Conceptual musings about art and fine craft
Excitedly walking through downtown Philadelphia’s “First Friday” gallery crawl this past weekend, I stumbled upon an exhibit of dedicated and extremely gifted artists showing at The Center for Art in Wood. This exhibition celebrates the Center’s seventeenth year of hosting the International Turning Exchange Residency (ITE) program; seven artists/scholars travel to Philadelphia to create new…
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Last Friday evening, I was excitedly hurrying into the city during peak rush hour to catch the opening of Derek Au’s work at The Clay Studio in downtown Philadelphia. American-born of Chinese descent, Au lives and maintains his studio in Jingdezhen China, a region historically known for its ceramic traditions. Au’s pieces are made from…
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Walking through downtown Old City, Philadelphia last Friday night – I became quite mesmerized by a small-scale group of Karen Freedman’s paintings I discovered at Muse Gallery’s 2012 Invitational. Freedman works entirely in encaustic, the process of working that incorporates warmed beeswax and powdered pigments into compositions, which are sculpted into definitive geometric forms; in…
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So much of the art scene in downtown Philadelphia comes nearly to a halt during the late summer months, as residents scatter throughout the tri-state area to the New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland beaches. However, the contemplation of and dedication to craft is alive and well in Olde City Philadelphia’s The Clay Studio. Last Friday,…
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This past weekend, I felt compelled to view in-person some of the newer works that Philadelphia-based oil painters are conjuring up inside their studios as of late. New Faces of 2012 currently at Artists’ House Gallery, in downtown Olde City, showcases eleven regional artists who seem to approach the oil painting medium as a self-unique…
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Ani Kasten’s delicate ceramic vessels were a sheer delight to see at Philadelphia’s The Clay Studio last week, as her solo exhibition, Offering, opened on Friday evening to a bustling area of “First Friday” art gallery visitors. As I walked around the airy and open front rooms of the exhibit space, I couldn’t help but…
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FiberPhiladelphia 2012 continues to thrive city-wide in local galleries, major institutions and art collectives, as the international fiber biennial continues its festival throughout the area. Strings + Things, currently at the 3rd Street Gallery in downtown Olde City, features significant pieces by fiber artists Melissa Maddonni Haims and Carol Wisker. Maddonni Haims’ Purge series showcases…
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Earlier this week, I spoke of two artists showing as part of the FiberPhiladelphia 2012 international biennial currently showing across various venues in the city. My trek through Olde City took me to the Wexler Gallery where Narrative Thread (a group exhibition) is currently installed. New York-based artist Donna Rosenthal’s Days of Wine and Roses…
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FiberPhiladelphia 2012 brings the eighth such international biennial celebrating the textile and fiber arts to Philadelphia. However, those attending the First Friday gallery openings in Olde City this past Friday night did not see the everyday mind’s eye image of cotton or wool-loomed rugs or fashionable clothing that one might expect. Starting at the Snyderman-Works…
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Last Friday evening, I braved the colder weather of Olde City, Philadelphia to investigate new work by artists showing as part of the “First Friday” evening art gallery openings. Katherine Fraser’s paintings at Artists’ House Gallery were by far the most engaging items I found amongst the various media on the numerous gallery walls and…
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