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Posted by roberta

Apart from the crowded conditions and the fact that I couldn't see the slides and the fact that it went on way too long I really enjoyed Jenny Holzer's talk at ICA the other night. See Libby's post for more and pardon some redundancy here.



What struck me was how the artist uses the second person "you" in some of her writings and by you she means me, not herself. Her voice is imperative. (image is a holzer imperative)

It made me think of Anthony Campusano's word art at Levy Gallery at Moore and his use of "you" When he says "you" as in the piece "Everything I learned I learned Twice" at Levy Gallery at Moore College or his "Self Portrait with the 39th President (Second Person)." For Campusano "you" is him. He's talking with himself, so when he writes "You are five years old and the street fills with people.." he's telling an anecdote about himself to himself.

Maybe that's the difference between public art (Holzer's) which has a kind of engagement or dialog with the exterior world and work that is more private in its origins. All public art is exclamatory and what it exclaims is usually imperative -- from statues of heroes which say "Honor them!" to Holzer's command to "Mind your own business."

That made me wonder whether Campusano's work couldn't engage with a big audience, too, in the way that music, Dylan ballads, for example, do. Music's use of "you" is often personal and imperative.



And as with music, Campusano's work relies on empathy to translate the personal into something much more broad. When at the end of the "Self Portrait" piece the artist describes looking at a photograph with the president and himself and other people in it and ends on this note: "You are so small," He's translated the story into something we can all identify with -- feeling inadequate in the face of life's big hurly burly. (image is detail of Campusano's "Self-Portrait with 39th President, (Second Person))

At a time when -- ironically -- personal reflection is at an all time low and personal confession is at an all time high it seems that a dose of Campusano's art in the public sphere is called for. I'd love to think of it out there on a building, a reminder of how we are in essence all alike and small and how our inner reflections are precious if we ever allow ourselves the time to reflect.

Getting back to Holzer:

The best thing about the lecture for me was to hear how the artist's words spilled out of her sounding every bit like the words she writes -- pithy, ponderous and epigramatic. Even her voice sounds like her words, not high pitched, but a rich contralto.

About her roots as a painter, in the 1970s, she said: "I had been an extremely poor abstract painter. I arrived at the Whitney Studies Program and that program began to redeem me."

The program made her a reader of tomes. And out of that experience she distilled what she'd learned into her "truisms," the one-line wonders that are her trademark and have flashed across Times Square light boards, Las Vegas baggage claim check areas and the Candlestick Park Jumbotron.

About grafitti artist Lady Pink, with whom she collaborated a number of times, she said "She does great women. Major babes. I contribute the text."

About showing in a gallery, DIA, she said "I was confident on posters and in Times Square but less secure on art in blank spaces. First I turned off the lights. That made me feel secure."



About showing at the Guggenheim, where she wrapped her messages around the spiral: "It's a building that snuffs art...I decided to go with Wright rather than have him erase them [them words]." (image is detail from Guggenheim installation)



About what she called her new occupation, outdoor projections at night on the sides of buildings, (like the one above which was in Berlin) she said:

About a Mies Van Der Rohe building in Berlin "It doesn't need art -- it's perfectly glorious and self sufficient."

About her projections reflected on water at night "Water is very kind to projections."

Projections are what she aimed for in painting, she said -- "a loveliness and atmosphere."

In answer to a question about how she likes working on public art she said "The process is often as interesting as the art making."

About watering down her work to suit a public client: "I don't do a piece if it's going to be made pale by subtraction."

About using text by people other than herself now instead of using her own words she said "Because I'm sick of writing and not capable of it I went to a poet."

About her themes she said:

"War comes back time and time again. Courtesy of the world it's there again."

"I'm always interested in what's not spoken about but should be."


About using new technology like cellphones to get her art out there:
"I like to put text where people are looking (cellphones)."

About her education:
"I didn't have much of an art education and that served me well. I had more of a liberal arts education than an arts education. Eventually I went to RISD."



About the legality of projecting on buildings: She's always gotten permission but "There's no law against it."

