Jason Lazarus will take your unwanted photos
Do you have photos that are too painful to keep around? If so, Chicago-based artist Jason Lazarus will take them.  He’s collecting unwanted photos for an art installation. There’s no need to provide the background for the photos, and if you feel they are too private to be shown, the artist will display them face down. Lazarus can pick them up on Sunday February 5 from 10 AM – 7 PM. E-mail him at jasonlazarus.photo@gmail.com or call 312-953-2885.

Knapp Gallery closing
Old City’s Knapp Gallery is closing up shop at the end of February. A rough economic climate and a need for income generating and career boosting opportunities in Philadelphia are among the reasons director Karl Slocum listed for the gallery’s decision to shut down. The final show runs from February 3 – 26 with work by painter Bryan Guglielmi.

CENTERpieces — Julie Courtney and Jennie Shanker curate the Catskills

Dome building under construction, The Center for Discovery, Harris, New York, 1984.

CENTERpieces, a cultural initiative co-curated by Julie Courtney and Jennie Shanker at the Center for Discovery in Harris NY, this month debuts The Harris Observatory, a temporary project  by Richard Torchia, in which a disused geodesic dome is converted into a sunlight-powered chart of the stars. The Harris Observatory is on view February 18 – March 3 by appointment: catskillcenterpieces@gmail.com. Grand opening day is February 25 and requires an RSVP at the Eventbrite page.

Network sessions at Moore
February 17 kicks off Moore College of Art & Design’s first networking opportunity this year, Launch into Fashion. The event goes from 6 – 8 PM in the Great Hall and includes a local DJ, cocktails, and a chance to meet Philly’s top fashion and design experts.  While this network session is about fashion, others will focus on the visual arts.

In the Media

Bonnie Brenda Scott.

Sarah McEneaney’s current show at Tibor de Nagy in New York is featured on Huffington Post as one of the 10 must-see painting exhibits this year–congratulations! Via Franklin Einspruch, Bill Scott’s exhibition at Hollis Taggart Galleries in New York appears in the Jan. 2012 issue of Art in America. Also via, via an artnet tweet,  photo blog Boxes of Blight documents Philadelphia’s graffiti and sticker-covered newspaper honor boxes — a great obsession, don’t we all hate these eyesores? Bonnie Brenda Scott’s work appears in a recent post on Beautiful/Decay (also catch her opening at Benna’s Cafe on February 10).

Philadelphia Barnes Campus hours and ticket prices
The Barnes Foundation has released its new set of hours and pricing for the upcoming opening of its new museum on the Parkway.  Members can buy tickets now.  Tickets will be timed to manage the flow through the small galleries that replicate the rooms at the Merion Barnes.  We don’t see an artist price on the list, but we hope they might consider it.  Or a pay what you wish Sunday like the PMA has. Amazingly, the Barnes will be open 7 days a week!

In Activism
Still juiced from Occupy Wall Street — check out the OWS Arts & Labor Teach-in in Brooklyn at 300 Nevins St., Brooklyn on February 19 from 3 – 6 PM, for discussions of alternative economies and creative prosperity. Contact owsartsandlabor@gmail.com for more information. On the home front, Nicola Midnight St. Claire is hosting an event at ICA this Sunday, Feb 5, 2pm.  Lead from Somewhere examines the relationship between art and civic action.

PHLocal exhibit and event listings
A new site – PHLocal.com – is set to fill the niche for listing art events and exhibits all around the city. The site is currently in beta and it’s definitely worth checking out for all you artists, organizers, and venues!  We miss our own maps&listings, but this looks like it may be a great resource.

In Curatorial
Bryn Mawr College appointed Brian Wallace as Curator and Academic Liaison for Art and Artifacts. Wallace formerly put on some great programming for Moore College when he was head of the galleries there, and we’re glad he is back in the area. Tyler School of Art alumn Dean Daderko was named Curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Daderko ran an influential apartment gallery in Brooklyn, Parlour Projects from 2000-2005 and also did some freelance curating at Vox Populi. Sarah Schultz has been named Director of Education and Curator of Public Practice at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. She has been leading the way in experimental programming in museum education.

