A couple of shows in Philadelphia I think no one should miss (and when I can see them from LA, one should assume they loom large...)
First, there's Very Early Pictures at Arcadia University Art Gallery. I saw this show in California this summer and it was tremedously thought provoking. What makes the drawings interesting is the sense of foreshadowing, as if one can read this interests of mature artists in their childhood works. This idea - that artists are somehow 'destined' to be what they become - seems to sit interestingly with some of the recent posts about how artists are taught, about the importance of categories in exhibiting and educating artists and understanding art output, and other subects. I strongly recommend the show.
Closer to downtown, there's Ellen Harvey's project opening at the PA Acdemy on October 15. Harvey is a smart, funny artist whose work has interested me for a long time and I'm pleased to see there's finally an opportunity to see her work in Philly (she appeared in an ICA project a couple of years back, but her piece was a bit overwhelmed by the exhibit that contained it). Examples of her other work can be found on her site (here, and the "New York Beautification Project" is just one of the many novel approaches to piracy I couldn't squeeze into summer Topics class...) and maybe she would make a good speaker for Summer 06, what do y'all think?
1 comment:
Thanks for the show info Gerard. Jerry Nichols is one of the artists in the Early Pictures show, I plan to hop over there this week, and wished I had been able to make the discussion last Wed, as an art teacher I thought it would be very relevant, did anyone catch that? I'd love to hear about how it went.
Harvey's little landscapes are sweet. Reminded me of a discussion I had with you, Gerard, about sticker art, which is very much temporary, thought provoking, but in a different catagory than oil paintings found in museums and much like grafitti, tends to be seen as a societal negative. So to see these Claude Lorrain like, little oil paintings in a graffiti context mixes everything up. Further I think these paintings raise questions concerning reproducing artworks as well, and the value of reproductions. I wonder if there is also a piece about city vs beautiful landscape, addressing what we have done to our environment.
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