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.

August 6, 2017 by Roberta

Jarring at Delaware Contemporary, organized by Roberto Lugo, a conversation about racial violence that welcomes all

The small group exhibit, Jarring, creates a contemplative space to memorialize victims of racial hate crimes and to remember our shared humanity. Like great monuments in the public realm the works in this exhibition are accessible to all and valuable as history-telling by artists who care about what history is told.

July 20, 2017 by Andrea Kirsh

Mohamed Bourouissa, Urban Riders at the Barnes Foundation

Andrea writes an in depth and topical review of “Mohamed Bourouissa; Urban Riders” at the Barnes Foundation. The must-see exhibition features work from the Algerian artist alongside many of our very own Philadelphia artists, which together shape a project that began in 2014 in North Philadelphia when Bourouissa first visited the US.

July 14, 2017 by Michael Lieberman

The Woodmere Annual 76th Juried Exhibition

The Woodmere Annual is a juried exhibition open to artists living within 50 miles of the Chestnut Hill art museum. In it’s 76th year, Woodmere Art Museum selected a timely theme, and they “invited artists to submit work that contends with the importance of art in an era of heightened political uncertainty.” The exhibit is juried by Harry Philbrick who is the Founding Director of Philadelphia Contemporary. Michael Lieberman tells us more.