12.08.2008

Nigel Rolfe (MFA Senior Critic) reviewed in December issue of ArtReview Magazine


Issue 28, December 2008, ArtReview Magazine

Green on Red Gallery, Dublin
5 September – 4 October, 2008

Review by Luke Clancy

Despite having one of the larger spaces of Dublin's commercial galleries, Green on Red gives its main space over to just one piece for Nigel Rolfe's latest work, a large-scale video projection, Dust Breeding (2008), which fills most of one wall of the darkened square room. The piece, then, is monumental, at least in that respect, sharing qualities with equally immense and imposing video pieces by Bill Viola and others competing in the arms race of impact.

On the screen, a few seconds of an action by Rolfe, filmed in medium close-up, is looped into a series of repetitions, though the experience of these loops-within-a-loop, given the tendency for attention to rove over different aspects of the image on each repetition, is that each varies minutely. Rolfe's bald head from a side view fills the wall, bulging veins running up the side of his cranium. He is motionless, though slow shivers and eddies in the facial muscles hint that this is not a still, just intense slow motion. Then the eyes flutter, and a look of what could be disgust or simply hesitation winks by as a stream of white powder begin to fall over the face.

If gravity is to be believed, rather than the evidence of the video screen, Rolfe is lying on his back, and the powder is falling from above. So it gathers, in his eye sockets, in the nostrils, the philtrum, on the lips, until it overflows. Then a small squall of dust slowly breaks into the air as Rolfe clears his nose and mouth.

Finally he must breathe, it seems (the petty irritations of corporeality!), and as he does, turns his face towards us. The skull is revealed as planetary, a landscape of crumbling craters and mountainous shadows. As the head turns towards the camera, powder around the eyes first bulges obscenely, then begins to crumble away, to reveal at last the gaze of the artist, bearing an expression that for the first time seems threatening, accusatory.

Rolfe has been active as a performance artist since the 1970s, more recently moving into photography and video, though nearly always trading in images relating to his performance work, or to specific objects used in his performances. And there are aspects of the performance here that might be termed macho, in an archaic kind of way – the artist's body the site of assault, the impact to create empathy and at the same time estrangement. Something akin, indeed, to a certain mood of human embodiment, something apart from natural history, and yet terribly subject. It is a piece that negates fashion, proving Rolfe to be working a vein that is not yet, despite everything, shot.

Read the review online: http://www.artreview.com/forum/topic/show?id=1474022%3ATopic%3A584098

12.05.2008

Terry Adkins (MFA Graduate Faculty), Hunter Stabler (MFA '06), and Micah Danges (Photo staff) in exhibition at Pageant Gallery; Opening Dec. 12


(click on image for bigger view)

PAGEANT INVITES YOU TO JOIN US FOR THE ARTISTS RECEPTION 12.13.08, 7PM.
REGULAR GALLERY HOURS ARE FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY 12 - 8 PM.

12.02.2008

Jamie Diamond (MFA '08) in solo exhibition at Moeller Snow Gallery, NYC; Opening Dec. 11


Exhibition Opening: December 11th from 7-9pm at Moeller Snow Gallery

The Moeller Snow Gallery
8 Bond Street
New York, NY 10012

For more information about the show: www.moellersnow.com
See more of Jamie's work: http://jamiegdiamond.com/

MFA Professor Jackie Tileston reviewed in Artforum Magazine



(click on image to read the review)

Jackie will also have two new paintings in Miami during the Art Basel.Miami fair as a part of Aqua Art Miami:

Pentimenti Gallery is pleased to announce our participation in aqua art miami during the celebrated Art Basel.Miami.

December 3 - 7, 2008

Booth #35
42 NE 25th. St.
Miami Wynwood District
Miami, FL

12.01.2008

Jacolby Satterwhite (MFA '10) in exhibition at EXIT Art, NYC; Opening Sun., Dec. 14


The Labyrinth Wall: From Mythology to Reality

December 14, 2008 - February 7, 2009

Opening Sunday, December 14, 3-9 PM

Exit Art will be open to the public during work in progress of the Labyrinth beginning Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

In The Labyrinth Wall: From Mythology to Reality, 50 artists will respond to the turbulent times in which we live, the complex — and often confusing —financial, military, and cultural crises in America. Exit Art will be reconfigured into a labyrinth constructed of fifty 8’ x 8’ panels, each a response by an artist to the metaphor of the labyrinth. Each panel offers instructions on how to escape the issues we are confronted with. The labyrinth serves as a metaphor for the vexing, tangled problems that America, under a hopeful new presidential administration, must now navigate.

In Greek mythology, the labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed by Daedalus to hold the Minotaur for King Minos of Crete. The labyrinth was so serpentine and difficult to navigate that Daedalus himself could barely find his way out. Today, America seems to have found itself at the center of a metaphorical labyrinth. We’ve become so deeply trapped in an economic and political maze that our situation seems impossible to escape. The wall is also a representation of a political barrier, used for either fortification or segregation such as the Berlin Wall or Great Wall of China, or as a form of communication, such as the activities of Chinese Democracy activists in the late 70s on what became known as the ‘Democracy Wall.’

