A very Krampus Christmas
We heard about Krampuslauf from Amber Dorko Stopper and also on WHYY. Who is Krampus? Why is he having a Christmas parade? Well, Krampus represents the opposite of Jolly Old St. Nick. He’s a Christmas devil that punishes naughty children during the holidays. It’s an alternative to the ‘everything is so sweet and lovely’ Christmas attitude; ‘a little salt to go with the sugar’ says Krampuslauf celebrator Janet Finegar. There will be Krampuslauf parade and festivities in Northern Liberties tomorrow, Sat. December 10, 4pm at Libery Lands Park, 913-961 north 3rd Street.

Amber Dorko Stopper's children Claudia and Bela showing some love to their Krampus doll. Amber is one of the movers behind the Philly Krampus movement.

Stanley Whitney receives first Robert De Niro Sr. Prize

Stanley Whitney

The first annual Robert De Niro Sr. Prize for achievement in painting will be awarded to former Tyler School of Art painting teacher Stanley Whitney. Whitney will receive the $25,000 award, administered by the Tribeca Film Institute, for his considerable contribution to the field of painting.

Masters of the Visual Universe
In contrast to an exhibition that seeks to find the next art star, Masters of the Visual Universe at Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts explores the constellation of artistic mediums, concepts, and practices rotating around the region’s MFA programs. Five local artists were selected for the show: Emily Erb (PAFA), Elizabeth Hamilton (PAFA), Guy Lorraine (UArts), Erica Prince (Tyler), and Ted Walsh (PAFA). The exhibit runs through February 5. Also check out their blog here.

Murals Set in Motion
Organized by Sean Stoops and presented by InLiquid in cooperation with the Mural Arts Program, Murals Set in Motion is an exhibition of videos and on recent mural projects created in Philadelphia and other cities. Artist Christopher Davison’s Brawler video — from his recent University of the Arts exhibition — is in the mix and not to be missed. The opening reception is December 14 at 6:00 PM at International House.

Space #1 – What’s your favorite public space?
Hidden City’s Nathaniel Popkin published an article Dec. 5 asking Philadelphians what their favorite public space is. Public spaces are crucial to urban and social life, and Hidden City wants to know anything you have to say about your favorite haunts. Post a comment on the article or send an e-mail to editor@hiddencityphila.org.

Space #2- Space Savers are here this weekend

The traditional (read: boring) way to save a parking space in Philly.

We told you before about the Space Savers Project – an initiative to make saving parking spots in the city more artistic and fun – well the winners have been announced and tomorrow, Sat. December 10 from 10 AM – 4 PM, 10 space savers will be holding down the fort in public parking spaces around the city. Check the map for the a location near you! Here’s who’s participating:
Piper Brett 
Thomas Buildmore
Michael Konrad
Chris Landau
Jebney Lewis and Maria Möller
Isaac Tin Wei Lin
Christopher P. McManus
Benjamin Monette
Brent Wahl and Oscar Wahl
Linda Yun

Pool art fair shut down
The Miami Herald reports that the Pool Art Fair in conjunction with Miami’s famous Art Basel was shut down for unscrupulous dealings by the hotel owner. Apparently he did not get a special events permit, and was also running the hotel illegally as well. Artists showing at the hotel really got the short end of the deal, as they traveled from all around the globe to participate in the events.  Thanks Joanne Mattera for the tip.

You voted and Grizzly Grizzly heard you!

Samantha Mitchell, "Old Wood Butte", 36" x 38", 2010.

The results are in! Grizzly Grizzly announced Samantha Mitchell as the winner of the popular vote in its juried show,”Other Possible Titles.” Mitchell’s “Old Wood Butte” was the viewers’ choice and she will be awarded a solo show at the gallery in 2012.

Opportunities

Art in the Open is seeking submissions for its May 18 – 20 2012 event along the banks of the Schuylkill River. The works can be in any medium, but must be able to be made outside, on site.  More information about applying here.  The jury this year includes Molly Dougherty (of Philadelphia Art Alliance), Jong Kyu Kim (of Fleisher Art Memorial) and Eileen Tognini (independent curator).

Crane Arts Old School has studios available! Fill out the application on the site (click link in this post) and return it to info@cranearts.com if interested.

Artist News

Philadelphia fibers artist Gail Cunningham was a 2010 resident artist for ten weeks at Cow House Studios, Wexford, Ireland and also participated in an exhibit at Monster Truck Studios in Dublin.

Philip Zuchman and Deborah Gross-Zuchman are in the Art in a Box Benefit Holiday Art Exhibition for Children at Risk at New York’s Masters & Pelavin Gallery.

