Tag Archive "philadelphia-museum-of-art"

Office Hours – Zoe Strauss at the PMA

“What the hell?” sums up Zoe Strauss’s rationale for choosing one of three paintings from the archives of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to hang in her temporary office at the museum. This could easily also be the reaction of unsuspecting passers by to one of Strauss’s billboard photos. Countless people must by now have stumbled on the citywide series of  billboard prints while dozing off on SEPTA, crossing Gray’s Ferry Ave., or looking up from their iPhones. As the familiar city landscape reveals a less familiar face or empty storefront pictured where an advertisement once was, viewers have been ... More » »

The real Zoe Strauss show

[Note: This is a republish of a post that got lost in the transition to our new format.] Billboards, dances, office hours, Megawords installation, the artist’s own blog–these may seem like the sideshow for Zoe Strauss’ photography exhibit, 10 Years, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. But we think it is an integral part of the art itself. After all, Strauss conceived of her Under I-95 exhibits, which lasted 10 years, before she even owned a camera.   The photographs were a part of something bigger, part of a grand vision of uniting all the people of Philadelphia–especially the forgotten, ... More » »

Humanity in poverty and isolation – Live Cinema/Peripheral Stages at PMA

by Dennis D’Alesandro Western popular culture most often mirrors and reinforces the clean, filtered worlds of societyʼs haves. This is usually a bright and well-maintained place, where the rich and middle class go about their lives as pro-active masters of their destinies, enjoying from their desirable vantage points a close proximity to all of the resources that our cities and institutions have to offer. However, behind this one-sided veil, a vast, crumbling infrastructure looms in the shadows. Plagued by drugs, gang violence and chronic unemployment, these overlooked areas house the silent ghosts of humanity who are forced to make do ... More » »

Hannah Price on photographing men on the streets in Philadelphia – a new podcast

Hannah Price is the youngest artist included in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s exhibit of local artists, Here and Now. Now 25, Price graduated in 2009 with a BFA in photography from Rochester Institute of Technology.  She’s had remarkable success for such a young artist.  In addition to the current museum show she’s in she won an award in the Philadelphia Photo Art Center’s first emerging artist exhibit, Next, and has exhibited her works in group shows at Gallery 339, the city’s premier commercial photography gallery.  Price’s color photos, shot in film and printed digitally, show street scenes and people ... More » »

Zoe Strauss on what matters, on artblog radio

Artist Zoe Strauss was preparing for her important mid-career retrospective, Zoe Strauss: Ten Years, when we talked to her at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  The exhibit opens at the PMA Jan. 14, 2012, but Strauss was hard at work in August, getting ready. As excited as she was about the upcoming show, she was even more excited about the part of the show that was going to go up on billboards around Philadelphia, where the general public could see the photos. Her populist spirit and loyalty to community is behind all of her work and behind her fabled series ... More » »

Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus at the PMA

Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus brings a group of extraordinary paintings, drawings and prints by Rembrandt and his pupils to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA; organized by the PMA, the Louvre and the Detroit Institute of Arts, the exhibition is in Philadelphia through Oct. 30, 2011). It was conceived as a thematic exhibition exploring a question about Christian imagery, but the works can be viewed in many ways and will interest visitors for a wide range of reasons.  Rembrandt’s work is rarely seen in Philadelphia, so let me begin with a short list of works from the exhibition, ... More » »

London: the V&A’s Aesthetic Movement , Saatchi Gallery; and Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff

The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900, through July 17 at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is perhaps most interesting for emphasizing that the Pre-Raphaelites set out to make their living space a Gesamptkunstwerk, complete with paintings, furniture, wallpaper, decorative objects and artistically-clad women, who clearly were part of the decoration; hence the exhibition includes all facets of fine and decorative arts, including  photography, printed books and rarely-seen items of jewelry and clothing.  Women’s clothing, that is. While the men established, developed and prosthelytized on behalf the style, it didn’t extend to their own dress. Even the dandy, ... More » »

June in Amsterdam: Beldan Sezan’s ‘Zakkum’ etc.

I love Amsterdam and have been visiting a close friend there regularly since 1998, but if you’ve never been to the city, this is not a good time to go. Much of the city is torn up because of large construction projects: at the train station (whose entrance is entirely obscured behind hoardings, below, and interior is also undergoing work); on major streets, where they are building a subway; and at both the Rijksmuseum and Stedelijk Museum. Both museums have a small selection of their collections on view, which is probably sufficient for tourists, but not for readers of  artblog.  ... More » »

Lots of News!

News Philadelphia Museum of Art highlights ten local artists Starting September 10, the PMA will host Here and Now: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs by Ten Philadelphia Artists.

Michael Taylor appointed director of Dartmouth’s Hood Museum

We got a note from Michael Taylor, the Philadelphia Museum of Art‘s Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art, this weekend.  He wanted us to pass on to you, dear readers, this news (maybe you already read it in the Inquirer). Quoting Michael, “It is with mixed emotions that I have to tell you that I am leaving Philadelphia after 15 wonderful years at the PMA. I have accepted a director position at the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, where I will begin work on August 15. I would love it if you could share this news with your ... More » »