In Full Bloom @SPACE - images from the exhibit

So finally, here are the images from the In Full Bloom exhibit at SPACE. I may have to go back. There are over a hundred works from forty artists in the exhibit. It is difficult to take a show like this in all at one time. I saw a lot of the work at drop off and I've been back to the gallery twice since the opening. It's the kind of exhibit where you see something new each time you go, as much because of your mood as the sheer number of works.
Kevin Wenner

I had mentioned that I was going to shoot Kevin Wenner's piece after the opening. Pretty luscious, huh? Speaking of luscious works, check out Ed Parrish's work, below. This was a pretty ambitious undertaking. Someone mentioned to me that he created this piece for the In Full Bloom exhibit.
Ed Parrish
Ed Parrish -- detail
Masha Vereshchenko

Maybe it was my mood, but I was really drawn to the lush works in the exhibit. Masha Vereshchenko's delicate ink drawings on this heavy-textured paper pulled me in. This deserves more time and I look forward to visiting it again.

Amir Rashidd

This piece really drew me in, too. The dichotomy between the loose ground and the tight rendering of the figure appeals to me.

I wish I could credit this one. The work is hung very high on the wall and I couldn't read its label. Also, my image doesn't do the color justice, so use this as an incentive to go and view the exhibit.

More details about the exhibit can be found here and here.

Easter Egg Hunt @the Carnegie Museum

So, there are flyers up around Oakland, near the Carnegie Museum.

Where are the names of notable women on the facade of the Carnegie Museum?
Some suggestions for inclusion are written on Easter eggs and hidden in and
around the museum. How many can you find?

Good Luck
E. Bunny

We at Digging Pitt have received further explanation from E. Bunny, in the form of the following statement...

March 29, 2007
One of the first interesting things I came across when I returned to
Pittsburgh two years ago was the list of notable women posted on the skinny
building in commemoration of Women's History month - women who might be
candidates for inclusion in the all-male frieze of names carved into the
facade of the Carnegie Museum. A self-addressed stamped envelope is not what it
used to be and my request for a copy of the list that LUPEC compiled went astray. I thought it would
be fun to write the names on the bottom of those plastic ducks they use in
carnival games and dump them in the fountain in front of the museum. I bought a
dozen ducks from a novelty store on the strip and finally found someone who
would download the names for me. Wouldn't you know it, the fountain has been
shut off for a month now because of some sort of repairs or construction. So I
bought two bags of those plastic eggs, wrote names and dates from the list on
the outside and scissored apart the biographic material and folded it inside the
egg: Then I posted flyers at the bus stops announcing the Easter egg
hunt after I hid them in, on and around the museum.

Another idea I had for using the names (which any other like-minded
feminist is welcome and encouraged to copy) was to write them on smooth stones
and leave them at the base of the statues of the four white guys outside, the
way that Jews leave stones at a gravesite, on a headstone, to commemorate a visit to
a dead family member. Or attach the name, with paper and string, as one would
tie a message to a stone about to be hurled through a window.

I had some questions about the list itself - it was unnecessarily long and
I found myself clipping a group of three or four and making them share an
egg.There was someone named"Roger" with no biographical or explanatory material
provided. Artemsia Gentileschi's name is
misspelled. And why isn't Elizabeth Barrett Browning's name included? I
also wish that it had mentioned that one of my favorites, Hypatia, had been stoned to
death by a mob of Christians.

Your Friend
E. Bunny

Happy hunting everybody. And thank you, E. Bunny.

John Morris @D’Amelio Terras

John Morris

D’Amelio Terras
D'Amelio Terras is located on the ground floor at 525 West 22nd Street, in between 10th and 11th avenues.


Works on Paper:
Case Calkins, Damien Deroubaix, Roland Flexner, John Morris
March 31 – April 28, 2007
Opening Reception: March 30, 6-8pm

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and see the exhibit. More information

Flat Line @Digging Pitt

Marci Gehring: Flat Line (Side I)

Pittsburgh … Digging Pitt welcomes Marci Gehring to the gallery. In April, Digging Pitt will hand the gallery over to Gehring for Flat Line. An opening reception takes place on April 14, 2007 from 6-9pm. A closing reception takes place on June 2, 2007 from 6-9pm. Free and open to the public.

