Lectures and discussions
Temple Gallery is offering a lecture with Philadelphia resident and Creative Time curator Nato Thompson on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7:00 PM. Thompson will speak about his latest book Seeing Power: Art and Activism in the Age of Cultural Production. We at artblog would love a Creative Time organization in Philly, and as it turns out we have the curator right here! Reserve a seat for Nato Thompson’s lecture at
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2826019701 or call 215 777 9138.  And in West Philly, artist and independent curator Matheiu Copeland speaks at Kelly Writers House Thursday, Feb. 16, 6pm, about his efforts at subverting curatorial practice.

Mark Tribe, The Liberation of Our People: Angela Davis, 1969/2008, Port Huron Project, 5-minute video based on a 10-minute speech, Photograph by David Jung; Courtesy of the artist

[NOTE: We just learned that this discussion has been POSTPONED until Mar. 17.] Meanwhile, this weekend Marginal Utility is hosting a discussion at Vox Populi on the structure, imaging, and personal affects of protest.  The talk, Saturday, Feb. 11, at 6pm, Sat. Mar. 17, at 6pm features Naeem Mohaiemen and Mark Tribe, curator Yaelle Amir, and Slought Foundation’s Aaron Levy and is in conjunction with the MU show Five Acts: Chronicles of Dissent.

Ward Shelley at Pierogi

Ward Shelley, "Teenagers", 2012, Oil and toner on mylar, 61 x 34.5 inches.

Ward Shelley’s show of trippy timeline paintings opens Feb. 17 at Pierogi in Williamsburg. We’re fond of this gallery, and we love Shelley’s work, which traces musical and counter cultural movements (among others) throughout history using colorful, sinewy patterns.

Leo diCaprio teams up with La Colombe
Philadelphia-based coffee roaster La Colombe is joining forces with Leonardo DiCaprio to sell his new coffee line LYON.  All proceeds from sales go to environmental charities supported by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Thanks to Ms. Stella Kimbrough for this tasty tidbit.

Kutztown University installation

Onishi Yasuaki, "Reverse of Volume" at Kutztown University Art Gallery

A while ago we brought you the news about the residency applictions f0r Kutztown University, well the last installation is now on display. The resident artist is Onishi Yasuaki, and his work is entitled “Reverse of Volume“. There are no more residency opportunities, according to Kutztown, but you can still submit to the gallery your proposals for solo or group exhibitions. The installation is on view until March 2.

Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival poetry slam
A poetry slam and a screening of the documentary Louder Than A Bomb are part of the Jewish Film Festival at the Gershman Y this Sunday, Feb. 12 at 2:30 pm. The Poetry Slam is courtesy the Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement.

Coldhearted
Get a peek at the new Philadelphia Sculpture Gym while perusing the Valentine’s arts and crafts fair, Coldhearted, Saturday, Feb. 11, from 11am-5pm.  The Sculpture Gym is Darla Jackson’s Knight Arts Challenge project.

Opportunities

Ladies and gentlemen, but especially, we think, ladies, this is for you. Casting calls are over, but all you beautiful and tool-savvy people can still apply to the upcoming HGTV program All American Handyman until February 17. Email HGTVamericanhandyman@gmail.com with some information about your handiness and telegenic qualities.  We think ladies should apply to this politically-incorrectly titled show.

The Studios of Key West have an open call for 40 month-long residencies for artists, writers, composers, performers, and interdisciplinary artists (via Wooloo.org). The deadline for applications is May 15.

Eastern State Penitentiary is accepting applications for site specific artist installations for the upcoming 2013 season.  The deadline for proposals is June 13, 2012. Find all the details on the program here.

The Siddhartha Arts Foundation has a call for artists for the second annual Kathmandu International Art Festival. Climate change is the topic of this year’s Earth|Body|Mind festival. The application deadline is February 29. You can find the application form here.

Via Leeway –  CalArts is seeking a digital media teacher/artist. You can find more details about the position here.

3rd Ward is seeking innovative and compelling work and will be giving out $15,000 in prizes. More information on the open call page.

Little Berlin is looking for people who want to participate in FLASHFLooD, a “semi-secretive mass public exhibition of rapidly-distributed hidden flash drives containing downloadable exhibitions.”  If you are as intrigued as we are, check out the website for more information.  And if you participate in the FLASH distribution (juried by Little Berlin members, extraextra members and others), you’re also invited to show your work at a BYOBEAMER event First Friday, Mar 2 at Little Berlin.  Apply before Feb. 23.

Writers and editors, this one’s for you. College Art Association has two positions available: an editor-in-chief position for The Art Bulletin and a reviews editor for the Art Journal. The deadline for both is April 2.

Artist News

Andrea Packard from Vista and Strata

Andrea Packard, Director of the List Gallery, Swarthmore College, has an upcoming solo show at The Painting Center in New York entitled Vista and Strata. The opening is on February 28.

Susan Myers has a solo show of her metalwork at the Society of Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh in a show entitled All Consuming. The exhibit opened on February 3 and runs until June 30.

Daniel Heyman, "Do You Remember This Night?"

Daniel Heyman presents Bearing Witness at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. The show is up now through February 29. On display is Heyman’s Istanbul Portfolio of the Abu Ghraib Detainee Interview Project.

David Kettner, "The Prodigal Son - Rapture"

David Kettner is retiring after 43 years of teaching painting and drawing at University of the Arts — Kudos!!  David’s retirement show, at the UArts Hamilton Hall Galleries, opens on February 24 with a reception on the 29th from 5 – 8 PM.

FiberPhiladelphia gets underway
March is fast approaching, and so are a number of events as part of FiberPhiladelphia, the annual Philadelphia textile and fiber arts festival. In fact, Mayor Nutter will kick off the March 2 ceremony at Moore College of Art and Design by proclaiming March 2012 as Fiber Arts Month. The first event is the opening of In Material: Fiber 2012 on Friday, January 27 at Arthur Ross Gallery.