Opportunities

The International Migration Art Festival is seeking work for its Art Your Food competition to be held in Milan, New York, and London. The theme is “Food and Migration” and mediums include film, literature, music, and visual art. The deadline is April 15.

Via inLiquid, the NARS Foundation has announced its second annual Emerging Curator Open Call, which offers an opportunity for a young-in-career curator to present a group show at the NARS Foundation Gallery. You can find all the details here. The deadline is March 2.

Philadelphia Photo Arts Center is seeking photographers for its 3rd annual Contemporary Photography Competition and Exhibit. The deadline is May 29.

Artist News

Judith Schaechter has her first solo show in Philly in 10 years this May at Eastern State Penitentiary. Can you believe that – 10 years and no solo show in her own town? The opening reception is May 11 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM. Always in demand, the queen of glass is also exhibiting at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York — among many other things — check her website for more.

Becky Suss, "Hope St", Sumi ink on paper.

Becky Suss, a new Vox Populi member, has a week long show, Feb. 3-10 at Snyderman-Works. Her show at Snyderman looks like the work she showed in her Vox solo exhibit last year — that seems a great strategy, join a coop, show work there, then get a gig at a commercial gallery so you can (maybe, we hope) sell something.

Daniel Hoffman – a former artblog contributor – has started a new animation business Laundryboat Media. Check out his music video for ManMan!

Out of town shows: Bonnie MacAllister and Rachel Blythe Udell have a two person show at et al projects in NYC. Rebecca Gilbert will be part of the Cutting Edge: Contemporary Paper show at Boise State University.

Maureen Drdak, from the Prakriti Project: "The Flying Naga", detail Collection of Berthe and John Ford.

Maureen Drdak culminates her Fulbright in Nepal with a show at Siddhartha Art Gallery in Kathmandu, opening February 9.

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

Liam Dean, #9

This painting was behaving like a wise but dangerous orphan tugging at my pant leg begging for a home. Our silent exchange opened the flood gates, standing there in a puddle of my own tears (or fears), pleading with this painting to let me go. I was only window shopping and certainly didn’t have the resources for a red dot. I was also concerned about not knowing how this damn thing was making me cry. Its insistence kept me firmly planted in its presence, bribing me with a few ancient secrets of its vast empire (while it fed off my emotions).

I closed my eyes in an attempt not to see, not to think, not to feel, but scenes of struggle persisted in my mind’s eye, murky images of conception, birth and death each trying to hold the others back, fighting for my attention in an attempt to get me in formation. The gallery assistant came up to me at this point and asked if she could help me with anything, and I answered “no thanks” without turning around to face her, ashamed of my vulnerability. This painting wanted out and so did I (out of this gallery); instead I sat down and tried to reason with this pushy thing, asking it feeble questions like “why me?”

It responded with one sound that I could hardly make out as a word, “bloodlines,” which should’ve had me screaming and running out of the gallery with the abandon of a mad man thrashing onto the streets rushing towards comforts, but I stayed, trying to absorb the aesthetic qualities of this painting while ignoring its suspicious voice absent of vibrations. Was I from a Luciferian bloodline? Or was this painting trying to get closer to someone in my life who was, via me?

Performing art has always had more of an ability to pull emotional tears, with all of its sensory accessories (sound, light and movement) but a piece of visual art has to work much harder to reach these depths of emotions within a human being. # 9 succeeds.

This was a living thing with a knowing confidence and the ability to project truth and lies sandwiched into the mind, with or without my consent. I had no idea what the title–of this show or of painting #9–was called; I only knew what it felt like from our pathetic telepathic conversation. I should have left at this point, but no, I had to seek out its name. The title of this painting is “Devil.” June 11, 2011- I Corey Armpriester had a conversation with the “Devil,” and he was charming, brutal and full of promises; I left the gallery a transformed man, knowing art too works in mysterious ways.

I went back to the gallery a few weeks later and discovered this painting was in someone’s home for four days (during the exhibition) and then returned to the gallery from the potential buyer on the grounds that it was too dark for the family.

Alchemy 101, the solo exhibit by Liam Dean @ Knapp Gallery, closed June 26, 2011.