Finally, here's Libby's 2004 post about Holzer's art on some benches lining a walkway at Penn. Do we like it any better now? I've never seen it but that's an oversight. I guess I'll need to get over there and think about those words on those benches. By the way, she said that she's always looking to put more benches in the world. I'll second that as a mission. Oh and also, she said she's always been in favor of cheap art, which should be no surprise for someone who gives it away in the streets of the world. So to see her truisms on t-shirts and golf balls, as in the bottom two images, should come as no surprise. You can get this merch at the MOMA website or store.

holzer, jenny

permanent link   roberta 8:22 AM
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Posted by roberta

Well Libby and I did. The rain storm last Wednesday night squashed our double-header plan of back to back art events -- Jenny Holzer's talk at ICA and the Print Center auction. We didn't bring hip boots and knew we'd be soaked by the time we arrived for the second event, and while we wanted to visit the little painting we donated and see all the other great donated work and maybe even bid on something, we couldn't face the rain. According to an email we got from artblog pal Astrid Bowlby, a Print Center friend who'd donated an etching to the auction, lots of folks never made it to the event creating a complete bust for the Center's annual fundraiser.



But good news! Bowlby said the Print Center is regrouping and offering a special post-auction rain check, tonight and tomorrow. As second acts go this should be a good one.

Here's the info:
We're having a special two-day rain date event on Friday, November 18 from 5:30-7:30 and Saturday, November 19 from 11:00am -6:30pm. You can see what you missed and purchase items at the minimum bid price. No waiting – It’s first come, first served! You can also view and purchase items on our website. Don’t miss out on some Out of this World bargains for the holidays!

(The auction's theme, Futurama, carried over to the categories of art available. The sweetest category was "Sputniks," items priced at $75 each. The image is a Paul Santoleri digital print of a painting from the "Sputnik" class.)
santoleri, paul

permanent link   roberta 1:20 PM
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Posted by libby

We weren't the only ones who came to hear Jenny Holzer speak at the Institute of Contemporary Art Wednesday.

The event sponsored jointly by the ICA and the Penn Humanities Forum packed the small auditorium there as well as seats lined up in the space beyond the double doors. With such a crush of humanity and the chock-a-block folding chairs, I felt like a sardine undergoing pasteurization in the can. Whew (image top, the crowd at the ICA taken over my shoulder).

Holzer, it turns out, was a lot funnier than her art, which sometimes barely cracks a smile (the antithesis of mr. ho-ho himself, conceptualist John Baldessari, but a virtual comedian compared to the ponderous Lawrence Weiner). I was surprised to learn she was no longer fracturing aphorisms but was relying solely on others' words. She relies on poems and she relies on documents. That discovery spotlighted for me the physicality of how she handles the words. After all, where would the art be if there were no surprising medium for what is someone else's message (right, "Inflammatory Essays" posted on the street)?

Some highlights included a t-shirt modeled by grafitti artist Lady Pink, with whom Holzer has also collaborated on street art (left, art by Lady Pink and Holzer).






And speaking of collaboration, in some sense all of her work requires it. She gets lots of help from people with technological knowledge, horticultural advice, research and various forms of fabrication support. You gotta admire an artist for acknowledging her posse of helpers. Well I admire her for it (right, an electronic sign with Holzer's words).

I was unfamiliar with her gardens which appear to be a hit in Germany. Also in Germany she has put words (English and German) on a number of buildings, including on the Bundestag and on a Mies van der Rohe building. More and more, recently, architecture has become a part of the message, and therefore in a sense part of the collaboration.

I loved her saying the projection of words on architecture gives her words a sculptural shape. See Creative Time blog by our buddy Brent Burket for some great pictures (left, a photo by Burket of a Holzer projection for Creative Time).

Unlike most question sessions at the end of talks, this one was loaded with info.


There's a political edge to Holzer's work that's really great. "I've always been interested in what is not spoken about but should be," she said, vis a vis the projection of declassified government documents about torture on the side of the NYU library. I think that quote covers a lot of the territory she hoes (right, a shamelessly political Holzer piece).

She also said she was thinking about where people were looking these days--cell phones--and how to put the text in front of them. "Most of my work in public is anonymous. It's better if nobody knows who's saying it and why," because it makes them pay more attention, she said.