Philadelphia design guru Jenny Sabin (you can see her space-age greenhouse at the Jefferson Garden of the APS Museum) and regional fiber artist extraordinaire Sonya Clark (who just finished an exhibit at Snyderman Gallery) are among this year’s USA Fellows. Other Philly fellows from previous years’ selections include: Kukuli Velardi, Terry Adkins, Judith Schaechter, and Zoe Strauss.

Eduardo Calmon's Free2Fly app

UArts Student Eduardo Calmon received the 2011 Collab Student Design Competition award for his Free2Fly app which suggests garments based on the weather forecast at a traveler’s destination and then transmits files to a knitting machine near the traveler’s hotel, which produces garments that are available on arrival.

Kevin Finklea is in a group show at Conny Dietzschold Gallery in Sydney, Australia.

Zoe Strauss, "4th of July BBQ", 2011.

Thomas Devaney paired one of his poems with a photo by Zoe Strauss on BOMBLOG.

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

(Inaccurate information has been removed from this post).

ICA appoints new curator

Anthony Elms. Photo by Erin Leland.

The Institute of Contemporary Art has appointed Anthony Elms as a new Associate Curator. Elms has worked as an  independent curator and writer, and he was Assistant Director of Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago for six years. He replaces Jenelle Porter who has taken a position at ICA Boston.

Is Going to College Worth It?
President Obama just announced his plan for student debt relief. Many artists are college educated and in debt. Many readers of this blog are likely strapped with student loans too. University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business recently published an article questioning just such a system: “While more U.S. students are enrolled than ever before, a perfect storm of soaring costs, rising student debt and shrinking job prospects have led critics to increasingly challenge whether college remains a worthwhile investment.”

Phone cameras vs. point-and-shoot

Comparison between an 8 megapizel digital camera (left) and iPhone 4S (right). These images were taken at the same time and distance at Chinatown Coffee in Washington D.C. (Mallory Benedict and Cristina Fletes/NPR)

An article on NPR also raises some value questions. With the advancement of technology in smart phones marching steadily forward, is it cost effective to purchase a separate camera? For amateur photographers, the choice may become more and more clear as smart phone technology develops and the convenience of quickly sharing images trumps the need for a point-and-shoot camera.

Josh Mosley video art history lecture at PAFA

Bill Viola, "Ocean Without a Shore", 2007, video and sound installation, running time: approx. 90 minutes.

As part of its Art at Lunch series, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will be holding a lecture about the history of video art on November 2 at 12 noon. The speaker will be Joshua Mosley, artist and Associate Professor of Fine Art at UPenn. The lecture anticipates the arrival of one of PAFA’s newest acquisition – video artist Bill Viola’s “Ocean Without a Shore” to be installed more or less permanently in the Morris Gallery, according to Curator of Contemporary Art, Julien Robson.  Look for regular Morris gallery programming to continue, but in other parts of the building.  (It might cost to get in to see it, too, whereas trips to the Morris Gallery itself previously were free).

Fleisher Wind Challenge trick-or-treat closing reception
The 34th season of the Fleisher Wind Challenge Exhibition Series closes on October 30 with a reception from 4 – 6 PM. Artists Alana Bograd and Jennie Thwing will premiere a painting exhibition and a stop-motion animation completed with teens from Fleisher’s Youth programs. Halloween costumes are encouraged and the artists will have plenty of candy available for all!

Knight Foundation gains tech guru board members
Facebook is coming to the Knight Foundation.  That is, Chris Hughes, Facebook co-founder will now be on the board of trustees of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The foundation’s tech coup for its board also includes Joichi Ito, director of MIT’s Media Lab and John Palfrey, professor at Harvard Law School and co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

Opportunities

Performers wanted for… City Hall? That’s right, the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy is now seeking talented performing artists and organizations for City Hall Presents, a new series of free concerts highlighting Philly’s rich performance offerings.

InLiquid membership applications are due by October 30. That’s right around the corner, but worth the consideration. A membership promotes and supports the work of visual artists with an extensive online artist portfolio page including credentials, statements, contact information, and exposure.

The egg theory.

Late architect Cedric Price theorized that cities are like eggs – boiled, fried, or scrambled – but Philadelphia doesn’t quite fit the bill. Hidden City is hosting a contest to find a better theory for Philly’s formation. Visit the contest page to learn more!

The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts is seeking artists for solo shows in 2013. You must be a DCCA member and you may not have had a solo show in the past four years. Visit their opportunities page for more info.

F&N Gallery at 2009 Frankford Avenue seeks submissions for a juried art show.  The show will open on January 6 and run for one month. The show will highlight Women artists exhibiting a theme of Cultural Awareness and/or Social Enlightenment. Interested artists should submit five images of their work to fngallery.coh@gmail.com for consideration.

