Tag Archive "self-taught-artists"

Outsider Art and the Mainstream – A Symposium at the PMA

Outsider Art and the Mainstream was held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) on March 1-2 in conjunction with the opening of Great and Mighty Things; Outsider Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection (on view through June 9, 2013). The large exhibition includes more than two hundred works by twenty-seven American artists, all of which have been promised to the museum, making the PMA a significant resource for art that, however uneasily, is generally termed outsider. Whenever artists have tired of the deadening effects of academic art standards, they have looked elsewhere for art that they thought ... More » »

Great and Mighty Things at the Philadelphia Museum of Art – Listen to our 2011 podcast with Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz

[Ed. note: We spoke with Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz in 2011. The show of their collection of outsider art, Great and Might things: Outsider Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection opens today at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The collection is a bequeath to the museum. In our podcast they talk about how they started collecting outsider art and why they are giving it to the museum.  This podcast originally ran on May 7, 2011.] Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz have amassed an extraordinary art collection of work by self-taught artists like James Castle, Martin Ramirez, William Edmondson and ... More » »

Alex Baker, back from Melbourne and taking charge at Fleisher-Ollman – next up on our podcast series

Alex Baker, the new director of Fleisher-Ollman Gallery, returned this Spring to Philadelphia after four years in Melbourne, Australia, where he was senior curator of contemporary art at the National Gallery of Victoria. Before he went to Australia, Alex was a major asset in the Philadelphia art scene. He was an influential curator at ICA and PAFA of wonderful outside the box exhibits. In this sample from our interview, Alex talks about how living in Australia gave him a new perspective on art from the Asia-Pacific world.  The full episode will run next Monday. Right click to download Alex Baker ... More » »

Ralfka Gonzalez returns to Philadelphia

Two days before tonight’s opening, folk artist/gay activist Ralfka Gonzalez was sitting in the middle of A Seed on Diamond slipping final touches on to a painting. He was a little apologetic of as he reinterpreted the virgin’s traditional gold fleur de lis into runic gestures.

Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz on collecting – new podcast

Our series sponsor is Fleisher Art Memorial. Locks Gallery is our episode sponsor. Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz have amassed an extraordinary art collection of work by self-taught artists like James Castle, Martin Ramirez, William Edmondson and many more. The Bonovitzes — Jill is a respected ceramic artist and Sheldon Bonovitz is a lawyer and emeritus chairman of Duane Morris LLP — collect for the love of the art, not for the investment benefit.  In the future they will be donating their collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They explain how they make decisions on what to buy and talk ... More » »

Next week on artblog radio – Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz on collecting the self-taught artists

Collecting came early in the marriage of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz. She’s a respected artist and he’s a high-powered lawyer and emeritus chairman of Duane Morris LLP and together they’ve amassed a collection of work by lesser known self-taught artists as well as those well-known in the genre  – James Castle, Martin Ramirez, William Edmondson. The Bonovitzes live with the art they collect and have recently set up an educational foundation. Foundation STAART’s documentary movie about James Castle debuted at the 2008 Philadelphia International Film Festival. Below is a brief sample from our conversation with the collectors.  Listen next Monday for ... More » »