Moving North

After nearly a year I am putting Sillydelphia on Hiatus. Im a relocating my self and studio to Portland Maine.  I should be back, and up and running in about a year.  Thank you for all of your support, and interest.  Stay cool Sillydelphia.

-Ian

First Friday March 7th 2008

Today, March 7th is first friday, and the first, first friday I will be attending since the new year. I decided I would show everyone the list of galleries and shows that I will be attending. Hope to see you all there.

Jess Puma at the PII Gallery "My Many Homes"

Jess Puma is one of my good friends, and a wonderful artist.  She is having an opening at the PII gallery tonight.  She will be exhibiting her current work on paper and canvas, and from what I have seen it looks like it should be a really good show.  The opening is from 6-9pm tonight at the PII Gallery at 242 Race St.

Childs Play at the Projects Gallery

This group show at the Projects Gallery tries to recreate the youthful perspective of childhood.  The artists use a wide array of techniques and materials to discuss the experience of youthfullness in an adult world.

Cinders Gallery Spacing Out at Space 1026

Space 1026 is one of my favorite places in Philadelphia. Everyone down there at 126 Arch street are super cool, and the shows are just as good. This friday the Gallery will open a show called "Spacing Out", brought to you by the Williamsburg Cinder Gallery. The show explores physical space, and we are told to expect alot of sculptural instillations. The show exhibits works by artists: Shawn Reed, Chris Duncan, Diane Barcelowsky, Sto, David Horvitz, George Ferrandi, Kevin Hooyman, Kelie Bowman, Matt Furie, Hilary Pecis and more. Spacing Out, opens March 7th at Space 1026 from 7pm-11pm.

A.V.O.W. at the Painted Bride Art Center

Amps, Volts, Ohms, & Watts (A.V.O.W.) is a group exhibition curated by Sean Stoops. The show features artists from Philadelphia and around the rest of the US who have revived obsolete technologies to create a wonderful show of images, sounds, robots, circuit paintings, and lights. Jeremy Boyle, and Max Lawrence are a couple of the featured artists. The show runs through March 15th at the Painted Bride Art Center.

Trapped in Orbit: Out of Body, Out of Mind

Charles Hobbs, a Philadelphia artist has his show "Trapped in Orbit: Out of Body, Out of MInd" showing at the Esther M. Klein Gallery. This show explores natural phenomenon such as the weather. The show exhibits new works consisting of instillations and paintings. The show runs through March 1st.

Yixing Teapots: Beyond Traditions

Curated by Xiaoping Luo & Junya Shao, the Clay Studio brings us Yixing Teapots. Luo and Shao are masters of this 1000 year old art form, and this is the second time the clay studio has exhibited Yixing Teapots. These pots are considered superior to other teapots due to the zisha clay used, which absorbs some of the tea flavor and "seasons" a pot, which produces better cups of tea each time used. The show runs through March 2nd at the Clay Studio.

"Born to Fight" at the Flux Space

Katherine Nanfro comes to the Flux Space with her new show "Born to Fight." Nanfro using ordinary office supplies creates life size drawings of animals. She then "authenticates" their existence by photographing them in the wild. The show runs through March 15th.

February Solo Series at Abington Art Center

This year Abington Art Center has decided to do a solo series in each of its 4 galleries. This month brings us the work of Louise Barteau-Chodoff, Danielle Bursk, Rosalyn Richards, and Nyugen Smith. Danielle Bursk exhibits a series of extemely intricate drawings, and Rosalyn Richards shows us her colourful oil paintings. I realy found Nyugen Smith's work to be interesting. Smith has created dwelings or shacks made from found objects. I also really enjoyed Louise Barteau-Chodoff's video instillation. The show runs through the first of March.

Close and Castle at Wexler

Wexler Gallery has outdone itself this time. Featuring works of world renowned artists, furniture designer Wendell Castle and artist Chuck Close. Chuck Close is best known for his abstract, yet photo realistic giant portraits. Somehow, Close is able to creat encredibly realistic portraits by forming a grid of colourful circles and painted shapes. His work is generally large, viewd up close the works look abstract and dont define any perticular object. As you move away from the peices they become more in focus. Wendell Castle has been desiging and building furiture for around 40 years now. His furniture plays with the balance between sculture and functionality. This show complements gallery 339's current exhibit "Philadelphia Masters." Art students, go to one of these two gallerys to write your gallery reviews. Chuck Close and Wendell Castle run at the Wexler Gallery through January and February.