Mi-Kyoung Lee, "Untitled", 2011 (detail) Twist ties, wire

New curator at Woodmere
Matthew U. Palczynski is the new curator at the Woodmere Art Museum. Palczynski was most recently the Staff Lecturer for Western Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and specializes in 20th and 21st Century art, which he continues to teach at Temple’s Tyler School of Art.

In the Media
Details.com has an intriguing article entitled “How the Art Scene Replaced the Nightclub” which recounts how art locales in NYC are replacing clubs as the new nightlife destination.

Curbed Philly just launched as a go to hub for all things urban and Philadelphian. The editor is Liz Spikol, the long time Philly Weekly blogger who runs a page about mental health issues.

Title Magazine put out its latest issue, and artblog is also pleased to announce we are running their RSS feed on our front page.

Temple Gallery silence

The sound of silence this month at the Temple Gallery is that of tape 342 from the White House office complex under Richard Nixon. Occurring on June 20, 1972 – just days after the Watergate break-in – the discussion in Nixon’s office is suddenly and dubiously replaced by electronic clicks and hissing. Nixon’s secretary took the blame for apparently pressing the wrong button at the most convenient of times.

Fourth Friday on South Street

Arts on South does Fourth Friday from 5 – 8 PM on January 27 (via Flying Kite).  Most of the action takes place between the 500 – 700 blocks where a number of unrented retail storefronts have been turned into spaces for art.

Student show season
Tis the season for MFA and BFA shows, starting with the opening of Safeword at UPenn. The show highlights work from PennDesign MFA Class of 2013.

Opportunities

Ceramics Monthly plans to feature the works of emerging clay artists. Submit up to (no more than) five 300 ppi images, a color print of each image, descriptions of the work, and contact info to:  Emerging Artists, Ceramics Monthly, 600 N. Cleveland Ave., Ste. 210, Westerville, OH 43082. E-mail materials or questions to: epfeifer@ceramics.org. The deadline is February 21.

Triple Canopy has an open call for artists in six project areas (which are detailed on the proposals page). The staff will work closely with contributors as they develop the best approach to realizing their projects on the Web. The deadline is February 13.

Xanadu Gallery has a virtual book club–why not?  Everything else is online. Registration is free. The next book up is the Pulitzer Prize-winning de Kooning: An American Master. Visit the registration page to become a part of the book club.

Artist News

Bruce Wilhelm

Bruce Wilhelm, one of the Grizzly Grizzly founders currently completing his MFA at RISD is having a February 3 opening at Mulherin and Pollard in NYC.

Mark Price

Mark Price, a member of Space 1026, has an upcoming show at Kesting/Ray in New York entitled “Hyper 20XX”. The opening is February 9.

Celia Reisman will teach landscape painting for two sessions of the summer program at the International School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture in Umbria, Italy.

Stuart Lorimer, Tyler MFA 2011 graduate now living in Brooklyn has been working to install art for collectors and contribute paintings to a show in Paris. Most recently he helped decorate Tommy Hilfiger’s mansion in Connecticut.

Bambi Gallery pop-up show

The Bambi Gallery is back with a pop-up show at Projects Gallery in Northern Liberties to kick off the New Year. They have had some tough luck this year with floods, foreclosure, theft, and bad landlords, but 2012 is sure to be better. Featured artists at the exhibition will include: Jim Garvey, Bonnie Brenda Scott, Stacey lee Webber,  and Matthew Osborne.

Matthew Osborne

Bryn Mawr Film Institute pop-up show

A view of the exhibit at Bryn Mawr Film Institute.

Jocelyn Firth and Rachel Zimmerman have an ongoing pop-up show that they organized at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. The show was just extended to run through Christmas, so there’s some extra time to see the art on display. There are a number of local Philly artists and a few from New York too. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute.

RAW 2011 includes two Philly winners
RAW: natural born artists has announced its winners for 2011, and two of the nine winners are from Philadelphia. The Visual Artist of the Year award goes to Lawren Alice and Fashion Designer of the Year goes to Mariel Rojo. Season Commencement will take place Thursday, January 12th and will award emerging artists with career boosting prizes like boutique placement, gallery placement and consultations.

FiberPhiladelphia 2012 dates and new website
The address is the same, but FiberPhiladelphia’s website is fresh and new. Also announced are the dates for their 2012 international biennial and regional festival for innovative fiber/textile art. March 2 – 4 is the opening weekend for FiberPhiladelphia at Moore College of Art and Design.  Exhibitions are planned for 40 locations including major institutions and independent venues. The festival will run through April.

Philadelphia Fashion Incubator at Macy’s
Macy’s in Center City has opened the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator, reports Philly.com. The yearlong project is a collaborative effort of the city, Macy’s department store, and the Center City District to nurture young designers. The designers will get space and participate in workshops and seminars which will help them with their business skills in addition to their design work. Winning designers will be announced at the end of February.

Temple Gallery attendance quintuples
Rob Blackson, director of the Temple Gallery announced that the attendance for the venue is way, way up. “Most likely due to the Art Blog and other support our attendance has dramatically increased.  We are about 100 visitors shy of 5,000 visitors since this new programming structure began in September,” said Blackson. At this time last year, the gallery had just slightly over 1,000 visits.

Amazon Mechanical Turk
Amazon.com has launched a new type of marketplace for work. Mechanical Turk is an online brokerage between employers who need Human Intelligence Tasks (HITs) completed and the people who have internet access and the ability to complete them. You can take qualification tests online, and then get to work. A truly innovative new idea in the world of online jobs.

ArtStrong bags launch at Art Basel Miami

The silver, blood orange-lined ArtStrong bags made their first appearance at Art Basel in Miami, but now they are officially on the market. Tired of bubble wrapping and packaging work? Well ArtStrong bags are ideal for storing and transporting delicate work. They’re reusable and come in 15 standard sizes, plus the option to create your own custom size.

