Visual art

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Gold-framed collage-like painting in blue, pink, black, and green, featuring two Black figures, described in text below.

Arthur Ross Gallery presents David C. Driskell and Friends: Creativity, Collaboration, and Friendship

Proving Black art's place at the center of American history

Throughout his groundbreaking career, artist David C. Driskell laid the foundation for the academic study of Black American art, long ignored by the art world. A new exhibition at Arthur Ross honors him and his legacy. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 4 minute read
A dramatic smoky yellow sky over a hill with a tiny train puffing up, smokestacks at right & icy river at the foreground.

PAFA presents Layers of Liberty: Philadelphia and the Appalachian Environment

The world’s oldest mountains get a gallery at last

PAFA’s new Layers of Liberty exhibition, a rare close-up on Appalachian art, continues a trend of museums exploring our complicated, often greedy relationship with the natural world. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 5 minute read
A stylized woman sits in a chair next to a large flower bouquet, a book in her lap and her cheek leaning on one hand.

The Barnes Foundation presents Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at The Barnes

The OGS of their genres

A new exhibition from the Barnes draws on the best of the foundation’s extensive collection of works by Matisse and Renoir, and places them in conversation with each other. K.A. McFadden reviews.
K.A. McFadden

K.A. McFadden

Reviews 4 minute read
Acrylic on canvas painting, a young woman to the right, painted in blue and black. Lined paper figurine cutouts on the left

The Barnes Foundation and Mural Arts Philadelphia present Visions

An exhibition for restorative justice

The Barnes and Mural Arts’s Visions opens this week featuring artworks from system-impacted young people in southeast Pennsylvania. Cass Lewis previews.
Cass Lewis

Cass Lewis

Previews 2 minute read
A gold, slender halter-style dress with a long, delicate pleated skirt and opulent beaded bodice in muted purple and blue.

Drexel University presents Modern Ritual: The Art of Mary McFadden

A “design archeologist” arrives at Drexel

Globetrotting fashion designer Mary McFadden’s archive is now housed at Drexel’s Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection, and its first exhibition there offers a tantalizing glimpse of her world. Wendy Univer reviews.
Wendy Univer

Wendy Univer

Reviews 5 minute read
A triptych piece within a wooden frame has hands of different skin tones reaching and interacting, two in the center touching

National Liberty Museum presents In Pursuit: Artists’ Perspectives on a Nation

An all-American sculptural showcase

Seven artists and two guest curators offer gorgeous and searing expressions of their American experiences in a satisfying and thought-provoking exhibition at Independence Mall’s National Liberty Museum. Emily B. Schilling reviews.
Emily Schilling

Emily Schilling

Reviews 4 minute read
Seen from behind, a bald Black man in a suit jacket looks at a wall of many Dox Thrash portraits.

AAMP Presents IMPRINT: Dox Thrash Black Life, and American Culture

Remembering a revelatory Philadelphia artist

Dox Thrash, the Georgia-born artist who settled in Philadelphia and invented a whole new method of printmaking, gets an important new show at AAMP. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read
Photo of Riker’s Quilt. It resembles a large-scale colorful painting, multi-layered collage, or mosaic all rendered in fabric

The Philadelphia Museum of Art presents Rikers Quilt

Catching up with Jesse Krimes

Jesse Krimes, subject of the 2021 documentary Art & Krimes by Krimes and a sometime Philadelphia resident, has an exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and continues to work for justice. He sits down with Stephen Silver.
Stephen Silver

Stephen Silver

Features 5 minute read
Painting of a white woman with coiffed brown hair & puff-sleeved golden dress with fur-lined burgundy satin wrap.

Woodmere Art Museum presents Through Her Eyes

Marking the 50th anniversary of a historic celebration of women artists

“Why have there been no great women artists?” An art critic posed the question in 1971 and Philly responded in 1974 with FOCUS, a citywide festival of women artists. Now, a new Woodmere show marks its 50th anniversary. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read
Dark-haired mother kisses the shoulder of a chubby rosy-cheeked dark-haired toddler in a white shift falling off his shoulder

Philadelphia is spending summer 2024 with Mary Cassatt

Meet the iconic Impressionist with a new exhibition and public virtual class

Philadelphia will celebrate hometown artist Mary Cassatt this summer, kicking off with a major new exhibition that was years in the making at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Camille Bacon-Smith looks closer.
Camille Bacon-Smith

Camille Bacon-Smith

Features 6 minute read