Artist News

Jayson Musson‘s alter-ego Hennessy Youngman will enter the hallowed halls of PAFA to hilariously critique the collection of art by dead white guys. The snarky show is called The Grand Manner and opens on November 5.

Matt Bollinger, "Locker Room", flashe and acrylic on cut and pasted paper, 60" x 48", 2011.

Matt Bollinger, a former Philly artist that showed at the Rodger LaPelle Gallery now has a solo show in NYC at Galerie Zürcher.

Barry Parker, "Etruscan Places IV", 2009.

Barry Parker, retiring head of the sculpture department at UArts has a solo show at Medialia in New York that opens on November 5.

Gerard Brown who is the head of foundations at Tyler School of art and the scholar in residence at the Center for Art in Wood has an upcoming show at Tiger Strikes Asteroid starting on November 4.

Brandon Cox is a UArts grad now living in NYC. He recently had a solo show at UArts and he’s definitely on a roll!

Kaitlin Pomerantz had a recent DIY curating project “Wish You Were There” at Green Line Cafe that has been picked up by the University City Arts League.

Attack on Matisse at National Gallery highlights art security
After a recent attack on a Matisse painting at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, art security is on the minds of writers at the Washington Post.  That publication ran two stories recently about art security issues.

The artwork at the center of the most recent stir: Henri Matisse's "The Plumed Hat", 1919.

One article in the Post reports that the Matisse vandal had just been released from a hospital and was charged only four-and-a-half months ago with tearing a Gauguin painting off of a gallery wall. The paper also ran another story about an emergency preparedness container for saving important artworks in case of an emergency.

artblog’s museum studies guru, Andrea Kirsh, says that disaster plans are one of a number of planning and operational documents that all museums should have, although some small institutions may lack current disaster plans or other policy documents. For those who want to research this issue, Andrea passes on these links from the Northeast Document Conservation Center and Hertiage Preservation,  which include information on funding available for disaster planning.

O.U.R. Gallery and Studios in Port Richmond

O.U.R. Gallery

Port Richmond’s newest gallery O.U.R.(which opened back in February) opens a show September 10, “Figuratively Elsewhere,” which features artists Richard Metz, David Ferro, and Mikel Elam.
The show will be up until October 2.

O.U.R. is open to proposals for future shows. If you’re interested, email Melissa Purnell at mkpurnell2002@yahoo.com or contact the gallery through their Facebook page.

Bambi Gallery returns for a curated show at Crane Arts

The first show by Bambi’s Candace Karch since the little gallery with heart closed its space in the Piazza last February opens Sept 7 at Crane Arts. “Hold”, sponsored by InLiquid funs to Oct. 20. The show is an installation that deals with the desire to keep stuff.

Libby and Roberta voted Creative Connectors!
Roberta and Libby have been voted one of 76 Philadelphians who are Creative Connectors in LEADERSHIP Philadelphia‘s Connector Project. They were selected from over 3,200 nominees. The idea is that these “Connectors” are the glue that holds the creative community together; they grab hold of a concept and spread it around, acting as a trusted resource.

Art in Odd Places 2011
The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts will be participating in this year’s Art in Odd Places (AiOP) Festival. This annual gathering on West 14th Street in New York City is all about exploring the odd, ordinary, and ingenious in everyday life. “Ritual” is the theme this year including ideas of ceremony, obsession, myth, and superstition. AiOP will run from October 1-10 from Avenue C to the Hudson River. Jacolby Satterwhite, Pennsylvania native and recent UPenn graduate is among the 60 artists participating.

Opportunities

PenTales along with The European are holding The Connected Contest – but the deadline is soon: August 31! Write up to 5,000 characters (that’s around 800 words) in English (or German, all you German speakers out there) on the topic of being connected. Any writers, techies, creative individuals, or social media users are welcome. Send submissions to loewenstein@theeuropean.de – subject “Connected Contest” – for a chance to have your piece reviewed and shared in those publications.

The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts will be hosting an emerging and student artist show at their conference in Seattle. The deadlines and rules are different for each category, but the deadline for the emerging artists category is August 30. For the student artists, the deadline is September 29. The conference is in March, 2012.

Live in NYC? Moving there? The Bronx Musuem is holding Artists in the Marketplace 32, a collaborative residency in which emerging artists can work directly with established artists, curators, and professionals before a culminating biennial exhibition in 2013. The deadline is September 5.

Artist News

Zoe Strauss is having an open studio this Saturday, Aug. 20, one day only – the last one before her big PMA show. There will be $5 copies of the remaining photos from her I-95 exhibition, and the artist will be snapping Polaroid portraits (ala Andy Warhol), for $5 as well. Stop by her studio at 838 Cantrell Street on Saturday, August 20 from Noon til 2 PM.  Snacks and air conditioning free.

