Of course Christo and Jeanne-Claude‘s “The Gates” opens on Feb. 12 in Central Park. We’ll be there with the hoi poloi snapping away and getting the “woman on the street (or in the park)” interviews about the experience of the flapping saffron curtains. (anyone know a good high vantage point (not helicopter) to look down and see the bigger sweep of the thing, please advise.) I’m excited about this. I’ve never seen a real Christo/Jeanne-Claude in person. (image is Christo’s rendering of what the piece will look like. The Gates will be up for 16 days so book your trip now.)As if that weren’t enough, Apex Art is having a great-sounding five-week event in February/March that includes two of our favorite Philadelphia artists, Liz Rywelski and Matthew Suib. More of a performance and documentation extravaganza than an exhibit, the thing is called “Mauritzio couldn’t be here.” (Love the title)
The Feb. 12 installment, in which Rywelski is participating, is organized by Harrell Fletcher, West Coast artist whose newspaper giveaway from the last Whitney Biennial was a high point. (The guy’s about free art!) Here’s Fletcher’s description of his project:
… an all day lecture program composed of 28 people who will each lecture for ten minutes apiece. The entire event will be video taped and shown as a projection in the gallery the following week. The only requirements I have for the people doing the ten minute lectures are that they don’t ordinarily go to Apex Art and that the topic that they lecture on is not directly related to contemporary visual art. Because the event is going to be very long I’m hoping that among the lecturers there will be some people whose topics will be related to yoga, massage, dance, meditation, etc, and will lead the audience in short demonstrations to periodically reenergize everyone.
See his website for more on a similar project he did in Denmark.
Rywelski, a Space 1026er whose K-Mart self-portraiture (left) is brilliant (we’ve covered it heavily here, see left, (and I’ve covered at PW)) is participating in Fletcher’s day-long lecture series on Feb. 12.
That is to say, she will be represented by her good friend and sometime collaborator, Josh OS, who will be lecturing on her behalf talking about The New Orthodox Kemetic Church….hmm, ok. Liz is profiled this month at the new, online, dork magazine, a blog-like affair with posted musings and some back pages for interviews, etc. Definitely urban youth vibe. read.
And on Feb. 26 at 8 p.m., video artist Suib, a Vox Populi member, whose political and social critiques we also love and have covered beaucoup (here, see list at left, and see my PW writings) is participating in a video/band event. Suib is collaborating with New Humans (also that night, VOY + Kirby Conn). I’ve been following Suib for years and he’s a great video artist — and a musician. (image is Suib’s “Make No Mistake,” a parody of the 2002 State of the Union address)
Now, all we have to do is get through January.
