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Midweek News, Calvin Tomkins on Rashid Johnson, Le Patin Libre, Tom Judd, Qualeasha Wood, Circadium Circus School, One Man Nutcracker, Al-Bustan show opening and more

Episode 289 - Roberta and Ryan talk about Calvin Tomkins' profile in the New Yorker on Rashid Johnson, Le Patin Libre ice performance at Penn, Tom Judd's podcast, Qualeasha Wood on Forbes List, Circadium Circus School event. One Man Nutcracker, Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture Gallery, Artblog's ArtMkt closing and Roberta sneaks in a couple more.

Episode 289 – Roberta and Ryan talk about Calvin Tomkins’ profile in the New Yorker on Rashid Johnson, Le Patin Libre ice performance at Penn, Tom Judd’s podcast, Qualeasha Wood on Forbes List, Circadium Circus School event. One Man Nutcracker, Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture Gallery, and Roberta sneaks in a couple more.

Qualeasha Wood
Qualeasha Wood

 

Click to see the Show Links:

The Confident Anxiety of Rashid Johnson by Calvin Tomkins

Le Patin Libre

Tom Judd Philly artist podcast 

Walnut St closure –

Qualeasha Woodqualeasha.com

Circadium – School of Contemporary Circus – Family Matinee and Evening Adult Cabaret 

Imprints of Time and Place by Zami

One-Man Nutcracker by Chris Davis

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Click to expand the podcast transcript

Roberta
Hi everyone. It’s Roberta,

Ryan
And this is Ryan, and this is the Midweek News at Artblog Radio.

Roberta
So Ryan, how was your weekend? I haven’t seen you. Did you have a good weekend?

Ryan
I did. Now I had to pull up my calendar and make sure I remember what I did exactly…

Roberta
Me too. Oh, I feel so good now because I thought I was the only one that needed to do that.

Ryan
So this weekend, I think, I think there was something about slightly warmer weather that made me feel like it was fall again and winter was over. So I enjoy redecorating my home. Like moving things around to make sure it still feels cozy, because I have a tendency to build up in spaces, and it just becomes overwhelming with stuff. So then it’s just like, it’s not dirty, it’s just stuff. And so I’m like, “It’s too much in my my eye range. There’s too much happening here, so we have to thin this down and move this somewhere else.” So there’s a lot of rearranging, a lot of moving around, and it feels better, good. And, yeah, I’ve created a new crafting space, which is very exciting. And I have some permanent setup for my lights, for my photo studio thing. So I’ve always envisioned — in this book that I want to make. I don’t want to spoil it yet, until I get a draft for y’all to see and then. But it’s something I’ve been dreaming about for quite some time, so now I have a space to hopefully make that happen, come to fruition this year. So this weekend was the beginning of those kinds of things. And, I went to go see the quilt show.

Roberta
Oh, I forgot about the quilt show! How was it?

Ryan
It was good. The weather was a little bit brisk, a little bit windy. You know, I’m on a bike, so it’s my gloves are doing the trick, which is nice. But the weather…it wasn’t raining, so that was nice. And there was a good turnout, a good showing of people. Yeah, it was a fun time. They had a DJ, which was interesting. So, your DJ and your quilting — it kind of weirdly went together for whatever reason. So that was fun.

And then I also went to the Bok Building. This was Weaver House. I think I also mentioned this last week. This is their second annual, and I went last year. Went again this year, and just really fun, creative pieces and seeing different things. I love labors of love. I love seeing people crafting and doing some really fun, interesting things.

Roberta
Were they actually crafting there, or was it all completed projects that they were selling.

Ryan
These were all completed projects. There were some pieces that you could have made right then and there, like clothing that they would not mend but embroider or embellish, or whatever you wanted to add to it. Yeah, I talked to this one person who — and I probably have their card somewhere — but they had a straight stitch machine that they got from India. They just found this person on Facebook, and they sent them a bunch of money, and in return, they got this old straight stitch machine that has a rotary mechanism so they can control the direction of the foot. It was really interesting. So they showed us a little demo. This was really cool. So you can do a lot of embroidery with that straight stitch machine.

Roberta
Did you take pictures? Put a picture or two up with the transcript so people can see. This sounds really, really great. And is there a weaver’s guild, or some sort of organization that is the umbrella over this event/

Ryan
This event is Weaver House at the Bok. So they have a studio space, they have a shop and and they do demos, and they do classes, if you’re interested in those types of things. But this isn’t counting as my three, because I talked about them last week. So anybody keeping notes, this is not one of my three. That was last week’s three. This is a holdover, a carryover.

Roberta
You’re so bad.

