News
(no name) Art Group has taken an alarming statistic as a call to action for their Earth Day project. The United States apparently consumes over 1,500 plastic water bottles PER SECOND (caps intentional), and over 85% of these bottles become garbage that ends up in landfills throughout the country. But! (no name) is taking steps to help make a difference by having over 40 members design artwork for a thermos alternative to plastic bottles. Artwork is interchangeable so any artist print can be inserted in the thermos. All proceeds go to charity:water, a non profit organization that provides clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries. FYI, it costs $20 to provide a person in need with clean water for life, so this is the cost for one thermos at the fundraiser. 100% of all public donations directly fund water projects, and if you preorder, you’ll be able to pick up your thermos right there at the gallery! The art exhibition and fundraiser are scheduled for Saturday, April 20, from 12 – 8pm at B Square Gallery, 614 South 9th Street.
Freeman’s Auction saw strong bidding from private collectors and museums at their American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts auction on April 17, not the least of which was a rare 18th century, thirteen-star flag, which realized $212,500. Anyone who’s dwelt in Philly for any length of time should be positively thrilled about this, seeing as we’re the home of the Betsy Ross House and all; even if you’re not, this is still a pretty venerable landmark.
From an international reader! Our coverage of art in China (by Virginia Maksymowicz and Blaise Tobia) has garnered some attention from Line Andersen, a dear friend from overseas, as has Lee Arnold’s piece on Russian artist Petro Wodkins’ shuttering of the Louisiana Museum of Art. A news item on the Danish national radio, P1’s Kulturnyt, apparently mentions a recent subject of one of our articles, a Russian artist called Petro Wodkins that decided to shut down the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Here’s the link to Wodkins’ interview from the Danish national radio (Petro speaks in English, but the rest of the interview is in Danish). The interview starts at 0:30, and Petro starts talking at 1 min in.
The winners of Onward Compe 13 are up! The exhibit can be seen in their gallery through June 2, and exhibition catalogs are for sale. Featuring the 56 selected images, as well as statements by Mark Steinmetz and ONWARD founder Tsuyoshi Ito, the catalog is printed using state-of-the-art digital equipment. For a sneak preview and to place your order, visit the Compé website. Also, for a limited time offer you can order a copy of the Compé ‘13 catalog and receive some rather cool freebies, a set of Benrido collotypes featuring images by Summit Speaker Eiji Ina.
Opportunities
We’ve been buds with RH Gallery in NYC for a while, and we were recently tipped off that they have issued their first open call. They’re seeking artworks which deal with process- and material-oriented conceptual works, especially those which evoke the obsessive, radical, challenging and thought-provoking. The work should reflect a dedication to uncovering and accessing contemporary culture via specific avenues of inquiry. All media, including video and performance. All artists entering into the open call must be in their last year of an accredited MFA program, have completed their MFA, or have significant experience amounting to the equivalent. All exhibited works must be original, and are all for sale, priced under the gallery’s advisement and with full consent of the artists. All entries are considered for RH’s 2013 summer group exhibition. This is an opportunity, upon review, to be considered for gallery representation, future solo and group exhibitions and presentations at art fairs. Artists of accepted works receive notification by the end of June; for any technical or general questions please contact info@everyonecurates.com, and in the meantime keep an eye out for the link to the application form will be posted here on April 23. The deadline for submissions is May 13.
Through May 3, artists of all abilities are invited to submit a photo of original artwork describing what “community” means to them via the Gathering Grounds Art Contest, held by Tully’s Coffee and its nonprofit partner Pomegranate Center. Together, these two organizations are working on a community revitalization project in Vermont; this first-of-its kind art contest plans to award two artists $1,000 cash, $2,000 in building materials, and the unique opportunity to create a permanent art installation, not to mention a summer in Vermont. The judges are David Lee Csicsko, an internationally recognized artist best known for large-scale mosaic projects, including designing stained glass ornaments and 10-foot tall holiday tree sculptures for the White House’s 2012 holiday decorations; Kat Clear, a Burlington, Vt.-based metal sculptor; and Tabbatha Henry a Waterbury, Vt.-based porcelain sculptor deeply involved in the area’s art movement.
Artist News
16mm film, color, silent, 2 min 44 sec.
Anthony Campuzano’s solo show at Churner and Churner has been quite magnetic so far; Local Color is currently an Artforum critics’ pick and has received a review in the New Yorker’s Goings On About Town. On Saturday, april 27, C&C is holding the NYC release of Campuzano’s new book Stars: Even the Sun with All Its Warmth Is Detached, along with a reading by the artist, a slide show of the collages in the book and, Campuzano tells us, a YouTube screening of his nine favorite Roddy Mcdowall home movies that were filmed at Roddy’s Malibu beach house in the summer of 1965. Very well then! Count us in.
Leave it to an Extra Extra founder to dig humorously into the saying “nothing new under the sun.” Who Wore It Better is an extremely droll project by Derek Frech and Alison Feldish, seeking out any two works that have a strong connection either formally or conceptually. People have been submitting their own work with a connection or just two artists that they have made the connection between. Its a website that presents similar artworks side by side. the hope is that it becomes a critique not of the originality of individual works, but a critique of the concept of originality itself. Hyperallergic recently gave them some press.