Marci Gehring: Flat Line (Side I)

In April, Digging Pitt will hand the gallery over to Marci Gehring for Flat Line. An opening reception takes place on April 14, 2007 from 6-9pm. A closing reception takes place on June 2, 2007 from 6-9pm. Free and open to the public.

It has been several years since Pittsburgh has had an opportunity to view Marci Gehring's large-scale paintings. Gehring's richly ornate canvases closely reflect a philosophy crowded with figures both mythical and common. The detail of this figured work is overwhelming in its scale.

"My idea is to have everyone's inner gold come forth, and show how we are one, we're connected," says Gehring in her interview with Bill O'Driscoll.

Craft Congress in Pittsburgh

It's not too late -- you too can come to lovely Pittsburgh for the first ever Craft Congress. The Craft Congress has been organized by Handmade Arcade and will take place March 31 - April 1 at Spinning Plates. Information here.

The Pop City article mentions that some crafters have had their ideas lifted by national manufacturers, without acknowledgement or compensation. The congress invites organizers of craft fairs and artists' websites to Pittsburgh to discuss such issues.

The Craft fair has been getting some press locally and nationally in Bust magazine. A number of crafter blogs have been talking about the congress for a few months. Craft revolution has a recent post that lists some of the attendees, who are coming from all over the United States to Pittsburgh. In the article, they quote organizer Gloria Forouzan--

“The goal of Craft Congress is to build connections between the movement's organizers, who have been working to expand the craft culture primarily in their own communities. Craft Congress is an original concept; attendees will have the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience, creating a network that will foster sustainability.”

This is a wonderful idea and I am glad that this event is taking place in Pittsburgh.

Bridge to Nowhere

Filming starts today for the Pittsburgh crime flick, "Bridge to Nowhere," starring Ving Rhames and directed by CMU grad, Blair Underwood.

"The Bridge to Nowhere" was a local term referring to an Allegheny River bridge which ran out of funding, and reached only halfway across the water for the better part of a decade. A Pitt student once drove over it into the drink in the middle of the night, but lived through it with hardly a scratch.

I'm always struck by the Allegheny bridges, which to my eye look like New York shapes at a Paris scale. The bridge pictured is one of the "Three Sisters" and cuts from Sandusky Street (in front of the Warhol) on the North Side to Seventh Street in Downtown.

In Full Bloom reception@SPACE

SPACE was so crowded at the opening that I really didn't get to look at the work. The show includes over one hundred works by forty artists. It was a massive undertaking. Bob Ziller brought some very fine work in for this exhibit. And the artists really put their best foot forward, with some creating work specifically for this show.

I will be going back over the next week to get images of some of the works but following are some images of the reception.


Christane D. and Eden McNutt
Kevin Wenner, working on Full Bloom. I'll get an image of the completed work when I go back next week.
The inconquerable Marci Gehring. This image is from a previous exhibit, where she was showing off one of her afghan creations. I just love these, especially on tall, lanky women (and men: see below). But on me? No, I would look like a couch!

Marci brought a rack of these garments to the opening; there are more images on Chuck Busha's pbase site. Go check it out, they're way better than mine.

April events

Stay updated on happenings at Digging Pitt gallery on the Digging Pitt Blog. And for all of you cycle enthusiasts, Digging Pitt brings you Motorheads on MySpace.

Gilding Demonstration with Katherine Young
Save the Date! April 1, 2PM

Katherine will be demonstrating gilding, a technique that she uses to great advantage in her work. This ancient technique has been used to decorate temples and sculpture, imbuing the wooden support with the luster of fine metals. Free and open to the public. Please RSVP to Digging Pitt Gallery by email or at 412-605-0450. -- more information

Closing reception for Lush Life, Visual Abstraction and Regenesis
Save the Date!
April 7, 6-9PM

Lush Life - Side I --more information
Paul LeRoy
Todd Pinkham
Jessica Sommer
Katherine Young


Visual Grammar: Five Approaches to Abstraction-- more information
Curated by Gary Jurysta
Charles Andresen
Glen Brunken
Joren Dykstra
Patrick Schmidt

