Mid-October marks the start of the 15th Annual Philadelphia Open Studio Tours (POST), Philadelphia’s leading autumnal visual art exploration, presented by the Center for Emerging Visual Artists. Art lovers can find themselves in all of the far-flung corners of Philly by following the guide, which consists of more than 300 visual artist studios, culminating in […]
Article · September 30, 2014 by CSchwartz
At Pentimenti Gallery through September, it is possible to stand on the border between two very contrasting bodies of abstract work. The sculptural and textual explorations of Simeen Farhat in “Logical Thinking; Illogical Thoughts” explode with translucent shapes and bristle with characters and words in a jumble of information, whereas Franco Mueller in “Transferable Views” […]
Article · September 25, 2014 by CSchwartz
Inside of The Rotunda, West Philadelphia’s cultural landmark for boundary-pushing music and performance, there exists a magnificently constructed, acoustic and architectural gem that receives less of the action than the main performance area. Underneath the 80-foot diameter dome from which the space takes its name, The Rotunda and Bowerbird present the results of a multi-month […]
Article · September 23, 2014 by CSchwartz
The urban landscape is littered – literally – with the discarded stuff of (mostly human) life. Food refuse, trash, industrial decay… bits and pieces, and odds and ends that have lost their meaning by way of their inglorious disposal. While it may be the ultimate cliché to say that one person’s trash is another’s treasure, […]
Article · September 18, 2014 by CSchwartz
As a bastion of repurposing and decontextualizing, collage has been the medium of choice for those artists interested in the meaning of symbols and signs from the world around them, and how they can be shaped into unique compositions that are greater than the sum of their parts. From pre-Surrealist experiments through the postmodern grind, […]
Article · September 16, 2014 by CSchwartz
For creative individuals, sometimes the burden of making a meaningful artwork is a lot to bear, especially when publicly displaying them is part of the equation. Luckily, not every artwork needs to encompass vast intellectual territory or requires hours of hard work to assemble – that is what sketches are for. As for showing off […]
Article · September 11, 2014 by CSchwartz
At Artspace Liberti from now through the end of October, it is possible to get sketchy (literally) with some of Philadelphia’s most cutting edge artists working with one of the oldest, most versatile visual mediums. For “Drawing Now Philadelphia,” curator Sabina Tichindeleanu assembles 14 local artists creating two-dimensional works from graphite, colored pencil, charcoal and […]
Article · September 9, 2014 by CSchwartz
If it looks like there’s a house sinking into the Delaware River at the Independence Seaport Museum Dock, that would actually be half true. Artist Mary Mattingly will be residing in the shack-like floating dwelling for the duration of FringeArts this September. The Knight Arts grantee project entitled “WetLand” is an experiment in sustainability and […]
Article · September 4, 2014 by CSchwartz
For a decade, The Clay Studio has awarded $15,000 to 30 emerging ceramics artists through its annual Marge Brown Kalodner Graduate Student Exhibition. Fourteen of these participants have gone on to become residents artists at the Clay Studio, a Knight Arts grantee. Now in its eleventh year, the exhibition draws from some of the best […]
Article · August 28, 2014 by CSchwartz
As daunting a space as The Icebox at Crane Arts is, Ryan McCartney and Tim Belknap seem to have the process of exhibiting in it down to some sort of science. Along with artist and curator Anna Neighbor, the three have set up an exhibition that is as contemplative as it is expansive, the former […]
Article · August 26, 2014 by CSchwartz
Hungry? Considering walking to the refrigerator for a midnight bite? Maggie Casey may have different plans for your snacking routine, but mostly for your art-viewing routine. At Napoleon, the sculpture and installation artist explores form and happenstance via an improvisational process that allows her objects to all but make themselves. By exploring the hazy territory […]
Article · August 21, 2014 by CSchwartz