Ready set go...

One of the most hotly contested Senate seats in the imminent November election is in Pennsylvania. The contenders? Santorum and Casey. As the election comes closer, stranger stories are surfacing in the press.

I followed this link from the Huffington Post yesterday. I couldn't resist the writer's invitation to further educate myself and ran a search to find out what santorum is. Wikipedia is a wonderful resource, isn't it? (Warning: not for the weak of stomach)

The Post-Gazette and KDKA sponsored a debate between the candidates yesterday. There is considerable coverage on the KDKA site. The Post-Gazette has a story posted, but they don't stay linked for long. If you want to check it out, please note that even with DSL, the P-G site takes a while to load.

Vernacular installation art

... or maybe something else? It is deliberate, care has been taken in attaching these objects to the telephone pole. There were more items, attached all the way around this telephone pole on a back alley in Lawrenceville. Some looked like they had been there for a while.

Is it art if you don't intend something to be art? If this is art, is it too personal for interpretation? The smiley face, though easily found in manufactured form, is a made object. It has a feather stuck behind it. I suppose someone could make the case that this is a statement that revolves around native american issues, but I think you would be way off base.

What if this is a journal of sorts? The owner of the house makes a habit of picking up random bits and pieces during his excusions into the city. The bits and pieces are assigned a spot on the telephone pole that relates to the other items in some fanciful and impulsive way. Maybe when he comes home from work, he stops and roots through his pockets, finds that bit and looks for the right place for it on the telephone pole before he goes in to his wife and children.

That could be it.

Saatchi's Your Gallery

The first time that I heard about Your Gallery was on Broadsheet, when that broad told the world that she had gotten an email invitation to upload images into an online portfolio on a site sponsored by Charles Saatchi. She was ever so excited when she got a reply from "Saatchina" and as far as I know she went ahead and posted. But since that broad does not ever reveal her name i can't verify this.

I had a couple reactions: how come I didn't get an invitation? Is being invited any different than just signing up? Anyway, you get the picture. Well, guess what was in my email this morning? My invitation to upload images to Your Gallery. And what did I do? Why, what any red-blooded blogger will do: I ran a search to see if anybody was blogging about it.

Lots of people have taken up the offer, for lots of different reasons. Some people are rather happy about it:
unfamous artist

One made a special announcement:
BEATRICE CLOAKE Fine art artist

Some list it as one of many accolades:
Hand Painted Art by Brandi Liebmann
Paul Cooklin

Some were sceptical:
Daniel Castillo
Musings of a mobile marketer

one announced it for a client:
FrogBlog

Ahem, a word from a Stuckist:
jody franklin

There were tons of pages, but this assortment were the ones that actually referenced an invitaion. Most of the references were from artists providing a link to their image gallery.

So, does anybody have any thoughts on Your Gallery or other portfolio sites?

October Unblurred

First Fridays on Penn Avenue are starting to be an energising art event. New venues have opened since last year and some businesses are offering their space to artists for display. One of the dual use businesses is Carolyn Wenning's (c)space. The building is her studio, so during the month the space used for presentation during Unblurred reverts to a workspace. Light and open, it is ideal for both purposes.

(c)space

(c)space had a strong show: DIAGRAMS, MOCK-UPS AND MAPPINGS. I have been trying something different with my camera: shooting the labels for the pieces to record the name of the artist and the title of the work. Unfortunately, things did not work out for the image on top; all I can make out is Nicholas and Untitled Series for the title. The series were figures drawn on graph paper and framed with distressed metal. At bottom was a mixed medium piece by Adam Walsh.

Modern Formations

Modern Formations had Introspections: The Artwork of Taya Hanauer. Modern Formations is a smallish space, with two rooms connected by a narrow hallway. I don't often think about the space that a show is in unless it has some bearing on the work. In this case, it is pertinent. The two rooms and the hall were hung with work. The front room had about a dozen framed drawings. The work was intuitive, but figure-based. Along the top of the wall leading into the hall were roughly drawn, illustrative figures, reminiscent of some comic book art. The figures were repeated in the hall but as digital prints and drawings on wood. The back room of the gallery is painted a dark eggplant. Here, the comic book character came out and really played in several mediums. Large-scale stencils, drawings on paper and wood and some evocative digital images. I had hoped to find more of the artist's work online, but she doesn't seem to have a website.