Regenesis: David Grim @Digging Pitt Too-- more information
David Grim

Opening Reception for Flat Line, Prodiga diNero, George Kollar
and Photography Showcase
Save the Date!
April 14, 6-9PM

Marci Gehring: Flat Line (Side I)-- more information
Marci Gehring

Selene dePackh:
The Graphic Tales of Prodiga diNero (Side II) -- more information
Selene dePackh

Spotlight on George Kollar (Side II) -- more information
George Kollar

Photographic Showcase Exhibit @Digging Pitt Too -- more information
Produced by Redfish Creative
Curator: John Eastman
Kim Curinga
Elena Hiatt Houlihan

Pinhole Photography workshop with George Kollar
Save the Date!
April 29, 12-2PM
Join George Kollar at Digging Pitt Gallery on April 29, Worldwide Pinhole Photography day. George will be conducting a pinhole photography workshop. 12-2pm Free. Please RSVP your interest to Digging Pitt Gallery by email or at 412-605-0450 -- more information

John Morris – Director
Digging Pitt Gallery
4417 Butler Street
Digging Pitt Too
45th and Plummer Streets
Pittsburgh PA 15201
412-605-0450
john@diggingpitt.com
Digging Pitt Gallery
Digging Pitt Blog
MySpace
Motorheads

Butler Street Gallery Hours:
TH 12 - 9
FR 12 - 7
SA 11 – 7
SU 11 - 7

Too Hours:
SA 12 - 5
By appointment and at other random times

Double Warhol

Drink and Draw on Tuesday, March 20. We had two models dressed as Warhol. It was a very interesting session, as I'm sure you can imagine.

The images on the left are courtesy of Paul LeRoy. The images on the right are courtesy of the artist, Sara Sweeney. 'Cause I, yet again, forgot to bring my camera to Drink and Draw on Tuesday. Thank you, Sara and Paul.

Gilding Demonstration @Digging Pitt

Gilding Demonstration with Katherine Young

April 1, 2007 at 2pm.
Free and open to the public.
RSVP to Digging Pitt Gallery by email or at 412-605-0450

Katherine Young’s work, currently on exhibit at Digging Pitt Gallery, mixes the obsessive decoration and fervent craft usually associated with religious art. The explicit sexual imagery calls into question our definitions of sacred and profane. Katherine's work explores feminine gender anxieties provocatively and innocently, with something a bit disturbing underneath. The mixed media manipulation of traditional, domestic, and kitsch elements resonates with the mystical and the mundane, the illogical and the ideal. Seemingly paradoxical, it often encompasses morbid elements of the female experience.

Katherine will be demonstrating gilding, a technique that she uses to great advantage in her work. This ancient technique has been used to decorate temples and sculpture, imbuing the wooden support with the luster of fine metals.

Katherine Young
Lush Life -- Save the Date! Closing reception April 7, 6-9PM

In Full Bloom @SPACE

In Full Bloom
March 23 - May 12, 2007
Opening on March 23, 6-9PM
Gallery Crawl on April 20
SPACE
812 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh PA 15222

In Full Bloom was curated by Bob Ziller. I found images of some of the work that is in the exhibit. I wish I could include more. Some of the artists in the exhibit--

Laura Jean McLaughlin
Marci Gehring
Maggie Aston
Karl Mullen
Masha Vereschenka
Biko

Hope you can join us in celebrating on March 23.

Kate Bazis
Susan Constanse
Christiane D

Photographic Showcase @Digging Pitt Too

April 14 - June 2, 2007
Photographic Showcase @Digging Pitt Too
Produced by Redfish Creative


Photographic Showcase @Digging Pitt Too
Opening reception April 14: 6-9PM
Produced by Redfish Creative
Curator: John Eastman
Kim Curinga (top image)
Elena Hiatt Houlihan (bottom image)
More information

In April, Digging Pitt Too will be presenting a photography showcase. John Eastman, who is the curator, selected works by artists whose approaches to photography are entirely different. Please join us on April 14 for the artist reception.

Curator Statement -- John Eastman

One of the magic elements of photography is that the photographer has the opportunity to present to the viewer an image, captured for a split second or less, maybe never existing again in that context. It is through their eyes, and of their lens, that a type of artistic interpretation is made available to us. While images appear seemingly obvious, it is the interpretation that I always look for in a photographer's work, as this is their version of the story, or the message they are asking you to be open to see.

