Congratulations Barbara Bullock + Andrea Kirsh on two NJ shows! Two great short videos – Eli Laban and Temple Contemporary, Plus, new photos by Sam Moskovitz of Warhol in Philadelphia, Plus, good opportunities at Bartrams and free tuition for Rutgers-Camden creative writing MFA’s

NEWS

We are very proud of the show curated by our senior writer and resident feminist, Andrea Kirsh – Sharp-Tongued Figuration (January 17 – April 21, 2017) at the Stedman Gallery, Rutgers, Camden. The artists are: Sue Coe, Nell Painter, Mickalene Thomas, Kukuli Velarde and Sandy Winters.

Sharp-Tongued Figuration brings together a group of artists who employ recognizable imagery as a means of commenting on contemporary culture, rather than a means of recording what they see. Sue Coe is a British social satirist working in New york, in the tradition of George Grosz. She produces illustrations for books and print publications, such as the New York Times, as well as drawings and prints. The watercolors and digital prints of Newark-based Nell Painter include both hand-drawn and collaged imagery; she uses them to re-write various histories, including that of the white slave trade and the history of modern art. Mickalene Thomas, a Camden native, uses the scale and some of the glossy seduction of billboards to create portraits of her friends executed in mixed-media collages; she also works in photography and video. Kukuli Velarde, who lives and works in Philadelphia, fashions ceramic sculptures that adopt techniques and imagery drawn from pre-Incan Peruvian cultures. All of them include the image of the artist, who is from Peru. Sandy Winters’ complex paintings illustrate a distopian future with creatures whose bodies combine biomorphic forms with appendages derived from the hardware store. The New-York-based artist also creates room-sized installations out of large numbers of drawings.

Barbara Bullock, renowned for her painted and cut-paper works that evoke the spirit world of her African ancestors, is being honored with a solo exhibition at the Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ, and is the honoree at the “Art in the Atrium (ATA) 25th Anniversary Silver Soiree, Jan. 12. Bullock is an Artblog favorite. ATA’s 25-year history focuses on exhibiting African-American fine art and is “important in helping shape the narrative about culture, diversity, inclusion and furthering arts education.” More information about the event here, along with links to get tickets.

Because we all love Andy – Sam Moskovitz’s Andy Warhol photos discovered and on view at Gershman Y, where they were snapped in 1966. The show runs through Jan 4 but gallery is closed Dec. 25th – Jan 1.

UNDERGROUND NIGHTS: WHEN WARHOL’S EXPLODING PLASTIC INEVITABLE MET THE Y (DEC. 1 – JAN. 4) at Gershman Y

Newly discovered photos by Philadelphia photographer, the late Sam Moskovitz, are a focus of the show and a celebration of the weekend 50 years ago to the month (Dec. 10-11, 1966) when Andy Warhol brought The Velvet Underground and Nico to the Y. Moskovitz was at the Y when Warhol brought 3,000 people over the course of two nights to the Y’s Elaine C. Levitt Auditorium for a “mixed-media discotheque complete with Andy Warhol and underground films.”

…Curator Cheryl Harper stumbled upon the Moskovitz images when she questioned Philadelphia’s lack of presence in the Philadelphia Art Museum’s (recent) International Pop show last spring – she wondered why no mention was made of the Y’s art shows, including what’s largely considered the very first comprehensive Pop Art show in the United States in 1962. More on that here.

Harper, an expert on the phenomenon of 1960s-era pop art at the Gershman Y, curated the 2003 show, “A Happening Place: How The Arts Council Revolutionized the Philadelphia Art Scene in the Sixties,” which was held at the Y.

In addition to the photos and memorabilia from the Warhol Museum and elsewhere, Harper says, “There will be a 66-minute film of The Velvet Underground and Nico rehearsing at Warhol’s famous studio, The Factory, as well as screen tests that Warhol and his studio assistants took of the band and other performers.”

WATCH THIS

Short video about Symphony for a Broken Orchestra, Temple Contemporary’s public school and community project with David Lang.

Video wiz kid, Eli Laban, who put together Artblog’s Art Splash video series last summer, has been in Nicaragua, and he’s made a series of videos about the the Afro-indigenous languages of the people in the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean and how they are preserving their languages. See video about how to count in the Garifuna language:

OPPORTUNITIES

This one seems a perfect Holiday Present – Full tuition and living stipends now offered for Rutgers–Camden MFA in creative writing students enrolling in fall 2017

Rutgers University–Camden announces a new program to fully fund students in its master of fine arts (MFA) program in creative writing. Available to full-time students enrolling in fall 2017, this new funding opportunity will cover tuition and living expenses.

Six incoming Rutgers–Camden MFA students will receive full teaching assistantships. Up to five additional students will receive an interdisciplinary fellowship, including a full-tuition scholarship and stipend in exchange for working in various centers and departments at Rutgers–Camden. These students also will have the opportunity to teach writing composition as part-time lecturers.

“Full funding is a game-changer for the MFA program,” says Lauren Grodstein, an associate professor of English and director of the MFA program at Rutgers–Camden. “With Pulitzer and Guggenheim Award-winning faculty, a beautiful home in the historic Writers House at Rutgers–Camden, and an NEA-sponsored reading series, the Rutgers–Camden MFA program has all the pieces in place to become one of the top programs in the nation. By providing us with this crucial funding, Rutgers President Robert Barchi has recognized our potential and allowed us to offer full support to our incredible students.”

This new scholarship and stipend program provides MFA students at Rutgers University–Camden with the opportunity to concentrate further on their writing under the mentorship of a “who’s who” of successful award-winning writers, including such poets Pulitzer Prize-winner Gregory Pardlo, Patrick Rosal, and J.T. Barbarese; fiction writers, such as Robin Black, Lauren Grodstein, and Lisa Zeidner; and nonfiction writers, including Lise Funderburg and Guggenheim Fellow Paul Lisicky. The program also regularly welcomes visiting professors such as Karen Russell and Emud Mokhberi.

The competitive Rutgers–Camden MFA program in creative writing requires 39 credits of coursework and completion of a thesis for a terminal degree concentrating in fiction, poetry, and narrative nonfiction.

The MFA application deadline for the fall 2017 semester is Friday, Jan. 27. More information about Rutgers–Camden’s MFA program in creative writing is available at the Rutgers website.

Philadelphia Horticulture Society seeks School Garden Coordinator (SW Philadelphia), Contract Length: February 2017 – November 2017.

PHS works to connect people with horticulture and together create beautiful, healthy and sustainable communities. We help steward a robust and growing network of community and school gardens with support, education, materials, resources and technical assistance. The School Garden Coordinator will work alongside the PHS Gardens team and the staff at The Farm at Bartram’s Garden to to deliver a comprehensive interorganizational school garden programming, while supporting and connecting youth to local, nutritious foods in their community. More information here with link to application.