Our Philadelphia winter was recently interrupted by unseasonably warm weather. Perfect timing to kick off my hunt for public installations associated with the Barnes Foundation’s Person of the Crowd: The Contemporary Art of Flânerie, which opened on February 25th. The “flâneur” references Charles Baudelaire’s 1863 essay “The Painter of Modern Life” in which he describes … Continue reading
I’m on my way to buy face lotion at Rite Aid again. With clammy hands buried in the pockets of my corduroy jacket, I pass the Eastern State Penitentiary, one of the world’s most haunted places (among the top 10 according to TIME magazine). The abandoned prison remains a tour-able Philadelphia landmark and the home … Continue reading
About this time last year Becky Suss’s first solo show was set to open at the ICA in Philadelphia. Upon entering the room, one felt a curious sense of abandonment; this is because there are no figures in the all too human spaces Suss gives us. The expansive bare walls of the Eleanor Biddle Lloyd … Continue reading
Material culture is an oasis of imported domestic goods tucked away in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia just off of Wissahickon Avenue. I first came across the store at my mothers suggestion while decorating my boutique Fresh Ayer in 2007. Material Culture is one of those rare shopping environments where you feel immediately transported simply … Continue reading
Ingrained, currently on view at Automat, is an installation by Abby King and Marie Manski devoted to the exploration of the 319 North 11th Street building in Philadelphia and the unique community of artist run spaces that have sprung up there in recent years. Perhaps best known for Vox Populi, one of the first galleries … Continue reading
Guest Author Sarah Rene interviews Sahar Coston-Hardy (pictured below) “I am a photographer interested in the life that I see” Sahar Coston-Hardy is a photographer from the Philadelphia area. She has an undergraduate degree from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, with her senior thesis being a documented collaboration of Chinese Sto’. Since then she … Continue reading
“The statements, ‘You cannot make it up’ and ‘You must make it up’ are both true. We must let both guide us. What we put down on our paper are real things that we can adjust just as we adjust objects in a still life.” ~Ken Kewley Recently I had the opportunity to take … Continue reading
