Recently, I had a meeting with a director of an artist-run space in Philadelphia. At many points in our discussion we touched on the issue of selling artwork. This led to reflections on the state of the art market in Philadelphia and the strong anti-commercial ethos of sections of the Philadelphia DIY art community. It strikes me that this opposition is a good place to start, not least because it forms the elementary premise on which a number of conversations that I have had with people from the arts community here in Philadelphia about the state of art in the city and the rest of the United States are based.
Read MoreWe’re bringing back a regular round-up of our upcoming posts for you to look forward to! If you’ve got an upcoming exhibition, performance, or event you think would be a good fit for Artblog coverage, feel free to pitch us a story at hello@theartblog.org.
Read MoreAre artists special? This seems like one of those big bloated questions that avoids consideration mostly because talking about it would take too long. (Sometimes I feel every artist talk or discussion should begin by asking, What is art?) In one sense, it is a fairly straightforward question–yay, artist are special or neah, artist are not special. Of course, like most seemingly straightforward questions, there is a long and complicated path to the answer–e.g., Are you hungry? It depends. To address this question I want to examine a few of the underlying terms and, perhaps more importantly, explore how this discussion is shaped by tired tropes that are perpetuated by artists and non-artists alike.
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 MoreYou don’t have to be a dog or cat lover (indeed I am not); you don’t have to be a Philadelphian; you don’t have to know anything about the artist’s past or present personal or professional life; you don’t have to know anything about her politics or her activism (or her pets); you don’t even have to know anything about art to enjoy When You Wish, Sarah McEneaney’s exhibition of 16 new works now up at the stately Locks Gallery. There is nothing esoteric, mysterious, pretentious, assuming, conceptual, or even symbolic about this collection of McEneaney’s work.
Read MoreFor me, the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of our artist-run projects felt most urgent when fed into a rightly inescapable question of: but for whom? Or more specifically, what is the responsibility of an artist project? To whom are we responsible?
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