Philadelphia Magic Gardens presents Face to Face: Isaiah Zagar’s Mosaicked Portraits

Before visiting, surrender the expectation that this exhibit has a clear beginning and end. As ground zero for Zagar’s unflagging creativity, Philadelphia Magic Gardens is a mélange of teacups, bottles, folk art, and shards of porcelain, in addition to tiles—large and small, some hand-painted. You’ll see ceramic gardens and galaxies, and lots of faces that aren’t specifically Face to Face faces. Just relax and enjoy the view.

The faces in question

The exhibit is presented in two indoor galleries linked by a fully mosaicked courtyard. (Beyond the museum, PMG’s complex features an outdoor labyrinth of curving paths, stairs, and caverns.) Works in the exhibit were produced between 2015 and 2019, but gallery information on who is depicted and their relationship to Zagar is limited. Most of the exhibit’s portraits appear with just a title.

The triptych Diana, a mosaic on panel, might remind you of the stock magic trick in which a woman (it’s usually a woman) is boxed with head and feet showing, divided in two and then (Abracadabra!) reunited. Diana lies horizontally, with head, hands, and a foot visible. She’s already in pieces, perhaps awaiting the magician.

Yellow Nose, Purple Toes, another panel mosaic, is exactly what it says, plus a pair of eyes, a mouth, and an ear for good measure. The toes, one foot’s worth, are Concord-grape purple, a not-uncommon sight this winter.

Whispering Secrets, Zagar’s droll take on gossip, is dominated by two large heads, one in profile, raising a hand to confide something juicy to the other, who faces out. The contraband knowledge is represented by ceramic flotsam traveling from mouth to ear. Perhaps the work was inspired by Benny Dorfman, a local in Zagar’s South Street neighborhood. Dorfman rented tools and dispensed community intelligence from a Kater Street storefront, holding court in a lawn chair on the sidewalk

Zagar’s family album

Family portraits in the exhibit, curated by Chelsey Luster of PMG, can be found in the back gallery. Aspen in a Crowd depicts the artist’s grandchild Aspen at center, his face embellished with a keyhole under one eye, the endearment “nosey” written on his nose, and the mysterious “fix” on his chin. Adults line up to the right and left, arranged as in pictures taken at any family gathering…well, almost. In Zagar’s version, unattached hands twine in every direction, wide-open eyes are everywhere, maybe watching out for Aspen, and assorted bodily parts float in the vicinity of their potential owners—breasts, genitals, and an arthritic-looking hand beneath a woman in a red hat.

In the full-length portrait Isaiah and Julia, we meet the artist and his wife. For it, Zagar commissioned a Florentine artist to render their faces in tessera, an Italian mosaic technique using small tiles, which he then fit into the larger work, roughly five feet square. Between the couple appear the names of Zagar’s parents, Asher and Gertie, a frequent reference. Isaiah and Julia also involves a second instance of outsourcing: waterjet-cut tiles from Surbeck Waterjet, an Ardmore company Zagar calls on to custom-cut tiles to his design. In this work, the pale waterjet tiles represent abstract hands, feet, plants, and animals.

Who are these people?

The familial details provided in Face to Face make you curious about the others depicted. How did Zagar encounter them, and what captured his imagination? Who is the Pink Girl? Why is Spinning Figure spinning? And on what SEPTA route did Zagar encounter the rogues’ gallery of City Bus? As interesting as the mosaics are, the stories behind them must be enthralling.

It would be impossible to identify any of these people in a lineup, based solely on these portraits. Made in Zagar’s singular style, the mosaics are a fusion of subject and artist, blending not only the person’s appearance, but how Zagar feels about him or her as well. And isn’t that what happens in all the best relationships? When you think of someone dear, it’s not a picture that comes to mind so much as a feeling that comes over you.