Refrigerator Art, a punning painting by Nick D'Angelo, at Rodger Lapelle Gallery

In this exhibition, all of the works are done in a largely achromatic palette. D’Angelo chooses small focal points to render in color, which predictably stand out a great deal. This is not to downplay the backgrounds, however, which are equally as detailed as the saturated areas, only colorless. One such piece is Refrigerator Art, a wood-panel refrigerator dotted with whimsical pictures held by “magnets”.

Mr. D’Angelo explained to me that he sets out to just paint life, or at least the way people tend to see it. The things we want to notice are always more vibrant, while a lot of things fade into the periphery. A great example is A Better Mousetrap. In this painting, a traditional wooden mousetrap sits armed with a piece of delicious looking cheese and a glass of red wine. Only the wine and cheese are in color, and the trap itself sits idle, ready to spring at any moment…

Nick D’Angelo revealing the reverse of 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

Aside from the formal observations, D’Angelo’s sense of humor is, as mentioned, pervasive throughout the entire show. When it was brought to my attention that the piece entitled 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall did not have ninety-nine bottles, the artist happily took the painting off the wall to prove to me that the others were really there.

Bodega

Nicholas Gottlund’s bleach experiment at Bodega

Another Nick – Nicholas Gottlund – was showing his more recent work at 3rd Street’s Bodega. Working primarily as a photographer, Gottlund has begun doing some more earthlike, process-oriented explorations. The show at Bodega is roughly half photographic work, many of which are hazy shots of Midwestern vegetation or patterns in the dust.

One of Nicholas Gottlund's photos

Gottlund’s other works are of a similar subject, except bypassing the medium of a camera. Letting plaster settle into a set form, or using a squeegee to wipe bleach onto photographic paper, are among his processes. Reproduction of the natural is Gottlund’s goal and when comparing the photos side-by-side with the physical works, it is clear that he accomplishes this in a subtle, yet effective way.

Knapp

Cunanin by Jim Bloom, mixed media, 36.5” x 21," Knapp gallery

The Knapp Gallery’s October exhibition was a bit free-form in its execution too… however in this case, for the curators. Having their Oklahoma City based artist cancel at the last minute the folks down at Knapp had to construct a show from scratch. What emerged was a preview of all of their upcoming 2011 exhibitions.

There are a total of seven artists’ works on display as the sampler packaged for the upcoming shows, not all of which I have room to discuss here. One Brazilian artist, Umberto Nigi, paints in the language of Rothko-like color fields. Originally from Italy, Nigi was inspired by the abstract expressionists on a trip to New York, and now produces minimal, expressive forms as an echo of their style.

Another highlight is an artist who goes simply by the name Razza. His large-scale paintings range from industrial gears and muted colors reminiscent of Cubist monochrome, to more colorful, flowing, almost musical compositions.

I was also pleased to see Philadelphia artist Jim Bloom among the lineup. Creating collages of cut up paper plates and scraps, Bloom constructs twisted portraits out of seeming junk. Scrawled words float around his images, surreally injecting the artist’s musings into our subconscious.

It’s certainly worth a trip down to Old City to check out Nick D’Angelo’s entertaining and masterful show, and whether you prefer the contemporary modernism at the Knapp Gallery or the natural reproduction at Bodega, there is certainly plenty to see downtown this October.

Ben Will’s paintings and sculptures in “The Beast From the Belly of a Boeing” at the University City Arts League feel very familiar. The show is sparse, consisting of only four paintings and three sculptures. Collectively, the work taps into the unconscious and never coalesces into a narrative, although a story is implied.

Ben Will, hulking landscape creature with mists rising

Each painting depicts a floating, cloud-like mass in bright, acidic colors that casts a shadow beneath it. Like topographical maps, the paintings suggest another world. Mountain ranges, rivers, forests and wispy, drippy atmospheric areas of smoke or mist appear in these specimen-like works. The sculptures—made of toys, paint, tape and assembled flotsam—stand at attention like playground equipment awaiting children.

Ben Will, installation with sculpture looking like playground equipment

Ben Will, continental drift

Like Richard Tuttle’s sphinx-like toss-offs, Will’s works have the outer trappings of something slight. Unlike Tuttle, the paintings and sculptures are beautifully crafted and offer more than formalist readings. Will, who runs Rebekah Templeton Gallery with his wife Sarah Eberle, has produced a show where the pieces talk beautifully with each other in a language we don’t understand. The work toys with art history, science and science fiction, but it’s not devoid of emotion. They are deep portents, but of what, we don’t know.