Imagebox

Imagebox is another venue that doubles as a full time business and presenter. This month, the work on exhibit was Charles Smith III's Autumn Abstract. The colors were rich and vibrant, much like the palette he prefers in the works presented on his website. It could be that this exhibit is a new direction for Mr. Smith since they are a radical departure from the figurative work for which he is known. The above image is one of the smallest in the exhibit and seemed to me to be the most interesting.

Garfield Artworks

The mob scene at Garfield Artworks was overwhelming. Tons of people dropped in for the show. Or maybe they were all there at the same time as me!

Garfield Artworks presented the work of five artists in the City of Monsters. The works were as crowded on the walls as the patrons were on the floor. Not a lot of breathing room for such active work.comic art seemed to be a theme here as well as at Modern Formations. There was an illustrative quality to the work. Pictured at top is one of Ben Kehoe's paintings. At bottom, one of Joe Bruce's works on paper. Bruce's work, though still informed by the aesthetics of comic book artistry, seemed to reach beyond the rather limited visual appeal to something that was of greater complexity.

Most Wanted Fine Art

Most Wanted Fine Art is not quite ready to open its doors, so they had a sidewalk show featuring Jason Sauer, Gene Fenton and quite a few others. Walking up Penn Avenue from Garfielsd Artworks, I was pleased to see art set up on the sidewalk. And even more pleased to run itno Gene, that maker of dinosaurs.

From MWFA's mission statement...

Most Wanted Fine Art is dedicated to being a growing forum for the
advancement of underground fine art and music in Pittsburgh. In
conjunction with J&J Sauer Trailer Sales, Most Wanted makes its art mobile
and publicly available by displaying it at various local sites in a utility
trailer (also for sale via J&J Sauer). Most Wanted operates on a loose
philosophy of artistic socialism; while each artist promotes his own work, it is
for the goal of the group's success as well as the individual's. By
booking shows for our artists and musicians, Most Wanted is serious about
helping each member of our team achieve success while simultaneously enriching
the local (and eventually national) art and music scenes by giving
below-the-radar artists a platform and a voice.

I have to say that if you only have a limited time to get into Pittsburgh to view art, first Friday's Unblurred event in the Penn Avenue corridor is worth working your schedule around. It is the only time when some of the veneues are open to the public or are open at the same time. Really, it was difficult to get to everything, there are a lot of gaps in what I got to see on Friday. I never made it to 5151 or the Pittsburgh Galss Center, which from what I hear had good shows, too.

This was a far cry from the disappointment at the Downtown Gallery Crawl the week before. Penn Avenue really is reflecting the diversity of the Pittsburgh visual arts scene. If you want to find out more about the district, check out the PAAI site. I'll be going every month. How about you?

Will Jeb come out of the closet, please?

So, what would you do if you were confronted by a band of angry steelworkers? Hide in a closet, of course. An eyewitness account says that Jeb was on his way to meet little Ricky at the Duquesnes Club, that bastion of Pittsburgh old-money, when he was confronted by activists from the Uprise Counter Recruitment Tour, joined by a group of steel workers. I mean, here he was, minding his own business, on his way to a party, and these guys just caught him off guard. Everything turned out okay, though. Two protesters were tasered and Jeb was safe. What a relief! Democracy can rest in peace tonight.

Downtown Gallery Crawl - part 3

There's a really fine show at the Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery

IN OUR HOUSE
Curated by Marica Jackson

Dates: September 8, 2006 - October 21, 2006
Opening Reception: September 8, 5:30-7:30pm

IN OUR HOUSE promises to uphold the high standard set by Women of Visions’ summer exhibition at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Migrations of the African Diaspora. While Migrations focused on the nature of the journey, this exhibition will delve into aspects of the African American experience that reflect “settling in” to establish a distinctive presence.

I stopped by during my gallery walkabout and snapped a couple pictures of my favorite pieces. Pictured above left is Emory Biko's MOM (More dependable than Maytag) and above right is
Monique Luck's Fabulous Friday Hair. I need to take better pictures. You really lose any sense of how special Monique's work is in this image. Follow the link for much better images.

Oh, yuck! I need to wash my eyeballs...

brillo burlesque

Thanks to Renee Ruth Ickes at brillobox for coming up with this really cool idea for us Pittsburgh artists. If you want to get updates about future sessions, email us and we'll put you on the email list.