Vivant Art Collection holiday sale
On Saturday December 17, the Vivant Art Collection is presenting a holiday art sale from 10 AM – 4 PM at Club House, 4700 City Avenue across from Bala Cynwyd Shopping Center. For more information contact Florey Morisset at 310-612-4636 or e-mail vivantartcollection@gmail.com.

Opportunities

The Flux Factory in New York has announced an open call for a silk screen printing residency. The deadline for application is January 15. For more information, visit the open call page.

Artist News

Michael Konrad constructed a sculpture for the Recycling Artist-in-Residency (RAIR) program. He is also participating in a short group show in New York entitled “I am the judge. I am the jury.” Rebellion & Empowerment in Contemporary Art.

Michael Konrad constructing his sculpture for RAIR.

Ted Adams will have a solo photography exhibition at the Robin Rice Gallery in New York from January 18 – February 26.

Katie Murken had the opportunity to work as a resident artist at the Babayan Culture House in Capadoccia, Turkey back in October. The residency was funded by an Alumni Travel Grant from the Center for Emerging Visual Artists.

Andrew Jeffrey Wright will be hosting Comedy Dreamz this Saturday, December 17 at The Barbary. There will be stand-up comedy, videos, and DJs… and of course drinks. The cost is $5 and doors open at 8 PM.

Daniel Phillips, "River Street", 2011, video projection on debris, dimensions variableT

Philly -> Boston transplant Daniel Phillips will be having a show of new video work at DODGE gallery in New York.

Tim Pannell of Little Berlin and his brother just launched a company which sells high-quality, digital prints of Philadelphia, aptly named The Brothers Pannell.

Hayley Tomlinson, "One Accolade I Must Achieve to Become a Successfully Working Artist", 2011, digital print featuring a handmade ribbon.

Hayley Tomlinson won the My Philadelphia competition at Prelude Gallery. Her winning piece? A parody of being featured on this very artblog. It indeed looks like her photo was somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Congratulations, Hayley!

Other Art Fair cuts out middleman
The Other Art Fair launches in London on November 25 and bills itself as a direct way for artists to sell to collectors. The fair is unlike others because it allows for the 100 chosen artists to offer their work directly to the public. Artists showcase their work to collectors, curators and gallerists on their own terms, and that is definitely a unique and refreshing approach.

Gallatin Galleries explore #Occupytheory
Mic check! The Gallatin Galleries in New York will be presenting a participatory discussion entitled #Occupytheory alongside their exhibit “This is what democracy looks like”. What role does theory play in the leaderless Occupy movement? With Occupy Wall Street flexing its own media might and disregarding mainstream outlets for representation, how will this affect the future of publicity, information, and communication? Come join in the dialogue and have your voice heard.

Gregg Bordowitz at Temple Gallery
Artist Gregg Bordowitz thinks that art can change the world. What do you think? Visit the Temple Gallery on November 28 at 6 PM and find out. Bordowitz will be displaying ten selected works to go along with his lecture and discussion. These artworks are on loan from the Free Library of Philadelphia and were originally produced and supported by the Works Progress Administration of the 1930s. The event is free, but register here in advance.

PMA amps up supply of locally-crafted art

Image 1: Pendant by Tree and Kimball. Photo credit: Lisa Bruemmer. Image 2: Crocheted squid by Angela Davidson. Photo credit: Angela Davidson.

On Friday, 11/11/11, the Philadelphia Museum of Art held an opening for “Philadelphia Produces Original Design” (P.POD) in the Museum Store. P.POD is a pop-up bazaar created by artist, designer, author/illustrator, and Philadelphian Alex Stadler showcasing only items designed and/or produced in Philadelphia. Check it out and support local artists through December 31!

B&K open their doors after Sande Webster closes
Owned and operated by Brian Dennis and Keith Breitfeller, the former manager and framer of Wallnuts Frame Design where Sande Webster Galley used to be, B&K will continue to offer services at its new location on 527 South 16th Street.

Discussion about the sustainable re-use of materials at PAA
The Philadelphia Art Alliance will be having a discussion with Carrie Collins of Fabric Horse and Roland Burns of R.E.Load Bags about the creative re-use of materials tonight, November 17, at 7 PM. Come learn about challenges and rewards of crafting hand-made goods in a contemporary urban setting.

Art Writing with AUX at Vox
First in a series of performance and screening events at the new AUX performance space as part of Vox Populi is “Art Writing” organized by artist and critic Becky Hunter. The event on November 25 at 7 PM explores experimental writer and scholar Maria Fusco’s ideas about writing as art and writing about art.

Opportunities

The Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh announces a call for entries for its international photography competition “Fellowship 12“. First prize International Award is $3,000 and a solo exhibition at Silver Eye Center for Photography.

Francis Cape's utopian benches.

Arcadia University Art Gallery is hosting an exhibit of hand-made “utopian benches” by artist Francis Cape. Director Richard Torchia announced that the gallery welcomes communities to have a meeting on the utopian benches.  E-mail gallery@arcadia.edu with your request to hold your meeting on Francis Cape’s utopian benches.

Artists are invited to send a proposal for a site-specific outdoor sculpture installation to be created during a residency in Cheng Long, a small rural village in Taiwan dealing with environmental issues and organic food. E-mail allenrebeccajanei@gmail.com by February 8 with your proposal.

University City District installed and now maintains streetlamps along Baltimore Avenue, between 45^th and 50^th streets including the banners they display. This spring, they will be replacing the current banners with new banners designed by local artists. There are cash prizes available. Send proposals to mark@universitycity.org by March 2.

UCD banner

We told you before about the West Collection’s effort to beef up its collection with new acquisitions. Well the call for applications opened on November 15 and run through April 12. Visit the application page to submit your work!

Artist News

Laura Watt has a solo exhibit opening today, November 17, at McKenzie Fine Art in NYC.

Laura Watt, "Source (after P.G.)", 2011, Oil on canvas 36 x 60 inches.

Jennie Shanker recently had a write-up in the New York Times about her Marcellus Shale Experiment.

