 |
70.0º F |
|
 |
|
|
| Win $40 to Sun Worshippers Tan |
|
 |
|
First Friday Spotlight
May 4, 2006
|
|
 |
If comprehensive is what you're looking for this First Friday, then make a beeline for Pentimenti Gallery (145 N. Second St., 215.625.9990). Steven Baris offers "The Correct Distance." Also, "Bits & Pieces" features work by Justyna Badach, Mary Bennett and Janaki Lennie. The paintings of Baris are a delight that at first sight resemble rich confections. Contemplative and panoramic, the photography of Badach features rich color scenes of sea and sky that reference Monet. Bennett transforms books into splendid art that enhances the content implicit within their pages. Lennie's paintings nod in the most oblique fashion to old-school photorealism. Soulful and cerebral, this is art that yields its aesthetic in mighty mettle.
One of my favorites is back for another May show as Treacy Ziegler offers "When We Got Home: New Paintings" at F.A.N. Gallery (221 Arch St., 215.922.5155). Now, those of you familiar with her work might be surprised by the title, but you've read right. For the first time she is offering paintings instead of prints. However, the current work is an extension of what she's shown in the past. Still lifes imbued with a touch of tension, night scenes that draw you in without asking, interiors that are not just narrative but cinematic: They're all here, and rendered in the same rich palette as her prints. This show has been highly anticipated, so go see for yourself.
A tactile sense of purpose that gathers energy then disperses it throughout the gallery is implicit in "Order(ed)" at Gallery Siano (309 Arch St., . This is a group show featuring over a dozen artists from across the U.S. whose work is abstract, somewhat refracted, and in line with the title. Alex Queral takes a page from '60s Op Art and then spins it into whirling wormholes. Tremain Smith eschews the round forms that usually inhabit her work for a more rectangular impetus. Vincent Romaniello is always on the move artistically, and for this show he leaps forward. "Order(ed)" is an up-to-the-minute look at abstract painting today.
Season appropriate work is on view this month at Highwire Gallery (1315 Cherry St., 4th Floor, 215.829.1255). A pair of concurrent shows yield some neat surprises. "Departures" finds Barbara Spadaro not just taking a turn into left field with her latest work, but also leaping forward with an unexpected chapter in a career based in eclectic, kinetic movement. Antonio Grimaldi doesn't so much deconstruct landscapes as necessitates them, as is apparent in "Open Spaces: Landscape Interpretation." Details are subsumed into mood, as perspective is offered as the essential factor from which all else flows. The confluence between these exhibitions is indicative of Highwire at its best.
The latest offering at Nexus (137 N. Second St., 215.629.1103), is equally heartfelt and intellectually stimulating, in keeping with the gallery's aesthetic ethos. Two concurrent shows feature a pair of artists whose work is complementary in an almost mystic manner, with language just one interface that resonates purpose. Maureen Ciaccio's exhibit, "Between Time and Surface Area," is a meta-diary. The artist will also present a gallery talk and give a demonstration in paper casting on May 13 at 2pm. Whereas Ciaccio's work is a diary of sorts, Libbie Soffer offers self-portraiture in "gathering," though it is not figurative but abstract. The focus here balances a variety of thematic concerns in deft fashion.
Asya Livshits returns to PII Gallery (242 Race St., 610.328.3468) with "Recent Paintings." On view is a collection of representational work that is rich and evocative, yet it is the portraits that move into a realm that flows with energy and excitement on all levels. Starting with a palette imbued with vitality, Livshits then proceeds to delineate faces that are not stoic countenances, but instead visages that reveal just what is behind their eyes. To a one, these people are offered as in swift movement, no matter that they are, in fact, stationary. The result leaves one breathless and eager to see what this artist will do next.
|
|
|
|