For more info about the show: http://www.exitart.org/site/pub/main/index.html

Jacolby Satterwhite (MFA '10) in exhibition at Aljira Center for Contemporary Art. Newark, NJ


The B Sides

Curated by Edwin Ramoran
This group exhibition explores the dynamic relationship between house music and contemporary art. Artists are working in various media such as installation, painting, performance, photography, sculpture, and video.

Exhibition Dates: Nov. 22, 2008- March 7, 2009

Aljira
591 Broad Strett
Newark, NJ 07102-4403

tel: 973.622.1600

See the website for the full schedule of programs surrounding this exhibition: www.aljira.org

Marjorie Van Cura (MFA '02) reviewed in NY Arts Magazine


Marjorie Van Cura's work has been reviewed for the exhibition "Together Forever" in NY Arts Magazine (Jan/Feb 2009).

Jill Smith writes:

"...Marjorie Van Cura’s charming and skillfully-executed multi-media abstract works on panel explore the notion of “relationships with the other” through the formal concerns of organization, pattern, and biomorphic design. Working in unusual media such as galkyd and oil, or carbon and oil, she mounts these delicately- rendered rice paper-paintings on panel.

These exquisite images bring to mind organic forms such as the skeleton, the fossil, and the shell, objects that function as remnants of once-living forms. Her entrancing Untitled 0208, for instance, an Op-Art graphic composition depicting a gray vertebrae-like pattern bordered by undulating white lines atop
a field of shimmering silvers and periwinkles, carefully straddles the boundary between abstraction and representation.

Alluding to both the mimetic mode of the image in the age of digital reproduction as well as the most archaic of biomorphic forms, Van Cura’s repeating patterns and color relationships produce optical effects that as she describes, “create a visually intense, visceral experience.”

Read the full review: www.nyartsmagazine.com

See more of Marjorie's work: www.marjorievancura.com

Travis Heck (MFA '08) in exhibition opening this Friday



Place

Opening Friday, Dec. 5th

Hours: December 6th and 7th, 12-4pm
through december 12th by appointment

tel: 215.636.0677
www.saaw.com

227 N. Juniper St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(take broad to race st., right on race st., take left on juniper st.)

Artists: Alyssa Banks, Jestis Deuerlein, Mick Drolet, Travis Heck, Ian Hoffman, Trung Pham, Scott Stewart, Tennyson Tippy, and Young Yoon

Alex Paik (MFA '05) in show at FUEL Collection; Opening this Friday



Grand Small Works

Opening Reception: Friday, Dec. 5, 6-9pm
Exhibition Dates: Dec 2 – 28, 2008

FUEL Collection
249 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA

See more of Alex's work: http://www.alexpaik.com

11.25.2008

More Auction 2009 Pictures; Thank You All!



(click image for bigger view)

A BIG thank you to everyone who came and made this such a wonderful event...

An even BIGGER thank you to all the artists who donated work...

And a HUGE thank you to Pernot Hudson for managing this event with such patience and forethought, from start to finish... we couldn't have done it without you!

Auction 2009 Photos




(click image for bigger view)

Dread Scott Lecture Tonight; Morgan Building, White Room, 5:30PM


(click image for bigger view)

Tuesday, November 25
5:30 pm
Morgan Building, White Room
205 South 34th Street

Dread Scott makes revolutionary art to propel history forward. He first received national attention in 1989 when his art became the center of controversy over its use of the American flag. The 2006 Whitney Biennial included his art in the Down by Law section and his work was also included in recent exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum and the DeBeyerd Center for Contemporary Art in the Netherlands.

PS...The poster says the lecture is in Meyerson Hall, but it has been moved to the White Room located in the MFA Morgan Building.

11.20.2008

Penn MFA Benefit Auction Today, Friday, Nov. 21

(A Preview of the Auction as the installation takes place.)


We have a wonderful selection of works from many artists.

Come preview the work starting at 530PM.

The auction starts at 7PM.

Come for treats, drinks, artists, and art. 

11.18.2008

Performance Seminar Performance Night; this Wed., Nov. 19, 6PM



Wed., November 19th

Doors open at 6pm

Meyerson Hall Lower Gallery

http://www.design.upenn.edu/new/finar/exhibitions.htm

Artist Lecture: Mark Lewis this Wed., Nov. 19, 5PM. 210 S. 34th St., B-1


We are proud to present…

A Lecture by artist MARK LEWIS

Wednesday, November 19th, 5PM

B-1, Meyerson Hall
210 S. 34th Street - Philadelphia, PA

Mark Lewis is an internationally recognized Canadian Film Artist who is to be Canada's representative at the Venice Biennale 2009. He attended Harrow College of Art in London, England and the Polytechnic of Central London where he now lives and works. He is included in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Muse d'art contemporain de Montral and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Please join us for what should be an exceptional presentation.

www.marklewisstudio.com

Tadashi Moriyama (MFA '06) to be featured at the Pulse Miami and Aqua Art Miami Art Fairs; Dec. 3-7, 2008


Tadashi Moriyama will be featured in two different
art fairs in Miami, a solo booth at Pulse Miami
and group booth at Aqua Art Miami this Dec.

