Katerina Lanfranco, Artblog’s new NYC correspondent, visited The Studio Museum’s exhibit, “Firelei Báez: Joy Out of Fire,” on view at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture May 1-November 24. Part of the Museum’s itinerant “inHarlem” programming, “Joy Out of Fire” thoughtfully pairs Baez’s expressive mural-scale paintings with historical ephemera from the library’s own archives.
Read MoreJune 1 is the deadline to apply for funding from the new Velocity Fund. The fund awards grants up to $5,000 to artists living in Philadelphia for new projects, especially those that are collaborative and/or experimental. If you have questions about applying, Read This Post! There are answers!
Read MoreImani talks to Trenton Doyle Hancock about “Moundverse Infants” his new installation of collected and commissioned “dolls” at Temple Contemporary through July 27th. Inspired in part by the Clark Doll Test, as well as by Hancock’s desire to take play seriously, the exhibition includes both new work created in collaboration with Tim Rusterholz of Tyler School of Art’s sculpture lab, and highlights from The Philadelphia Doll Museum’s collection of 20th century black dolls.
Read MoreThe Women’s Mobile Museum is a year-long project by the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center which brings renowned South African Photographer, Zanele Muholi to Philadelphia to engage with a group of ten local women who are interested in media arts and museum studies but have not had significant access to formal training in these areas. Imani sat down with Muholi and two of the program’s apprentices, Shasta Bady and “Muffy” Ashley Torres, to discuss their hopes for the project and their journey thus far.
Read MoreIn Part One of our 2-part coverage of the new documentary, Roberta gives a brief overview of the film and says it’s not a bio-pic but a history flick about an era in which Basquiat was a player who turns out to be major. The film opens today at Ritz at the Bourse. Stay tuned for Imani Roach’s review coming up soon!
Read MoreArtblog’s own Maddie Hewitt speaks with Yixuan Pan about her new performance piece, “Conductible,” which showed earlier this month at the FringeArts May Scratch Night. “Conductible” combines many of Pan’s long-standing interests, including translation, sculpture, movement-based research and audience participation.
Read MoreJessica Rizzo attended the Lightbox Film Center’s recent retrospective of French filmmaker Philippe Garrel’s evocative body of work. Here she traces the arc of his career and recounts highlights from the month-long survey, which included a number of films rarely screened on this side of the Atlantic.
Read MoreOlivia Jia visits Marginal Utility’s current two-person show, “#WEHAVENOPRESIDENT,” featuring work by Sarah McEneaney and LeRoy Johnson. Here she admires the devotional diligence of their projects and explains why all anti-Trump art is not created equal.
Read MoreArtblog’s Leah Gallant speaks with artist Shona McAndrew about censorship, the male gaze and discovering paper mache. “Moira,” McAndrew’s current show of sculptures and digital collages at Pilot Projects, is on view (by appointment) through Friday April 20th.
Read MoreDeb Krieger is back with a review of “Victoriana Reimagined,” on view at the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion Victorian House Museum and Garden through September 1st, 2018. This multi-room installation features three female contemporary artists who use craft to uncover the history and politics of the domestic sphere.
Read MoreImani is still thinking about her trip to Volta last month. In particular, she reflects on “The Aesthetics of Matter” — this year’s curated section by Mickalene Thomas and Racquel Chevremont, which featured artists Tomashi Jackson, Troy Michie, Devin N. Morris, Christie Neptune, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, David Shrobe, Didier William, and Kennedy Yanko. While their work mines the political potential of collage across a variety of media, the surrounding context of the fair raises important questions about the political labor that African American artists and curators perform in the global contemporary art market. Volta NY 2018 was on view March 7th-11th at Pier 90 in Manhattan, NY.
Read MoreFor years, multidisciplinary performer Martha Stuckey has commanded stages in a brightly-colored wig and stilettos as the lead singer of Red 40 and the Last Groovement, Philadelphia’s premier clown-funk-cabaret band. Now she is preparing to strike a more personal note in her upcoming commissioned show, Due to Sensitive Nature, on view April 12th-14th at the Kimmel Center’s SEI Innovation Studio. She speaks with Imani Roach about taking risks, growing up singing in Lutheran church, and what it means to be a woman in charge. How did kettle corn and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit help to shape her performance trajectory? Listen to find out. Imani interviewed Martha at Moore College of Art and Design’s TGMR radio station on April 3rd, 2018; the podcast is 51 minutes long.
Read MoreWhen multi-media artists Lucia Alber and Katie Rauth first met as interns at Vox Populi Gallery, they recognized in each other a shared interest in the performance of gender and an attraction to similar forms and materials. Since their earliest collaborations in 2016, they have continued to build a powerful friendship both inside and outside of the studio — a friendship which served as an important source of support during Lucia’s recent experience being stalked by a man who serviced her car at a local Jiffy Lube. Here they speak with Matt Kalasky, about Leave Worry Behind, the body of work that emerged from that harrowing experience, on display at Practice Gallery beginning Friday, April 6th. This work, created by Alber and curated by Rauth, uses French boudoir aesthetics to examine the sexual politics of car culture. What is a “sulking room” and how much self-care is too much self care? Listen to find out. Matt interviewed Lucia and Katie at Moore College of Art and Design’s TGMR radio station on April 4th, 2018; the podcast is 20 minutes long.
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