Talia Greene has a number of shows coming up this fall. By date of opening: September 8 group show at The Print Center in Philly, September 13 exhibition at Wave Hill in the Bronx, and some site-specific installations at Flashpoint in D.C. on September 30.

Mark Skwarek, whose Augmented Reality project id featured at Little Berlin this month, has an AR project right now in Korea, a project that uses digital image manipulation to envision a unified Korea.

Tyler Held, "Cross-Culture", 2010.

Recent UArts grad Tyler Held is in a group show at Tyler School of Art opening August 29. From February 27, 2011 – June 24, 2012 he will be part of Contraption at Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts.

artblog international correspondent Matthew Rose has a solo show “God & Country” opening September 1 at Storie in Paris.

Su Tomesen, 40,000 feet, video installation at the Ice Box, courtesy the artist

The long-range plan is to have October be video month at the Crane, and to entertain proposals from artists and curators around the world to use the 125,000 cubic fee of space in the Ice Box and use the new video and sound system.

“We always thought of that space as a kind of place where people could expand their studio or curatorial practice because  they have the opportunity [to use such a large expanse],” said Kripal in a recent telephone conversation. He and Hricko named the projector project I.C.E., or the International Curatorial Exchange.

The inaugural run of the system for an art project, which people can program to run in numerous ways, is up right now, and has just been extended an extra week to run until Nov. 29.

The site-specific video installation, 40,000 feet, by Netherlands artist Su Tomesen, projects floating clouds and ocean filmed from airplanes around the world. The installation also includes smoke (ah-choo) and light and sound. It’s a sort of landscape that is at once familiar and unfamiliar. Philadelphia artist Candy DePew, recently on a residency in the Netherlands, saw Tomesen’s work there–a similar piece designed for a very different space, a restaurant–and suggested the piece for ICE.

VideoZoom info

This is not the only upgrade at the Crane worth noting. Until tomorrow, another video exhibit is screening at the Crane–in its brand new video projection area–a vast improvement from the curtained black box in the Gray Area.

Video Zoom, showing in this country for the first time ever, is an annual project started by Mary Angela Schroth of Gallery Sala 1 in Rome in 2003. Schroth invites a curator from a different country each year to assemble a survey of that country’s video scene.  Videos from seven countries, about 40 minutes to an hour for each country, are being screened. Schroth will speak tomorrow (Sunday, the 22nd at 5 p.m.)

Kripal said he’s doesn’t know if the video month concept will be in place for October 2010, but he’s looking further into the future. “It is our intent to do an annual project,” he said.

Su Tomesen’s 40,000 feet is up to Nov. 29, by appointment only.

Video Zoom is up until tomorrow. Mary Angela Schroth lecture tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 22, 5 p.m.

I asked Tyler Kline to join me at the January 21 International House screening of two films on art/skateboarding cultures since he comes out of a Portland skateboarding and art scene of a younger generation than Aaron Rose’s Beautiful Losers (2008) and I thought he could provide footnotes (which he did). Rose’s film made for an interesting comparison with Ted Passon’s Space 1026 (2007) and told quite a different story of how the art and community developed. Rose portrayed Margaret Kilgallen, Mike Mills, Barry McGee, Phil Frost, Chris Johanson and Harmony Korine as self-described misfits no one would talk to in high school who were looking for love (or acceptance) so created intentionally-accessible art, Nike contracts and all, to attract their own community of appreciative viewers.

Thomas Campbell in a still from Aaron Rose’s Beautiful Losers.

Passon, on the other hand, portrayed Space 1026 as a group of art school grads who wanted to make art and hang out together and managed to find a way to do so. Passon’s short film was screened first and I suspect the local interest was the reason for the large and enthusiastic audience; the pairing made an entertaining program.


A November, 2007 event at Space 1026.

Contemplative Minimalism

Douglas Witmer’s installation, Joseph’s Coat at Philadelphia Cathedral.

Douglas Witmer’s work can be seen at Philadelphia Cathedral through Feb. 28. Joseph’s Coat is inspired by the story from Genesis; it consists of four large unstretched canvases which Witmer created for the space. They hang like tapestries below the stained glass windows on the North wall of the Cathedral. Along the opposite wall he’s installed five conventionally-stretched paintings and another on an adjacent wall. All push the meaning of geometry through their siting, emphasizing the contemplative quality of their reductive means. Surprisingly I found the paintings created independently to work better in the space than those created for it; their backgrounds of uneven gray washes pick up the neutral stucco of the Cathedral walls. Seeing them in the quiet, airy space with the sound of water dripping from a nearby baptismal font, it was easy to appreciate the play of the sharply-defined stripes against the background washes which bleed unevenly onto the canvases and occasionally seep onto the edges where they wrap around the stretchers.


