News
Muralist David McShane writes that his Phillies mural at 24th and Walnut – originally scheduled to be hung August 10 – has been postponed. The mural, which was finished indoors, painted on parachute cloth (143 5′ x5′ sheets), can’t be hung yet because of the need to deal with lead paint removal on the wall, approvals from the railroad company who owns the land below the wall, and structural engineering reports. Let’s hope this season improves for the mural, as well as the team. Look for the mural to go up next fall or Spring of 2013, McShane says.
More comings and goings – Two from Fleisher Art Memorial: After five years as executive director, Matt Braun is moving with his family back to Ithaca, New York, where he’s accepted a leadership position with Cornell University’s Johnson Museum of Art. And Fleisher’s exhibitions coordinator Dave Kim has accepted the position of Percent for Art Project Manager with the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy. Meanwhile at Mural Arts, a warm welcome back to Brian Campbell, who’s returned from hiatus to his position as executive assistant to the director, Jane Golden. Congratulations to all three!
Diplomat Gallery closes this month, but we can’t say that their send-off is anything less than stellar: not only is the Diplomat website staying up through next year along with all of the pamphlets publicly available as PDFs, but all the pamphlets are now part of the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and can be found alongside the works appropriated for the To The Dead exhibition. The last exhibition, To France is on view until the end of the month, along with a collaborative collage made by Chad Muthard and Alec Soth.
The Woodmere Art Museum’s 71st Juried Exhibition is trying something new this year: giving the show’s juror a triple order. For “Artist, Curator, Juror,” PAFA professor Alex Kanevsky is tasked with not only jurying the show, but simultaneously mounting his own show and curating a show from Woodmere’s main collection. We have faith in his ability to pull it all off! There’s also a retrospective of Philly abstract painter Doris Staffel. These shows are on view July 28-Sept. 30, with an open house on Saturday, July 28 from 1-4 PM.
Artist Scott Blake drew ire (and indifference) when he revealed in a Hyperallergic post ( “My Chuck Close Problem“) his plan for a 100-year workaround to the copyright on Chuck Close’s digital art. Whichever side of the appropriation art debate you stand on, this piece is incendiary, to say the least. Close has released a much less sanguine response.
The Library Company of Philadelphia, with the help of funding from the William Penn Foundation, has digitized three rare albums that give insight into the lives of African American women activists from antebellum Philadelphia. Amazingly, the Library Company now has three of only four such documents known to have survived intact, which now comprise the Library Company’s brand new African Americana Digital Collection.
Opportunities
Paris Photo and Aperture Foundation have put out a call for entries, now through September 10, 2012, for The Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards. With two categories (First PhotoBook and PhotoBook of the Year), thirty shortlisted books to be displayed during Paris Photo, an exhibition at Aperture Gallery in New York, and a $10,000 prize, this immense competition culminates in an awards ceremony on November 14–18, 2012, at the Grand Palais in Paris. Jurors include Phillip Block, Julien Frydman, Chris Boot, Lesley A. Martin, and James Wellford, and a separate jury for the final winners including Els Barrents, Roxana Marcoci, Edward Robinson, and Thomas Seelig. Publishers and photographers, enter online at www.aperture.org/
via Wooloo – The Africa Centre has begun preparation for South Africa’s Infecting The City Public Arts Festival, held in the first week of March 2013, and has issued an open call for submissions for new or previously staged work. The deadline is August 15.
Vox Populi’s issued a call for proposals for monthlong solo exhibitions, with a particular interest in experimental materials and practices and commercially-unknown artists. Guest artists get a $500 honorarium but are in charge of their own installation and deinstallation. Artists get a show in one of Vox’s four gallery spaces, and are grouped according to decisions by member artists. Visit the SlideRoom page for submission guidelines; there’s an application fee of $20 to help cover SlideRoom fees. The application deadline is August 31, and the notification date September 21. Exhibitions are up from December 2012 to February 2013. Contact exhibitions@voxpopuligallery.
Calling photography nerds – the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center is looking for 25 volunteer photographers for the October 26 Philly Photo Day, for their Knight Arts Challenge project in which artists will bring cameras and instruction to 50 community centers throughout Philadelphia. Volunteers get a curriculum for the day, and – good news for commuters – for each session, a $100 stipend for time and travel. There’s training in early October. Click here to fill out the application by August 1st.
Artist News
Five of Caroline Furr’s images were used in Annalemma for an online serialization of Joe Meno’s novel Office Girl; parts one through three are now up.
Zoe Strauss got a rave review from Roberta Smith for her slide show at Silverstein, not to mention a photojournalism assignment in the New York Times!
Phil Jackson and Adam Wallacavage are two of many contributors to the book “FDR Skatepark: A Visual History,” which had its official release party yesterday at Exit Skateshop in Philadelphia. All profits from the evening are going towards this world-renowned park’s expansion and upkeep. If you couldn’t make it to the release to pick up your copy, you can get it locally or on Amazon.
Paul Santoleri is hosting a pleasant summer getaway: an open studio Sunday July 29 beginning at 2pm for “In Process,” his summer residency on the lake at the Carriage House in Long Island.
