The textiles on view betray a range of technical skill in both the stitchery and designs. Some show a sophisticated ability to render forms and were obviously transferred from patterns, while others seem to have been made up as the embroiderer went along. It is hard to believe that the precision of stitching in the Bagh phulkari weren’t made by professional craftsmen. There is no surviving literature that would indicate how designs circulated–indeed, there is almost no surviving history of phulkari in general, hence the significance of this collection and its catalog.
Read MoreCongratulations are in order for many in this week’s News Post. RACSO turns 2; AAMP turns 40. Plus, Eli LaBan is nominated for College Television Emmy, the Philadelphia Museum of Art opens its doors to show its new proposed Modern and Contemporary plans, and other great news.
Read MoreNews of Artblog favorite artists, Jayson Musson, Dona Nelson, Becky Suss, plus a protest of a Dana Schutz painting, some great opportunities and even more news, in today’s action-packed News Post.
Read MoreKathy Cho considers aspects of art and the artist’s life and brings to the reader’s attention several web projects to explore. We find the question of race in Dana Schutz’s painting Open Casket, based on a photo of the slain Emmitt Till, especially important to ponder. Why did Schutz make this grotesque portrayal (based on a shocking photo of the young man in his open casket)? Why did the Whitney Museum choose to exhibit it in the Biennial, their signature show?
Read MoreElizabeth Taylor-Mead of Frieda wrote to say the cafe at 320 Walnut Street, is celebrating the art of octogenarian, Jean K. Hamburg, who has never shown her works publicly but agreed to show a selection of her life’s work and to speak about her work for one afternoon, Sunday, March 19, from 3PM – 4:30PM. The conversation will be between the artist and Anthony Latess.
Read MoreMoving between Dawoud Bey’s Harlem, USA, and Shawn Theodore’s The Church of Broken Pieces, both currently on view at the African American Museum of Philadelphia, is like shifting between worlds. Bey’s photos depict the streets and people of Harlem in the 1970s, a place that to us in 2017 seems like a lost world, his use of traditional documentary black-and-white photography enhancing that sense of distance. Theodore’s larger-than-life, staged street portraits are less documentary than metaphysical or theatrical, evoking a mysterious future through the drama of the set-piece in the street.
Read MoreArt+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon is an international communal updating of Wikipedia content on subjects related to art and feminism. Universities and cultural institutions around the city of Philadelphia are hosting edit-a-thons throughout the month of March, where participants will gather in one place to edit, add, and improve Wikipedia entries.
Read MoreQuietly building steam over the last four years, the community project, Philadelphia Assembled, will burst into the world this April, with actions, workshops, performances and art, in places all across the city, and will manifest itself in a big installation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Perelman Building this fall. Starting with a series of conversations with regular Philadelphians, the Dutch artist, Jeanne van Heeswijk, made connections and reached out to more and more people, in what sounds like a revolutionary movement to empower people and make their lives better.
Read MoreEpic Tales from Ancient India is the thinkiest show I’ve seen here in years. It is no less than an introduction to the literature and history of India. The literature and history in the subcontinent’s various languages is concealed on the back of miniatures but this forced on me my second most favorite activity, viz., research.
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