Ryan
I’m trying to keep it to three. Oh, man, but, yeah, it was a great show. That was Saturday. It’s an annual show, so see that again. But Weaver House is a regular place at Bok. So yeah, it was all crafting and all quilts my weekend, apparently.

Roberta
Awesome. Well, fiber arts are very, very beautiful. But there’s also something humanly comforting about the tactility of fabric. You just want to touch it, you want to hold it, you want it wrapped around you. There’s a lot that goes with fibers to make it a human magnet. Everybody wants fiber this and fiber that. It’s just beautiful stuff, scarves and mittens and hats and blankets, “blankies” for the babies.

Ryan
Yeah, those snuggly blankets where it’s like a poncho you’re wearing. It has the arm holes? My kids have those.

Roberta
I bet they do. That sounds divine.

Ryan
How was your weekend? What were you up to? Check your calendar.

Roberta
Yes, I’m checking my calendar right now. Well, we had our wonderful trip up to Arcadia on Friday, Ryan, you and I. And we should probably talk about that a little bit today, although it’s going to be forthcoming on Artblog at a certain point. We saw Scott Kip’s installation Perpetual Inventory. It’s a wonderful, wonderful walk-through, interactive installation. And the big news is that it was supposed to close on the 15th of December, and they’ve now extended it through the 22nd by appointment only. Contact borgenm@arcadia.edu to make your reservation.

You should go see it. Scott Kip made a similar piece at Narginal Utility in 2014 — that was 10 years ago. Read Artblog’s coverage of the 2014 installation.  There won’t be another one for another 10 years, if indeed there is another one. So this is a once in a lifetime thing, if you haven’t seen it before, I would say. And it was marvelous. We’ll tell you more about Scott Kip. We’re going to talk to him later this week. We talked to the curator, Richard Torchia and Matt Borgen, the current gallery director at Arcadia. Very good conversation. We’ll have that up, we hope, as a podcast with pictures, lots of pictures.

That was a big Friday. It was a really good thing to do, and we saw it on Friday. Beautiful day also. And then my the rest of my weekend was really anticlimactic. I had a zoom with my sister, which I do every Saturday. Wonderful thing to do — we started talking every Saturday during the pandemic (she lives in New York), and we’re still doing it every Saturday, so I love it. And I babysat for Eliza, my 18 month old grandbaby. So that was pretty much it for my weekend.

And then looking forward to this week, of course, so many things going on. You know, weekends are important. I used to work straight through the weekends for Artblog. I would work seven days a week, you know, not eight hours a day, certainly by any means, not even six hours a day by any means. And I cannot sustain that pace anymore. I’ve decided I am allowed a weekend, and so I carry the guilt with me of not doing the work. That doesn’t go away, but I don’t do the work. And then Monday comes and it’s like this cloud of, “Oh, I didn’t do that, and now I have to do this.” That’s just me. Folks don’t get this way. I don’t recommend it, but everybody needs a weekend. It’s really important to pause, and I want to say I feel for people that have a crazy schedule that doesn’t allow them a consecutive two-day break in the middle of whatever their work week is. It just it’s not good for the human body or mind.

Ryan
Last Sunday, I got an email from you, from work related stuff, so I’m not sure you’ve entirely given that one up yet.

Roberta
No, that’s true. Don’t do as I say. Don’t do as I do, for sure. I try to not work on the weekends. Let’s put it that way.

Okay, so let’s go onwards and upwards with the news. I have a couple things. One, is a serious thing, a refer to a piece that’s coming out in this week’s New Yorker, because we are artists, and we support artists and the arts. And The New Yorker found out about us a long time ago and put us on their mailing list to get updates on what is coming out that has a particular art interest that they think our readers would like. So this one is Calvin Tomkins, who is their go-to writer, interviewer in the arts. He has done marvelous interviews with all manner of contemporary artists. He wrote a book that I thoroughly enjoyed a biography of Marcel Duchamp. Highly recommend that book. He interviewed Rashid Johnson (read the interview), and the piece gets into Johnson’s exploration of masculine vulnerability. Johnson has a show coming up at the Guggenheim in April, 2025 — a solo show taking over the Guggenheim. It’s a mid-career retrospective So, and he’s apparently one of the few black male artists who deals with masculine vulnerability. So this should be good to read the interview and then go see the show at the Guggenheim.  Tomkins isa very good interviewer. He sort of sets the bar — very high — for how to conduct an interview and then write about it, a written article that includes the material from the many interviews. I mean, it’s more than one sit down. It’s goes on for weeks. I think there’s that.