Hennessy Youngman (aka Jayson Musson) has a track on the new Spank Rock album which you can listen to here.

Temple Gallery leads the charge.  The new Director of exhibitions and programs, Rob Blackson and his 28-person Advisory Council brainstormed a number of socially-themed issues, and Blackson developed the programs and commissioned some new art. On tap — sustainability, shale-oil drilling; toxic waste, AIDS and more.  There will be 2 programs a week, Blackson says, everything from Monday morning coffee hours (in the gallery with lectures and free coffee and snacks, coFREE Mondays, beginning Sept. 12) to dinners in the gallery with foraged greens from the neighborhood (are they kidding? No.  Feast of Forage, Sept. 21).  Other programs: True Bloodmobile and discussion of historic buildings as haunted houses (think Eastern State Penitentiary) Oct. 28; The Big Shale Teach-In, Nov. 3 and 4.

A piece lurking at Temple Gallery. Is it art or is it not? (hint, it is art) Tyler Held, "Repair" Photo courtesy Temple Gallery

This month, British artist Sara MacKillop takes charge of the gallery’s welcome desk, a white desk with an abnormally-high and unwelcoming wall on the front end (Blackson calls it “The Iceberg”).  Turning the chilly desk into something interactive, the artist will fill the desk drawers with subversive art created with post-it notes, pens, clips and other standard office supplies.  Viewers are encouraged to riffle through the drawers and interact – move stuff around, reorganize, add some, take some.

An on-the-job training project, Project Shift, also begins this month in the gallery and runs to Feb, 2012. Workers from the Village Workshop will learn building skills and create a series of temporary wood shed-cum-corral structures — designed by artists, architecture students and others.  The corrals will be used for programs and activities.

Alex Klein, ICA's new program director. Photo courtesy ICA

ICA launched its Whenever Wednesday programs in 2006, a series that includes everything from lectures to parties, to workshops.  What’s new is that the Institute just created the position of Program Director and hired West Coaster, Alex Klein for the job.

Excursus logo, courtesy of ICA

Klein launches a programming discussion nook called Excursus in ICA’s mezzanine on Sept. 14.  With tables, chairs and book carts, Excursus will allow people to come, sit, browse written materials and chat.  The first Excursus program is a talk by Penn Rare Books Curator Lynne Farrington, about Centaur, a Philadelphia radical bookstore/hangout from the 1920s. Reception to follow. Andy Beach, designer and blogger, guest-curated this first round of Excursus.

The Sept. 21 “Free For All” event has everything in one package – a lecture on contemporary art by Senior Curator Ingrid Schaffner, a screen-printing workshop, and a party with music and snacks.

Bill Walton's Studio, Photo by Aaron Igler, courtesy of ICA

Don’t miss “Bill Walton’s Studio” — the late artist’s actual studio, brought into the ICA’s Project Space and re-created even down to the weathered floor boards. Programming involves a “sharing” day, Dec. 4, in which artists who knew Walton will share stories about the artist; and everyone will receive an ephemeral giveaway object.  Check out ICA’s blog, Miranda, for behind the scenes tidbits and pictures, and give them some feedback—you know you’re dying to.

Open call for juried show

On the alternative front, things are often interactive, if not programmed.  Grizzly Grizzly, one of the very best of the new spaces, will have its first open call juried exhibit Nov. 4-26, and viewers will be asked to vote on their favorite work.  The artist receiving the most votes will be awarded a solo exhibit at the gallery.

Image from PPAC's current exhibit, The Greater Area

Philadelphia Photo Arts Center has its second Philly Photo Day Oct. 28.  All snapshot-shooters are invited to take a picture within the city limits and upload it to the PPAC website for this non-juried, come-one-come-all event with an exhibit of all submitted works opening November 10.  Last year almost 350 people participated and they hope to double that number this year. (Reality check:  artblog was a sponsor last time and we are a sponsor this year because we really believe in this community-spirited event and exhibit)

Jenny Sabin's Greenhouse, the finished pavillion. Photo by Brent Wahl, courtesy of APS Museum

The APS Museum commissioned art, design, music, a play, and a lot of programming for its Greenhouse Project, in conjunction with its exhibit “Of Elephants and Roses.”  “Greenhouse and the Cabinet of Future Fossils” by architecture and design guru Jenny Sabin (Cornell prof with a design studio at Crane Old School) sits in the APS Museum’s Jefferson Garden, an ancient and futuristic-looking edifice resembling the bleached bones of Moby Dick washed up at 4th and Chestnut and bedazzled.  More than 100 colorful green, orange and blue cold frames with plants and vines pepper the piece, and all objects in the project (except a few ceramic pieces) were made using the latest design and fabrication tools (3D printers; laser cutters). Don’t miss the science talk on the chili pepper by molecular researcher Joseph Rucker (Sept. 12 at National Mechanics); and the talk and greenhouse walkthrough with Jenny Sabin (Oct. 20).  The free programs require an RSVP.

Jordan Griska's Grumman Greenhouse, model. Photo courtesy PAFA

Speaking of greenhouses, Jordan Griska’s Grumman Greenhouse in PAFA’s new Lenfest Plaza (with the Oldenburg Paint Brush) will be an eyeful.  A complete cold-war era airplane, installed nose down and tail up with plants in the nose cone, the piece will be nice counterbalance to the slick Oldenburg piece.  Meanwhile, inside PAFA, “here.” a group show about the regions outside the big art centers promises lots of programming about this pithy current issue.

Jennie Thwing. Buried but Breathing, screen shots from Buried but Breathing installation and "Woodshop" video, 3.2 minutes, 2011. Photo courtesy Fleisher Art Memorial

Other great-sounding art events include Tim Belknap’s solo exhibit at Rebekah Templeton opening Sept. 8 (to Oct. 22); September’s group show at Tiger Strikes Asteroid with a robotic piece by Belknap (to Oct. 2); and the Fleisher Wind Challenge exhibit with Jennie Thwing, Alana Bograd and Sarah Steinwachs.

MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
>> Sara MacKillop, coFREE Mondays and other programming, Ongoing to Feb. 2012.  Temple Gallery, 12th and Norris Sts.
>>Tim Belknap: Ordnance, Sept 8-Oct 22. Rebekah Templeton, 173 W. Girard Ave.
>>Bill Walton’s Studio, Sept. 7-Dec.4.  Institute of Contemporary Art, 36th and Sansom St.
>>Excursus, Institute of Contemporary Art, 36th and Sansom St.
>>Jenny Sabin: Greenhouse and Cabinet of Future Fossils, Sept. 9-Dec. 14.   American Philosophical Society, Jefferson Garden, 4th and Chestnut. Free reservations are required for events. To register, contact museum@amphilsoc.org or 215.701.4421
>>”Other Possible Titles, juried group exhibit, Nov. 4-26.  Reception, Fri. Nov. 4, Grizzly Grizzly, 319 N. 11th St., 2nd floor.
>>Philly Photo Day, Oct. 28. Exhibition Nov. 10-__. Reception Thurs. Nov. 10, 6-9pm.  PPAC Crane Arts, 1400 N. American St.
>>Tim Belknap, William Blackhurst and Carolee Schneeman, Sept 2-Oct 2.  Tiger Strikes Asteroid.  319 N. 11th.
>>Wind Fleisher Challenge, Sept 16 – Oct. 30.  Reception Fri, Sept. 16, 6-8pm.  Fleisher Art Memorial, 719 Catharine St.
>>Jordan Griska, Grumman Greenhouse, temporary installation.  Opens Sat. Oct 1, noon-7pm. PAFA Lenfest Plaza, Broad and Cherry Sts.
>>here, Oct. 22-Dec. 31.  Hamilton Building, PAFA, Broad and Cherry

Rob Blackson, director of exhibitions and public programs, Temple Gallery

There will be art in Blackson’s gallery, but you might have to ask where it is (it may be the new desk or couch; it might be the drip of calcium-chlorinated water falling from the ceiling; it might be the doorstops–projects on tap this fall.)

But the main focus is about the new and almost unheard-of level of programming — to bring people in who may never have set foot inside an art gallery but who are riled up about issues in the world today and will respond to the gallery’s programs about shale oil drilling; AIDS in Philadelphia; pollution in our soil or historic buildings like Eastern State Penitentiary as entertainments (think “Terror Behind the Walls, ESP’s Halloween program).  Blackson is planning two public programs a week, including a Monday morning coffee hour in the gallery to get the juices flowing and to get people thinking. Good free coffee, “seasonal breakfast bites” and speakers–it could be habit forming (especially if you live or work in that part of town and can get up there on a Monday morning)!

Temple Gallery, from the outside looking in.

And did we say that Blackson sews his own clothes? When we met the Pennsylvania-born director at La Colombe on 19th Street., he was wearing a pair of loose creamsicle-orange cotton pants that he made. There were pocket patches in other fabric. And at the end of the interview when we were still in awe of his sewing skills, he pulled out the handmade shirt he had planned to wear when he met us but didn’t, because it was too hot — a shirt with a tiny repeat pattern of Three Little Pigs dancing. He taught himself to sew, by the way, when he was an exchange student in the winter of 1996 at the Edinburgh College of Art, and found himself freezing in the damp cold conditions, with little money to buy clothes. He bought fabric, used the sewing machines at school and has been sewing his clothes ever since. Blackson graduated from RISD with a BFA and went to Bard Center for Curatorial Studies, where he fell under the influence of Marcia Tucker, originator of the New Museum, who was teaching there. Tucker’s spirit of experimentation and social engagement rubbed off on Blackson.

The large l-shaped gallery, with the sophisticated, heavy-duty lifting equipment for extra large or heavy works

Prior to arriving in Philadelphia, he worked as a curator in galleries and contemporary art centers in England. He told us about his previous job at Nottingham Contemporary, UK, where, as curator of public programs, he did ambitious and wide-ranging programming to bring people into the gallery for discussions, events, screenings and activities about current events. Sounds like what’s going to happen here!

Blackson (36) bikes to work from his home in South Philadelphia and loves living near the the fabric row shops on 4th Street. His fiance, the British artist Ruth Scott, is coming over in two weeks and they are getting married soon after. How he’s going to manage his ambitious program–which begins August 29  – along with a wedding and a houseful of relatives, well we can’t imagine really.

But then, this is not your typical institutional gallery director. For starters, he’s young. That he’s been accepted by the Temple and Tyler powers that be and given free rein to work with his advisory council and with his radical program is a sign that he’s a good salesman for his program and that the program is the right one for this time and place.

We madly took notes while Blackson told us what he had in mind for the gallery. His speaking style is express-train fast and we could hardly keep up with him.

Detail, Advisory Council white board of ideas for Temple Gallery programming

Working with a newly-convened 28-member Programming Advisory Council — which he polled for their thoughts on the really big issues — they came up with a long list of HUGE issues that “raise questions of contemporary urgency to Temple University and the Greater Philadelphia area,” he said. Some of the nine issues selected for programming include the growing AIDS crisis in Philadelphia; urban waste; the social/economic reintegration of our veterans; training of ex-cons; and our fractured relationship to Pennsylvania’s wealth of underground natural resources such as soil, natural gas, and water.

Pie chart showing issues raised by the Advisory Council

Responding to those issues are works by artists Jennifer Danos, Tyler Held, Corin Hewitt, Thomas Hirschhorn (video), Gordon Matta-Clark (video), Ana Mendieta, The Reanimation Library, and Emily Roysdon, whose works will be in the gallery this fall. (The videos will screen in the

In addition, you can look for programs like a foraging expedition in North Philly, leading up to a potluck, with stoves in the gallery; and eating white clay clay from middle Georgia. “I hear It’s delicious,” he said, explaining in a follow up email that “among the locals there it is considered a fine food and part of the culture.

