Ready, set, go! Here’s comes the fall and this week’s got more cooking than we know what to do with. The Fringe sounds great. We don’t want to overlook them, but we’re too busy. This week’s got one juicy thing after another. This post rounds up openings this Thursday, Friday and Saturday so be sure to read the dates.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 4
ICA
Fall shows:
Douglas Blau-First Floor
R. Crumb’s Underground-Second Floor
Kate Gilmore-Project Space
Odili Donald Odita: Third Space-Ramp Project
Fall Opening Reception
thu sep 4 @ 6-8pm. Members walkthrough with artists and curators at 5 pm.
R. Crumb, Jenny. From ICA’s show opening Thursday.
We don’t know what you like but what we’re going for is R. Crumb’s career-spanning survey and world-famous and now local artist Donald Odili Odita’s ramp project, (the ramp’s now called the Third Space by the way). Odita’s bright-colored geometric wall paintings were featured in the last Venice Biennale. By the way, how lucky we are to have the harmonic convergence of two bad boys of contemporary art in town at the same time. We do mean Crumb and the upcoming Peter Saul exhibit at PAFA. (see post)
And speaking of blessings on Philadelphia, this is the second in-depth Crumb show in the town that was his hometown for a while. Here’s a link to Libby’s review of Crumb’s first solo show in Philly, organized by Sid Sachs at Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, a show that included screenings of the movie Crumb and had a bunch of the artist’s sketchbooks on view.
Also on ICA’s bill of fare is Douglas Blau’s multi-media cinema-based still photos and other works. Blau is also a writer and the show, organized by ICA’s Ingrid Schaffner, has a catalog. Kate Gilmore (Brent Burket adores her) is in the Project Space. She’s a performance artist. See Inky’s q&a with Gilmore, today. Check out the list of talks and movie screenings in their Whenever Wednesday series. They look great.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 5
VOX POPULI
21st Anniversary season kick-off
Sept. 5-Sept. 26
opening reception Fri, Sept. 5 6-11 PM,
Hosted by Vox’s Board of Directors
RAFFLE! SPECIAL REFRESHMENTS! CAKE! AND PIE!
PIE EATING CONTEST AT 9 PM!!! (Bring your pie to be judged)
All year, Vox Populi — 21 at last!! — will be celebrating. They beat the odds and look stronger now than ever.
September’s lineup includes:
–member shows with Jonathan Prull, Jamie Dillon, and Nick Paparone;
–Vox alumni show, One Gray Grass in the Ball Field, with Clint Takeda, David Wickland, Joy Feasley, Jen Macdonald, Kait Midgett, Nancy Lewis, Nick Muellner, Paul Swenbeck, Richard Harrod, Shannon Bowser, and Tristin Lowe.
–in the video lounge, guest artist, Janna Holmstedt who lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden
While digesting your pie may we suggest a post-prandial visit to Screening for nationally known artist Michael Bell-Smith’s On the Grid…a minimal computer animation of an endless cityscape. Blade Runner futurism meets Tron.
Opening reception Friday, Sept. 5, 6-11pm
Show runs to Oct. 4
119 West Montgomery
Philadelphia PA, 19122
Saturdays 12-5pm
Also celebrating a birthday is Little Berlin–one year old!!! Congratulations Kristen Neville and Martha Savery! To celebrate they made a zine commemorating the past year that they’ll be giving away free at the opening of Does this show make me look fat featuring Sara Stenger, Maggie Van Scoyck and Alice Tippit. Local psychedelic rock band Bardo Pond and other music groups will perform at the opening too. See you there. Little Berlin’s a scrappy little place and we’re delighted to see them move forward into their second year. They’ve been showing great stuff and are a real asset to the Philly art scene.
MEGAWORDS
Megawords storefront at 11th and Cherry Streets.
On the corner of 11th and Cherry Streets in Chinatown Megawords opens its month-long multi-media, multi-talk, multi-workshop event in what appears to be their first clubhouse in the real world. Sponsored by PEI, Megawords, if you’re not familiar, is the activist-alternative-tabloid zine produced by Anthony Smyrski and Dan Murphy.
1125 North Cherry Street
free-of-charge,
September 1 through 30.
opening event, Fri, Sept. 5, 6-10 pm
DJ Nag Champa & Special Guest
Free Megawords t-shirts, magazines and posters will be available to attendees while they last.
Here’s the link to the full month-long schedule of events including collage workshop with Zoe Strauss, movie night with Ted Passon and the promise of lots of other good stuff.
Carrie Collins, Burger Bride, costume design shown on at ICA during Locally Localized Gravity.
10% Tiger Fire: Beth Brandon and Carrie Collins
Copy Gallery (319 N 11th St.)
Opening First Friday: September 5th from 7-11
Great title, Annette, but we don’t know what it means. We are excited about three performers in costume at the opening of this show organized by artblog pal Annette Monnier. Want to meet the artists beforehand to whet your appetite, check Annette’s blog which has interviews with both of them.
Installation of Fresh! at Projects Gallery
Fresh! Blank Canvas for Emerging Artists
August 29 through September 27, 2008
reception September 5th, from 6-9 p.m.
Invitational exhibit tapping into Philadelphia’s hot young art scene. Participants include: Cat Badger, Rosanne D’Andrea, Talia Greene, Brooke Holloway, Carl Marin, Itsuki Ogihara, Marilyn Rodriguez-Behrle, Lynn Rosenthal, Mia Rosenthal, Krista Rothwell, Gregory Farrar Scott, Heather Sundquist, and others.
THIRD STREET GALLERY
John James Pron: Philapocalypse at Third Street Gallery
John James Pron
Carol Wisker
September 3 – 28, 2008
58 N. Second Street
Reception, September 5, 5-9 with ambient electronic music, Melted Architecture, by Cyril Caster.
Artist’s Reception September 26, 6-9
Third Street member and architect John James Pron’s new body of work imagines a human-caused eco-compromised future with a waterlogged Delaware Valley. Pron’s visionary drawings remind us of Lebbeus Woods. Wisker’s abstract acrylic paintings also pick up on the complicated world we live in.
ALSO ON FRIDAY
Finally, some more weekend goodies we have to share with you. If you’re in Old City on Friday check out FUEL’s huge show including Amze Emmons, Erin Murray and Libby Saylor. And out on the street, be sure to look out for Lee Tusman who will be playing music on the street with his friends Tim Bieniosek (uses like 30 pedals) and Jason Bachman. Lee’s a former Philly artist and quilt-maker and former 40th St. AIR artist now in Riverside CA. Here’s a link to Roberta’s post about him.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 6
FLUXspace
FLUX TASK 1, 2007.
FLUX TASK 2 with Oliver Herring
Sat. Sept. 6, 5-10 pm
3000 N Hope Street Philadelphia, PA 19133
We know this isn’t on Friday but we have to give this a plug. Last year, 400 people turned out for TASK 1 during a winter storm! The FLUXers are hoping to have a thousand folks participate in this happening on Hope St. orchestrated by internationally acclaimed artist Oliver Herring. See Art 21’s interviews with the artist to hear more about his M.O. And see Libby’s post for more.
ALSO ON SATURDAY
Brookes Britcher “Chasing Rainbows into Thinning Air” in JOG’s show A Beautiful Find.
Last but not least, Saturday, Sept. 6, at James Oliver Gallery A Beautiful Find opens with the Dufala brothers and others.
