With our reviews, we lead the discussion about what is valuable and why.
Our writing team covers exhibitions and performances in Philadelphia and elsewhere. We also cover books and movies. We look, take notes, ask questions and listen. We take pictures, make video and audio recordings. We think about what we see and have opinions. And we write our hearts out, every day.
It’s easy to take the security that shelter provides for granted — until you find yourself out in the cold. Here Deb Krieger reviews “Shelter,” a new show at Davinci Art Alliance, presented in conjunction with Philadelphia Sculptors, which explores the vulnerability not only of our built environments, but of our own bodies and minds. This moving and topical exhibition closes September 26, 2018, so catch it while you still can!
Read MoreJessica Rizzo takes celebrated choreographer, Trajal Harrell to task over his newest piece, “Caen Amour,” which showed at the Fringe Festival earlier this month. According to Rizzo, Harrell’s piece, which was inspired by the hoochie-coochie performers of the late 19th century, falters not only in its attentiveness to history (and its audience) but in its treatment of the female body.
Read MoreAndrea Kirsh gives her take on the late, great Jack Whitten’s newest retrospective. The exhibition, which focuses on the artist’s richly-textured wood sculptures and African-inspired assemblages originated at the Baltimore Museum of art and is now turning heads at the Met through December 2, 2018.
Read MoreDeb Krieger visits “The Contour of Feeling,” Ursula von Rydingsvard’s current exhibition of imposing wooden sculptures and evocative works on paper at the Fabric Workshop and Museum. Read her reflections on process and catch the show before it closes on August 26, 2018!
Read MoreLogan Cyer is back with a review of “Big Boys,” the newest Open Call exhibition at Little Berlin, on view through August 26. For them the works on view raise a number of important questions about the politics the personal and what it means to take up space.
Read MoreImani attends the first of three screenings at Lightbox of archival footage from NEWSREEL, an activist film collective that operated during the late 1960s and early ‘70s. Against the inescapable backdrop of America’s current moral crisis, this series takes a sobering look at the social and political upheavals of 50 years ago and the independent journalists who documented them.
Read MoreRoberta reports on a book documenting the African and African American art collected by Peggy Cooper Cafritz, who died last February at age 70. The book, with many full-page color plates and an autobiographical section, and short writings by artists in the collection, captures a woman who was as on fire about collecting art as she was about educating museums, curators, other collectors about the excellence of art by contemporary black artists.
Read MoreAndrea Kirsh visits the moving retrospective of multi-disciplinary artist and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz, one of three exhibits on the artist currently on view in New York. Kirsh also takes a look at the catalog for this timely exhibition, which does important research that should open the door for more. The show runs through September 30th at the Whitney Museum.
Read MoreLogan Cryer visits Sloppy Seconds, the 2-person show at Space 1026 featuring work by Wit López and Heather Raquel Phillips. It’s a whimsical affair and both artists draw heavily from craft aesthetics to celebrate brown, queer desire. NOTE: The closing reception is Tuesday, July 24, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM with a performance by Kol-Kez. The exhibit closes July 28.
Read MoreA nice idea — rounding up the rejects from other juried exhibits — produces a show with mixed results and some good moments, says our reviewer, Deborah Krieger. The 40-work salon-style show at Practice Gallery is worth a visit.
Read MoreOur collaborative team says the 41 large-scale abstract collage prints, made between 1984 – 1999, based on four (dense, somewhat obscure) books caused them to seek meaning subjectively, which sparked thoughts of what it means to be a major (or minor) artist; whether Stella is major or minor; and whether art should have clearer reference markers to be understood.
Read MoreJessica Rizzo attends the opening for “SWARM.,” a two-person show on view through September 9 at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Pairing works by Cuban-American artist Nestor Armando Gil and Haitian-born artist (and current PAFA MFA chair) Didier William, “SWARM.” frames the history of caribbean migration in terms of multiplicity, solidarity, and revolution.
Read MoreA new book highlighting the career of performer, artist and experimental musician Laurie Anderson is out now from Rizzoli Publishing. “All the Things I Lost in the Flood: Essays on Pictures, Language and Code” follows in the footsteps of Anderson’s 2015 experimental film “The Heart of a Dog,” drawing inspiration from the great losses of life.
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