Kitty immerses herself in the 3 new site-specific installations at Eastern State Penitentiary–Unconquerable Soul by Piotr Szyhalski and Richard Shelton, Hakims’s Tale by Erik Ruin and Gelsey Bell, and Sepulture by Jared Scott Owen. These 3 installations explore themes of surveillance, survival, and mortality that resonate with the original function of this 19th-century prison as well as our contemporary criminal justice system.
Read MoreTo Chance, To Wander at Fjord asks, what does it mean to get lost now? Bringing together work from 12 American and Chilean artists, the show explores the themes of place, identity, memory, and our relationship with the natural world. Ephraim says this is a show to take your time with and get a little lost – in a good way!
Read MoreMichael takes in Christopher Wood’s drawing-a-day project, Frequent Exceptions, on view at HOUSE Gallery. These subtle, resonant graphite drawings pull you into a meditative state of reflection on space, tone, and the passage of time, he says.
Read MorePlayful and serious at the same time, Lenka Clayton’s Object Temporarily Removed at the Fabric Workshop and Museum raises important questions about art’s audiences and its value. Inspired by Constantin Brancusi’s “Sculpture for the Blind,” Clayton asks, what if this sculpture were really made by the blind? And what makes Brancusi so special if other artists at the same time were making similar work?
Read MoreA More Perfect Union? at the Woodmere Art Museum brings together the personal and the political, exploring the most intimate images of love and tenderness between individuals. In the current political climate, Michael says, these images, which include both gay and straight relationships, as well as interracial relationships, take on an important new urgency. This is an ambitious show, not to be missed!
Read MoreElizabeth Osborne has been a major presence in the Philadelphia art scene since the 1960s, when she began teaching at PAFA. She’s been showing her work at Locks Gallery since the 1970s, and A.M. Weaver says the latest show of her paintings there shows the artist at her best.
Read MoreChip enjoys the nuanced perspectives on queer and transgender identities in the ambitious group show, Where We Find Ourselves, at the Gershman Y. He says curator Jordan Rockford does a great job looking beyond the rainbow flag, bringing together the voices of queer and transgender artists from around the world, including Zachary Drucker, Jamil Hellu, Ryan W. Kelly, Amos Mac, and Brice Peterson.
Read MoreCurrently on view at Penn’s Arthur Ross Gallery, Willie Cole’s travelling show On Site contains the artist’s signature found-object sculpture, which transforms common domestic objects like irons, shoes, and bottles into powerful ensembles evoking ancient gods and contemporary consumer culture.
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