Tag Archive "philadelphia-art-alliance"

PMA chief Timothy Rub talks of change

Have you risked your life and your ankle crossing the Parkway to get from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to its annex? Do you wonder how the august institution, so slow to change, will embrace the digital era?

Judith Schaechter on art and craft at the Philadelphia Art Alliance

There’s nothing like ducking out of a stormy evening straight into a former mansion – known to most city dwellers as the Philadelphia Art Alliance. On the evening of March 10, the black of an overcast sky merged into the quiet gray of a brick façade, the sleek wetness of concrete pavements became the brilliant glimmer of dark wood floors and the steady fall of raindrops transformed into bright, crystalline chandeliers cascading from the ceiling. Judith Schaechter, a local artist was giving a lecture that evening.  Schaechter works with stained glass and teaches as an adjunct professor in the Crafts ... More » »

At home with art–at the Art Alliance, Area 919 and My House

A house is not necessarily a home, nor is it necessarily an art gallery. But of three shows up right now in spaces originally meant for living, two of take advantage of the space in which they are showing, playing off the domestic and architectural spaces.

Vanitas and decoration at Philadelphia Art Alliance

There’s more than meets the eye in Vanitas:Contemporary Reflections at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, which, true to its name, is about to expire–at the end of today (Aug. 12, 2010).

Slice, dice and fold–Art Alliance, Pageant and Fleisher-Ollman

Natasha Bowdoin, I am the sun in the morning, I am a dog at night, 2006; cut cards and gouache on paper, 36 x 54 x 9 inches.image courtesy the artist And now for the medium of the season, cut paper!! Three exhibits exploring the limits of paper as a medium are ripping up the town– Paper[space] at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Thanks to Mom and Dad/The Chain of the Worlds at Pageant Gallery, and a cleaner heart a do it at Fleisher-Ollman Gallery, which dips into paper along with some other work. All three shows are worth the effort ... More » »

Baubles for the Mind: Gijs Bakker and Jewelry at the Philadelphia Art Alliance

Gijs Bakker’s Neck Ornaments as installed at the Philadelphia Art Alliance. From left: three Shoulder Pieces, 1967, aluminum, collection Stedelijk Museum’s Hertogenbosch, Stovepipe Necklace, 1967, anodised aluminum, collection Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Stovepipe Necklace, 1967, aluminum, collection Stedelijk Museum’s Hertogenbosch © Gijs Bakker, photo Matthew Suib The Philadelphia Art Alliance is the only U.S. venue for a significant survey of jewelry by the Dutch designer, Gijs Bakker (organized by the Stedelijk Museum’s Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands and on view through May 18). Bakker is known in design circles for the collective, Droog Design, which he co-founded in 1993. Droog is a leader ... More » »

Juicy–SunKoo Yuh at the Philadelphia Art Alliance

by SunKoo Yuh Ceramics and paintings, local and national/international–the Philadelphia Art Alliance has been mixing it up to good effect. This outing (until Dec. 30), along with paintings from two local artists Tim McFarlane on the first floor and Catherine Gontarek at the annex across Rittenhouse Square, ceramic sculptor SunKoo Yuh fills the second floor with work that binds East with West, whimsy with seriousness, and the mysterious and suggestive with the unenigmatic quotidian. Year of Pig, 2007porcelain, glazed, Cone 10courtesy Helen Drutt, Philadelphia The sculptures–a sort of human comedy, with people and animals bursting from compressed spaces–are coated with ... More » »

Look! It’s Libby and Roberta at the Art Alliance

Click To Play To get rid of the big movie window, just reload the artblog page. In episode 13, we visit Philadelphia Art Alliance to see the works of Kip Deeds, Jessica Doyle and Kiff Slemmons. As usual, our undying love goes to David Kessler, El Magnifico del Video, who performs miracles.

Weekly Update – Art Alliance shows

This week’s Weekly has my review of the Philadelphia Art Alliance summer shows. Below is the copy with some pictures. Crafty Bastards After a misstep a few years back when it got rid of a popular curator, Philadelphia Art Alliance rebounds strong with a mix of big and small shows. PAA’s dedication to showing local emerging artists in its smaller spaces is especially welcome. Opportunities for solo exhibits by young Philly artists are few and far between. Most established galleries have full stables and rarely pick up new talent, and museums mostly eschew Philadelphia artists except when they’re a) dead, ... More » »

Craft , art, whatever, it’s great stuff at the Art Alliance

Red Cone, detail, by Bean Finneran The wonderful glass and ceramics exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Alliance made me think instantly of the discussion evinced by Roberta’s post on American Craft magazine changing its name. The Art Alliance exhibit is all about fine craft, and process and materials. It measures as art for a number of reasons, the first of which is the excellence of its craftsmanship. This work is also something more; its handling and its inventiveness are both wonderful to look at, and even more important–wonderful to consider seriously for content. Bean Finneran’s exhibit, Realms, includes composite pieces ... More » »