The dates of the fairs are Dec. 3-7, 2008. See the websites and addresses of the fairs below.

PULSE MIAMI
represented by Bonelli Arte COntemporanea
Booth #I-204
2136 NW 1st Ave.
Wynwood District
Miami, FL 33127

web link: http://www.pulse-art.com/miami/exhibitors.php?exhibit=329


AQUA ART MIAMI
represented by Johansson Projects
Booth #115
1530 Collins Ave.
Miami Beach, FL 33139

web link: http://www.aquaartmiami.com/fairs/aqua-hotel/6/#

11.10.2008

Susana Jacobson (MFA Senior Critic) in exhibition reviewed in the Grand Fork Herald (Thurs., Nov. 6, 2008)


Susana Jacobson is in an exhibition entitled "Animals: Them and Us,” which is on view at the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks, ND. In a review of the exhibition Paulette Tobin writes:
"There’s something just the slightest bit disturbing about looking into the face of an ape, something unsettling, maybe even a bit creepy. Their faces are so human, and yet not human, so open and yet so mysterious...Susana Jacobson’s colorful and compelling paintings of the faces of monkeys/people are part of “Animals: Them and Us,” one of two new exhibits in the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks. In her small portraits, people are portrayed as monkeys. Look at them closely and see if you can keep from thinking about Charles Darwin and evolution. Are we more like monkeys, or are monkeys more like us?"

See the article: http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=92131§ion=Entertainment
For info on the exhibition see: http://www.ndmoa.com/Current%20Exhibition/currentexhibition.html

Exhibition curated by Darsie Alexander (MFA Senior Critic) reviewed in The New Yorker (Nov. 3, 2008)


Currently on show at the Baltimore Museum of Art is a retrospective of Franz West which was curated by Darsie Alexander. The exhibition is entitled “Franz West, To Build a House You Start with the Roof: Work 1972-2008.” Peter Schjeldahl, art critic for The New Yorker, reviewed the exhibition in glowing terms:

"West is that rarest of birds: an urbane hippie. Reportedly, his studio in Vienna is part factory, part be-in. First among equals, he channels collaborative energies. (The Baltimore show’s koanlike title isn’t his; the curator Darsie Alexander thought of it, and West approved.) His art enlists, rather than addresses, its viewers."

See the article: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/artworld/2008/11/03/081103craw_artworld_schjeldahl?currentPage=1
For info about the exhibition see: http://www.artbma.org/exhibitions/

Terry Adkins (MFA Graduate Faculty) named USA James Baldwin Fellow


Terry Adkins
New York
USA James Baldwin Fellow, Visual Arts

Terry Adkins is an installation artist, musician, activist, and cultural practitioner who for 20 years has pursued an ongoing quest to reinsert historically transformative figures to their rightful place in the landscape of regional and world history. Although his “recitals” combine sculpturally based installations with music, video, literature, and ritual actions that intend to uphold and preserve the legacies of his chosen subjects, Adkins’ work is always abstract and lyrical. An inspiration to younger artists for his uncompromising stance, he is also a dedicated teacher as Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.

See Terry's bio on the USA site: http://www.unitedstatesartists.org/Public2/USAFellows/2008Fellows/Alphabetically/TerryAdkins/index.cfm

11.09.2008

Alexi Worth (MFA Senior Critic) solo show at DC Moore Gallery, NYC; Opening Thurs., Nov. 13


Please join us for the opening of ALEXI WORTH: "EYE TO EYE"
Exhibition opening: Thursday, November 13th, 6-8 PM.

DC Moore Gallery
724 Fifth Avenue (between 56th and 57th)
New York City, NY

More information see: www.dcmooregallery.com or call 212.247.2111


ALSO: On view further downtown: "Perverted by Theater"
(a group show featuring work by Alexi Worth and 22 other artists)
On view through Dec. 6th, 2008

APEXART
291 Church Street
NYC, NY

For more information see: www.apexart.org or call 212.431.5270

Phillip Adams (MFA '06) in exhibition at Arcadia University; Opening Thurs., Nov. 13


Exhibition Opening: Thursday, November 13, 6:30pm

A Closer Look Series 7
OPENING EVENT
Thursday, November 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Stiteler Auditorium, Murphy Hall
Panel discussion featuring the participating artists and exhibition curator. Opening Reception following immediately in the Art Gallery.

Arcadia is pleased to offer FREE ROUND-TRIP BUS TRANSPORTATION from Center City to Arcadia Unversity Art Gallery on the evening of November 13, 2008. The chartered bus will depart from the front of Moore College at 5:30 p.m. and arrive at Arcadia University Art Gallery by approximately 6:15 p.m. Following the panel discussion and opening reception, the bus will depart Arcadia at 8:15 p.m. to return riders to the front of Moore College by approximately 8:45 p.m.

To reserve a seat on this bus, please e-mail gallery assistant Jamar Nicholas (nicholaj@arcadia.edu) or phone him at 215-572-2133. Reserve now as seats are limited.

