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Monday, July 10, 2006
Cannonball off 'yer back
Posted by libby
Cannonball Press at work--Mike Houston on the little Vandercook (vintage 1938) letterpress, and Martin Mazorra (the blur)stabilizing it
Saturday's free The Shirt Off 'Yer Back event at Space 1026 offered a double freebie--Cannonball Press was there with a tiny little press, printing woodblock prints--you supply the t-shirt (if you didn't have one, they'd sell you one for $2). And Space 1026 supplied silkscreen prints for those who preferred.
There were no bad choices.
Here are our his and hers typewriters
Murray and I both went for a woodblock print of an old-fashioned typewriter. I'm thinking about adding some studs or something on the jeans shirt to complete my tough-girl image.
Hey guys, guess what? We're migrating the blog tomorrow from its current url to a new one. We expect to have a momentary hiccup in artblog but that's all, so be forewarned. Once the change is in place you will be automatically redirected when you enter our old address.
If you read us in syndication you will have to change to our new settings. We will be notifying the syndicators officially after we have the new url tomorrow.
Browsing Old City and Bainbridge's new art corridor
Posted by roberta
One of Damian Weinkrantz's politically-transcendant owls at Honeymilk
Stella and I went around to a couple of boutiques two Saturdays ago. Nowadays that can mean an encounter with art as well as an eyeful of blue jeans, dresses and jewelry. Honeymilk, in Vagabond's back space on 3rd St. in Old City has been keeping up an art presence with changing exhibits every few months. Carrie Powell, who I believe is Honeymilk's proprietor, curated a show for June and July that includes owl portraits by Emily Glaubinger and Damian Weinkrantz.
The portraits are nicely done, and they're all framed and hung like family portraits in your dining room. Aunt Susie and Uncle Bill caught for the camera while not fighting for a change. Weinkrantz's took the already-loaded cutsie-poo material into the realms of politics and otherworldly weirdness and came up with several winners, a couple of them sold. And Glaubinger pushed the sweetness into some zone of passive-aggressiveness that was all about interpersonal relations. The show's up to July 28. Honeymilk, 37 N. 3rd St.
Marjorie Grigonis's Cosmic Snowball at 3rd St. Gallery
We stopped in to see our friend Marjorie Grigonis's exhibit at 3rd St. Gallery. Marjorie, an abstract painter, has been making delicate, restrained works that have orbiting motifs for a number of years. This show (over now) included several winners including Cosmic Snowball, a piece whose sure-handedness with paint, sweet title and looping lines took me out of the gallery and into the galactic.
Over Bainbridge way we stopped in to Satya to visit with our buddy Romy Scheroder, the boutique's founder. The sustainable-themed clothing boutique (lots of hemp and bamboo fabric in the dresses and shirts) is housed in a great corner storefront that's filled with light. Scheroder puts you at home with her friendly but not intrusive hostessing.
my new purchase from satya boutique
Scheroder said there's a fledgling effort to pull the Bainbridge corridor merchants together into a business consortium so they can coordinate event-planning and such--definitely a good idea. Scheroder's been getting some great and well-deserved publicity (e.g., Satya was just named "Best of Philly" by Philadelphia Magazine --for what the owner wasn't quite sure). While chatting, I spotted something on the floor that called out to me--a small bright-colored ceramic pot on legs. Sold! For $25, an original Scheroder pot made by the UArts MFA (2005) who started her degree as a ceramic artist (she's got a kiln and wheel at home). Happy me.
Kate Stewart's installation at Pageant
We toddled on over to Pageant to see the Jessica Doyle/Kate Stewart exhibit (more on that in another post) and then touched down at the new cafe Scheroder told us about on 9th St., Chapterhouse Cafe, a beautiful space with lots of alcoves and areas for sitting, talking, internet surfing and hanging out. The rehab is a terrific design that also includes a wall of glass in the back that overlooks a nice patio. And the lagniappe, on the walls is an art exhibit. We didn't stay long enough for me to digest everything in what appeared to be a big show but I snapped a couple pictures of a few things I thought were pretty interesting.
Jon Krause's Edward Hopper-esque painting at Chapterhouse Cafe on 9th St. north of Bainbridge
Shannon Frank had emailed me previously and when I checked what she wrote I see that the show, Hung out to Dry, with all these artists, officially opens July 14 with a reception at 7 pm. that includes music. The show's theme is an anti-theme --everything and nothing to do with the shore which could cover men walking on the moon, the Dalai Lama. global warming, sex, and death -- nice and broad.
Jude Buffum's Neapolitics. Buffum's works appeared to me to be prints on canvas based on digital paintings. Nice riffing on red state/blue state politics and that tri-color ice cream we all love so much.
Here's who's in the show: The Heads of State, Gina and Matt (Curtius and Triplett?), Jon Krause, Tim Gough, Jude Buffum, Becky Schmidt, Michael Miller, Lee Eschliman and Chapterhouse residents, Lisa Graf (pottery) Rob Cortez (mobiles/interiors).
So, there you have it-- another arty part of town coming up. There's critical mass of viewing in this area of Bainbridge to call it a destination. And that doesn't even include Spector Gallery, the true pioneer down under South St. and the corridor's anchor. Spector's on summer hiatus but will have a window installation by Bill Lohre coming soon if it's not up already. permanent link
roberta
8:24 AM
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Sunday, July 09, 2006
Plateau plateau-ed
Posted by libby
As a follow-up to the reassurances that Plateau, by Andrea Blum, would soon become a popular seating area (see posts here and here), I thought I'd revisit the place now that the weather is fine.
The good news is, the University of Pennsylvania came to its senses and planted trees and shrubs all around.
The bad news is that although the plantings have leafed out, they are too young to have enough impact to overcome the forbidding lines and lack of color in the piece. They may yet make a difference, however, in a few years.
Until then, here's the situation: I have occasionally seen people using the benches, but it's still not a popular place. The tables across the street attract crowds.
As for the little cages at each end, fuggedaboutit. (Digression: Hey, we were driving on the Belt Parkway a couple of weeks ago, and as we left Brooklyn, an official sign said, Leaving Brooklyn, Fuggedaboutit)! Someone told me the idea was for the vendors to switch over to the cages. What vendor in his right mind would move from a friendly, open, sidewalk-adjacent booth to a prison cell across a black cinder approach? You can barely see one of the cages in the picture above. It's between the trees and in front of the white wall.
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