Artblog | Reviews

February 18, 2019 by Ilana Napoli

Edison Price Lighting’s art and industry program has positive impacts on artists and factory workers

Ilana Napoli revisits the Edison Price Lighting factory in Queens for the second year in a row to see the exhibition at the company’s gallery space, with art made by artists from upcycled materials from the factory. She applauds the art and industry program and notes that it positively impacts the artists in residence as well as the factory workers, who are very interested in the art program and set aside interesting left-over materials for the artists to use in creating new art.

February 15, 2019 by Sarah Kim

Black Trans Futuristic at William Way Center captures Black Trans Identity in FIux

Sarah Kim visits the exhibit at the William Way Center and views art whose materials defiantly separate it from traditional mainstream art. Altars made with found materials; altered photo-portraiture; drawing installations and collage, made by six artists, the art is metaphorical and symbolic of the state of being in flux, in transition. Kim’s powerful writing leads you through the exhibit, adding insightful commentary and insights. After considering this show about fluid states of identity, Kim concludes that ultimately, selfhood is the experience itself, and art, which is based in objecthood, can point the way.

February 13, 2019 by Mark Lord

Pat Steir’s mystical contemplative waterfalls in the Barnes Foundation lobby

Mark Lord sees the installation of monumental waterfall paintings by Pat Steir at the Barnes and points out the works’ eerie connection to our world of melting glaciers and other tragic cascades of water when natural forces are disrupted as they have been by global warming. In his lyrical post, Lord writes of beauty and something cosmic in the drips, splashes and vigorous build ups of Steir’s painted moments. This under-sung artist is the subject of an upcoming documentary film. See Steir’s waterfall paintings at the Barnes Foundation through Nov. 17, 2019. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post for more photos!

February 6, 2019 by Michael Lieberman

Philadelphia Black history mural at City Archives is good, but long on reading

“Charting a Path to Resistance,” a new Percent for Art mural at the Philadelphia City Archives is an abstract representation of the struggles of African Americans in Philadelphia and their resistance to injustices perpetrated upon them. The new commission by Talia Greene uses a gridded timeline supplemented by written material available via tablet in the Archives space. Michael Lieberman notes that the new mural’s graphic display, while not self-evident in meaning, becomes clearer upon reading the copious research material provided by the artist in the tablets. The educational value of the mural is clear, even if the graphical interface is not.

February 1, 2019 by Samuel Brown

Cornucopia / Urn, Spillway Collective brings together artists Nora Chellew and Suldano Abdiruhman

“Cornucopia / Urn” is a show at Spillway Gallery that features work by Nora Chellew and Suldano Abdiruhman. Samuel writes about the interplay between these two artists and how they create a dream-like space that evokes the fragmentation of memory and the nostalgic feelings we have towards the past. He also reached out to the show’s Curator, Babs Weiss, to learn more about the thought-process behind the exhibition’s conception. The show closes on February 9th, so make your way on over!

January 24, 2019 by guest writer

From public to republic, a letter to the public at Icebox Project Space

Guest contributor Mina Zarfsaz describes the power of “Letter to the Public,” an interactive installation currently on view at Icebox Project Space through January 26th.

January 22, 2019 by Michael Lieberman

Untethered, the playful art of Matt Catrino at High 5 Gallery

Michael Lieberman checks out the newest show on view at High 5 Gallery, a relative newcomer to Philadelphia’s always-vibrant gallery scene. The exhibit “Untethered” is tied together by its warm coloration and overarching sense of whimsy. Michael says the work is a steal at its current price, so if you’re a collector on a budget, swing by before the show closes on January 31!

January 19, 2019 by Logan Cryer

Jennifer Packer’s beautifully obscured figures in Quality of Life at Sikkema Jenkins

Logan Cryer visits “Quality of Life,” Jennifer Packer’s current show at Sikkema Jenkins in Chelsea. Packer, who Artblog founders Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof first met as a student in their senior painting class at Tyler School of Art, composes lush, figurative paintings from an economy of strokes and suggestive erasures. Her show closes January 19, so check it out for yourself while you still can!