Douglas Witmer’s work at Philadelphia Cathedral.

First Friday Footnotes

Oyvind Fahlstrom detail of Map of the World (1972). The Brazilian/Swedish artist created maps based on political rather than geographical topography and created his own interactive versions of monopoly-style board games.

My first stop Friday night was Basekamp which is exhibiting An Atlas (through March 15) which they describe as a traveling exhibition of artists working with “radical cartography”—a practice that uses maps and mapping to promote social change (previously reviewed by Jacob Hellman here). Lots of reading and the expected left-wing critique of militarism, big business, etc., but interesting as far as it goes; I only hope visitors realize that these ideas have been around a long time. Oyvind Fahlstrom made anarchic political maps in the early 1970s and Mark Lombardi produced highly-researched charts of interlinked financial and political networks in the 1990s. There’s a huge amount of this material available on the web. For one example, see here.

The exhibition was an interesting bookend with Field Reports: Documents and Strategies from Land Arts of the American West, currently at Temple Gallery, which documents a workshop for Tyler students in the American Southwest as well as a Philadelphia-based mapping project, both run by Chris Taylor, director of Land Arts of the American West at Texas Tech University.

Mark Lombardi detail of George W. Bush, Harken Energy, and Jackson Stephens, ca. 1979-90 (5th Version) (1999).

Benjamin Pierce still from Transfigurations, at Painted Bride.

Benjamin Pierce’s Transfiguration is on view at Painted Bride through March 15, courtesy of InLiquid.com. Pierce is showing several videos along with still images; all present visual interpretations of songs which Pierce sings a capella as he draws in light and reveals hints of his figure manipulating (dancing with) the light source. Pierce said he doesn’t consider the stills to be independent works; but I think he should reconsider. They are the more poetic, despite being still and silent.

Vasily Kandinsky. Motif from Improvisation 25 (plate, folio 16) from Klänge (Sounds) by the artist. (1913). Woodcut from an illustrated book of fifty-six woodcuts, composition (irreg.): 8 9/16 x 8 11/16″. Photo courtesy of Museum of Modern Art.

The equivalence of music and visual imagery goes back to the beginning of abstraction, embodied in Kandinsky’s illustrated book, Klange (Sounds) of 1913 and running through Thomas Wilfred’s clavilux of the 1920s and abstract animated films by Oskar Fischinger and others. It was the subject of a 2005 exhibition, Visual Music, organized by the LA Museum of Contemporary Art. Pierce’s light drawing also recalls the famous Gijon Mili portrait of Picasso drawing with light.

A Lumia image created by one of Thomas Wilfred’s color organs, which he called the clavilux.

Painted Bride’s next exhibition, Synasthesia (April 3-May 16), organized by Anabelle Rodriguez will explore the subject further.

Upcoming FLUX Fundraiser

I ran into Chris Golas at the Vox opening who gave me the hot-off-the-presses poster for the Feb. 19th Flux Fundraiser at Kung Fu Necktie. I imagine the details will be on the Flux website (though they aren’t up as I write).

And now for something completely different

I, can’t resist passing on a link forwarded by my friend, Barbara Tannenbaum, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Akron Art Museum. It’s for a toy based on airport security checkpoints, and I can’t decide whether it’s the height (depth?) of decadence or just a reprise of the sort of mad paranoia that gave us grade school drills in the 1950s where we got under our desks and covered our heads in case we should face nuclear bombs. Anyway, check out the customer responses, some of which are clearly tongue in cheek.

A piece from 2005 by Margaret Kilgallen, one of the artists to be featured in a film at I-House.

International House has always been one of Philadelphia’s best venues for film (a hidden one, to judge from the small regular attendance) and they’ve been adding art, courtesy of InLiquid.com which has been presenting video work in I-House’s lobby space. They’ve also been showing ever more films about art and artists. I missed one I really wanted to see in November on L.A.’s Ferus Gallery but we’ll get chance this week to see a film on a current generation of California artists. Beautiful Losers (2008) by Aron Rose screens on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 8. Featuring Margaret Kilgallen, Barry McGee, et al, according to the folks at I-House it speaks to what happens when the “outside” becomes “in.”

Installation view of JUNGLELAND, a exhibition by Matt Leines, William Buzzell, Alex Lukas and Joe Buzzell at Space 1026 last April. The Philly collective is the subject of a short film to be shown at I-House.

For something closer to home they’ll also be showing Ted Passon’s short film on Space 1026 as part of the same program. And if you arrive at 6pm you can catch the opening of Charles Hobbs’ exhibition Head in the Clouds as well as Virgil Wong’s video installation, Billions of Robots Heal the Human Heart (both courtesy of InLiquid.com).