The process of creating a photographic montage, I believe, further extends that liberty. We have the benefit of experiencing close-up, a detailed working process that starts with a series of skillfully captured images, re-imagined, re-created, and edited by the photographer. Ultimately they present us with their vision of another version of a continuous whole.

This new composite enables us a visit inside the photographer's mind, and not just through the lens of their camera. Welcome to the interpretations of Elena Hiatt Houlihan and Kim Curinga.

Digging Pitt Too
45th & Plummer Streets
Pittsburgh PA 15201
412-605-0450
SA 12 – 5
by appointment
and at other random times
www.diggignpitt.com

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day

What is Pinhole Day? Anyone, anywhere in the world, who makes a pinhole photograph on the last Sunday in April, can scan it and upload it to this website where it will become part of the annual Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day celebration's online gallery. A number of workshops, lectures and exhibits are available as Worldwide Pinhole Phtography Day approaches. Up-to-date information about events and workshops worldwide can be found here. There are several events planned in the Pittsburgh area.

Spotlight on George Kollar (Side II)

Opening Reception:
April 14, 2007: 6-9pm

Pinhole photography workshop with George Kollar --more information
April 29, 2007: 12:00pm

Closing Reception:
June 2, 2007: 6-9pm

George Kollar's motorcycle portraits will be spotlighted in a special presentation at Digging Pitt Gallery. The soft focus, inherent in the pinhole photography process, brings a gleam of quiet life to these beasts of the road. -- more information


The f295 Symposium on Lensless, Alternative and Adaptive Photographic Processes
Thursday, April 26 - Sunday, April 29, 2007

The event brings eight contemporary photographers together to engage in discussion and debate regarding the rising use of alternative photographic methods in an age of increasingly sophisticated technological means.

This multi-day event offers lectures, round-table discussion, and hands-on workshops held in association with Pittsburgh area arts organizations.
more information


Pinhole Camera Workshop
Instructor: Tom Persinger
Location: The Mattress Factory
Date:28 April 2007
Time: 10am-4pm (includes lunch)
Cost: $35 ( $30 for MF members)
Registration: by email or phone (412) 231- 3169 ext. 212, 213

In this exciting, hands-on workshop participants will build their own large format pinhole camera, drill their own pinholes, expose images using paper negatives and develop them in the darkroom. Act 48 credit available is available for educators. --more information

dePackh and Kollar @Digging Pitt

Selene dePackh: The Graphic Tales of Prodiga diNero (Side II)
Opening Reception:
April 14, 2007: 6-9pm
Closing Reception:
June 2, 2007: 6-9pm

Artist Selene dePackh, working as Prodiga diNero, shares a glimpse into the process of creating her artistically sophisticated 'comix'. She will show excerpts from her self-scripted, Pittsburgh-set "Serpent in a Steel Garden", a contemporary supernatural noir comic; and "The F-Xsis Chronicles" a serialized graphic novel featuring a powerful, motorcycle-riding heroine created by Marianne (Bear) Taylor of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company. Also shown will be a series of posters being developed for possible use by the Buell division of Harley-Davidson, likewise in collaboration with Ms. Taylor.
Selene dePackh
More information

Spotlight on George Kollar (Side II)
Opening Reception:
April 14, 2007: 6-9pm
Closing Reception:
June 2, 2007: 6-9pm

George Kollar's motorcycle portraits will be spotlighted in a special presentation at Digging Pitt Gallery. The soft focus, inherent in the pinhole photography process, brings a gleam of quiet life to these beasts of the road.
George Kollar
More information

Mixing Images @Trinity

Things are starting to warm up in Pittsburgh. Everybody is coming out of their winter cocoons. On Saturday, I thought I woud get to Trinity gallery as soon as the artist reception started so that I could say hello to the artists and maybe get a few clear shots of the work. The gallery is smallish and can get crowded very quickly. This was the scene when I walked in the door.With that said, I apologize for the images of the work that follow. Some of the work that I wanted to shoot, I couldn't get a clear shot of. So I had to settle.
Jesse Sharrard
Jesse Sharrard
Jayne Osgood

I am looking at the postcard for this exhibit and there is no closing date or gallery hours, so if you are interested in seeing the exhibit, please contact Dan Gaser at Trinity. I thought Jayne's small mixed medium piece, above, was charming. Jesse's work was pretty dynamic.