Ashley Flynn, installation at Knapp Gallery

In extreme contrast to Will’s reductive show is Ashley Flynn’s “Expelled From Eden, ” her second solo show at Knapp Gallery. The show delivers a punch. There will be victims. Your eyes will hurt. Your senses may be offended. But Flynn doesn’t care.

Ashley Flynn, the use of the photo painted over pushes this to another level.

Her installation of figure drawings and paintings (done on paper, canvas and directly on the wall) is an explosion of rape, child abuse, self-abuse, suicide, family dysfunction and societal neglect of the poor and needy. The show wears its anger and emotion proudly. It’s as if the artist denies the last 50 years of art history and is channeling the art of protest and witnessing by Kathe Kollwitz, George Grosz and other activist artists. At a time when cool distance is the goal of most artists, Flynn’s moralizing liberal rampage puts her in league with today’s minority voices in the art world—street photographers Zoe Strauss and Alec Soth and grafitti artist Swoon, for example.

Ashley Flynn, one of a series of drawings t-pinned to the wall

Flynn’s standout moments come in her use of photographic imagery collaged onto the paintings. The artist, who graduates from Moore College of Art and Design this spring, photographs friends and strangers, then appropriates the face—or in some cases just the eyes—from a photo and inserts it into the painting. The results have a haunting immediacy that pushes the paintings into a different realm. It’s hard to imagine this work going anywhere else since it is at the extreme already. That said, a few ink drawings and a couple of the smaller discreet paintings on view show a less histrionic approach, and they seem a way forward.

“The Beast From the Belly of a Boeing” Through Feb. 7. University City Arts League, 4226 Spruce St. 215.382.7811.
“Expelled From Eden” Through Jan. 31. Knapp Gallery, 162 N. Third St. 267.455.0279.

Flynn is one of those artists whose impulse to make marks comes straight out of her fingertips and her soul and touches everything in sight. The gallery, to its credit under the direction of Knapp’s new gallerist Karl Slocum, allowed her to paint and draw on the walls and let her have at it. In fact, there was a two-week lull between the previous exhibit and the next, and lucky for Knapp, Slocum squeezed her in. Lucky for us too.

That means that much of this exhibit–the extensions of the paintings onto the walls, and the links between the drawings–is ephemeral, the paint, spray paint and charcoal along with the layering and interweaving of drawings and poems there for but three more days.

Flynn clearly has some major emotional obsessions driving her work. Odd families, animals and rapists are part of the circus of life among the humans. The result is X-rated and grotesque, with blow jobs, ejaculations, penetrations, birth, copulation and death. The energetic style has a little of George Grosz, a little DeKooning, just for starters..

The images burst at the seams, too explosive to behave inside the usual rectangle and on the single sheet of paper.  Some of the layers break the frame, others the surface. Flynn also writes poetry related to the narratives in the paintings and drawings.

I recognized the images from her senior thesis exhibit at Moore College. They reminded me of Judith Schaechter a little. In the show at Knapp, Flynn has taken everything to the next level. Next to it, the thesis work looks relatively academic and proper. But here she shows with panache that she is not safe and she is not predictable. In fact, she’s pretty wild!

Installation shot of Ashley Flynn's exhibit, Forgiven (It's Not Their Fault); some of the images on the rear wall are cut from her senior thesis.

This inaugural exhibit of Flynn’s post-college career is not to be missed. Alas, you have only until Sunday to get there.

The highlight of First Friday down in Old City was, as Roberta and Libby pointed out in their post last week, Jackie Tileston‘s exhibit at Pentimenti, Everything, In Your Favor.

Jackie Tileston before her painting “Analogy of Transit”

Tileston’s exhibit was composed of 4 oils and 4 drawings, each embodying the same euphoric, spiritual feel. Tileston, a teacher at UPENN, grew up overseas, and has recently returned from an extended tenure in India. The landscape elements in her paintings are derived from these and other excursions abroad. They feature her own pictures, namely of the Himalayas, and also have historical references, such as to the Hudson River Painters. I thought the paintings were the perfect size to represent the subject – big enough that you could lose yourself inside of them but not so big that they were overpowering.