Arcadia University
450 South Easton Road
Glenside, PA, 19038

For more information about the show: http://gargoyle.arcadia.edu/gallery/08-09/closerlook7.htm
See more of Phillip's work: www.phillipadams.net

11.05.2008

Leigh Van Duzer (MFA '10) in group show in Portland, Oregon; Opening Fri., Nov. 7


Shelter

Opening: Friday, November 7, 6-9pm
Exhibition Dates: Nov. 7-29, 2008

23 Sandy Gallery
Portland, OR

23 Sandy Gallery is pleased to present Shelter: A National Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Photography. Shelter explores architecture, habitat and sanctuary. It is one of our most basic human needs—at once both physical and psychological. We derive great pride from the shelter we build. We seek shelter from the elements, from the storm, from harm. Photographers were challenged to explore how shelter can be interpreted visually given its myriad manifestations.

For more information see: http://www.23sandy.com/Shelter/-Intro.html
See more of Leigh's work: www.leighvanduzer.com

11.02.2008

UPenn MFA Benefit Auction Friday, Nov. 21


2009 UPenn MFA Benefit Auction!!!

Friday Nov. 21, 2008
Preview 5:30-7pm
Event 7-9pm

Meyerson Hall, Univ. of Pennsylvania
210 South 34th Street

Free Admission, Refreshments, and Entertainment....
Come bid on work by 40+ artists: Painting, Ceramics, Drawing, Printmaking, Sculpture, Photography, and Video!

For more information contact the Graduate Fine Arts Dept. at 215-898-8374
or email fine-art@design.upenn.edu

All proceeds support PennDesign's 2009 MFA Thesis Exhibition.

Vote this Tuesday








Find your polling place here:
http://www.voteforchange.com/?polling=PA&source=sem-fo-gotv-google-pa-pros-launch1&gclid=CLGqoenK15YCFQwDGgod-l-A2g

10.30.2008

Jane Irish featured in Symposium on Politics in Art, Sat., Nov 1

Symposium and Panel Discussion:
On the Limits and Possibilities of Politics in Art
Saturday, November 1, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Historic Landmark Building

The symposium focuses on artists who have integrated politics with art and who have consistently addressed and investigated social and political issues through their paintings, drawings, and prints. Audiences will hear directly from the artists in two panel discussions in which they address the topic from personal points of view. Including diverse artists from Philadelphia and beyond, renowned artists and scholars Laylah Ali, Enrique Chagoya, Sue Coe, Daniel Heyman, Jane Irish, Peter Saul, and Art Spiegelman will be featured. An overview of the topic will be provided by scholar David Carrier and PAFA Curator of Modern Art, Robert Cozzolino. Distinguished art historian Pat Hills will serve as moderator and discussant for the day.

Symposium Schedule

9:00 a.m. Doors open; welcome and check-in
9:30 a.m. Introduction by PAFA Curator of Modern Art, Robert Cozzolino
9:45 a.m. Overview by David Carrier, Champney Family Professor at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Art
10:30 a.m. Panel presentations by artists Peter Saul, Jane Irish, and Daniel Heyma
12:30-2:00 p.m. Lunch break
2:00 p.m. Panel presentations by artists Laylah Ali, Sue Coe, Art Spiegelman, and Enrique Chagoya
4:00 p.m. Conclusion by Edna S. Tuttleman Director of the Museum, David R. Brigham, followed by reception and viewing of Peter Saul: A Retrospective

10.29.2008

Micah Danges featured in Nov. exhibition at Vox Populi;Opening First Friday, Nov. 7


Exhibition Dates: Friday, November 7 – Sunday, November 30
Opening Reception: First Friday, November 7, 6-11 PM GALLERY

Micah Danges is a vital part of the graduate and undergraduate photography programs at PennDesign. Micah is the go to guy for any work that needs to be printed on our fabulous inkjet printer. Now we have the opportunity to see his incredible work!

For his November Show at Vox Populi, Micah Danges presents Lands End.
Micah creates a collage of imaginary worlds, whose origins are inspired from everyday objects and spaces both found in natural and man-made environments. He examines concerns of desolation, mysticism, communication and psychedelia. These inspirations are based on both formal ideas and curiosity that define these fantasy narratives. Danges received his BFA from Kutztown University and has been a member of the artist collective Vox Populi since 2005. His work has been exhibited widely in Philadelphia, Chicago, Brooklyn, Cincinnati, Washington D.C. and can be found in collections in New York City and Singapore. The artist lives and works in Philadelphia.