Mixing Images
Jesse Sharrard and Jayne Osgood
Trinity Gallery
4747 Hatfield Street
Pittsburgh PA 15201

Literary Reading in Oakland: Tuesday, March 13th

Tuesday evening, 6:30pm, March 13th, visiting author Ellis Avery will read from her novel, The Teahouse Fire, on the fifth floor of the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus. Avery has been published in the Kyoto Journal and the Kyoto-published, ENHAIKLOPEDIA. She is in the seventh year of a ten-year project of daily haiku, Seventeen Reasons, which is also a correspondence with writer Melissa Demian.

Come and support the dialogue between Pittsburgh and the artists of other cities!

photo credit: Kate Attardo

MY First Visit To the Tom Museum

These are some shots from my first visit to the Tom Museum which happened only last month. I knew Tom's work pretty well and had visited his studio before, but I was still stunned by the fun, cute, creative and powerfully subversive world he is creating in the little house near the Mattress Factory.

Free fall

The Rand Corporation recently published a report, Arts and Culture in the Metropolis - Strategies for Sustainability, which is available online. The report, which compared Philadelphia with ten other urban areas comparable in size, includes Pittsurgh as part of the study. The report analyzes the systems of support for the arts.

There are a large number of foundations in Pittsburgh as well as Philadelphia, many of which support the arts in some form. Some support only education initiatives, some support public programs. The public progrms encompass visual, performing and literary arts.

Unfortunately, foundation support is declining. Many of these organizations are in a position of having to develop new arenas of support for their endeavors. Pittsburgh, with its low median income, lacks indigenous support. You can see this when you go to gallery exhibits. Direct support of artists, through the purchase of artwork, is sadly lacking. A red dot is an occasion to celebrate because of its so-rare occurence.

The current exhibit at SPACE gallery, Home Away, expresses this in a very indirect way. The curator and artists in the exhibit have not posted a price list. And if you ask the gallery attendant for a price, your inquiry will be met with a flurry of embarassed activity as the attendant makes a number of phone calls tracking down the answer to your question.

The Post Gazette has an article about the Rand report with responses from Mr. McMahon, the President of the Cultural Trust. Some of the statistics quoted in the article give a very clear snapshot of the reasons for the lack of support. Like the highest per capita number of organizations per resident and the decided lack of cooperation among the organizations.

The solution for this dilemma is an elusive one. The Rand Corporation's conclusion that the arts would be well served if there was a strong central agency is a sound one. However, that conclusion is not neccessarily a solution. It would certainly help the arts organizations to have a strong central leadership and to coordinate their activites and promotions more closely. Individual support for the arts is what needs to be nurtured.

Beam me up Scottie! I can't take this anymore...

Wow, I found this old post on an old Drink and Draw that Susan left for me to publish.





Captain Kirk made a special guest appearance at Drink and Draw on Tuesday. He brought great props and we had a blast...

next up:

Crystala as Marilyn Monroe

March 6
6-9PM
$10

brillobox
4104 Penn Avenue
email us to get on the update list or sign up on MySpace

Community Gallery project in the Hill District

Last week, I posted about this really terrific project that is happening in the Hill District and other Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Well, here are some images from the wonderful kick-off event at the Hill House on Saturday March 3. The grand finale will be a reception for the children at the Hill House on Saturday March 31.

The kids will be working with Deanna Mance, Biko, Tim Fabian and Christine Bethea on Saturdays through March. Tasha Watkins is assisting all of the artists at their workshops. And on April 7, we will be holding Pittsburgh Soars, a kite-flying extravaganza. Denys Candy from the Find the Rivers project has located three flying sites in the Hill District.

So get out your calendar and write down the dates!

A special guest, one of the puppets that Cheryl Cappezutti made for Pittsburgh Roars.
Evan Frazier (Hill House) and Lissa Rosenthal (Pittsburgh Roars)
Bill Peduto stopped by to say hello
Vanessa German's Migration project
Christine Bethea's Seussville on the Hill project
Suan Constanse Origami elephant herd