NEWS
Craig Scheihing of Big Mama’s Cinematheque wants to introduce us to his “artist-run film lab, a venue for contemporary avant-garde filmmakers to share their work, and a classroom / workshop space for individuals interested in working with 16mm film.” Wonderful! I’m delighted to know there is a hotbed of alternative or experimental filmmakers here! Like Mono No Aware in Brooklyn, which has the same mission and was founded by former Philadelphian Steve Cossman, Big Mama’s Cinemateque fills a need for those who love old school film production, projection and aesthetic but want to mess with it in a completely new way.
Big Mama’s has a screening this Friday (Dec. 18, 8PM) of works by San Francisco filmmaker Paul Clipson. The artist will be there and participate in a Q&A after the screening. This is a Philadelphia debut for Clipson. Location of Big Mama’s, which seems to be a rather well-guarded secret: 1310 N. 5th st. Apt. 2B, Philadelphia 19122
More about Paul Clipson
Paul Clipson is a San Francisco-based filmmaker who often collaborates with sound artists and musicians on films, live performances, and installations. His Super 8 and 16mm films aim to bring to light subconscious visual preoccupations that reveal themselves while working in a stream of consciousness manner, combining densely layered, in-camera edited studies of figurative and abstract environments, in a process that encourages unplanned-for results, responding to and conversing with the temporal qualities of musical composition and live performance. His work has screened around the world in festivals and at sound & film events such as the International Film Festival Rotterdam, The New York Film Festival and the Cinémathèque Française. Clipson recently presented the feature-length sound/16mm collaboration HYPNOSIS DISPLAY with Liz Harris (Grouper) in Athens, Greece. http://www.withinmirrors.org/
More information on Bib Mama’s Cinemateque
https://www.facebook.com/bigmamascinematheque/?ref=bookmarks (big mama’s facebook)
and
https://www.facebook.com/events/830663543719976/ (the event page)
HAPPY LINKS
Jerry Saltz says it’s ok to go back to MoMA – http://www.vulture.com/2015/12/how-jerry-saltz-learned-to-love-the-moma-again.html?mid=twitter_nymag
Roberta Smith gives a shout out to Dona Nelson and Stanley Whitney in her “best of” 2015 list – http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/09/arts/design/best-art-2015.html?_r=1
Robert (Bob) Cozzolino, esteemed Senior Curator and Curator of Modern Art at PAFA and soon to be Curator of Paintings at the Minneapolis Art Institute, leaves Philadelphia and his beloved museum with grace, facilitating a major purchase by PAFA of a major Peter Blume work, “Tasso’s Oak,” featured in Cozzolino’s Peter Blume survey in 2014-15 https://www.pafa.org/exhibitions/peter-blume-nature-and-metamorphosis, a show we loved. (listen to the Live Comments of Cozzolino about the show here: https://www.theartblog.org/2015/02/live-comments-curator-robert-cozzolino-on-peter-blume-at-pafa/
Right now “Tasso’s Oak” is on view “in the rotunda of the Furness and Hewitt building where it fits perfectly,” says Bob. Way to go!
NEA awards $1M plus to arts groups in PA. Recipients include Philadelphia Photo Art Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Main Line Art Center and many more. Congratulations! Full list is here:
https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Fall_2015_State_grant_list.pdf
MORE NEWS
Knight Foundation appoints Patrick Morgan its new Knight Arts Philadelphia Program Director. Morgan comes on board January 4. Morgan, who comes from city government, replaces Donna Frisby-Greenwood, who now heads up the philanthropic Fund for the School District of Philadelphia. More about Morgan:
Working closely with Mayor Michael Nutter, Patrick has helped develop innovative public initiatives to increase the urban tree canopy, promote an equitable food system, create new public parks and play spaces, as well as advance workforce development, digital literacy and community engagement.
In money news, Freeman’s Auction House had “outstanding results” from its recent American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionist auction, with their first $1million American art lot (it included a Wyeth work that sold for $1,145,000). Total for the sale at the Philadelphia auction house was more than $4 million, with an 83% sell through rate, which is a “significantly higher sell through rate than New York American art auctions,” according to the auction house. About the Wyeth painting, they said:
This impressive work, rarely seen in public since its initial acquisition in the early 1940s, had never been brought to auction before.
OPPORTUNITIES
From Ingrid Pimsner, there’s a new artist residency program in Romania, IICAT, with Philadelphia roots! Pimsner says:
Myself, Sofie Hodara, and Annie Daley have founded The International Institute of Contemporary Art and Theory, or ‘IICAT’, an artist residency program overlooking the Black Sea in the coastal town of Mangalia, Romania ( internationalinstitutearttheory.org ) that is currently accepting applications.
The residency is FREE, though we do not cover airfare.
Pimsner is a Philadelphia painter and arts writer ( e.g., for artblog – https://www.theartblog.org/2007/10/ambiguous-flower-power-polly-apfelbaum-at-locks-gallery/ ) and co-curator, with Annie Daley and Soumya Dhulekar, of Crane Archive Space Project in Crane Arts http://cranearchivespaceproject.com. Congratulations!
Open Call by Art in City Hall for a new exhibition, Live Philly Jazz – Through the Photographic Lens, juried by The Photo Review’s Stephen Perloff
February 29 – May 6, 2016
Exhibition sites: Art Gallery at City Hall and Display cases on 2nd Floor, NE corner. More information:
In April 2016, Creative Philadelphia – Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy will partner with numerous local organizations to produce its 6th Philadelphia Jazz Appreciation Month. The celebration will reflect on Philly’s jazz heritage and vibrant jazz scene. Stay tuned for more information on www.creativephl.org.
To complement Philadelphia Jazz Appreciation Month, Art In City Hall is organizing a juried photography exhibit by artists from the Philadelphia region: Live Philly Jazz – Through the Photographic Lens.
Art In City Hall issues a call for photography that captures the spirit of jazz during live performances, or subtle behind-the-scenes creative moments. We seek original works of art that show a mastery of the photographic medium and visually depicts the rhythms, sounds, energy, and intricacies of jazz music. Digital works exploring the photographic image will be considered; however, works taken by or appropriated from other photographers are not eligible, including collages or arrangements of other artists’ works.
Submissions due: Friday, January 29, 2016, 4 pm.
Download application here: http://creativephl.org/post/134342445264/livephillyjazz
Art Gallery at City Hall
Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy
116 City Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 686-9912 email: Tu.Huynh@phila.gov
www.facebook.com/artincityhallJuror: Stephen Perloff, Editor of The Photo Review
For more information on Mr. Perloff, visit: www.photoreview.org
ARTIST NEWS
Charles Burns’ graphic novel about “the bug,” The Black Hole (2005) is on The Guardian’s list of the top ten uncanny graphic novels. Creepy cool! http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/dec/09/top-10-uncanny-graphic-novels-neil-gaiman-hannah-berry
