Indy Hall’s recent renovations have brought not only improved quarters for its loyal coworkers, but a series of new works by Sean Martorana, one of Indy Hall’s resident artists. “The Essence of Life and Line,” curated by Martorana and fellow Indy Hall-ers Kara LaFleur and Kirsten Harper, is an ink-on-paper series that uses simplistic-but-vivid evocations of animals and objects. The show features more than two dozen works in the series. They’re also showing “Mohawk Monkey,” a short film made during the production of the show. The evening begins tonight, September 7, at 5 PM at Indy Hall.

Brooklyn is awash with art-hungry visitors this weekend, with Go Brooklyn opening artists’ studios all over the borough. If you’re swinging by Bushwick, stopping by Sharon Butler’s studio has a tangible reward: a free two Coats of Paint tote bag. And if you’re in Hartford, CT later this month, you can see her solo exhibition “Sharon Butler: Gone Wrong” at Real Art Ways. The opening reception is Thursday, September 20, and it’s there until November 11, 2012.

Any word of Julien Robson’s achievements give us simultaneous joy and nostalgia – we’ve dearly missed him since his departure from PAFA. His latest show, “It’s Not What You Think” by Mel Chin, is part of curated by_vienna, a city-wide event bringing together Vienna’s top galleries and world-famous curators. The show this year focuses on economy, knowledge, and politics; it opens on September 20 and runs until October 25.

Katie Pomerantz’ show of new work, imaginary gardens, real toads opens at the Brodsky Gallery at the Kelly Writer’s House on September 13. The reception is from 6pm-9pm, and takes place alongside a poetry reading from 6-6:30pm, curated by Claire Wilcox, with readings from Wilcox, Timothy Leonido and Alex Cuff. Recently, Katie interviewed artist Simon Dinnerstein on Bomb Blog, and she’s set to head off to a two-month residency at Annmarie Gardens in Solomons, Maryland building a large public sculpture with artist John Heron.

Opportunities

3 via Leeway – 1. Leeway is looking for fall interns in special events, public relations, grantmaking, and exhibits. Students, recent graduates and/or folks interested in learning more about arts/social justice philanthropy are welcome to apply; the internships are part-time and unpaid, and there’s a rolling deadline. 2. ArtsFwd seeks two Blogging Fellows to contribute regular content to their blog from October 1-January 31. The application deadline is September 17. 3. The Philadelphia Folklore Project is proud to announce the Folk Art and Social Change Residency: If folk and traditional arts are your chosen field, don’t pass up this application. The deadline is November 30.

via inLiquid – Abington Art Center has put out a call for proposals, inviting artists to be considered for exhibitions at their Gallery, Sculpture Park and community venues, as well as lectures, public forums, workshops and more opportunities to engage with the community.The deadline for Curatorial Review submissions is at the end of September; each venue has different a focus, criteria, and eligibility, so please read carefully before submitting.

Artist News

“The Indeserian Tablets,” a two-channel video installation by Peter Rose, opens at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown from Sept. 8 to Dec. 30. There’s a trailer, as well as a single channel version that fuses text and image. For further info, visit the Michener’s site.

via Projects Gallery –  1. After a stop in Aruba, Alejandro Mendoza is in Brazil for another curation of “Giants in the City”, large scale inflatable sculptures created by several artists, including Projects’ own Frank Hyder.  The “Giants” travel to Germany and finally Art Basel Miami in December.  2. Alex Queral’s traveling exhibition of phonebook portraits is on tour from September through November, with a week in Hong Kong for publicity. From September 13 to November 25, he’s also in “Out of Print” at the Bakersfield Museum of Art in California, a group exhibit. 3. Mendoza, Hyder, and Queral are all featured in both the Houston Fine Art Fair and Art Toronto from September 13-16 and October 25-29, respectively; contact Projects Gallery for tickets. 4.  For the first time ever, Jack Thompson is exhibiting his Zodiac Series in its entirety at the Michener Museum.

Marianne Bernstein’s The Play House: Beyond What Was, thanks to Artspace, has received NEA funding to travel to New Haven next month and install it at The Lot. Bernstein’s working with what she calls a “nomadic” team of Philly artists in installing The Play House in its new location, including videographers Katya Gorker and Danielle Lessovitz, Cindi Ettinger, and Darwin Nix.  Congrats Marianne!

Blaise Tobia and Virginia Maksymowicz are in Beijing for a show at the Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Art, along with seven other studio faculty members from the Department of Art & Art History at Drexel. Last time these two were in China, we were graced with some wonderful postings of their time there, so we’re hoping for more of the same! The show runs September 11- October 14.

Chris Davison’s show at the Patti and Rusty Rueff Galleries at Purdue University, Emerging Drawing: Visionary Works on Paper, wraps up today – get over to see it if you’re in the area and haven’t already.

Jennifer Levonian, Moore professor and subject of one of our podcasts, is currently in two shows: one at Rowan and one at the Rare Book Room at Bryn Mawr. The former, “Harsh Realities: The Art of Stop-Motion Animation” at the Rowan University Art Gallery, includes work from Martha Colburn, Eric Dyer, Laura Heit, Mikey Please, Allison Schulnik, Stacey Steers, Christopher Sullivan, and Karen Yasinsky; it runs from September 4 – October 6, with an opening Thursday, September 6 from 5-7 pm. The latter show, Docu-Commencement, a series of 24-hour residencies, features Levonian’s work alongside Kay Healy, Jim Johnson and Gilbert Planting in the Rare Book Room at Canady Library, Bryn Mawr College. That show runs from October 25 – December 20.