Ok, let’s turn to something very much lighter, there’s “Le Patin Libre.” It’s the Philadelphia debut of an ice skating dance called Murmuration, by a renowned Canadian ice skating company called Le Patin Libre. It’s a debut performance of this piece, a contemporary dance on ice. So I thought that was just the wildest thing I’d ever heard. It’s going to be at the Penn Ice Rink, which is on the Penn campus. Well, the outskirts of the Penn campus. Does the Penn campus end? Actually, it does or maybe it doesn’t. It just goes everywhere. Anyway, 3131 Walnut Street.

If you’ve been on West Walnut Street, you’ve passed the Ice Rink. They need you to register. More information at Penn Live Arts. The event is Friday, the 13th at 7:30pm; Saturday, the 14th at 7:30pm and then if you can’t make that, they’re doing a free community engagement event. It’s free skating for you and the dance troupe, Thursday night, December 12th, 7 to 8:30pm, Independence Blue Cross River Rink, in South Philly.

Anyway, Isn’t that wild? Ice dancing skaters. Actually, I think that sounds like something that, if it stays cold enough to keep the ice melted or at least frozen properly so they don’t trip and fall all over themselves, that that would be marvelous to do, to skate with them at the Community Engagement event. That would be an experience.

Finally, I want to shout out Tom Judd, a Philadelphia artist, very well known, very well respected. He’s been podcasting. I did not know this. For three years actually, with Radio Kismet doing interviews with artists, and he now says he has had an amicable separation from Kismet and is on his own with his podcast called “Being an Artist with Tom Judd,” and it’s available free on Libsyn, which I want to say. Shout out to Libsyn. That was our first podcast host way back in 2010 when we started, they were great, and his latest podcast is with Stuart Netsky, a very well respected senior artist who’s shown at the ICA and elsewhere, and is very quotable. And one of the quotes they had in the PR for the interview is a quote from Stuart Netsky. “I appreciate the Rococo for its extravagance and theatricality as it appeals to my love of kitsch.”  And ain’t that true? The Rococo is really kitsch. So all right, that would be a good interview to listen to. That’s it for me. Those are my three tidbits that I thought were very juicy, crunchy and wanted to share with you. So Ryan over to you.

Ryan
I have a couple that are not art related, but kind of newsworthy for the city. On December 15, coming up is Open Streets for West Walnut Street, so on Walnut Street, between 15th and, I think, 19th, is going to be closed, and it will be open to people — pedestrians, bicyclists — from 11 to 5pm. They do this once a year in that section of town. And there’s a couple different spots they use on Walnut St., but this is going to be that section, so it’ll be a lot of shopping. Rittenhouse Square will be open in bus lanes, Sunday, December 15. It’s just great time to be out there, car free, stress free. As long as there’s not too much traffic around Rittenhouse. People can get irritated, I imagine there will be a lot of diverted traffic. So if you’re going in that area, heads up.

Roberta
Or, stay away from that area. All the cars, all you car drivers, stay away from Rittenhouse on Open Streets December 15.

Ryan
Something else that popped up on my radar was Forbes does this list for a few years. It’s 30, under 30. A Philadelphia artist who also shares time with New York New Jersey is Qualeasha Wood — and someone who I’ve been trying to get an interview with for a little while — she was named on that list. So congratulations to her on that. She’s done some fabulous work. If you’ve ever seen her work, it’s pretty amazing. I think last time I reached out to her, she was in Europe. So getting around, getting the workout.

Roberta
Can I ask a question? So. Forbes is known for lists, right? They have the list of the richest men in the world, people in the world. I shouldn’t say men. Sorry about that, richest people in the world. And we all know who number one is, and we’re not going to speak his name. So the 30 under 30, what are their qualifications for these people, it doesn’t have to do with wealth, does it?

Ryan
No, they’re described as trailblazers, or people who are doing something new or exciting. People to watch is kind of like a watch list. I think they have a long list of people that they think are worth watching. These are just 30 under 30, and then they have a couple other lists. They have a 20 Industry List with 600 people that they’ve put on there. They like lists. They understand that that moves the internet dial. This one specifically for her work. I think her work is interesting. It’s compelling.

Roberta
But what is it? Exactly?

Ryan
Textiles.

Roberta
Cool. Well, congratulations to Qualeasha, that’s cool.

Ryan
So let’s get into my three. Coming up is Second Thursday. So all the art studios, galleries and event spaces in the Crane Arts area — American Street and around there — will be open and available, and popping with their openings. Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture Gallery, 310 Master St., will have an opening on December 12, from 6pm to 9pm that’s Imprints of time and place. It’s going to be combination of ceramics and photographs.

So second there’s a lot of things over in that area as well. Crane Arts will be open, Commonweal Gallery will be open. A lot of those places will be open. Ray Philly will be open. So if there’s things that you’d like to see, it’s a good time to get over there. Put this one on your list as well to take a look at.

