(re)FOCUS at City Hall: Women Artists Link the Past to Relevant Issues of Today

(re)Focus 2024: Art in City Hall is a juried exhibition that is part of a city-wide festival of galleries and art spaces within the City of Philadelphia and a collaboration between the Art in City Hall program and Women’s Caucus for Art. This exhibition showcases the work of 46 women and gender non-conforming local artists that hearkens back to the original festival of women artists organized by Judith K. Brodsky and Diane Burko in 1974 – exactly fifty years ago. I attended the Claiming Space: Women Artists in Philadelphia consortium in-person on March 8th, moderated by artist and co-juror Patti Jordan of the Art in City Hall portion of the exhibit, while also viewing all the moving and relevant issues surrounding artworks displayed in three floors of display cases and galleries within City Hall itself.

Artist and educator Carole Loeffler’s sculptural fiber piece entitled What if there was nothing to fix grabbed me in ways I cannot honestly explain while viewing this show in its entirety. Could this piece actually assume the ™ a.k.a trademark of this exhibition?! What IF there WAS nothing to fix in the first place. Women and BIPOC artists could actually just go about everyday life as if all museums and galleries worldwide did not, in reality, show a continual favoritism towards male artists in both representation and acquired sales and collections.

Loeffler employs a vintage dress with text implicitly cut out of felt fabric and meticulously sewn onto the stage/venue we see of vintage dress material. Loeffler states in her artist commentary about this work that she is interested in excavating, amplifying and embellishing the stories of women before her. Her interest lies in creating pieces that help light a path for other women moving forward, quite convincingly I may add.

Writer, photographer and filmmaker Shontel Horne’s self-portrait in black and white photography, Habits depicts the subject engaging in what one may assume as a daily ritual of grooming or “beauty routine.” However, there’s so much more than just ritual going on here. The subject stares at herself in the bathroom mirror, perhaps self-critiquing? Or, as if to present herself and subvert any expectations the viewer may already have while gazing at her reflection. Horne states this piece was captured during the height of the COVID pandemic lockdowns in 2020. One can sense the emotions of Horne here, as she navigated through what we all encountered during these recent years.

Employing upcycled materials such as sterling silver and copper reclaimed from prior projects, I created both Upcycled Coral Brooch No. 1 and Upcycled Reimagined Gemstone Object No. 2. In looking at the social issues that pervade my artistic practice – I create one-of-a-kind objects that prevent waste materials from entering landfills and trash receptacles to help preserve the natural beauty of our city’s notorious parks, historic landmarks like Old City, Boathouse Row, the Delaware River and more.

Upcycled Coral Brooch refers specifically to the decline of coral reefs as endangered within our world’s oceans globally and how this sculptural object may become a “worn magnet” of discussion for change. Each piece is a framing device for images I draw digitally in Adobe Illustrator software, then print in color onto archival paper.

Artist, curator and writer Patti Jordan’s Time-Pleaser is a stunning monoprint that Jordan created by cathartically pouring ink across paper and then using a metal rule to deliberately control the way the ink meanders across the paper surface. However, as she explains her process, these striations of ink replicate protean forms. Are these images supposed to resemble living organisms or abstracted humanistic forms? One could easily imply these are foreshortened torsos of two distinct living beings and/or organisms. One light, one dark – arranged by Jordan meticulously in a cascading pattern using only T-pins and remaining unframed. This open arrangement of non-confining paper adds to the feeling of expressive organisms or “abstracted beings” that seem to have taken on lives of their own – on the wall – in City Hall.

(re)FOCUS at City Hall is expertly installed by Exhibition Manager Tu Huynh and co-juried by Patti Jordan and Sarah Bloom, members of the Women’s Caucus for Art. The exhibit runs from January 29th through April 12th, 2024 on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors within the historic City Hall municipal building, located at 1400 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10 am to 4pm (closed major holidays.) Entrance is accessed at NE Corner Visitor’s Entrance of City Hall.

Images used are courtesy of the artists and the Art in City Hall at Creative Philadelphia, except where noted.