She also said she didn't have much of an art education and went to a lot of different schools--Duke, University of Chicago and Rhode Island School of Design, for "more of a Liberal Arts than an art education" (left, a Holzer piece on a brass plaque).

As far as making a living goes, she said, she sells enough to support the "irregular art." And in response to a question about how her business method compares to Christo's, she said, "I definitely could use his dynamic wife." The line got a laugh.

An architect in the audience was concerned that she was using the architect's creativity without getting permission, without the architect getting enough credit. She said, however that she only used buildings when she had permission. "I'm a bit of a coward," she confessed, and added that in Berlin, the authorities tried to arrest her, but she had the permission document with her (right, Holzer's words spiraling around the Guggenheim atrium).

Hey, Roberta and I had a similar experience in City Hall courtyard. But we had our official letter of permission, too. There's a lesson here--if you're a coward.holzer, jenny

permanent link   libby 12:51 PM
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Posted by libby

My crits had a few surprises at last weekend's conference of the Society of Photographic Educators Middle Atlantic. Colette Copeland had asked us to help out, so we left Philadelphia at 5 a.m. to get there in time for our scheduled time to look at portfolios and talk to whomever showed up. We set a record to Fairfax of 2 1/2 hours!











While I was talking to Nancy Breslin, whose diaristic photos enchanted me, I had to take a picture of her pinhole camera. In these times of plastic and digital, it has an ur-camera kind of clunkiness that just stole my heart--wood, square corners, brass fittings, just a tiny wooden box. How appropriate that the photo's lighting has a sepia tinge!











A first cousin to the camera was the ur-portfolio of student Josh Harshbarger, who claimed he couldn't afford to buy one. To satisfy a class requirement, he made the thing himself. I loved the un-streamlined shape, the Rube Goldberg string hinge and the button-and-strig fastener. Harshbarger conceded that the box might be a bit heavy. I think he has a talent for sculpture.











And finally, I had to share Jenni Snead's "Dinodate" series of photos that she made for an intro to color photography class (which she took with Harshbarger, by the way). The acid colors, the story telling, the concept, the execution made my heart go pit-a-pat. I hope you can get a little sense of it from this one photo. The date is going really well here. I think Snead was a little shocked by my enthusiasm.breslin, nancyharshbarger, joshsnead, jenni

permanent link   libby 11:13 AM
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Posted by roberta

bush
Originally uploaded by sokref1.

I've never even considered buying one of the tabloids I occasionally leaf through while waiting to check out at the supermarket. But this was too good. Not only is it a beautiful cover with the bold yellow text on the black background. But the whole idea of the breakdown -- as told in a Globe exclusive, full of quotes from a "source," seems like going for the jugular at a time when the President's popularity is in a downward spiral. It's classic tabloid behavior. And actually aren't the tabloids an art form unto themselves? Their near-truths, which nobody takes as real, are lapped up as great entertainment, meta-news as its best.

permanent link   roberta 3:51 PM
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Posted by libby

High concept shows often fall flat on their face. But not so the "Faux Show," a hip, Post Modern confection at the Esther Klein Gallery.

Since Roberta is one of the collaborators here, I will neither praise nor pan her faux review of the show, but just mention it is there, and give it high points for loopiness. On looks alone it deserves points, although I don't think she had anything to do with the paste-up, just the contents.

The show had a lot of high spots, but Nick Paparone's "Raccoon Rug" (top) seems like a good place to start. The name says it all. It's made of airbrushed carpet, ultra suede and synthetic felt. The amoeba-shaped swatch barely pretends to be realistic, undercutting "Field and Stream" and "House Beautiful" in one fell swoop. The anti-trompe l'oeil used here is similar to that of Paparone's "Everest" piece made with Jamie Dillon(see post) (top image "Racoon Rug," airbrushed carpet, ultra suede, synthetic felt).

In the same vein of humor, Keith Wilkins' "Nike id," in which he embellishes a pair of khaki Vans and the shoebox with Nike swooshes also tickled me. Also in the same vein, M. Ho's giant penny,"Lucky," packaged in a cotton-lined home-made cardboard box, is worth its weight in gold. Hey, what is money anyway (image left, "Nike id," sneakers, cardboard, spray paint)?

