Artblog | Museums

January 5, 2018 by Andrea Kirsh

Andrea Kirsh runs down to Richmond to check out the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and touch base with its Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Art and Education, Michael Taylor. We at Artblog remember Michael fondly when he was Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the PMA! It looks as if he’s brought some of his Philly love to the VMFA with acquisitions of works by Tristin Lowe and Daniel Heyman! Andrea reports.

December 29, 2017 by Artblog

The 2017 Liberta Awards!

Just for you, we offer this annual curated list of notable people, groups, books, and other art world stuff from the outgoing year: The 2017 Liberta Awards!

October 27, 2017 by Andrea Kirsh

“Gardens of the Mind” at the African American Museum in Philadelphia

Artblog’s Andrea Kirsh visits the African American Museum in Philadelphia’s current group show, curated by A. M. Weaver. Featuring 5 black women artists whose works use the image and the idea of nature to address the innermost self, “Gardens of the Mind: Echoes of the Feminine View” is on view through January 18, 2018.

October 15, 2017 by Roberta

Obsessed with collecting and making – Henry Chapman Mercer built a concrete Gothic castle in Doylestown and covered it with tiles made in his Mercer tile works

Over the summer, Roberta and her husband, Steve, and their friends, Chuck and Iris, visited the marvel of construction and decor, Fonthill, in Doylestown, PA. Her report — and Chuck’s pictures — highlight the concrete castle’s details and its maker’s obsession with creating both a home to live in and a showpiece for his tile-making enterprise. Sometimes, Roberta says, the best trips are hiding in plain sight in your own backyard.

October 15, 2017 by Andrea Kirsh

Radical Museum Practice in Ljubljana

Artblog’s Andrea Kirsch reviews an inspired exhibition at The Modern Gallery, Museum of Modern Art, which she discovered on her recent trip to Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana. “The Heritage of 1989. Case Study: The Second Yugoslav Documents” is a recreation of a 1989 exhibit, which after nearly three decades allows audiences to witness a transitional moment in Yugoslavia’s history with a new lens.

September 12, 2017 by Carly Bellini

Artblog visits Philadelphia Assembled at the Perelman building, a video overview

Artblog was at the opening of Philadelphia Assembled at the Perelman Building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art last weekend. We talked with lead artist Jeanne Van Heeswijk about her vast 4-year project brewing in the community and now assembled in the Perelman Building, with art, conversations, programs and workshops. Jeanne told us she will be in attendance each day the show is open (to Dec. 10) to greet people, talk with them and serve coffee. Go, and be sure to talk with this amazing artist and her collaborators. The show encapsulates conversations — including uncomfortable conversations — that have taken place so far. They are now looking for you to come in and talk. Thanks to Artblog’s new Community Intern, Carly Bellini, for this great 3-minute video overview. We hope you enjoy.

August 18, 2017 by Roberta

Chicago-bound independent curator Marianne Bernstein on her projects in Philadelphia, Iceland and Sicily

On the cusp of her family’s move to Chicago, Marianne Bernstein talks with Roberta about her two international artist residency projects, Due North (in Iceland) and Due South (in Sicily). Bernstein has made friends and memories here and given lots of artists opportunities to exhibit in her projects. We hear Chicago has artists too, and we’ll be following Bernstein’s work with those artists in coming years. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview conducted via email. Look for Part 2 next week.

August 9, 2017 by Roberta

Documenta 14 chorus, finding your way through a great big art event

Roberta talks about Documenta 14 and the two tours she took with members of the “chorus,” people trained to facilitate discussion and ask questions rather than answer them. The quinquennial art festival is up in Kassel, Germany, until September 17, 2017.