Vox Populi Gallery 319 North 11th Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107
For more info see: http://voxpopuligallery.org/index.php?archive=on&id=32

10.28.2008

Karen Yasinsky Lecture Tonight; 530PM, 210 S. 34th Street, B-3


Karen Yasinksy (b. Pittsburgh, PA; lives Baltimore, MD) makes short animated films based on beautifully rendered clay-modeled figures and drawings. To create these works, the artist works alone on each aspect of the story—drawing and modeling, sets and costume design, direction, cinematography, and stop-animation shooting. The musical soundtracks are made in collaboration with composer Winston Rice and others. Her twelve-inch-tall clay figures, with hand-painted faces and hand-stitched clothing, move minimally within small, simple sets. The characters are silent, the expression on their faces static, and their bodies move in small gestures. The result is compelling and realistic, partially due to the fact that the characters' stories are developed as Yasinsky shoots the stop-motion animation. The figures reflect a soulful playfulness reminiscent of Buster Keaton.

530PM Tues., Oct 28th
Meyerson B-3
201 South 34th Street

For more information about Karen's work see: http://www.mireillemoslerltd.com/karenyasinsky.html

10.27.2008

Charles Burns Lecture Tonight; 5:30PM Meyerson Hall, B-1


Charles Burns, the award-winning Philadelphia-based cartoonist and illustrator well known for his fluid, graphic drawing style and deliciously dark themes (Big Baby, Skin Deep, Black Hole), discusses his own work and that of R. Crumb. Burns was an early and regular contributor to RAW, Art Spiegelman’s legendary magazine, and remains a leading figure of the comix movement.

5:30PM
Meyerson Hall B-1,
201 South 34th Street

10.23.2008

Ivanco Talevski in show at the International Print Center New York Opening Tonight, 6-8PM


(the print that Ivanco has in the show)

New Prints 2008/ Autumn

Opening Reception: October 23, from 6-8 pm.
Exhibition Dates: October 22-November 22, 2008

New Prints 2008/Autumn is the twenty-ninth presentation of IPCNY’s New Prints Program, a series of juried exhibitions organized by IPCNY four times each year, featuring prints made within the past twelve months by artists at all stages of their careers. The exhibition represents a cross-section of some of the most exceptional printmaking today while continuing IPCNY’s commitment to provide an ongoing exhibition venue for contemporary prints and a major source of information about artists working in the medium.
The Selections Committee for New Prints 2008/Autumn included Matthew Day Jackson, Artist; Jacob Lewis, Director, Pace Prints Chelsea; Barbara Sahlman, Collector and Artist; Julie Saul, Director, Julie Saul Gallery; James Stroud, Master Printer and Director, Center Street Studio; and Roberta Waddell, former Curator of Prints (1985-2008), New York Public Library.

For more information about the show: http://www.ipcny.org/exhib/exhib_next
See more of Ivanco's work at: http://www.ivancotalevski.com/

10.21.2008

Matt Freedman (MFA Senior Critic) curating a show at FiveMyles, NYC; Opening Sun., Oct. 26


There’s No Place Like Utopia

Curator: Matt Freedman

"A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at."
- Oscar Wilde

Opening Reception: Sunday, October 26, 4 - 6 p.m.
Exhibition dates: October 25 - November 30, 2008

Also on view during the opening reception will be "No Place,"a compilation of international video, documentary, and animation about utopia and other places that may or may not exist. This screening is a joint venture between FiveMyles gallery, curator Greg Pond, Nashville's Fugitive Projects and the Irish group Human Resources, headed by Emma Houlihan, an artist and curator from Dublin.

FiveMyles is located within walking distance from the Brooklyn Museum.
558 St. Johns Place, Brooklyn, NY 11238

For more information: tel: 718.783.4438 / www.fivemyles.org

Sarah Gamble (MFA '01) and Hunter Stabler (MFA '06) represented in Philagrafika's "Prints & Pints," Wed., Nov. 5


Artists and Printshops:
Sarah Gamble with The Borowsky Center for Publication Arts, The University of the Arts
Barkley Hendricks with The Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions
Nadia Hironaka & Matthew Suib with Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints
Andrea Landau with Space 1026
Serena Perrone with C.R. Ettinger Studios
Hunter Stabler with Fabric Workshop and Museum

University of the Arts, Dorrance Hamilton Hall
320 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

For more information see: www.philagrafika.org and tel:215-717-6001

10.19.2008

Terry Adkins (MFA Professor) in exhibition at P.S. 1, NYC


NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith

On view October 19, 2008 - January 26, 2009

From the exhibition press release: "Including some 50 works of sculpture, photography, assemblage, video, performance, and other media, NeoHooDoo asserts that the drive towards a spiritual practice is as relevant today in our burgeoning global society as it has ever been. Artists have long engaged with ritualism to enrich their work, drawing on the traditions of shamans, griots, and oral historians. NeoHooDoo 'grew out of a desire to explore the multiple meanings of spirituality in contemporary art,' states P.S.1 Curatorial Advisor and Menil Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Franklin Sirmans.

In the late 1960s poet Ishmael Reed adopted the 19th-century term 'HooDoo,' referring to forms of religion and their practice in the New World to explore the idea of spiritual practice outside easily definable faiths or creeds and ritualism on contemporary works of literature and art. 'Neo-HooDoo,' he writes in his 1972 collection of poetry, Conjure, 'believes that every man is an artist and every artist a priest.' ... For these artists, ritual practice often emerges as a form of catharsis and political critique to approach issues such as race, gender, slavery, and colonization."