More dirt stuff will include a mud-mask demonstration with Philly mud, and talks about soil. Corin Hewett, who did a seed-and-soil piece at the Whitney, will do something with a root cellar at Temple.

"The iceberg" is what Blackson calls the reception desk with the high wall on it. Staff sit behind the wall, hidden from the public when they walk in. He will replace it with something more friendly and welcoming.

Blackson will bring in Merle Ukeles, the New York Sanitation Department Artist in Residence, the queen of waste disposal art. And he will bring in work by local artist Tim Belknap, who will be an astronaut for his piece. Leanne Foster will auction off the remains of a marriage. Mark Gubb will create a woodcut on the desk in the gallery. Richard Rigg will do the drip piece–stalagmites formed over time.

There will be practical aspects to some of the programming, like the replacement of “the iceberg” reception desk with something more welcoming, and a partnership with Faith Industries and the architecture department to use the gallery as a construction laboratory for teaching ex-cons how to sheetrock and frame out walls. Shades of the ‘60s, there will be a Big Shale Teach-in. When we asked whether this event in particular would be slanted to the standard liberal anti-shale drilling point of view, he said not at all, that everything would be presented in the spirit of neutrality, creating a space for information and questioning all points of view. With the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaching, Blackson said he would be programming moments of silence in the gallery — gathered from audio recordings of past years’ moments of silence commemorating 9/11. And since those audios capture ambient noise and not really silence, Blackson’s “moments of silence” will fill the gallery with sounds like bird calls, airplane noises, and the clicking of cameras of people/press who snapped pictures on those days during the silences.

Blackson takes over a gallery that is perhaps the most technically sophisticated of all the galleries in town–a quintessential white box with tracks for lifting and moving enormous works of art–the sort of place any curator would die to fill. The space will never go dark he promised–the shows will overlap and percolate and interact with the other programing.

Blackson’s optimistic vision of how art can affect the future is big, bold and infectious. We can’t wait to see some of this unfold, and hope people can make up to North Philly to be entertained, engaged and touched.

We just got a list of some more of the juicy tidbits you can sample there — all free (and look for all this information on the gallery’s website soon, he said)

FEAST OF FORAGE
Urban Plant Foraging in North Philly with Nance Klehm and Brooke Sietinsons
Wednesday, September 21
We’ll begin with a foraging for key ingredients in the wild urban vegetation growing in North Philadelphia led by the horticultural consultant Nance Klehm. Foraged local edibles are the staples in this potluck meal prepared by Klehm and artist Brooke Sietinsons. Plants from this forage will be used in Sietinsons’ newly designed kaleidoscopic projection illuminating the meal. Visit our website for foraged plant recipes!

TRUE BLOOD MOBILE followed by Haunted Histories and Secret Cinema
Friday, October 28
Visit Temple Gallery’s collaboration with the Red Cross to donate blood during our vampire inspired blood drive.
Haunted Histories: Eastern State Penitentiary and Pennhurst State School and Hospital
Kelly George and Anne Parsons will speak about the use of abandoned institutions for material gain, especially through marketing efforts that depict those institutions as haunted. Complementing the talk will be rare photographs and testimonies from a range of such institutions. Secret Cinema will be presenting an all-night selection of haunted house classics.
This event is part of Temple Gallery’s Halloween Festivities; our partners are Laurel Hill Cemetery and Rosenbach Museum and Library.

The Big Shale Teach-In
Thursday and Friday, November 3, 4
Join scientists, geographers, artists, politicians and historians for a two-day teach-in exploring Pennsylvania and specifically Philadelphia’s place within the debate of drilling for natural gas. This event is organized in collaboration with the Center for Natural Resources Development and Protection at Temple University.

cofFREE MONDAYS
-your most important meal of the week-
Starting September 12
Join us every Monday morning to learn about the current week’s programs and events over a well-brewed cup of joe. Guest lecturers and seasonal breakfast bites will accompany the gallery’s Monday morning ritual.

“Surface Deposit.” Aluminum plate, paint, fluorescent light. Lead Pencil Studio, 2010

Lead Pencil Studio consists of Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo, who both come from strong architectural backgrounds. They seek out artistic projects that extend across multiple disciplines, but are rooted in spatial conditions and large-scale installations. Surface Deposit is a work that originated from a previous project called Looking at Nothing (2010). Han and Mihalyo utilized Laser Infrared Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology to map the vertical surfaces along streets in New York. The team quickly became interested in the realization that the laser scans were not providing detailed images of the architectural surface, but instead, of the items deposited on the structure’s surface. This inspired them to create a work based on those deposits, thereby enabling viewers to reconsider what they view as they walk down the street. This installation is also tied to Tyler in a more personal way, due to some of the interior objects being salvaged from its former campus in the Philadelphia suburb, Elkins Park.

“Looking at Nothing.” Video still. Lead Pencil Studio, 2010

As I entered the gallery space, the monotone selection of gray, with splashes of green, yellow and red, gave the space a deserted, ruined feel. The edges of the objects and forms are punched with holes, causing this non-room to have an evaporating effect, waffling between solid and illusory. Yet, the work still holds an aesthetic quality. I enjoyed the patterns created by often ignored items on a buildings façade. For examples, the pipes cascading from a now invisible roof or the angles created by the railing of a rooftop ladder echoed in a diamond-grated gate. These subtle choices elevate an otherwise bare-boned structure into a curious artistic work. In the screening room, a short film called Urban Fragments I (2010) provides a glimpse into Lead Pencil’s process and original survey renderings. Piled against one wall are some of the reference objects used in creating their unusual space, from chairs and filing cabinets to pipes and signage.