In the sparkling ceramics department, Candy Depew's jewel-encrusted, gold-embellished skull, "Still Life with Skull" of cast bone china nails the lid on the coffin of life with glorious Mardi Gras desperation. I was thrilled to see Depew's decorative bent go in a surprising new direction. Rain Harris' "splendor" of prehensile ceramic froufrou and wallpaper dims Versailles' mirror room and suggests fireworks and stars and stripes all in one grand gesture. I don't know if this is one of the wall pieces that showed at Nexus last year, but, if not, it's in the same family (see post) (image right, Depew's "Still Life With Skull," cast bone china, gold luster, swarski crystals).

Old friends

Also in the category of pieces that felt like old friends upon seeing them again, I want to mention Virgil Marti's trompe l'oeil "Beer Can Collection," a wallpaper rendering of beer cans lined up like books on mahogany library shelves. It still raises issues of social class and home furnishings (left, Marti's "Beer Can Collection," ink on paper).

Another old friend is Joseph Hu's "Segafredo" ghostly coffee cup and sugar packet all made from cardboard, housepaint, tracing paper and glue. The product from his residency in Switzerland (see post) looks as great as it did at his show at Vox Populi, evoking an essence of Swiss perfection and romance.. William Lohre's "Homeland Security," looks better here amongst these other faux objects, its homey gun rack worth a shiver for the threat within that's parading as protection from the threat without. This too had shown at Vox Populi (image right, Hu's "Segafredo").

Trompes

The rest was all new to me. For trompe l'oeil right near trompe l'oreille, Dave Delaney's layered "Simulcast" oil portrait of a fly (a real-world faux object) on a wooden trophy placque hangs from fishing line cast off a fishing-rod-like bracket; and Chris Vecchio's "Untitled (Sound Guantlet)" responds with 336 sound effects to motion in front of three sound sensors. From door bells to sighs to street cacophany and anyother noise you can download on line, this electronic gizmo works like a charm. The first sound made me jump, but after that, the trompe is not really a trompe. Its disembodied irrelevance of the sounds to any context turns the piece into a toy and a commentary on our faux-faux worlds of the movies, the radio and the internet. Loved playing with it, too. Besides it reminded me of how iPods replace the real world of sound with our own private sound capsule as we march down the street, oblivious (left, Delaney's "Simulcast," oil, wood, fishing line, fishing rod).

Liz Rywelski's "Video Affirmations: A DIY Faux Conceptual Piece Made Available by G.H. Hovagimyan," is a printout of thinking-positively slogans (kind of the antithesis of Jenny Holzer aphorisms), no video at all. I'm not even sure if the person who made this available is G.H. Hovagimyan in this context. Rywelski's "Heart Chakra," a tee shirt printed with an outlet on the front, not only sings the body electric as it stings the chakras into New Age submission; it is also the perfect place to plug in Paul Swenbeck's "Red Creep," a plastic flower/fan contraption with a wire that appears to lack a plug. In this context, I was unsure if the joke was that it didn't work or if it was just real-life electronic or gallery failure. (And speaking of no video at all and electronic failure, would someone please fix Nadia Hironaka's "Still Life Study #1," which according to the guard hasn't been working since the day after day #1? I can't stand that I missed this) (right, detail of Rywelski's "Video Affirmations: A DIY Faux Conceptual Piece Made Available by G.H. Hovagimyan," ink jet print, flanked by "Heart Chakra," white t-shirt, ink transfer print).

Symbols for a faux universe

Also in the land of word and semaphore art, Merrilee Challis' map quilt, "Alabama," made with Chris Lawson and Andrea Paschal, had so much to look at I can barely say something coherent, other than a non-quilt with map folds about a governmental concept imposed on the land seems just right here. Loved the stitching, the drawing, the vortex of an eye, the words parading as place names, the marks parading as places, etc. etc. In contrast, Jane Irish's dreamy pale blue gouache "Free Speech," is the words "free speech" against a minimal backdrop, with grid and numbers and a few unreadable glyphs that suggest bits, bytes and other internet food for thought (left, "Alabama," mixed media, by Challiss, with Lawson and Paschal).