Re/member

Philadelphia arist Sienna Freeman has a show at the Yo Darkroom gallery called Re/member. Mixing photography with plastic resin, Freeman discusses many gender and identity issues. These peices are very interesting, and a good show to visit. Freeman is also currently the Associate Director of the Wexler Gallery in Old City. Her show runs at Yo Darkroom until march 16th.

Philadelphia's New Mayor with Art & Culture

Roberta Fallon, and Libby Rosof of the presteigous ArtBlog have put together a project called "Kiss for Mayor Nutter." The project is "a stream of love" for newely appointed Mayor of Philadephia Michael Nutter who has promised to re-open the Office of Arts and Culture, and they need your help to continue. Here's what to do.

1. Take a photograph of yourelf in your environment.

2. Email your 375x281 pixel photo to libbyandroberta@gmail.com, with your name and location of the picture.

3. Tell others about it!

Roberta and Libby promise to post your picture on their blog, and continue streaming love to Mayor Nutter for his promise to Philadelphia. Pictured above is 1026's (and my former Print making proffessor) Bill McRight showing his love.

Lineage Closes, Oh No!

The Lineage gallery in Old City has been one of my favorite first friday stops since I was in art school. It has been a couple of months since I have payed the gallery a visit, so I was shocked and appalled to find the gallery has had its last show and already and closed. Apparently there was a splitting between the two gallery owners and the gallery has thus closed. Joshua Liner, former owner, is now planning on opening a gallery in NYC sometime in the spring of 2008. He is advertising that his new gallery will feature works of such artists formelly reprerestented in the Lineage Gallery such as Ron English, Jeremy Fish, Ben Tour, Futura, and a many other "big name, and internationally recognized" artists. This is incredibly sad. The Lineage gallery was one of the best places in Philadelphia to see Post Pop and Street inspired works at the internationall level. The gallery was big enough to attract such great names, but still small enough that you could talk with the artists at many of the openings. In 2006 i had the opportunity to meet one of my heroes Ron English at the gallery and have a breif conversation about the show and his recent work. I have always enjoied the Philadelphia art sceen, and celebrated the differences we have from the omnipresent New York. I wish Joshua Liner luck with his new Gallery, and hope that New York City will be as kind and accepting of him as Philadephia was.

Sillydelphia Creator Ian A. Goering with Artist Ron English at the now closed Lineage Gallery

Emily Brown & Susan Tiger

Gallery Joe presents 2 shows; Emily Brown's "Surfaces an Reflections," and Susan Tiger's "It is not a goodbye said to one's father." Brown's work features a series of ink on paper pieces depicting different types of reflections and surfaces, just like the title implies. Many of these pieces depict te rich textures of water, sometimes almost looking photograhic in quality. Susan Tiger's work explores colour, and her series depicts different objects which seem to either disolve into or form out of the surface itself. The show runs at Gallery Joe through February 23rd.

Eleanor Grosch's "Line" at Art Star

This is a beutiful series of 25 silk screen prints. The entire show features pictures of animals, and i think looks realy good. I absolutely love the play between the patterns and bold blocks of colour used. This show run through February 17th at the Art Star Gallery.

Mummers, Shopping, and Printmaking

This Sunday, Dec. 16th, Space 1026 will be having a "Gypsy Flea Market" from noon until 7. You will be able to purchase artwork and gifts from Space 1026 members. This is a good opportunity to get some great artwork for your holiday shopping list. The leftovers from the space 1026 auction featuring prints from members and some internationally recognised artists such as Shepard Fairey (though no Faireys are left), are still up for auction online at Ebay until Monday. Finally, if you enjoyed the Mummer sewing class Space 1026 offered a while back, there will be a 24 hour sew-a-thon held from noon Saturday Dec.15th to noon Sunday December 16th at the space in preperation for the up coming mummers parade. The even will be hosted by the Vaudevillains, the 1026 Mummer Brigade. You are able to watch the sewing frenzy online at www.vaudevillainsnyb.com, and make donations if you feel so inclined. A $5 donation is reccommended for this event, and will get you 24 hours of fun. So if you are looking for that perfect print or mummer costume for that special someone this holiday season head down to Space 1026 this weekend.

David Kessler "Shadow World" and Candace Karch"Lost and Found"

The Bambi Gallery brings this show of two very different photographers. David Kessler shows documentary style photography in his show "Shadow World" which depicts images from North Philadelphia including the Fishtown Area. Candace Karch's recent work "Lost and Found" discusses the topic of perception both animal and human. The show runs through January 20th at the Bambi Gallery.