Brillo Burlesque draws inspiration from the vaudeville queens and their outrageous costumes for this unique artist opportunity. Brillo Burlesque will offer two models, clothed in feathers and satin and lace; a study in sensuous textures.

The models will be costumed and some props will be available for the sessions. One model will be dedicated to a single pose while the other will concentrate on a variety of poses. The sessions are uninstructed, drop-in sessions. The brillobox artists must bring their own materials. Water-based and dry mediums are welcome. (Sorry, no photography or oil-based mediums)

burlesquebrillo@yahoo.com
www.myspace.com/brilloboxevents

Saturday, October 14: 5-8PM
brillobox
4104 Penn Ave.
Pittsburgh PA 15224
(412) 621-4900
Two models!
Cost: $15

Downtown Gallery Crawl - part 2

Peter Kope and Michele de la Reza from Attack Theater brought Game Night to the Wood Street Gallery for the gallery crawl. This is a popoular program for Unblurred, first Fridays on Penn Avenue. During Unblurred, though, the company members also perform the Seven Minute Dance Series. It's a great way to get to know the company's works and get a sneak preview of upcoming works. They'll be performing October 6 for Unblurred. And yes, there will be games.


The Sprout Fund began sponsoring murals in the various Pittsburgh neighborhoods in 2003, with thirty murals completed to date. It's a great opportunity for young artists to get their feet wet in the public art arena. While I was downtown for the gallery crawl, I swung by and snapped a picture of the second mural for the area. Brian Holderman was hanging out with some friends across from the mural. Now, I don't understand why the dedication ceremony didn't take place during the gallery crawl, but there you go. The dedication ceremony is taking place Friday, September 29th, 6:00pm at 7th & Liberty Avenue.

I think that this fall's gallery crawl was disappointing. Merge Divide wrote eloquently about it in Serendipity. There were a lot of performance-oriented programs for an event that is supposed to showcase visual arts. The video exhibit at Space was unviewable because of the band. While the band seemed to be pretty good, I found that the music echoed so much from the walls that I couldn't make out the lyrics.
Wood Street Gallery had dance events instead of visual arts. Even the Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery got into the act with a drum performance. (I'll post about the exhibit later)

What happened? Did everybody just ignore the calendar? Are they so concerned with bringing in masses of people that they've resorted to bread-and-circuses to make a greater number impact?

Snark!

Top Ten Reasons God Won't Get Tenure

1. Only published one book.
2. It was in Hebrew.
3. There is doubt He wrote it Himself.
4. When one experiment went awry, He tried to cover it up by drowning all the subjects.
5. When sample subjects do not behave as predicted, He deletes the whole sample
6. He rarely comes to class-just tells His students to read the Book.
7. It is rumored that He sometimes lets His Son teach the class.
8. Although He only has 10 requirements, His students often fail His tests.
9. He expelled His first two students for learning.
10. His office hours are infrequent and usually held on a mountain top.

Going once, going twice...

Thanks, Bill. I didn't know that an animal was killed in the name of art(ego). Read all about it on Artblog Comments.

Downtown Gallery Crawl

I met a friend for the Pittsburgh Downtown Gallery Crawl on Friday night. This is a quarterly event sponsored by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The night's events are listed on their website. The first place the we stopped was at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture Gallery to see Women of Vision's Celebration of Visual Traditions exhibit. The space is broken into a series of alcoves and small rooms. Perfect for a group show like this. It gives each work space without it having to compete with each other. The image above is Bullock's Mother and Child; Journey Series . This is one of several fine collages that were presented at the exhibits on Friday. The figure in this piece is about life-sized, which really contributes to its impact. Really, you have to go and see the piece to get a better idea of the intricate collage. At the same show in the lower level was a series of boxes created by Martina Johnson Allen. The piece, titled Sacred Space, is made up of nine small boxes (below left). There is an interesting, lively feel to the work. Color seems to burst out along with the bits and pieces. I think that for me, the best piece in the exhibit was RL Washington's Just Having Church. My friend and I spent some time looking at this piece and coming up with several narratives to reflect the characters. There is quite a bit more, so stay-tuned. I'll be uploading pictures and info about the other shows and happenings later.