Visual art

105 results
Page 1
Minich’s multimedia piece has a blue silhouette of person at the center of a classical-looking halo, described in the article

PAFA Presents Making Strange: Sacred Imagery and the Self

Spiritual art…with a twist

A new exhibition at PAFA spanning the 19th century to today (but rooted in a movement launched in the 1500s) explores religious imagery that has been distorted to signify the artists’ divergent views. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read
Gallery view of entrance, a large panel with an illustration of laughing people in glamorous 1920s costume party garb.

The Delaware Art Museum presents Jazz Age Illustration

Illustrators deserve to be on museum walls

In the first half of the 20th century, the music and culture of America’s Jazz Age drove major social change. Now, a new exhibition at Delaware Art Museum captures the era’s masterful illustrators. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 4 minute read
Gallery view with large fanciful portrait of 2 Black people on a peach field, one holding a chicken, the other a white flower

The African American Museum in Philadelphia presents Shared Vision: Portraits from The CCH Pounder-Koné Collection

Honoring Black women who look up and out

In an exhibition curated exclusively for AAMP, arts patron and prolific actor CCH Pounder opens up her significant and uplifting portrait collection for Philly audiences. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 4 minute read
Close-up on a large triptych work combining red text & imagery reminding us of the composer Handel’s links to slavery

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists presents Thesentür/The Thinker: Nina Simone and the Politics of Music

Lines of inquiry

A new solo exhibition by Philly conceptual artist and writer Theodore A. Harris, inspired by Nina Simone’s history with the Curtis Institute, questions the ways that art, artists, patrons, and money are bound together. Emily B. Schilling reviews.
Emily Schilling

Emily Schilling

Reviews 4 minute read
Crisp, richly saturated black & white photo of Ray looking in a mirror, holding a chess piece that casts dramatic shadows

TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image presents Wherever There Is Light

Stunning photographs by formerly incarcerated men of color

Wherever There Is Light, a new exhibition combining portraits, landscape, and collage, starts a new conversation about imprisonment, identity, and justice with cameras in the hands of formerly incarcerated people. Anndee Hochman reviews.
Anndee Hochman

Anndee Hochman

Reviews 5 minute read

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Bright oil painting of two older Black people smiling and comfortably holding hands on a bench on a chilly, sunny day.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art presents The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure

A historic, absorbing exhibition

A new PMA exhibition curated by Ekow Eshun gathers 28 contemporary artists from across the Black and African diaspora in the US and UK, exploring Blackness as lived experience rather than social construct. K.A. McFadden reviews.
K.A. McFadden

K.A. McFadden

Reviews 4 minute read
Finkle’s black & white photo, described in text below, of a Black woman sitting in the rain at a pro-housing protest.

Woodmere Art Museum presents In the Moment: The Art & Photography of Harvey Finkle

Picturing the people’s power

For half a century, Harvey Finkle has trained his camera on those fighting for the rights of homeless, displaced, disabled, or undocumented people on the front lines of American protest. An exhibition at Woodmere looks back on his legacy. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read
Gallery view of show's title wall, with a yellow/orange/purple gradient, and various ceramics on surrounding white pedestals

The Clay Studio presents The Future of Clay

What’s next for the enduring art of ceramics?

To close out its 50th anniversary year, the Clay Studio fittingly looks forward with The Future of Clay, which assembles eight artists for a streamlined show full of intriguing juxtapositions. Crystal Sparrow reviews.
Crystal Sparrow

Crystal Sparrow

Reviews 4 minute read
Collage work of bold prints shows a Black woman in repose, looking calmly outward, her eyes created by a black & white photo

The Barnes Foundation presents Mickalene Thomas: All About Love

A sparkling philosophy of love

A new multimedia exhibition at the Barnes featuring New Jersey native Mickalene Thomas celebrates queer existence and the female gaze with mixed-media painting, collage, photography, video, and more. K.A. McFadden reviews.
K.A. McFadden

K.A. McFadden

Reviews 4 minute read
View straight down into a few stories of the narrow exhibit, crammed with wooden structures and assembled found objects.

Arcadia University’s Spruance Gallery presents Perpetual Inventory: A Ruminative Installation by Scott Kip

Unmoored and uncanny

Visitors to Scott Kip’s Perpetual Inventory can decide if they want to look at an inventory or gallery notes before entering—but it might be worthwhile to wait for an impressionistic, mysterious encounter. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 4 minute read