February 13, 2017 by Michael Lieberman

Turning trash into art – RAIR at the Galleries at Moore

Descendants of trash pickers and connoisseurs of the found object, wearing overalls and hard hats, and “interrupting the waste stream,” the RAIR artists turn trash into artwork of one sort or another, and challenge our perceptions of the discarded.

February 12, 2017 by Flora Ward

Andrea Hornick’s metamorphoses – Unbounded Histories at the Barnes

Hornick wants to take us on a voyage through the collection that is both physical and spiritual, asking us to participate in her own mystical and shamanic experience of the paintings and sculptures of the Barnes.

February 10, 2017 by guest writer

Letter to the editor – Where is the leadership?

In the midst of the current national crisis over the President’s Executive Order banning Muslims from seven countries from entering our country, and just now, the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary, where are the voices of Philadelphia’s Arts and Culture leaders?

February 10, 2017 by Evan Paul Laudenslager

Posts in the Pipeline – February 2017

Jack Whitten’s paintings have challenged the potential of material and space for decades. His exhibition at Hauser & Wirth in New York City picks from recent work and his vast catalogue of mind-bending work. With titles like “The Third Entity,” “The Fifth Portal,” and “Quantum Wall,” who can go wrong?

February 9, 2017 by Neil Marcello

Tall tales, short films – 2017’s Oscar-nominated live action shorts

The five nominees for short live action films showing at the Ritz at the Bourse don’t waste much time getting down to business, starting with the French entry, “Ennemis Interieurs,” directed by Selim Azzazi. The fictional story is set during the Algerian civil war (1991-2002) and at a time when French citizens on French soil were being targeted by terrorists. The two main characters of the film, known simply as the Applicant and the Interrogator (both from Algeria), enact an interview for French citizenship. If you ever have been through an interview for citizenship in the west–and I am speaking from experience–there aren’t too many pleasant moments in which you feel like you are welcome during the interrogation about your background, name, or religion.

February 9, 2017 by Neil Marcello

Big visions, short films – 2017’s Oscar-nominated animated short films

With the charming exception of Disney-Pixar’s avian mini-adventure, “Piper,” this year’s Oscar nominees for best animated short film is a mixed bag of tales of whimsy, nostalgia, coming-of-age, tragedy, and personal loss. Whether it’s an existential crisis of a girl in “Blind Vaysha” or the unrequited affection and generosity of a friend in “Pear Cider and Cigarettes,” all nominees offer a personal vision and emotional subtlety that vary in tone, style, subject and inspiration.

February 8, 2017 by Matthew Rose

John Berger’s ways of seeing & reading Magritte

The absurdities that Magritte quietly broadcast are possible in this and any universe; meaning, one realizes, is ultimately in flux. But Berger and Magritte charge the viewer with the responsibility of working out the real, and ultimately that which is critical and consequential. How to do that, how to decode reality? Perhaps only with our greatest tool and its full arsenal of flavors: language. Language, which got us in trouble to begin with.

February 7, 2017 by Roberta

Monument Lab’s excellent Philly Fall festival, Barnes’s new curator, Cindy Kang, Tom Devaney’s piece in Inquirer, IHouse’s Spanish animations, Plus Art Condo, Artblog’s podcasts and workshops, and great Opportunities

If you’re reading this, you probably know that Artblog has been in the Philadelphia community since 2003 and that our mission is to promote discussion of art as an important component in strengthening civic engagement. We are especially committed to broadcasting community voices that are often overlooked and marginalized.

What you may not know is that we welcome letters to the editor. Please get in touch with us at hello@theartblog.org with the words “Letter to the Editor” in the Subject line. No anonymous letters, please. Love, Roberta and the Artblog team