This is an opening and reception for a show that’s going to be running through the end of January. We’re getting into Nutcracker season even more heavily. So this is one that I’m going to this week, of two. Oh my, so this is the first one I’m going to, which is going to be the “One Man Nutcracker” by Chris Davis.  Hopefully this is comical and light and fun and friendly, because I don’t know how many serious ones I could do in the season. I think the answer is two. Anyway, this is going to be at the Lewis Glover theater at the Drake, and that show is running through December, starting on the 10th of December, and running through the 29th.

And then lastly, I wanted to shout out the circus school in in Philadelphia. It’s just down the street from my house. Actually, it’s the Circadium School of Circus Campus. They have a circus holiday show for families. That is going to be December 14. They’re gonna have two shows, I believe, but I think the evening show is the adult one, and the matinee afternoon show is the family focus show. So the family focus show is 3pm and then the adult show is at 8pm..

Roberta
That’s a great list. Can I bump in here a couple things. I’m sorry, people, these just were on my radar, and I would like to share them. Anne Minich, our 90-year old “emerging” artist, shall we say, who has a gallery in Philadelphia, which is Commonweal Gallery, 1341 N. Mascher St., is having an opening. Anne is not an emerging artist. Anne is a fully formed, wonderful, force of nature and artist. And that opening is on Thursday, Dec. 12th, at 5pm. Commonweal moved over the summer to N. Mascher Street. I hope to get to that.

And tonight, December 10. I want to mention that Marta Sanchez, a good friend, a friend of Artblog, a really dear, wonderful, generous, big-hearted artist has a show at Brandywine Workshop and Archives. And she’s talking Dec. 10 with William Valerio, Director of Woodmere and curator of her show at BWA. Marta’s leaving Philadelphia, moving with her family to the southwest, I believe. She’s from San Antonio originally, but I do believe that they are moving …imminently, maybe in the Spring. She is packing up her studio, and she’s having an a studio sale, Friday, Dec. 20, 5-7pm, 1533 Overington St. Contact Marta if you want to attend: martasanchez1@verizon.net

Marta’s studio is quite amazing in its own right — filled floor to ceiling with work. If you don’t know her work, visit Brandywine for a show of her retablos — beautiful, passionate and humanist paintings and prints.

Ryan
No worries. Yeah, those are important.

Roberta
Our Art MKT is over. Let’s just have a pause, a moment of silence for the Art MK…That’s enough. It was a wonderful market, wonderful exhibit. Thank you to all the artists who participated, to all of the customers, art collectors, who came and bought art and thank you to the vendors, Partners and Son and Ulises, who very generously gave us merchandise that they put on display and sold. We’re very proud of what we did. We had never had quite this kind of exhibit before in our history, so it was a big push for us, and we’re very proud of it. And now we’re tidying up, and we’re going to get in touch with everybody. So if you bought something at the art market, look for an email from Artblog telling you about how to come and get your piece of art now that the show is over,

Ryan
And thank you to Moore college and all of those people who were so amazing, so supportive, so helpful, carried all so much of this show for us. They were just wonderful, absolutely.

Roberta
Let’s shout out some names. There’s Gabrielle Lavin, who’s the gallery exhibition director, and this wouldn’t have happened without you, Gabrielle. Thank you so much. Deanna Emmons, the gallery coordinator, who was instrumental in helping us set up the programs that came along with this and helped us with all kinds of installation details, and then the installation crew, led by Katie Dillon Lowe, you guys are amazing. You all, and Suzanne Kopko in the Moore Art Shop. Thank you so much. It did take a team of many, many people to put this together and pull it off. So we’re very thankful. Thank you for mentioning all that, Ryan.

Ryan
Yes, they did a great job. We’re so appreciative,

Roberta
Totally. That’s about it for me. Thank you everybody for listening, and we’ll see you next time. This is Roberta saying bye bye,

Ryan
And this is Ryan, and this has been Artblog’s Midweek News. Thanks for listening, everyone. We’ll see you next time bye, bye.

Meet Our Hosts

Artblog-Roberta-Fallon-photo-by-Steve-Kimbrough
Roberta Fallon makes art, writes about art and thinks about art probably too much. She enjoy’s making podcasts and sharing art news. She’s the co-founder of Artblog with Libby Rosof and now is Artblog’s Executive Director and Chief Editor.
Ryan deRoche - Managing Editor - Artblog
Ryan deRoche is the Managing Editor. He continues his work with youth theater with SchoolFreePlayers.org and as a cycling coach at Kensington High School working for Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia’s Youth Cycling program.
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