teetering on the left wing of a 747 with paint cans and packs of brushes. As the wind picks up, I brace myself by pulling on a thin climbing rope tethered to a snow bank in the clouds. Hiro senses my panic, spins around, and acknowledges with a nod that although in this dream I am having we appear like Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, neither of us knows how to climb a mountain. CRASH. Awake and relieved, I spend the rest of my ... More » »

Weekly Update – Inscrutable, a show about differences

“To make honey, young bee need young flower, not old prune,” says Mr. Miyagi, the Yoda-like master in the 1984 movie “The Karate Kid.”   More than 25 years on, the idea of the “inscrutable Asian” is mostly swept aside by a sushi-loving West.  And now, a local art exhibit uses the one-time insult to mock it. “Inscrutable,” at University of Delaware at Crane Arts (UD Crane), a two-venue show of ethnic artists’ works at UD Crane and Asian Arts Initiative, proves that differences still exist yet nothing is inscrutable. My review covers the UD Crane portion of the show. See ... More » »

Curating the personal – I Just Can’t Get You Out of My Mind at Seraphin Gallery

Hiro Sakaguchi is an honest curator. His curatorial statement for “I Just Can’t Get You Out of My Mind” at Seraphin Gallery reads: “I choose artists whose works I want to see again for selfish reasons.” Simple enough. And, as uncalculated as his curation may be, Sakaguchi still managed to weave together a diverse and talented group of artists he discovered in the Philadelphia-area, all of whom tackle conceptually and aesthetically complicated issues with ease. By using personal taste to navigate the curatorial process, one begins to understand just what it is that Sakaguchi is interested in: detailed, relatively small ... More » »

Caution: Art in Here; Group Exhibition by PMA Art Handlers at Cerulean Arts

It’s no surprise that good artists know other good artists; curators and gallerists always turn to artists for recommendations. Nor is it surprising that artists fill the ranks of museum art handlers. Art handlers are almost exclusively artists, as are many behind the scenes museum workers; all but curators, for some reason. What is a surprise is how strong and varied the exhibition is that Hiro Sakaguchi organized of work by thirteen of his colleagues at the Philadelphia Museum of Art ( PMA), showing at Cerulean Arts through June 18. It’s a good indication of how pluralistic the current art ... More » »

Artists at Work: ‘Muralmorphosis’ and ‘Inside the Painter’s Studio’

Last month I attended the first screening of Muralmorphosis, the short animated film documenting the mural project of the same name curated by Sean Stoops (and organized by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program) at 2nd and Race Streets during the 2009 Fringe Festival last September.

Saturday trifecta

From deep, Northwest Philly to Cape May and back, can Roberta and Libby trek it in one day.  We’re revving up our very non-formula ones for some serious consumption of gas and art this Saturday.  First off, you’ll see us at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education for the opening of Gimme Shelter which we helped to jury.  (Forgive us, SCEE, for our driving transgressions today which are not so eco-friendly.)

More Notes from ABMB etc. 2008

Marcus Coates still from Dawn Chorus (2006) courtesy of Workplace Gallery. One of Coates’ volunteers who recreated bird sounds as the artist filmed him at home. NADA (the New Art Dealers Alliance) is held in one of the most congenial spaces: the Ice Palace film studios. I always enjoy the fact that its galleries include those from cities I’m unlikely to get to: Malmo, Warsaw, Bucharest and Gateshead. In fact, Workplace Gallery, Gateshead had one of my favorite works of the day: Marcus Coates‘ multi-chanel video Dawn Chorus. Shot for 14 monitors and shown here on seven, it was the ... More » »

Global Suburbia at Abington Art Center

Thomas Wrede, Settlement with a Road, 2005, Digital C-print, 19 x 39 inches, West Collection Recently appointed Abington Art Center Curator Sue Spaid has thrown the gauntlet down with her first exhibit there, Global Suburbia: Meditations of the World of the ‘Burbs.” It’s a show a little unpredictable and chock-a-block with yummy art worth a chew. Lee Stoetzel, McMansion #5, 2005 Lambda print, 36 x 57.5 inches I say unpredictable because the same exhibit has photographic, old-masterish paintings by Sarah McCoubrey of inflatable swimming pools on lawns as well as Lee Stoetzel’s McMansions, photos of model he made from fast-food ... More » »

What we want to see Thursday, Friday and Saturday

Everybody’s working around First Friday this week because First Friday is July 4…you know what that is. Some venues with July shows will hold their opening receptions next week. GALLERY JOE — THURSDAY, JULY 3 Hiro Sakaguchi’s Chrysanthemum Delivery from the show sense of place at Gallery Joe. Gallery Joe has a nice summery show opening Thursday with Stephanie Beck, Isadora Bullock, David Clarkson, Lynne Clibanoff, Sharka Hyland, Rob Matthews, Hiro Sakaguchi, Nicholas Santore, Patricia Smith. The show’s curated by Gallery Joe’s Sarah O’Holloran. sense of placeGallery Joeopening Thursday, July 3 6-8 pmShow goes through July 26.The gallery will be ... More » »