Some pieces whose faux-ness eluded me included Steven Wise's two little number paintings, Charles Hobbs' swell wooden snake, "Liss-en," and Thom Lessner's "Van Halen" ink drawing, although the latter does bring to mind the faux relationship implied by fandom, and in the world of fandom, Lessner has proved himself again and again a super-fan, a virtual model citizen of the realm. I certainly wasn't fooled by the fauxness of my take-home fake tattoos, wood-patterned contact paper for the skin--hello Richard Artschwager (right). So who made these ? Are they a faux work of art(image right)?

Clint Takeda's "Elephant Butt (without tail)" is the most poignant piece in the show, a small, hollowed rendering in wax of the rear portion of a great beast on its side, its legs delicately draped at the ankle. Of course it's man parading as a beast, or maybe just the identity of man and beast. This piece alone is worth the trip to University City (left, Takeda's "Elephant Butt (without tail)," wax).

[04/21/06 addition from Libby: Got an email from G.H. Hovagimyan a couple of days ago commenting on this post. I thought you'd like this information explaining something about Liz Rywelski's contribution to the show.]

Email from G.H. Hovagimyan:

On November 17th, 2005 you wrote:

Liz Rywelski's "Video Affirmations: A DIY Faux Conceptual Piece Made Available by G.H. Hovagimyan," is a printout of thinking-positively slogans (kind of the antithesis of Jenny Holzer aphorisms), no video at all. I'm not even sure if the person who made this available is G.H. Hovagimyan in this context.

Yes Liz contacted me to get permission to print out the work video affirmations. The original piece is online at here. There are two parts to the piece 1. The text slogans and 2. Clown Piece (videos) here.

[Libby: I didn't include the text slogan link because the page was defunct and took me to the Clown Piece videos page]

The piece is fairly complex. It has an online component and a real world component. The DIY and the videos extend the piece into a variable media arena. The original piece was done in 1994. The whole site is a proposal for a Museum/special projects room. I also have a boxed set of the original design boards. This refers to Duchamp's Green box which you know is in the Philadelphia Museum.

Since I did the piece I periodically get requests from people from around the world to print out the work. I'd say that the work was the first DIY piece on the internet.

--G.H. Hovagimyan

marti, virgilswenbeck, paulpaparone, nickhu, josephhobbs, charleschaliss, merilee et al.lawson, chris et al.paschal, andrea et al.wise, steventakeda, clintirish, janeho, m.harris, rainhironaka, nadiawilkins, keithlessner, thomlohre, williamdepew, candyrywelski, lizdelaney, davevecchio, chris

permanent link   libby 12:17 PM
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Posted by libby

Changes are afoot in the coverage of art at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Inquirer art writer Ed Sozanski, our town's big cheese in art coverage (measured by publication circulation), is indeed taking the buyout, reported my husband Murray, who is doing the same.

When I spoke to Sozanski less than a week ago at the Beauford Delaney press preview, he said he was still sitting on the fence, but he had put his name in for the buyout and was told he could have it if he wanted it. He thought that if he did take it, he would still be writing the long Sunday pieces on a freelance basis.

So it was or is or will be. Sozanski will be doing the Sunday pieces on a contractual basis, and the Friday Weekend section shorties will go to someone else (the same little birdie told me art editor Jeff Weinstein already has someone in mind). So look for more of the same.

My guess is Sozanski was just waiting for the ink to dry on the Sunday contract.

In all fairness, Sozanski was working way too hard for someone who is 69 years old. He was working way too hard for someone 50 years old. To write as much as he did, he had to see a lot of art, digest it and spit it all out.

I had the nerve to suggest that if he had something he wanted to write about that didn't fit the Sunday format, he should give it to artblog. He laughed and said, "Just for fun?" I'm not really expecting much, but maybe the spirit will move him.

permanent link   libby 10:19 AM
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Posted by roberta

This week's Weekly includes my review of Blazo Kovacevic's exhibit "Maps and ..." at Hurong Lou Gallery. And in the paper's holiday guide section there's my round-up of shows for a photo- and video-rich holiday season. Here are links to the Kovacevic review on the art page and to the holiday roundup. And below is the copy for both with some extra pictures.

