It’s not often that the whole of an exhibition overpowers its component parts. But with the sharp, brilliant shapes, vigorous diagonals, and eye-popping colors that come at you from practically every direction, Hues Muse at Mt. Airy Contemporary is a show that does just that. With eleven strong paintings by four local artists, Hues Muse feels almost like a grand celebration of color and shape arranged by those avowed colorists, Josef Albers or Ellsworth Kelly. Everywhere you turn, some bright, otherworldly being or design faces you, or provides a window through which to peer, or presents you with something you cannot resist mind-playing with. Bravo to curator Andrea Wohl Keefe.
Read MoreWe are all looking for conversations that move the discussion forward. There are some good ones coming up that you might want to partake of. And, strengthening our local art scene is more important than ever. Reduced funding for the arts is coming. The new climate of intolerance may quash advances in diversity and experimentation in the arts. Small institutions are more at risk since they live at the margin of the larger art world. At this “giving” time of year, make a donation to your favorite small arts institution or group.
Read MoreThe organ is an instrument that is too massively impressive to be ignored. The Philadelphia Orchestra dedicated a concert on November 17-19 to the celebration of the 10th anniversary of Verizon Hall’s Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ (an organ of nearly 7,000 pipes!). This concert showed off the very best of what the organ can do–specifically for organist extraordinaire Paul Jacobs, a Curtis Institute of Music graduate and the only organist to ever earn a Grammy Award.
Read MoreMost of the works focus on the results of gentrification that continues to take place in Philadelphia, where the the displacement of people and things have transformed them all into a kind of debris. While it’s not stated overtly, the emphasis on impoverished people and forgotten neighborhoods infuses the show with political meaning. Due to its political content and focus on urban decay, debris, and poverty, you won’t find pretty views of Philadelphia.
Read MoreWe wish you peace and happiness at this time of family, friends and feasting.
Read MoreDear folks, this week we will have light postings on Artblog since we are all feeling the need to refresh and regroup and take a break with friends and family. Meanwhile, enjoy all the posts you missed, including the 12 wonderful articles by the New Art Writing Challenge finalists and prize winners. Have a restful and love-filled Thanksgiving, and we will be back to our energetic posting pace next Monday. PS If you are in the giving mood, please make a donation to Artblog, your favorite little blog for arts coverage. We can’t do this without you, and thank you for your support!
Read MoreSheherzade, the storyteller from The 1001 Nights, is a master of survival, able to keep herself and her sister alive by entertaining the king (who wants to kill them) with nightly stories that always end on a cliffhanger at the break of day. Like Sheherzade’s tales, the works by thirteen Muslim-American women in Sheherzade’s Gift are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always clever.
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