The real Basquiat in 1985.

On Thuesday, Feb. 26 at 7pm they screen Basquiat (1996) which I’ve seen and recommend. It was Julian Schnabel’s filmmaking debut and stars David Bowie in a good portrayal of Andy Warhol. This one’s presented in connection with the Free Library’s One Film, One Philadelphia and is free for students with Ids.

Jeffrey Wright plays the artist in Schnabel’s film Basquiat.

Another Artist as Curator: Vik Muniz at MoMA

Gerhard Richter as done by Vik Muniz with paint samples could have been included in MoMA’s recent exhibition, Color Chart; Reinventing Color 1950 to today.

What connects a piece of bubblewrap, a felt suit by Joseph Beuys, a slide carousel and a small oil sketch of a beach scene by Odilon Redon? Rebus, currently at MoMA (through Feb. 23). Not Rauschenberg’s painting of that name (which may currently hang in the galleries, I didn’t check) but the latest Artist’s Choice exhibition selected by Vik Muniz (I recently referred to this exhibition series here). It’s like entering the mind of an artist as he free-associates. Muniz was allowed to select from the entire museum collection, hence the manufactured objects from the design department (the bubblewrap and slide projector, a paper clip and a plastic bucket) as well as paintings (Redon and Ruscha), sculpture (Koons and Giacometti), drawings (Bochner, Polke), and lots of photography, from the commercial to Bill Brandt.

Vik Muniz suggests a Rubic cube might fill the space in Giacometti’s Hand Holding a Void.

Anyone familiar with Muniz’s own work knows that he loves art which he recreates in various improbable media, then photographs: a Caravaggio made from a plate of spagetti, Namuth’s portrait of Pollock in chocolate syrup (a reaction to his mother’s injunction not to play with his food?), a prop piece by Richard Serra in dust (Muniz gives a wonderful narrative of the process that lead him to his work in Reflex; A Vik Muniz Primer, Aperture, 2007). The wonder is that the curators ever got him out of their store rooms. Muniz arranges the 82 works in a linear progression, each piece selected in relation to the one before, so the Polke drawing of what looks like a brick is followed by a brick-shaped piece of laminated plywood which is followed by an Outerbridge photograph of a similar form.

I found some other possibilities on Google Images: candidates for Governor of Ohio, already associated with the Giacometti, above, by Princess Sparkle Pony, on whose blog it resides.

But the relationships aren’t merely formal. Some are associated by use: a Rubik cube, manipulated with the hands would fit perfectly into the empty space of the sculpture that follows it: Giacometti’s Hands Holding the Void (Invisible Object). Others were already associated: William Wegman’s Dropping Milk is a parody of Edgerton’s famous Milk Drop Coronet, which precedes it.

Many of us make these associations all the time. I’m prone to see art in the everyday: when shown the image on-screen during a sigmoidoscopy all I could think of was Mona Hatoum (I was told later that her piece involved an endoscopy; oh well), a bunch of asparagus makes me think of Manet and Hans Haacke, and a pile of construction materials covered by a tarp bound with rope invokes Christo, of course. But the chance to follow someone else’s string of associations was a delight, and I’m grateful that Muniz was willing to share them with us.

MoMA has taken all the poster spots along the escalators at the nearby 53rd St. subway stop to advertise the exhibition; they use details of Muniz’s various selections for Rebus. They could have given that space to the artist, himself. Now that would be another idea for MoMA’s programming!

We all have some dreamy idea of a Cheers kind of life in a single town where everyone knows your name. But that doesn’t take into account the non-stop migrations around the world–people fleeing war or famine or hardship–or boredom.

Around 15 years ago, I learned that a bunch of ancient bodies were unearthed in China–all fair-haired people wearing tartans.

Siona Benjamin, Joseph, gouache and gold leaf on museum board, 22 x 17 inches, 2006.

And last night a tragedy in Philadelphia’s Liberian community was in the news.

So a couple of shows now on exhibition about the immigrant experience are updates of an old story, but each retelling occurs in the latest cultural context and is current because people are always on the move.

One is a group of paintings by a migrant from Bombay, Siona Benjamin, at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art, at Rodeph Shalom on North Broad Street.

And the other is a group show, including paintings, installation and videos at two venues–the Asian Arts Initiative and International House.

They both gave me plenty to chew over.

Siona Benjamin channels Bollywood movie posters and other pop sources for this personal–and political–statement. The pokey things all around the frame of this one are little plastic toy soldiers.

Benjamin, who is originally from India’s Bene Israel Jewish community (and is now from New Jersey), has created work that reflects her multiple identities–as a Jewish woman, an Indian woman, and now an American woman–and all the confusions and ironies that implies.