Jackie Tileston’s “The Way Things Might Really Be”

Tileston’s work has been labeled as deconstructive in nature and likened to the Abstract Expressionist painters. However, as she asserts in her own words, “I’m not taking something apart. I’m putting everything back together again.” And her paintings do create a certain level of empathy with the viewer. The abstractions in the foreground work with the landscapes behind them to feel “multicultural,” culminating her experiences of travel, and also seem to speak to somewhere in the viewer’s subconscious that recognizes the forms as familiar and beautiful.

The University of the Arts hosted its Fine Arts Senior Thesis Exhibit at Havana Lofts on 301, 303, 307 N. Third St – a space that sprawled over three buildings and even down into the dingy basements. I found that the artists made great use of the space – especially Diane Huebner‘s exhibit downstairs.

Diane Huebner

After following the “exhibit continues downstairs” sign, I was not sure that I was in the right surroundings. However, I kept the faith and looked at what the other viewers were studying in the far corner where a small bare light lit an alcove. Inside was a sculpture of what looked to be a mummy or a decomposing body – eerie! The curved, white form fit perfectly in the space. I was alternatively addled and intrigued by this exhibit, and by the further work I found of Huebner’s upstairs.

Diane Huebner’s “Deconstructing My Childhood” – “flayed” stuffed animals.

Huebner’s show exhibited the pelts of stuffed animals, pinned to the wall in a manner that was reminiscent not only of the rare leopards that can be find in collectors’ households, but also, oddly enough, of Jesus on the cross. Both the stuffed animals and the sculptures in the basement were quite affecting.

There were many more artists that I enjoyed at the UArts show. See pictures on my flickr site.

The Knapp Gallery, on 162 N. Third St. has a new director, Jeffrey Frederick, and a new image – the first exhibit dedicated solely to one artist, Jon Eckel‘s Selected Works signals a transition that will mark Knapp as a sophisticated gallery that should be taken seriously.

Jon Eckel’s “Artist’s Studio” at Knapp

Eckel’s paintings reminded me of cubism and Gauguin while having a unique primitivism of their own. Much of the imagery, fish, birds, etc, are obviously symbolic to the Christian faith. However, Eckel’s style of painting allows them to exist on their own as archetypes of human experience. See more on my flickr site.

There were several highs – and a whole lot of shows to pass over for April’s First Friday. Honestly, after synthesizing what I had seen into an overall view of how the night went, I found many of the exhibits lacking. I suppose the galleries are gearing up for their best shows to open in May, when the weather is actually warm. A more complete photo journal of what I gleaned from the night can be found in my photos here.

To start, it seemed that 2nd Street was the place to be on First Friday – and more specifically at Artist’s House. Viewers spilled out onto the street and waited in line to enter the gallery, which exhibited the work of seven artists, and thus I was curious to see what was inside.

“Self-portrait” by Anthony Palumbo

The first artist I encountered was Anthony Palumbo – whose art you can see from the window, should you stroll by. I was immediately taken by how evocative of a mood Palumbo created with each image – an urban, underground metro feeling, as dirty as the scene in which each subject is placed. The subjects wear leather jackets, scruffy beards and winter coats, and are featured in such areas as the subway (I’m assuming in Manhattan), a bathroom with graffiti, the street, and Chinatown. In his bio on the Artist’s House website, Palumbo states that “Every figure I’ve painted is a hero.”

Anthony Palumbo’s “Red Hood”

I liked this description of his work and how each painting seems to glorify the downtrodden and the individual of America’s cities. Each subject stares out at the viewer with a look that is half-challenge, half-misery, but never disinterest. Palumbo captures the spirit of a chance locking of the eyes in a busy metropolis. Libby has written about him before; here is a link to her post in May 2005, here in December 2004, and here is Roberta’s post about him in December 2003 here. Whew. I hadn’t realized he was so widely covered in Artblog ’till now. Good stuff.

“Evening Gown” by Arcenio Martin Campos.