For more information on the exhibition see: http://www.ps1.org/exhibitions/view/205/

10.17.2008

Jaime Treadwell (MFA '02) in group show at Opera Gallery, NYC, opening Oct. 17


(images from the show's catalog)

Jaime Treadwell is included in an exhibition entitled "Young Blood" that will be on view Oct. 17- Nov 10, 2008.

The catalog description of Jaime's work reads:
"These artists ... don't just offer a carefree opinion of the world surrounding them; they are also witnesses to its horrors and absurdities. In a more biting, critical vein, Jaime Treadwell accentuates the standardized aspects of the American way of life. On a backdrop of garish colors, he depicts wrestlers, beauty pageant queens, athletes, and tattooed majorettes. Taken out of context, these subjects seem quite ridiculous in their costumes, as if sterilized. From society to the stage, ... he willingly takes off on a tangent from childhood to offer a more mature parody of adulthood."

See more of Jaime's work at: http://www.jaimetreadwell.com
Visit the gallery website for information and address: www.operagallery.com

10.15.2008

Artist Lecture: Tom Nozkowski. Thurs., Oct. 16, 5:30pm


(click on image for bigger view)

Come to the lecture at:
5:30pm

Meyerson Hall, B-3
210 South 34th Street
Philadelphia, PA

10.14.2008

Artist Lecture Tonight; Mark Shetabi at 210 South 34th Street; 5:30pm


Fog Machine, 2008, oil on linen

Tuesday, October 14, 5:30 pm

B-3 Meyerson Hall
210 South 34th Street

Mark Shetabi received his MFA in painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He is a recipient of a 2002 Pew Fellowship in the Arts for a body of sculpture and installation. His work has been included in group exhibitions in New York at White Columns, the Heckscher Museum and Jack the Pelican Presents. Shetabi has had solo exhibitions in Philadelphia at Locks Gallery and Project Room, in San Francisco at Ratio3, and in New York at Jeff Bailey Gallery. He lives and works in Philadelphia.

10.09.2008

Brent Wahl (MFA '06) in exhibition at Repetti opening this Sat., Oct. 11; Long Island City, NY


(Click on image for more information and directions)

Opening Night: Saturday, October 11 at 3pm!
Exhibition Dates: October 11 – November 2, 2008

REPETTI – Long Island City, NY Seven artists, all members of Philadelphia’s Vox Populi, show new work with crossover concerns of how the space we inhabit, physical and digital, affects our lives.... Brent Wahl uses ephemeral materials to make low-tech, yet complicated constructions that often teeter on the verge of collapse. Ultimately these objects are photographed, animated, or in some cases installed in a space prior to their destruction. The resulting work quietly investigates disparate links between time, architecture, faith, nature and the spectacle.

10.07.2008

Eileen Neff (MFA Graduate Faculty) in solo exhibition at Silverstein Photography/ 20 in NYC Opening Oct. 18



From the press release for the exhibition: "Drawing on a practice of constructed images, and exploring the poetics of perception and questions of presence, The Key of Dreams includes a selection of discrete images along with one larger picture of the pictures themselves. Having borrowed the title from René Magritte’s painting The Key of Dreams, Neff has expanded on its conceptual framework to continue her photographic investigations, creating a labyrinthine cycle for the viewer’s reflection ... Neff moves freely between generic representations – tables, birds, and landscapes – and the sheer abstract play of other images, further bolstering the cycle of questions and sense of wonder. Within this process Neff’s images appear at once to be both moving and still, both two and three-dimensional, ultimately evoking what is both internal and external simultaneously."

The opening reception will be held from 6-8pm on Saturday, October 18th.
Exhibition Dates: 18 October- 22 November, 2008.

For more information on the exhibition, contact Elizabeth Shank at:
elizabeth@brucesilverstein.com

10.01.2008

Andrea Scott, Art Critic, speaking at PennDesign Thursday 5PM

Brent Wahl (MFA '06) in exhibition opening at Vox Populi Oct. 3 (this Friday)

Jamie Diamond (MFA '08) accepted for WORKSPACE Residency


The Harmonie Family, 2008

Jamie Diamond has been accepted to a 9 month residency by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. The LMCC says of the program: "Our flagship residency program provides artists and writers working in diverse mediums and genres with free studio workspace for nine months, a modest one-time stipend, as well as access to a community of peers, professional development services, and exposure to new audiences through online and public programs."

For more information go to the LMCC wesite:
http://www.lmcc.net/art/residencies/workspace/2008/index.html

See Jamie's website: http://jamiegdiamond.com/

9.30.2008

PennDesign MFA studios featured in Philadelphia Open Studio Tours Sat., Oct. 4



Come to our Morgan Building and Franklin Annex for refreshments, drinks, artists, and artwork! Open from 12-6pm.

Morgan Building
205 South 34th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Franklin Annex
3451 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

For more info:
http://www.philaopenstudios.com/welcome.aspx

email: fine-arts@design.upenn.edu
tel: 215-898-8374

9.23.2008

Demetrius Oliver (MFA '04) reviewed in NY Times, Time Out NY, and Village Voice


Demetrius Oliver's solo show, Observatory, at D'Amelio Terras, has been reviewed in three important New York publications! See the article links below.