Her paintings include self-portraits of herself as Bluish, a la Krishna and a la Yellow Submarine. She is influenced by Bollywood film posters and Indian comics about the Hindu pantheon. She also portrays herself as Lilith and others from her Jewish studies, not to mention as a feminist in a land of confusing expections. I see bits of True Romance in there too. But the conventions of Indian miniatures with hands in traditional gestures rendered in traditional manner are also there in the mix.

Siona Benjamin. The carved frame is a design used to frame Indian windows in palaces and in the Taj Hotel, one of the buildings taken seige recently in Mumbai.

I went the night of the panel discussion, which was also right after the Mumbai massacre, and included in the exhibit is a piece framed like a traditional Indian palace window–with ornate, arched cut-wood filigree framing the painting–the same style as windows at the Taj Hotel. In the cut-outs was the word, Wham!

Not so pretty when the Wham is for real.

Benjamin’s mother was there that night, all the way from Mumbai, where there remain only about 400 Jews.

Anyway, I was especially charmed by the large Pop images, and by one of the small images in which the blue Siona stands in a pool of water from a dripping tap in the wall, a swatter (or spatula) in hand. I’m sorry I don’t have an image of this one.

The exhibit runs to Mar. 10.

Her own sense of not being quite sure of her identity was echoed in a series of short-short films by Philadelphia video collaborative Termite TV (Michael Kuetemeyer, Anula Shetty and Francesca Soans) at International House.

The videos at International House are in the InLiquid video space there, as well as a part of a two-part show, the other at Asian Arts Initiative. Both parts of the Transplants exhibit were curated by InLiquid curator and member Sean Stoops (who used to be AAI’s curator). And I want to add that the happy siting of this particular subject matter at International House seems particularly apt.

Termite TV, a still from a video about Shetty being mistaken for a Mexican illegal at a border stop near San Diego. Much of the video from the incident was footage of cattle being corralled.

I loved the Termite TV series, about Shetty’s own identity as an Indian woman in America, and then as an American woman in other places, and the confused expectations of others in understanding who she is and what to expect of her.

I also loved the logo of the old-fashioned floating TVs, glowing in their gold and wood-color frames.

Nobutaka Aozaki, SIGNAL, 2008, video still

I was taken by several other videos, including Nobutaka Aozaki’s SIGNAL, drawings of people with push buttons instead of features on their faces, each of them having some variation in the button configuration. They reminded me of Laylah Ali’s drawings suggesting how we use fashion signals to divide and communicate our tribal affiliations.

Another favorite, Rene Marquez‘ rough video, Breed, about dog breeding and how people treat dogs–which is a metaphor for people and group identification and control and conquest of others. Also Belinda Haikes‘ dreamy poetry of longing for the veld of her past–short but moving. And Amarjett Singh’s rueful classic autobiographical video of a college graduate reduced as an immigrant to working low-level jobs. Others showing videos are Huong Ngo and Sara Suleman, in both cases not quite complete thoughts.

Nathalie Pham, Blue Duckie Exploring Spam

At AAI, I loved work from Nathalie Pham, four lacquer on panel with sign-paint fantasy drawings that were witty and Pop. The traditional lacquer technique brings a watery presence through the application of the paint. In the paintings, soda cans float and a Spam can is painted like blue-on-white Chinese porcelain.

Jiny Ung, The Daily Staple

Other standouts include Jiny Ung’s installation, The Daily Staple, an arrangement of rice bowls holding grenades above which flutter printed pages, hanging from clothelines. It’s the printed pages with their fragmentary stories that flutter on the air currents that are the surprise here.

Eliseo Art Silva, Boy With Camera (foreground) and Girl With Camera (background left)

Eliseo Art Silva‘s Boy With Camera (I remember seeing this piece at Arcadia a few years ago) and Girl With Camera are unsettling. Silva, who works with Mural Arts, came here from the Phillipines.

Of the four Chinatown Youth Radio Philadelphia audio stories, XuXu Chen’s report on drying ducks and sneakers side by side in the window at Abakus on North 10th Street was lively and amusing.

Joanna Kao, My Mother and Father

Joanna Kao’s mixed media collage/prints were evocative, especially My Mother and Father. Also showing was an interactive project by Keiko Miyamori, an installation by Romy Scheroder and a student printing project by Ben Volta with students from Grover Washington Middle school.

The mix of student work and professional art made the exhibit a little more uneven than usual, but there was still plenty here that I enjoyed mining.

How bad is the whining greed and entitlement that marks the American Way these days? It’s really bad. As a nation we can’t even accept that bad stuff happens–by accident, by fate, by the alignment of the stars. We’re bogged down in law suits based on some mistaken notion that we can control everything, and that anything bad that happens can be blamed on some human action, some human fault.