Another artist featured in the Artist’s House who captured the fragility of a moment was Arcenio Martin Campos. Campos claims that his art represents a search for the subject’s underlying meaning and the answer as to why he creates art in the first place. His figure drawings manifest this quest with an intensity that is a gesture of both violence and beauty. The artist often works in bold primary colors and blacks and paints the figures’ skin in cold hues. Also, many of his figures are headless and tearing at their clothes, their appendages blurred in a gesture of movement. Perhaps the source of the paintings’ energetic beauty lies in the artist’s internal struggle within himself for meaning. To see more images from both artists go to my flickr site.

Melissa Grosjean and her painting, “Splash: Blue/Orange.” Latex house paint on canvas.

The Knapp Gallery on 3rd St, a new gallery that opened in October, again drew a crowd this First Friday. Dedicated to exhibiting only undergraduate art, the Knapp gallery featured the work of eleven students, focusing on two or three of them, whom the gallery selected as having “potential in tomorrow’s art world.” Last month’s featured artist was Melissa Grosjean, a senior at Moore College and Design. This month, Grosjean continues to exhibit a series of experimental paintings, each bearing the title of “Splash,” as well as numerous figure drawings. Although some of the work in the Knapp Gallery seems too primitive to be on display, much of it is quite interesting. To see more photos from the Knapp Gallery visit my flickr site here.

The collaborative efforts of Jay Scarborough and Wes Pickell: “Bloody Hand.” Screenprint and Photograph.

Speaking of expanding shows, FreeJade’s exhibit “Dream Like Reality” also attracted with its funky band and mixed media works, (much of which were from the curator, Wes Pickell‘s private collection). The show featured such artists as the Design Bureau of Amerika (See Roberta’s post from last summer here part I and here part II) and others from Philadelphia and beyond.

Christine Jones “Sex Sounds.” Mixed Media on Cardboard.

The art represented a wide array of styles and medium, from a small sculpture to a large painting bearing the words “We Wake Neighbors With Our Sex Sounds,” by Christine Jones. I liked the cutesy pink colors and the kissing deer projected over such suggestive words as these and “69? Yes!” Overall, it was a very good show. See more images on my flickr site here.

Romi Sloboda’s “Sixty Black and White Vessels.” Acryllic, mixed media on canvas. 60″ x 108″ (her largest work in the exhibit).

Finally, I recommend stopping by Rodger LaPelle Galleries to see Romi Sloboda‘s “Works on Paper and Painting” exhibit. Sloboda’s work features the repeated images of Korean hangari jars, onggi and celadon cups – vessels that she, as a Korean-American, remembers from her childhood. In response to the question of why she repeatedly paints these images, Sloboda claims a sentimental attachment to them; jars which, although originally in every Korean household for utilitarian purposes, have been replaced by tupperware. Rodger LaPelle galleries is known to exhibit more traditional portrait artists; in response to this fact, Sloboda said, “I guess my jars are all little portraits in themselves.” Which is true – each painting has an individual quality to it. She has spent thirteen years painting the jars, yet the show is still interesting, despite its seemingly redundant subject matter.

Romi Sloboda’s “Blue Ghost Cups.” Collagraph print, acryllic and collage on paper. 41″ x 41″ (triptych). Her most recent work in the show.

Sloboda’s exhibit shows work dating from 2000 to the present, and perhaps even reflects the artist’s changing mood after moving from Philadelphia to Santa Fe, in her work’s gradual shift toward bolder colors. Sloboda’s newer pieces feature a cobalt blue, such as in “Blue Ghost Cups,” and a strong gold, as seen in “Sixty Black and White Vessels.” In this exhibit, Sloboda exemplifies her ability to work on all scales: from the very small to the very big. In short, the exhibit nods at the traditional, in terms of method and subject matter, while at the same time keeping the jars new and interesting with each piece (some have really neat yarns that she found at flea markets). Read what Roberta wrote about Sloboda in a post in November 2003 here. More photos on flickr here.

I would say that these were some of the shows that were most interesting to me. I have a few more images of some of the other galleries on flickr here and here and here. Other than that, I know that Roberta is going to cover the exhibits up at Painted Bride (Xiang Yang) and Temple Art Gallery (“Empathetic”), two more I would strongly recommend, so I’ll leave that to her. Happy November!

-Caitlin Gutekunst is the Artblog intern.