Tear It Up

Blazo Kovacevic's exhibit at Hurong Lou Gallery grabs you with its graphic crispness, beautiful appropriated imagery and hint of threat. Beauty and threat? Consider the whole experience of the show a personal Rorschach test. (image is affixed to the plexiglas top of a small round table.)



Kovacevic uses appropriated images-ancient maps, architectural drawings and repeat patterns of flowers and fleurs-de-lis. He prints, draws or paints the imagery on his canvas, vinyl or mesh supports, and then superimposes ominous and militaristic images of metal tools. With their open jaws, pincers, sawtooth edges, wings and bayonet-like protrusions, the tools evoke instruments of torture or a swarm of killer robot insects. They're bigger than life, and they cast long shadows over the appropriated imagery.



"Mimi, Bertha and the rest of the gang," (image above) are what the Montenegro-born artist calls the tools, displayed taxonomy-style in a large mixed-media piece by that name.

Their presence is threatening, but here's the question: Are the tools enemies at the gate or sentinels guarding the precious beauty? Either way, they evoke conflict.

Here's another test: The gallery floor is untidy with crumpled newspaper, Styrofoam chips and a random plastic utility bucket. What gives? Kovacevic, whose work also deals with the value and commodification of art, left the byproducts of the show's installation as a reminder that art's backstage is messy. "It's the aesthetics of junk," the artist says.

"It gives you details you can use on the origin of the work. I also like it because you question, 'Are we done?' And I don't believe we can be." Artists are never really done with their art. They just let it go.



Test three: Many works have perforation lines dividing them vertically or horizontally, like longitude or latitude markers. A viewer can decide they'd like a piece of one and not the whole, and the artist will cut or tear along the perforated line. Sundering a piece of art is transgressive. But Kovacevic has played capitalist god here, enabling the viewer's transgression.

In some cases the works are worth dividing. Duel, a large work with a medieval walled town in the background and two hulking tools in the foreground, can be split into two asymmetrical pieces (with asymmetrical pricing). The two pieces are stronger separated. Like those "friends forever" heart necklaces, two art lovers could split a Kovacevic work and create an instant bond between them.

Maybe dividing a whole, whether it's art or a country, can be something done amicably-to create friendship, not war. That's my thought after seeing this show.

Kovacevic, who now lives in Savannah, Ga., is a computer whiz, having founded the International Digital Art Festival. While in Philadelphia he worked with gallerist Hurong Lou as an art director.

"Blazo Kovacevic: Maps and ... "
Through Dec. Hurong Lou Gallery, 320 Race St. 215.238.8860.



Screen Glints
Mavericks and a New Color Master



When it comes to photography, four exhibits give a lot of visual pleasure and would make an invigorating photo-walking tour both between the venues and once you're inside. "Mavericks of Color" at the Philadephia Museum of Art, a group show focused on the roots of color photography in the 1960s and '70s, is a look back at work by American pioneers like William Christenberry, William Eggleston and Joel Meyerowitz. (We've told you about Mavericks here and here.)
(image above is photo by Eggleston)



Vik Muniz's photographs at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts' Morris Gallery-large prints of his dazzling drawings in oddball materials like chocolate syrup, dust and thread-will bring your experience of the medium up to date. Muniz's works are so far from the snapshot aesthetic of the mavericks, they almost constitute a new genre: conceptual trompe l'oeil. (Here's my post on Muniz's family workshop at PAFA, which, I realize, I want to flesh out a bit so hang on for that.)
(image is Muniz at his family workshop at PAFA)

Figures old and new



Figure studies are a traditional photography subject, especially in Philadelphia, with its ties to Thomas Eakins and Eadweard Muybridge. Two shows by local artists continue the tradition: Paul Cava at Gallery 339 and Susan Fenton at Schmidt-Dean. Cava's multilayered imagery, some using found photos and digital technology, is surreal and poetic. (image above is Cava's "Eden.")