Now that’s just plain irrational. I’m not talking about some higher being, being to blame. I’m just talking about being in a universe in which we cannot control all that happens.

I’m also talking about living with limits and learning to share.

Surviving in a world with less is one of Amze Emmons’ messages

The other day in the newspaper, I read that a recent study showed that people who are charitable are happier than people who are not. For selfish reasons alone, it is better not to be selfish!

The young people in the art world seem to have figured out before our president (am I allowed to blame him for everything?) that we live in a world where it is better to not expect to have EVERYTHING NOW. In this year’s Whitney Biennial catalog, the curatorial essay by Henriette Huldisch writes about “lessness.” The show reflects her point and the point certainly reflects what we’re seeing in art these days, but then unfortunately the show itself turns out to be less.

In respect of dealing with the subject of lessness, Amze Emmons‘ exhibit, World Headquarters, curated by Inliquid at the Painted Bride Cafe, is on the money–or I should say on the other side of money, philosophically speaking. There’s the ironic title, with images of patchwork living quarters (see post). There’s the inflated, meandering pipeline–a red vein lifeline that cuts into the landscape and looks like it can breathe as well as transport the air we need–or is it the oil that’s simultaneously a death-line and a lifeline. There’s the entropy of weeds in the cityscape, and bags of trash.

There’s also a sense that life is provisional, that we are here temporarily, and Emmons leaves us room to go big time with this thought–that as a human race we may not make it into the next Millenium. Sic transit gloria.

But to his credit, Emmons makes these statements in beautiful ways. At the last Art for the Cash Poor event, which is run by InLiquid every year, our table was next to his; we watched his prints and drawings flying off the table. (Here’s a link to info about the upcoming AFTCP 9).

How does he do it, I wonder, give us less that’s not less, that makes us want more of his less (this is where the Biennial largely did not succeed)? But I think the answer is he’s showing us survival tactics–how building a world with less is a kind of monument to the human spirit. It’s time for Americans to grow up and make do. It’s time for the end of greed–or we won’t survive, as a country or as a race.

One show at the Philadelphia Fringe is not enough. It’s so hard to know what will be good, what will not, that you sort of have to sample a bunch and hope for the best. This year, we finally figured that out and purchased tickets to four shows. Two down, two to go–plus a bonus.

by Miriam Singer

The bonus was added on to show number one. Murray and I got to the Painted Bride early to pick up our tickets, and there were works by Miriam Singer hanging on the wall in the cafe area, where InLiquid curates member shows. It’s such a gloomy space that if anything looks good in there, it’s probably good. On top of that, I’m a Singer fan, having first come across her work in a show at Siano Gallery (now the late lamented Siano Gallery, it turns out–we heard from gallerist Luella Tripp that it’s going to be a furniture store, instead. But look for Tripp to run another Old City gallery in six months or so).

by Miriam Singer

Singer’s work in her show de’rive dreams merges drawings with prints on paper that has been folded and unfolded and otherwise distressed in the course of her travels. She adds to them on the run as she moves through her life, and they have the jazzy rhythms and compression of city life–showing hints of stores, apartments, reflections, compression, circles, parks, bicycles, cars. None of it is spelled out, but all of it is in there, chock-a-block and rubbing elbows, inch by inch across the page.

The performance we saw at the Bride–Flamingo/Winnebago–was almost really good. It’s about a road trip across America with actors and creators Thaddeus Phillips and Muni Kulasinghe. Their two private journeys seek a piece of the past in the seediness of Las Vegas and the environmental disaster of the Salton Sea. Along the way, their searches for the American Dream cross paths. The performances were great. The set was witty and iconic. But call in an editor to trim the talky rants about the environment and politics. The show also sagged in spots, the timing not quite on target. Otherwise, pretty interesting. And, Murray, who always bumps into someone he knows, ran into someone he had written about in the Inquirer, years ago.

Waiting in a kind of staging area before the play begins. It’s really the back of the stage set for Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven

We had given up the possibility of bumping into someone we knew when we were waiting for the beginning of another Fringe show, Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, at the Arden. But sure enough, one of our neighbors stumbled in, his unlimited admission pass to all Fringe shows hanging around his neck. Dragons, by Young Jean Lee, is about her conflicting identity as a Korean and an American. The show included enough spectacle and emotion to keep us riveted. But honestly, I was a little confused now and then and couldn’t quite buy into the extremity of Korean self-disgust. And when the show was over, I had much too much to ponder. Still, I enjoyed it. As for our neighbor, he was taking his unlimited admissions badge and moving on to another show. Not us. We went straight home to hug our TV and watch U.S. Open tennis. I’m at it again today, and I’m writing this during the commercials (c’mon, James Blake; I can’t believe you’re going down!)