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Olivia Jia profiles two women who are deeply invested in local art criticism: writer Julia Clift and editor Samantha Mitchell. Both women are also artists in their own right, with serious studio practices and the multiple day jobs it takes to keep it all going. Here Jia speaks with them about the challenges associated with wearing multiple hats, and reflects on the vital service they provide to the Philadelphia arts community at large.
Read MoreCatherine Rush attends Human Fest 01 at the Icebox and interviews its creator, and budding performance impresario, Jim Strong. Though the events he improvises often playfully defy description, Strong, who also paints and makes musical instruments, has built a solid reputation as a connector of people through his unwavering commitment to openness and generosity.
Read MoreNathalie Du Pasquier is one of the founders of the influential Italian Postmodern design group Memphis. Her colorful and immersive installation at ICA is both art and design. Ephraim calls it playful yet rooted in the artist’s adherence to principles of design, structure and systems. A walk through the paintings, rugs, furniture and still life paintings of objects and furniture exposes a seamless and natural interplay between art and design.
Read More“Faces Places” is a road trip movie and a buddy movie made by French artist and activist, JR, and Belgian-born filmmaker, Agnes Varda. The ebullient, energetic 30-something (JR) and introverted 80-something (Varda) make an odd couple, traveling around rural France in JR’s photo studio on wheels, says Michael, in his review of the new documentary. But he also says the movie is beautifully executed, moving and inspirational. The easy camaraderie between the two intense artists is unexpected, and the country people and their stories, as they get photographed and their faces become part of JR’s public oeuvre, are totally heartwarming. Faces Places opens at the Ritz East on November 2.
Read MoreArtblog recently hosted a lively panel discussion on the Future of Art Writing in conjunction with our 3rd annual New Art Writing Challenge. Our dynamic panelists included artist and Bmore Art contributor, Alexandra Oehmke, performer organizer and writer, Catherine Rush and writer and theater-maker Carlos Roa. The panel was held on Wednesday, October 4th, 2017 at the Galleries at Moore and moderated by Matt Kalasky; the podcast is 76 minutes long.
Read MoreWhat is an appropriate monument for the current city of Philadelphia? This is the timely and ambitious question that the folks at Mural Arts posed to their 20 selected Monument Lab artists. Imani Roach interviews one of the artists, Sharon Hayes, and reports on her project, installed in Rittenhouse Square until Nov. 19.
Read MoreIn the wake of public art controversies centered on divisive figures of the Civil Rights era, the new Octavius Catto memorial at City Hall is a salve to the nerves and a reminder that good public art, made for today but nodding to the past and with tomorrow in mind, can bring us together and serve the public good.
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