Fenton's stylized studies of her African model Fatima suggest an almost Victorian symbolism-the nude model posing, partly hidden by objects like a parasol, a clay jar, a large ball or a veil. (Fenton Fatima image)

These sensuous almost full-body photos are a departure for the artist from her previous hand-painted photos of a model's head and neck. The new pictures raise timely questions about the definition of beauty and about the colonial gaze, something that always bears study. (Here's Libby's Q&A with Fenton)


Harvey's Split-Screen Mirror and Graham's Sisyphus


As far as video goes, Ellen Harvey's multimedia work at PAFA and Rodney Graham's film and video retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Art are exhibitions with theoretical and conceptual underpinnings. The works have great beauty, and a satisfying theatricality as well. Harvey's installation, in PAFA's second-floor rotunda, creates a darkened space with large multipanel mirrors, a video projection and two side video pieces showing the artist's hand making a pencil sketch of a museum building. The work adds up to a PAFA chapel devoted to contemplation of the building and to the idea of the museum as an institution. It's a slow piece and elegant, and I wished there had been a bench to sit down on. (Here's part one and part two of Libby's report on Shamim Momim's lecture at PAFA on Harvey's art.)

(image is the Harvey installation at PAFA which creates a dark grotto in what is usually a luminous rotunda.)

For me the best part was the two video drawings that slowly came to life with pencil lines laid down and corrected and put down anew-seemingly in real time. The slow, torturous process of work to create a finished drawing made me think about how museums are slow in a fast world--and how precious that is.


Rodney Graham's works at the ICA are eloquent, philosophical and trippy. The Canadian artist zeroes in on life's Sisyphean nature, where pushing the rock up the hill is followed inevitably by its fall back down. Graham tells this one story again and again in works that are mostly wordless. (Here's Libby's great post on the show.)


And while the pieces are in gorgeous color and set in beautiful locales (a tropical island, the North American West, a cobblestone street in what looks like Europe), they have the feel of early silent films by Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton: sad-sack slapstick. In fact, Hollywood is never far from the surface in works that are costume genre pieces (the rambling cowboy, the Edwardian comedy of manners, the South Seas adventure story, the Keystone Kop/vaudeville routine). (they're not too far from the great Wallace and Gromit whose exploits always include pithy thoughts about the ridiculousness of life.)



The artist is a one-man show performing in each piece, often in multiple roles. The camera can't get enough of him. But Graham's focus on himself is an anti-star turn that mocks instead of heroicizes. There's less action and humor here than in the new Wallace & Gromit movie. But you could argue there's as much beauty and delight in the details. (Check out the aardman website for lots of fun interactive animation... and many links to W&G and other Nick Park characters)

(image is from Graham's "Vexation Island.")

Graham's exhibition, which includes some photo pieces and a "little schoolhouse" slide show of a trip the artist took to Kurt Cobain's Washington state hometown, is one of the best hours I spent looking at art this fall.

Party On

Along with the photography and video bonanza this season, there's also a more traditional-media big-name group exhibit at the Fabric Workshop and Museum opening Dec. 2. It brings work by 15 artists and a couple of design teams together for a show that's about birds and bees and other biologically or emotionally destined swarmers.

The show's underpinnings are in science or pseudoscience, in which labels like "swarm logic" are applied to behavior that's predictably unpredictable. My prediction is that the show, whose participants include international art stars like Julie Mehretu, Sarah Sze, Fred Tomaselli, Shahzia Sikander and Paul Pfeiffer, will be a satisfying romp no matter how you define group behavior and its wisdom (or lack thereof).

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"Ellen Harvey: Mirror"
Through Jan. 8. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Morris Gallery, Broad and Cherry sts. 215.972.7600.
"Mavericks of Color"
Through Nov. 27. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th St. and the Pkwy. 215 763 8100.
"Paul Cava: Children of Adam"
Through Nov. 27. Gallery 339, 339 S. 21st St. 215.731.1530.
"Rodney Graham: A Little Thought"
Through Dec. 23. Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 S. 36th St. 215.898.5911.
"Susan Fenton: Fatima"
Through Nov. 26. Schmidt-Dean Gallery, 1710 Sansom St. 215.569.9433.
"Swarm"
Dec. 3-March 18. Fabric Workshop and Museum, 1315 Cherry St. 215.568.1111. Opening reception and holiday party, Friday, Dec. 2. 5-9 pm.
"Vik Muniz"
Through Nov. 20. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Morris Gallery, Broad and Cherry sts. 215.972.7600.
muniz, vik
kovacevic, blazo
eggleston, william
harvey, ellen
graham, rodney
wallace and gromit
cava, paul
fenton, susan

permanent link   roberta 9:35 AM
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Posted by libby

Email from Isaac Resnikoff

I had just gotten back from New York where Jina Valentine (assistant director, and co-curator of the New Acropolis and Junto shows at Fleisher-Ollman) was included in "Frequency," the "sequel" (five years later) of "Freestyle" at the Studio Museum in Harlem(left image, Valentine's "Appetite for Destruction: Top 40 Best Selling Records Ever").