The exhibition dates are: Sep 02 - Sep 27,2008

D'Amelio Terras
525 West 22nd Street
New York, New York 10011
Phone: +1-212.3529460
Tue-Sat 10-18


NY Times Review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/arts/design/19gall.html?ref=design

Time Out New York Review:
http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/art/58811/demetrius-oliver-observatory

Village Voice Review:
http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-09-17/art/demetrius-oliver-s-observatory-at-d-amelio-terras-john-o-connor-implant-at-ubs-art-gallery/


Find out more about the show at:
http://www.damelioterras.com/home.html

9.18.2008

Linnea Paskow (MFA '02) exhibition at Michael Steinberg Fine Art opening Friday



Linnea Paskow's exhibition of recent collages will open this Friday in New York City.

Exhibition dates: September 19 - October 14, 2008

See Linnea's work at: www.linneapaskow.com

Penn Graduate Humanities Forum 2008-09

Topic: Change 2008-2009, Check website calendar for events and keynote
Events begin Sept. 24: http://humanities.sas.upenn.edu/calendar.shtml

Past Topics:
Origins 2007-2008, Keynote "Googlization of Everything" by Siva Vaidhyanathan
Travel 2006–2007, Keynote "Old Histories, New Itineraries" by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett
(Organized in part by Shayna McConville MFA '07)
Word and Image 2005-2006, Keynote "Jeff Wall, Wittgenstein and the Everyday" by Michael Fried
(Organized in part by Emily Hoy MFA '06)

VIA Book Launch


Thursday, September 18, 7-10pm
MeyersonHall School of Design
210 S 34th Street
Philadelphia

Friday, September 19, 6-8pm
Hines Gallery Center For Architecture 534 Laguardia Place
New York

"Occupation" is the first major new volume published by via (winner of the 2008 AIA Student Journalism Award). It studies the macro- and micro-scales that inform how we read, claim, and intervene in our evolving territories. It maps contemporary discourse and investigates the relationship between individual or collective identities, the tensions in definition and space-claiming, and the potentials for the space in between. These relationships are broken into 'novellas'—terra nullius, annex, colony, and body—that separate content into territorial categories, though not reducible to scale or time. Content is political at one end—questioning the roles of designer and occupant—and sensitive on the other end—acknowledging our use of space as one of borrowing.

Contributors include Deb Hoy (MFA '08), Francesca Pfister (MFA '07) and others.

http://www.amazon.com/Via-Occupation-Publications-1/dp/0980003601/

RESOURCES for Penn MFAs


STORE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS AT PENN'S CAREER SERVICES
Establish a file to store all of your recommendations through Penn's credential systems:
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/credentials/credentials.html

You often need letters of recommendation when you apply for fellowships, grants or jobs. You may establish a file of letters of recommendation which will be permanently stored by Career Services. You may have these mailed whenever you need to provide letters of recommendation. Your letters will always be available on short notice and you will not have to ask the same person to write letters for you again and again.

-------------------

TEACHING CERTIFICATE FOR PENN MFAS
If you've worked as a Teaching Assistant for two semesters, you're less than four steps from getting a Teaching Certificate from Penn's Center for Teaching and Learning. These are the requirements:

1. TA for two semesters
2. Take a few workshops (about an hour each; take during your coffee break)
http://www.ctl.sas.upenn.edu/grad/grad_workshops.html
3. Write a teaching philosophy
4. Have a CTL staff observe one class

And you're done: http://www.ctl.sas.upenn.edu/grad/certificate.html
Contact Bruce Lenthall for more info lenthall[at]sas.upenn.edu
(This is available to doctoral students and MFAs -- those pursuing a terminal degree.)

-------------------

CONCERNED ABOUT TAKING AN ELECTIVE OUTSIDE OF PENNDESIGN?
Check out Penn's course and instructor ratings for that elective
(click on a category in the "Browse Courses" section on the left):
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/coursereview/
While this electronic publication lists mostly professors and courses from the undergraduate program, many graduate professors are listed as well (almost all of our MFA professors are listed).

RESOURCES for Penn MFAs

STORE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS AT PENN'S CAREER SERVICES
Establish a file to store all of your recommendations through Penn's credential systems:http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/credentials/credentials.html

You often need letters of recommendation when you apply for fellowships, grants or jobs. You may establish a file of letters of recommendation which will be permanently stored by Career Services. You may have these mailed whenever you need to provide letters of recommendation. Your letters will always be available on short notice and you will not have to ask the same person to write letters for you again and again.

-------------------

TEACHING CERTIFICATE FOR PENN MFASIf you've worked as a Teaching Assistant for two semesters, you're less than four steps from getting a Teaching Certificate from Penn's Center for Teaching and Learning. These are the requirements:

1. TA for two semesters
2. Take a few workshops (about an hour each; take during your coffee break)http://www.ctl.sas.upenn.edu/grad/grad_workshops.html
3. Write a teaching philosophy
4. Have a CTL staff observe one class

And you're done: http://www.ctl.sas.upenn.edu/grad/certificate.html
Contact Bruce Lenthall for more info lenthall[at]sas.upenn.edu(This is available to doctoral students and MFAs -- those pursuing a terminal degree.)

