The textiles on view betray a range of technical skill in both the stitchery and designs. Some show a sophisticated ability to render forms and were obviously transferred from patterns, while others seem to have been made up as the embroiderer went along. It is hard to believe that the precision of stitching in the Bagh phulkari weren’t made by professional craftsmen. There is no surviving literature that would indicate how designs circulated–indeed, there is almost no surviving history of phulkari in general, hence the significance of this collection and its catalog.
Read MoreWhile I chuckled at Kelley Donahue’s satirical clay figures and found the virtuoso drawing installation by Paul Santoleri a wow both for its graphic impact and its politically-charged subject-matter, it is Joanna Platt’s “Timelines” that moved me, with its simple message of connection. The idea of shared space, shared memories, and the suggestion that technology brings us together yet keeps us apart is something we all should ponder.
Read MoreAfter fifty years is “Zen for Film” an experience, an object, a projection, or a relic? Holling examines the early history of the work, contemporaneous artworks that raised similar questions, and protocols for institutions that would borrow and exhibit examples from various public collections. Some of Holling’s questions are now being answered by the artist’s estate, museums, and film archives–and they offer inconsistent answers. “Zen for Film,” whose subject is entirely bound with its materiality, raises particularly complex questions, and Holling is thoughtful, dogged, and modest in searching for answers. Her examination raises points common to enough 20th- and 21st-century works that art historians concerned with the record as well as curators and conservators tasked with exhibiting and caring for them will have to acknowledge them.
Read MoreArs Nova Workshop can be relied on to bring new music to Philadelphia audiences. Steve Lehman’s Sélébéyone, presented on March 24 at the Painted Bride Art Center, was no exception. A composer and alto-saxophonist, Lehman has received a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award, and has worked with major national and international artists like Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, and Meshell Ndegeocello. For this performance, Lehman brought together an innovative combination of jazz, hip-hop, rap, and electronica whose disparate parts worked together surprisingly well.
Read MoreAny fantasy you can think of has multiple dimensions to it; this is especially true in Vijay Iyer’s Bridgetower Phantasy, which premiered in Philadelphia performed by violinist Jennifer Koh and pianist Shai Wosner as part of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s recital season. The March 21 concert at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater featuring the new Iyer work was bookended by two Beethoven violin sonatas, including the Kreutzer sonata. Iyer’s piece is titled after the African violinist to whom Beethoven dedicated his Kreutzer sonata, suggesting that Iyer sees this work as a response and a companion piece to Beethoven’s sonata. These historical and musical resonances made for a compelling program that brought together old and new.
Read MoreMatthew Rose shares thoughts about performance art, upon reading Marina Abramović’s memoir, “Walk Through Walls.” He reflects on the history of the art form, looking at Marcel Duchamp’s Rrose Selavy, Yves Klein’s “Leap into the Void,” and in the 1970s, Chris Burden’s “Shoot.” Abramović’s endurance performances focus on provocation and trust and, he says, over time they betoken the artist’s persistence as a performer in the public realm.
Read MoreA. M. Weaver finds the group exhibit at the new Rush Arts Philadelphia (RAP) a treat and suggests we all get up there and see it. Danny Simmons is the primary curator of the exhibit and he began curating the show when he first conceived of opening RAP. The theme show involves artists working in the Southern black folk magic tradition of Hoodoo, and the show’s title references an herb called High John the Conqueror to which is ascribed magical powers.
Read MoreWorks by two painters with different sensibilities and subjects but similar color choices have a great conversation at the University City Arts League. Ilana Napoli gets in on the conversation and tells you about it in her review. The show closes today (March 24) at 5PM. Run over and see it!
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