Artblog | Artists

October 22, 2016 by Donald Hunt

Challenging the Ear – A Recital for Terry Adkins at FringeArts

Composer and electronic music pioneer George Lewis (a MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient) took it upon himself to continue the dialogue he shared with the late artist, performer, and multi-instrumentalist Terry Adkins in the way he knew would be most appropriate–a recital.

October 21, 2016 by Michael Lieberman

Subtle Geometry – Katrin Bremermann at Gallery Joe

Bremermann has lived in Santa Monica, New York, the Virgin Islands, Paris, and most recently Berlin. Not merely an itinerant artist, she has, among other things, worked sail boats and opened a restaurant. Her artwork feels both disciplined and free spirited: it is at once lyrical and whimsical.

October 20, 2016 by Roberta

Will Owen Talks Travel, Sound Art, Collaboration, and the Chinatown Bus

Will Owen is an artist working primarily with design, interactive media, sound…and FOOD! He’s a Little Berlin member who I met in 2014 for a show he curated at that space. He’s a bit of a nomad, living between Philadelphia and New York, where he is an artist in residence at Flux Factory in Queens. So it’s kind of no surprise that some of his curating involves transit, especially subways (he did an audio piece for the Copenhagen subway system) and buses (he’s curated exhibitions on the Chinatown buses between New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore).

October 19, 2016 by Donald Hunt

From Haydn to the Han Dynasty with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia

In their opening concert, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia created a wonderful bridge between the Classical Period and the present, showing how Mozart’s legacy lives on. Haydn once wrote of Mozart that “posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years,” and he could well be on the money there. What the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia has accomplished as a consolation is to show us that the soul of Mozart continues to pour into music, no matter what period or style.

October 18, 2016 by Roberta

Congratulations-Leeway grantees, Art Ability artists, and Sarah Archer! “We Are Watching” is doing that, Kutztown hosts Phila painters’ show, Plus Opportunities

One of the best-kept secrets of Philadelphia-area art is the annual Art Ability Exhibit, a juried show with more than $7000 in prizes! A project of Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, this year is the 21st iteration of the exhibition. (An aside, I was a juror in 2015, along with Anthony Vega and Deirdre Murphy. It was such a great experience to see all the work by the artists!).

October 15, 2016 by Flora Ward

Deep Waters – Darkwater Revival: After Terry Adkins at the Arthur Ross Gallery

Resonance–visual, musical, thematic–characterizes Darkwater Revival: After Terry Adkins, the current exhibition at the Arthur Ross Gallery. Conceived as an homage to the late revered University of Pennsylvania professor, who died tragically of a heart attack in 2014, the show contains work by Adkins as well as eleven young artists who trained with him. Adkins’ absence haunts the exhibition, but his presence is felt in each work.

October 14, 2016 by Matthew Rose

Turn On – Jean Tinguely Goes Electric in Paris

When Jean Tinguely unpacked his “Hommage to New York” in 1960 and turned it on in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at the Museum of Modern Art on March 17, 1960, the sculpture did more than self destruct–it exploded, caught fire, and was drowned by the New York Fire Department. But art history was made amid the shattering bottles, smoke spumes, and firey blow up. Tinguely had brought his kinetic junk to the world of art and succeeded in spectacular failure.

October 13, 2016 by Andrea Kirsh

Chicago Shine – The Freedom Principle at the ICA

Over the past couple of decades, almost all American art museums have claimed a mission to reach out to “underserved communities,” yet none of them have acknowledged that these communities have their own well-developed aesthetics of art and material culture. They differ from the mainstream, and the institutions have not been willing to embrace aesthetic values beyond their own. The first part of “The Freedom Principle” is remarkable for doing just that: exhibiting art–and music–that was selected by a group of artists largely excluded from the mainstream of their period, who developed a different set of aesthetic aspirations and standards.