-------------------

CONCERNED ABOUT TAKING AN ELECTIVE OUTSIDE OF PENNDESIGN?Check out Penn's course and instructor ratings for that elective
(click on a category in the "Browse Courses" section on the left):http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/coursereview/
While this electronic publication lists mostly professors and courses from the undergraduate program, many graduate professors are listed as well (almost all of our MFA professors are listed).

9.17.2008

College Art Association Fellowship for MFAs: Deadline Oct. 1

College Art Association is pleased to announce that the 2008 Professional Development Fellowship award is now a one-time award of $15,000. Applications are due October 1, 2008. Award notifications are mailed by January 2009.

Visual-Art Fellowships: Visual-art fellowship applicants must include the following on a CD or DVD: application form; essay; résumé or CV; description of your MFA exhibition and its timetable; all visual documentation (up to six images of still work on CD or up to ten minutes of video work on a DVD, properly labeled and formatted for both PC and Macintosh); and image script (caption list and short descriptions of the work). Three letters of recommendation; a copy of your 2007 IRS income-tax form or 2008 Free Application for Student Federal Aid (FASFA); and graduate transcript must be submitted in hard copy and mailed to CAA with the CD or DVD. Deadline: October 1, 2008; fellows are chosen by December 31, 2008.

College Art Assocation initiated the Professional Development Fellowship Program in 1993 to help MFA and PhD candidates in art and art history bridge the gap between their graduate study and professional careers. The program's purpose is to support outstanding students from socially and economically diverse backgrounds who may have been underrepresented in their fields. By nurturing promising artists and art historians at the beginning of their careers, CAA aims to strengthen and diversify the profession as a whole.



For more information, visit: http://www.collegeart.org/fellowships/

9.16.2008

Tadashi Moriyama (MFA '06) featured in exhibition at DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park




DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
51 Sandy Pond Road
Lincoln, MA 01773-2600

August 30, 2008 – January 4, 2009

The exhibition features artists:

Alice Attie, Astrid Bowlby, Jim Dingilian,Jacob El Hanani, Dave Eppley, Tom Friedman, Darina Karpov, Laura Kim,Ricardo Lanzarini, Martha Lewis, Cynthia Lin, Marco Maggi, LouiseMarshall, Jane Masters, Julie Mehretu, Tadashi Moriyama, Mary O’Malley,Carol Prusa, Jessica Deane Rosner, Andrea Sulzer, Kako Ueda, Julia vonEichel, Rachel Perry Welty, David Omar White, Martin Wilner, and DanielZeller.
This exhibition is organized by the Curatorial Affairs Directors, Rachel Rosenfield and Lafoand Koch, and Curatorial Fellows Kate Dempsey and Nina Bozicnik.

For more information see: http://www.decordova.org/decordova/exhibit/2008/drawn%20to%20detail/drawn%20to%20detail.htm

See Tadashi's website: http://www.tadashimoriyama.com/

9.11.2008

Erica Baum Photography Exhibition Opening Tonight (Thurs., Sept. 11) at the Kelly Writers House


7:00 PM in the Arts Cafe: Kelly Writers House Art opening for Word Each to Cling I

A series of photographs by Erica Baum based on pianola rolls

Erica Baum received a B.A. in Anthropology from Barnard College, Columbia University in 1984 and an M.F.A. in Photography from the Yale School of Art in 1994. She has exhibited in New York, Baltimore, San Francisco, Kansas City, Germany, Italy and France. Her work will be shown in the upcoming show titled Subject, Index at the Malmo Konstmuseum in Malmo, Sweden. Her work has been reviewed in ArtForum and Art in America and she was recently included in the book Vitamin Ph: New Perspectives in Photography, edited by TJ Demos (Phaidon Press, 2006).


The Kelly Writers House
University of Pennsylvania
3805 Locust Walk (a pedestrian walk located between Walnut and Spruce Streets)
Philadelphia, PA

For more information: http://writing.upenn.edu/wh/calendar/0908.php

9.03.2008

Openings tonight at PennDesign (Thurs. Sept. 4)

Join us tonight for some very exciting openings in the PennDesign community. The openings are at the Addams Gallery, the Upper Meyerson Gallery and the ICA. All openings start at 5pm. See the previous posts for more information and addresses. The press release for the Addams Gallery Exhibition is below. We hope to see you there.

(click on the image to read it in full)


8.29.2008

Andrew Graham (MFA '06) in group show at Larry Becker Contemporary Art


Andrew Graham, Band Partition, 2008

Andrew Graham, a PennDesign MFA alumni from 2006, is currently in a group show at Larry Becker Contemporary. The show is entitled "To Be Looked At." Andrew also has a new website: http://andrewgraham.110mb.com.

See the show at: Larry Becker Contemporary Art, 43 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA