A quick word of thanks to all who donated their art and goods to the Artblog 20th Anniversary Celebration and Silent Auction! We love you so much, thanks!
Read MoreFeminist artist Joan Semmel’s first solo museum exhibit is long overdue. Our contributor Andrea Kirsh says that Semmel “…breaks taboos about the depiction of women, their bodies and their thoughts.” The show is at PAFA through April 3, 2022. Be sure to catch it.
Read MoreHooray, 2022 is coming!! Let it be better! And here now, our list of memorable people, places, things … and some rebrandings. It’s the 2021 Liberta Awards!
Read MoreMichael Lieberman virtually tours Rowan University Art Gallery’s “Tracing Origins,” artwork by Colette Fu, Claes Gabriel, and Hiro Sakaguchi.
Read MoreCraftNOW marks its fifth anniversary with Craft Capital exhibition series, symposium, hands-on activities, tours, and much more.
Read MoreGuest writer Susan Isaacs, a noted art historian, curator and educator, writes of a show of abstract sculpture curated by Alexis Granwell at PAFA. Isaacs speaks with Granwell about the exhibit, her curating and her art practice and says the exhibition of abstract works engages through its sensual materiality.
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 MorePhiladelphia welcomes a new arts administrator, collaborator, curator to town; PAFA welcomes a new Hudson River painting to its collection, and 40th St. A.I.R. wants you!
Read MoreIn this review, Flora takes us through details of Leah Modigliani’s project, which is based on research of two archival pieces in the 19th century sculpture collection at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The exhibit awakens ideas akin to the current debate over removing public Confederate monuments, though Flora says, “Modigliani’s critique of violence and destruction offers hope.”
Read MoreRoberta chats with Paul Chan about his installation, “Pillowsophia,” at PAFA’s Morris Gallery. The haunting piece is a hollow hooded figure made of black nylon placed high against a wall. In continuous motion from wind blown into its cavity by a powerful and noisy industrial fan, the piece is engineered and stitched in such a way that it dances what seems like an ecstatic death dance. A response to the times, which are filled with violence against black men, the piece is powerful and emotionally moving.
Read MoreI lost track of time as Cassils (who prefers the pronoun “they”) attacked the clay in a frenzy of finely choreographed violence. A single photographer circled the performer, the brilliant strobe lights of camera flashes sporadically illuminating Cassils, a small but impressively muscular figure.
Read MoreTogether, the paint box, palette, and paintbrush reminded me of the relics of saints–the remains of holy men and women, or the objects, earth, or clothing that came in contact with them during their lives. Too precious for human hands to touch, too powerful to stay buried in the ground (or archive), they can only be accessed through the containers that surround them. The saint’s (or artist’s) power is manifested by his ability to produce miracles through his relics. With His Study of Life, Orellana offers us the possibility of a sort of post-modern miracle, making a tongue-in-cheek yet deeply serious exploration of the religion of art, and of the ghost in the machine.
Read MoreThe color combinations of these works create an illusion of depth, opacity, and even motion: the orbs seem to pulse.
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Support for Artblog has been provided by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund.