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Fall gallery roundup
Fall gallery roundup:
Three shows to catch, one to miss, and the Perelman
ANNE R. FABBRI
Welcome back to the Philadelphia art scene: crowded galleries, cheap white wine and more gushing and greetings than red dots on the labels. But where to begin in all this multiplicity?
At the top, of course, so my first destination this month was the Hamilton Building of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for the Academy’s faculty exhibition. I decided to look first at some of Philadelphia’s best living artists, then visit the commercial galleries filled with works by emerging artists (as well as those who will never emerge).
Unfortunately, this was Mistake Number One. The PAFA faculty show is a lackluster affair, substantiating every negative comment ever quoted about the school. Too many palettes were dark, dull and brownish, echoing Thomas Eakins’s worst moments. Too many works were dated, drab examples. It made the exceptions stand out, including paintings and drawings by Sidney Goodman, Bill Scott, Murray Dessner, Phyllis Gellman Laver, Michael Gallagher and Gilbert Lewis.
Other works of art looked like afterthoughts, as if the artists grabbed whatever was at hand. In most instances, the show didn’t represent their most recent and best work. Why not? Is this hubris caused by the Academy’s historic primacy, by inflated egos or merely by indifference? Is it too late for students to request a tuition refund?
At the Print Center: Complexities of nature
Despite all the buzz about the gallery scene in Old City and Northern Liberties, two of the most exciting shows in town right now are in Center City. “Black pulse 2000-2007: doug + mike starn,” at the Print Center, fulfills Bernard Berenson’s historic definition of art as something that gives you a heightened awareness of life. The Starn twins started with their original medium of photography, taking a sere leaf form, analyzing its complexity in visual terms and showing us its three-dimensionality by making shadows an integral part of the work of art. The 13 enhanced inkjet prints with albumen, encaustic and glue on gambi (mulberry) paper and three huge digital C-prints— up to 119” x 287,” on glossy sheets of photographic paper joined by Scotch Tape— portray fragile moments caught in time. Single leaves in a warm brown tonality are enlarged, studied and focused for us so that we can experience the complexity of nature in its transient state.
Two smaller works, using this same approach, examined a woman’s flayed face, its veins and hollows, and a close-up of her eye, showing depths and reflections that hint at the complexity of vision. They confront the close relationship between human and natural forms.
A two-minute video piece, Just a pile of leaves or ‘so much for my confidence in the face of eternity' (2005) continues the imagery by probing a dense pile of leaves, with light as the moving force. A vitrine holds a real pile of dead leaves.
This is today’s art: technologically complex, of the moment, yet part of the natural world. One simple leaf, enlarged to reveal its underlying structure, heightens our senses; we feel a renewed reverence for life. The accompanying artists’ book, in an accordion format, with an enlightening essay by Martin Barnes, captures the aesthetic quality of the photographs. Be sure to see this stellar exhibition
“Black pulse 2000-2007.” Through November 21 at the Print Center, 1614 Latimer St., 215-735-6090).
Schmidt Dean Gallery: The shade of a crabapple tree
Robert Straight’s paintings at Schmidt Dean Gallery provide another worthy riff on nature as a springboard to the aesthetics of abstract forms. Nine multi-layered acrylic paintings on canvas begin with a background of triangles, rectangles and other geometric forms in solid colors topped with a silhouette of a crabapple tree taken from a photograph of one planted by the artist twenty years ago and regarded by him as a personal icon. Above these two layers is a collage of laser cut paper from another photograph of the same tree. This top layer binds the forms, visually keeping them from spilling over; everything is contained within the canvas. Although the same image is used in each collage, its placement varies, changing its visual effect. Three gouache paintings on paper continue this same abstract patterning without the collaged laser cut paper. The paintings capture a fleeting moment in time similar to a momentary view of webs of ice on a windowpane, momentarily illuminated by the setting sun. Make it a point to see this exhibition. It will heighten your senses in a wonderful manner.
“Laser Cut,” Robert Straight’s exhibition, through October 13 at Schmidt Dean Gallery, 1710 Sansom St., (215) 569-9433.
The joy of existence in Old City
Among the plethora of Old City galleries, two can claim your attention this month: Gallery Joe and the Siano Gallery, both in the same block of Arch Street. “Present Tense,” paintings by David Foss and Michelle Marcus at Gallery Siano, reveals new developments by both accomplished artists. David Foss exhibits 16 mixed media paintings on canvas and one mixed media on paper that are veritable calendars of his creative expression, ranging from his dense, textured expressionist patterns to a more structured canvas with loosely defined forms floating above a dark grid. On the Horizon (73” x 62”) promises a new freedom from rigidity. It bursts with the joy of existence. Song of Spring Rain presents a more dream-like, sensuous moment in time.
Michelle Marcus often begins with a digital image monoprint with encaustic on masonite or mixed mediums on wax. Watermark also contains a rectangle of painted wood applied to the wood base and combined with the encaustic above a digital image monoprint. My favorites were FarSight and Shadow Overcoming Memory. Both of these Philadelphia artists are steadily gaining a confidence in their own expression. They are artists on the brink of maturity with a new mastery.
“Present tense,” through September 22 at Gallery Siano, 309 Arch St, (215) 629-2940.
Gallery Joe's exhibition of ink drawings by Astrid Bowlby opened with a reception September 15. I have not yet seen it. However, she is an exciting artist and it promises to present a new interpretation of forms in the flux of time.
First glimpse of the Perelman
After you’ve floated in and out of all the Old City galleries, take time to visit the newly opened Perelman building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The PMA is offering free admission through December 31, so take advantage of the chance to see the Art Museum’s costume, design and photography collections in exciting new galleries with a sky-lighted galleria linking the original and new structures. There is even a gallery of sculpture in the landmark building.
Unfortunately the ceiling in the contemporary sculpture gallery of the original Perelman building appears too low for its length. But nothing is written in stone. This gallery might be used for design exhibitions that can survive generous light from windows. A shuttle bus runs back and forth to the PMA every 15 minutes. However, if you decide to walk, be careful crossing the street. Philadelphia can’t afford to lose a single art enthusiast.
Three shows to catch, one to miss, and the Perelman
ANNE R. FABBRI
Welcome back to the Philadelphia art scene: crowded galleries, cheap white wine and more gushing and greetings than red dots on the labels. But where to begin in all this multiplicity?
At the top, of course, so my first destination this month was the Hamilton Building of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for the Academy’s faculty exhibition. I decided to look first at some of Philadelphia’s best living artists, then visit the commercial galleries filled with works by emerging artists (as well as those who will never emerge).
Unfortunately, this was Mistake Number One. The PAFA faculty show is a lackluster affair, substantiating every negative comment ever quoted about the school. Too many palettes were dark, dull and brownish, echoing Thomas Eakins’s worst moments. Too many works were dated, drab examples. It made the exceptions stand out, including paintings and drawings by Sidney Goodman, Bill Scott, Murray Dessner, Phyllis Gellman Laver, Michael Gallagher and Gilbert Lewis.
Other works of art looked like afterthoughts, as if the artists grabbed whatever was at hand. In most instances, the show didn’t represent their most recent and best work. Why not? Is this hubris caused by the Academy’s historic primacy, by inflated egos or merely by indifference? Is it too late for students to request a tuition refund?
At the Print Center: Complexities of nature
Despite all the buzz about the gallery scene in Old City and Northern Liberties, two of the most exciting shows in town right now are in Center City. “Black pulse 2000-2007: doug + mike starn,” at the Print Center, fulfills Bernard Berenson’s historic definition of art as something that gives you a heightened awareness of life. The Starn twins started with their original medium of photography, taking a sere leaf form, analyzing its complexity in visual terms and showing us its three-dimensionality by making shadows an integral part of the work of art. The 13 enhanced inkjet prints with albumen, encaustic and glue on gambi (mulberry) paper and three huge digital C-prints— up to 119” x 287,” on glossy sheets of photographic paper joined by Scotch Tape— portray fragile moments caught in time. Single leaves in a warm brown tonality are enlarged, studied and focused for us so that we can experience the complexity of nature in its transient state.
Two smaller works, using this same approach, examined a woman’s flayed face, its veins and hollows, and a close-up of her eye, showing depths and reflections that hint at the complexity of vision. They confront the close relationship between human and natural forms.
A two-minute video piece, Just a pile of leaves or ‘so much for my confidence in the face of eternity' (2005) continues the imagery by probing a dense pile of leaves, with light as the moving force. A vitrine holds a real pile of dead leaves.
This is today’s art: technologically complex, of the moment, yet part of the natural world. One simple leaf, enlarged to reveal its underlying structure, heightens our senses; we feel a renewed reverence for life. The accompanying artists’ book, in an accordion format, with an enlightening essay by Martin Barnes, captures the aesthetic quality of the photographs. Be sure to see this stellar exhibition
“Black pulse 2000-2007.” Through November 21 at the Print Center, 1614 Latimer St., 215-735-6090).
Schmidt Dean Gallery: The shade of a crabapple tree
Robert Straight’s paintings at Schmidt Dean Gallery provide another worthy riff on nature as a springboard to the aesthetics of abstract forms. Nine multi-layered acrylic paintings on canvas begin with a background of triangles, rectangles and other geometric forms in solid colors topped with a silhouette of a crabapple tree taken from a photograph of one planted by the artist twenty years ago and regarded by him as a personal icon. Above these two layers is a collage of laser cut paper from another photograph of the same tree. This top layer binds the forms, visually keeping them from spilling over; everything is contained within the canvas. Although the same image is used in each collage, its placement varies, changing its visual effect. Three gouache paintings on paper continue this same abstract patterning without the collaged laser cut paper. The paintings capture a fleeting moment in time similar to a momentary view of webs of ice on a windowpane, momentarily illuminated by the setting sun. Make it a point to see this exhibition. It will heighten your senses in a wonderful manner.
“Laser Cut,” Robert Straight’s exhibition, through October 13 at Schmidt Dean Gallery, 1710 Sansom St., (215) 569-9433.
The joy of existence in Old City
Among the plethora of Old City galleries, two can claim your attention this month: Gallery Joe and the Siano Gallery, both in the same block of Arch Street. “Present Tense,” paintings by David Foss and Michelle Marcus at Gallery Siano, reveals new developments by both accomplished artists. David Foss exhibits 16 mixed media paintings on canvas and one mixed media on paper that are veritable calendars of his creative expression, ranging from his dense, textured expressionist patterns to a more structured canvas with loosely defined forms floating above a dark grid. On the Horizon (73” x 62”) promises a new freedom from rigidity. It bursts with the joy of existence. Song of Spring Rain presents a more dream-like, sensuous moment in time.
Michelle Marcus often begins with a digital image monoprint with encaustic on masonite or mixed mediums on wax. Watermark also contains a rectangle of painted wood applied to the wood base and combined with the encaustic above a digital image monoprint. My favorites were FarSight and Shadow Overcoming Memory. Both of these Philadelphia artists are steadily gaining a confidence in their own expression. They are artists on the brink of maturity with a new mastery.
“Present tense,” through September 22 at Gallery Siano, 309 Arch St, (215) 629-2940.
Gallery Joe's exhibition of ink drawings by Astrid Bowlby opened with a reception September 15. I have not yet seen it. However, she is an exciting artist and it promises to present a new interpretation of forms in the flux of time.
First glimpse of the Perelman
After you’ve floated in and out of all the Old City galleries, take time to visit the newly opened Perelman building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The PMA is offering free admission through December 31, so take advantage of the chance to see the Art Museum’s costume, design and photography collections in exciting new galleries with a sky-lighted galleria linking the original and new structures. There is even a gallery of sculpture in the landmark building.
Unfortunately the ceiling in the contemporary sculpture gallery of the original Perelman building appears too low for its length. But nothing is written in stone. This gallery might be used for design exhibitions that can survive generous light from windows. A shuttle bus runs back and forth to the PMA every 15 minutes. However, if you decide to walk, be careful crossing the street. Philadelphia can’t afford to lose a single art enthusiast.
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