It's a very nice show, with a lot of interesting young artists, and Jina among the very best of them. Her lacey, paper-cut wall panel, with tacky dead wallpaper delicately collapsing onto the floor, had a "read the writing on the wall" quality to it, and took the cake.

[Studio Museum PR described the artists as "thirty five of the hottest emerging, black artists of 2005! Living and working in the United States and ranging in age from 25 to 42," etc. etc.; Valentine is the only Philadelphian in the group.] (top image, Valentine's "Appetite for Destruction: Top 40 Best Selling Records Ever."

Another Philly connection, sort of

Also among the best and brightest in the 35 artist show were Hank Willis Thomas whose "Liberation of T.O." photomontage seemed very timely, at least to Philadelphia eyes (image right, "Liberation of T.O.: Ain’t no way I’m go’n in back ta’work fa’massa in dat darn field," 2004, Lightjet print, 30 x 24 inches).

The show runs until March 12.

We Run Out of Continent extended

Also, I wanted to let you know that "We Run Out Of Continent" [Resnikoff's exhibit at Fleisher/Ollman] has been extended through the 23rd of November, which is the day before Thanksgiving--which seems like a good time to take down this show (image left, postcard for exhibit showing Resnikoff, in appropriate costume, working on his "...Continent" creations).

[Our posts on Resnikoff's show are here and here.]

--Post by sculptor Isaac Resnikoff valentine, jinaresnikoff, isaacthomas, hank willis

permanent link   libby 4:00 PM
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Posted by roberta

Two of artblog's favorite young artists have work at Jack the Pelican Presents opening this Friday: The estimable Ianthe Jackson, whom we've told you about here (her drawing in the Tyler MFA show last spring) and here (her MFA thesis exhibit which sounds something like what she'll have at JPP), who has a solo exhibit, "Entry Island," and the estimable Matt Fisher, who's in the group show "Caspar David Seance."

Jackson will have animation, kinetic sculpture, drawing and more all on the idea of identity and alter egos. (the artist's alter ego creation Black McLean will most certainly be on hand.)


And in a group show revolving around the idea of romantic love and death, Fisher joins a group that includes Jody Ake, Fia Backstrom, Olivia Barr, Mia Brownell, Andrea Cote, JJ Garfinkel, Ann Hirsch, Lars Kremer, Adela Liebowitz, Anne Arden McDonald, Anja Mohn, Alexandra Newmark, Kelly Sturhahn, and Ruth Waldman.


Opening reception for both JPP shows is this Friday, Nov. 18, 7-9 pm and the shows run to Dec. 18.

Fisher and Christina Vassallo's MatCH-Art-curated "O" show, by the way, opens Nov. 30 at the Shore Institute in Long Branch, NJ. This Philly-artist heavy show, which we've told you about previously, should be ooooooodles of fun. Here's the complete list for that show: Lisa Beck, Louis Cameron, Moriah Carlson, Orly Cogan, Mark Dagley, Joel Edwards, Rob Grunder, Francis Holstrom, Sharon Horvath, Jim Houser, Jasper Johns, Chris Kasper, Laura Ledbetter, Jim Lee, Monique Luchetti, Noah Lyon, Andrew Masullo, Rob Matthews, Derick Melander, Tom Moody, Matthew Northridge, John Phillips, James Rosenthal, Savako, Randall Sellers, Mark Shetabi, Jordan Tinker, John Torreano, Alice Wu, B. Wurtz, and Nami Yamamoto.

Opening reception for that show is Sunday, December 11, 3-6 pm.

(image is detail from the JPP e-postcard. I believe that's Jackson charging forward on the horse)
jackson, ianthe

permanent link   roberta