"Surface Deposit" Detail

Lead Pencil Studio had restricted dimensions to work within when creating this indoor, site-specific work.  My initial reaction to the created space was that it was smaller in scale than I anticipated, having browsed their past installations.  However, they did do a great job tailoring their work to the gallery space.  Also, the relocation of the building exterior to an interior space allows the work to act as an art form first, and an architectural structure second.  Yet, it still would be interesting to see and approach this structure in an outdoor environment.  As Lead Pencil Studio explained it, their work is like “architecture in reverse…our projects are everything about architecture with none of its function…spaces with no greater purpose than to be perceived and question the certainty posited by the man-made world.”

On Mondays in January through February, Temple Gallery will be screening films that have been influential to Lead Pencil Studio’s practice. They will include documentaries on the work of Gordon Matta Clark, the early films of Buster Keaton, Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element (1997), and more. On February 2, the gallery will host a panel discussion titled, Beyond the Surface: A Conversation Between Art and Architecture. This will focus on “exploring the work of artists and architects engaged in spatial practices.”

Surface Deposit will be on display until February 26, 2011. The gallery is open Wednesday – Saturday, from 11 am – 6 pm.

*All photos and quotes courtesy of Temple Gallery and Lead Pencil Studio

The Tyler School of Art of Temple University is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert Blackson as the Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs. Robert Stroker, Interim Dean announced the appointment today. “Rob has the ideas, energy and intellect required to expand the reach and creativity of our exhibition series and public programs. He brings to Tyler an impressive track record of truly innovative work. He will be a tremendous resource for our students and for the Philadelphia cultural community.”

Robert Blackson, new director of exhibitions, Tyler School of Art

“It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that I join the team at
Tyler,” said Blackson. “It is Tyler’s international reputation for
excellence combined with its move and expansion into the heart of Temple University’s main campus that inspired my interest in Temple Gallery from 3,000 miles away. I look forward to working with students, faculty, and the entire Philadelphia community to continue developing the local relevance and international significance of Temple Gallery’s creative program.”

Shayna McConville, who served as the Interim Director will continue to work with the Exhibitions Program, especially in her role as Director of the North Philadelphia Arts and Culture Alliance. “Shayna did an outstanding job in the past months guiding the Exhibitions programs and working closely with our students. We thank Shayna for her willingness to serve as Interim Director and know that she is looking forward to returning to work on her projects for Tyler, ” explained Dean Robert Stroker.

Robert Blackson is a curator, writer, and artist who was previously curator of public programs at Nottingham Contemporary, UK. While at Nottingham Contemporary, the UK’s newest public contemporary art center welcoming over 200,000 visitors in its first eight months, Blackson worked with numerous universities, artists, and writers to develop an eclectic and discursive program of lectures, screenings, performances, and live events. Prior to joining Nottingham Contemporary, Blackson was curator of BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art, Newcastle/Gateshead, UK. Here at the UK’s largest non-collecting contemporary art gallery, Blackson developed exhibitions with numerous international artists including Sarah Sze, Shahryar Nashat, and Matt Stokes. Before moving to BALTIC, Blackson was curator at the University of Sunderland’s Reg Vardy Gallery. As curator of this university contemporary art gallery for over four years, Blackson initiated a public art program, international publishing house, and numerous solo exhibitions with artists such as Jimmie Durham, Minerva Cuevas, Christoph Büchel, Brian Chippendale, Julianne Swartz, Anthony McCall, Harry Smith, and Big Chief of the Yellow Pocahontas Mardi Gras Indian Tribe, Darryl Montana. Blackson has contributed to a variety of catalogues and publications, including Art Journal, Cabinet, and Labyrint, and he has lectured internationally on issues related to contemporary art practice. He is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.

Francesc Ruiz's newsstand at Temple Gallery

Francesc Ruiz thinks that packaged news (news in newspapers and magazines) is no news at all.  In his faux newsstand in the middle gallery space Ruiz created the perfect news mimic with magazines, newspapers, lottery tickets all illuminated by the classic newsstand fluorescent light. This kiosk has all the news a Philadelphian would need.  And some of it is free — you can take home a newspaper and a magazine for your reading pleasure.  But therein lies the rub.  Whereas Ruiz’s publications adopt the tropes of the print news media (the typeface of his “The Wall Journal” for example carefully copies that of the Wall Street Journal) the written content is a mishmash of nonsense phrases that seem like they were translated by Google from an Urdu poetry site.

Francesc Ruiz, detail of the newspapers on view at Temple gallery

One of my Flickr friends commented on the newsstand: “Wow, a lot of work went in to that, it’s quite amazing.”  This is an opinion and a true fact.  A prodigious amount of work went into the creation of the many publications on view.  And what is amazing, even more than the quantity of matter, is the content — or lack thereof.  Ruiz recycles his nonsense texts and his many graphic images throughout all of the publications so that a particular paragraph (or image) is repeated on numerous pages and under various headlines.  These headlines — “New Uses of Time in the City,”  ”The Will Eliminate the Sports Fields,” and “Fidget Will Prohibit” — all contain the same “story.”  Some pages are upside down and the cumulative weight of nonsense in this helter-skelter topsy turvy news world is overwhelming, a little funny and depressing, since in the end Ruiz got it right:  The value in many news publications is less than meets the eye and mind.

Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries made a video/audio piece that tells a story of a girl, two guys, a fistfight and the aftermath.  Whether it’s fiction or fact, gossip or news, the story flies onto the screen as words with a rat-a-tat-tat speed to the syncopated rhythm of a great jazz soundtrack.  Call it an op ed piece, the internal monolog by the boy who loses the girl is wry, self-questioning and self-effacing.  Yet it communicates much about human relationships, and asks some questions about fighting (war) and winning or losing (peace?).  The work is as ephemeral as a story told around the fire and it has the same kind of mythic quality being both a little slippery but gripping and memorable.  Unlike Lawrence Weiner’s conceptual word art Heavy Industries’ piece is modest and ephemeral.  It’s one of the best works I’ve seen of late and in its edgy treatment of human relationships I want to compare it to Jayson Musson’s polemical word-driven ramblings which hit you like irreverant jokes then hang around your mind with their greater content about the human psyche.

Thomas Kilpper's installation at Temple Gallery

Thomas Kilpper‘s installation of photographs, video, wallpaper and flooring made of cardboard banana crates tries very hard to make a point about political disenfranchisement.  And in fact it makes its point too fast.  The oil barrel in the middle of the room with sticks bearing the names of troubled countries is overkill that I took in so quickly I didn’t break stride before moving on.

Superflex, likewise, with its worktable for students to make hanging lamps is a quick political piece.  The website says this piece is about copyright infringement.  All the images that appear on the hanging lamps are copyrighted lamps.  So the students are either breaking or not breaking the copyright.  OK, copyright is an important issue for an artist, and students should be thinking about it.  But before I read the web writeup this is what I thought:  The obvious reference in this piece that is using (free) student labor is to sweatshops ripping off their (often child-aged) workers. I am ok with either interpretation (and I think both work) but in either case, the piece broadcasts its message(s) too quickly.

Political art is tricky.  By giving you too much information/attitude/material, political art can be too direct.  It can do too much work for you leaving you the viewer without need to think for yourself.  Kilpper’s and Superflex’s installations are both too direct.  You read the piece very quickly and move on.  Heavy Industries’ and Ruiz’s pieces are both indirectly political and thus leave the viewer with some room to interpret and digest.  They are more satisfying conceptually, and actually, aesthetically as well.

As for Swoon and Pope, I have an opinion based on an intuition.  My gut tells me these artists have made great works.  Just the fact that they are sitting out there on the streets says they are doing the job of political art creating surprises that shake you out of your normal routine and ask you to contemplate something other than your next meal or when the next Septa train will finally arrive at the station.  You can get a map to locate Swoon’s works but there’s no map for Pope’s and as soon as the snow melts it’s time to go hunt them down.

I’m going to Twitter this post now for everyone sitting around that campfire.  Maybe it’ll go up on the Facebook campfire page also.

The Philagrafika artist and curators pose amidst Regina Silveira's bug invasion at Moore College.

Conversation with Marc Voge, the male half of the collective Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, at Temple Gallery, as recollected by me–
Voge: I hate everyone. And everyone hates me.
Libby: I just read an interview of you in which you state you love everybody and everybody loves you, and what you want most is to be loved, especially for your art.
Voge: I said that? Yes that’s true. I love everybody and everybody loves me, and my art. But I can’t figure out how to make money from it.
Libby: I should think they would be easy to sell, but then what do I know.
Voge: You can represent me then. You are now my representative.
Libby: Oh, sure. Now you’re in even worse trouble. I am good at making money JK. Are you sure you don’t want to rethink this?
Someone walks over, and he introduces Libby as his art rep.

Photo by Duke Riley of his King of Petty Island commemorative seal atop a Citgo tank there. The island is owned by Citgo which is owned by Venezuela.

Duke Riley at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, talking to Libby and Roberta about his visit to Petty Island and tracking down what really happened to Ralston Laird, known in the Philadelphia popular press of the 1800s as the King of Petty Island. This conversation, which took place at the Historical Society,  is from notes–
Duke: All of a sudden, complaints started appearing about pigs being raised there, but pigs have been going on there for 50 years. And then the house burnt down.
artblog: So did you find proof of a conspiracy to take the land?
Duke: No. that’s my theory. The king was the first out there.
artblog: So the king wasn’t really a king, although he was really a Laird. Is Duke your real name?
Duke: Yes.

While talking to Betsabee Romero (Mexico) and Regina Silveira (Brazil), both showing at Moore College, Libby learned they both have made prints using tires.

Silveira, whose giant insects are an invading plague that swarms the gallery, spoke her work as symbolic of political corruption, crime and violence. The insects also appear atop a table in the center of the gallery, embroidered onto a tablecloth and printed on porcelain. This use of interior decoration seems quite difference from the more architectural projects in Silveira’s catalog, which she leafed through with me.

Silveira’s tire prints of ordinary tire treads, like her current installation, were architectural, printed rolling up and around the walls of a building.

detail of Betsabee Romero's carved tire installation at Moore

Romero carves her own version of treads onto the bald tires that frequently cause accidents that kill. Her treads are folk-looking patterns of birds, plants and figures. Her work suggests resurrection and remembrance. Romero prints her tire treads on various surfaces, from fabric to sugar. In this case she used rolls of window screening.

part of Gunilla Klingberg's installation at Moore, covering windows and repeated in a reflection and in a pile of printed giveaways stacked on the floor

Also at Moore, Libby and Roberta talked briefly to Gunilla Klingberg. Here’s some of what I remember of our conversation more or less.
Libby: How to you pronounce your name?
Gunilla: Gunilla Klingberg.
Libby in a thought bubble: [Doh!]
Libby: How did you assemble these Philadelphia logos?
Gunilla: I worked with someone in Philadelphia who gave me a list of Philadelphia corporate logos, like Tastykake, Acme.
Libby: Is this then the Philadelphia version of a project you have done before?
Gunilla: Yes.

“]

Orit Hofshi- If The Tread Is An Echo; the material is both the carved blocks (tan color ground) and prints on paper (white ground mounted on wood)

At one of the Philagrafika celebrations, Libby spoke to Orit Hofshi. Libby wondered why the vegetation in the Israeli artist’s giant prints (at PAFA‘s Hamilton Building) looks so European. Hofshi, a PAFA alum, said lots of people asked her that. But that the imagery was based on plants in Israel. And besides, she looks at a lot of European art work–that’s the history that she sees herself continuing.

Carl Pope's poster was used for the cover of the Philagrafika guide book.

At the same event Carl Pope was charming. He is based in Indianapolis (he grew up there and returned there fairly recently, and he is part of the Temple Gallery show with North Philadelphia billboards for local businesses using art from local student. He is also in an exhibit at the Crane. Natch he was talking about the need for a more populist, public art approach. Libby, who loves good populist art with pop culture roots in public spaces, agreed.