Play @Panza

I loved Tim Fabian's statement about his curatorial intentions for the Play exhibit:

"In one way or another each of the people in this show evidence play in their work. I think of this show as my loose group of playmates."

His caliber of playmates is extraordinary. There is a lot of good work in the Play exhibit, and some artists used this opportunity to step out and present work that is new and exploratory.

Bill Wade at Panza

Bill Wade had several abstract pieces, focused on vibrant color and pure shape. The works are created on photographic paper, using objects and light. Although Mr. Wade is best known for his documentary style of work, it is obvious that these works are something that he has been exploring for awhile.

Jean McClung

Oh now, this was just a wonderful piece. Ms. McClung has been blending transparencies and light into small sculptures for several years. This permutation of the idea is wonderfully freash, and does embody the concept of play quite well. FYI, Jean McClung is in an upcoming exhibit in April at ModernFormations.

David Grim

Okay, so this was like striptease meets art. David Grim's work usually draws a lot from distorted images and surreal concepts. For Play, Mr. Grim covered his work with small photos. The artist was selling each of these small photos for one thin sawbuck, gradually unveiling the work that was actually what he was presenting. When I was at the opening, the above was all that you could see of the collage underneath. Here's the final reveal.

George Kollar

The works presented by George Kollar were so very expressive. At first glance, I assumed that they were traditional drawing materials. But these works were created directly on photographic paper. The non-traditional format made the works even more compelling. Photographic paper, worked with the chemicals used in darkroom work lend the pieces some interesting qualities.

The exhibit is up through February 16 and is well worth the trip over to Millvale. While you're there, stop by Pamela's Diner, right around the corner from Panza. If it's good enough for our First Lady... Honestly, it's great diner food.

Play
Jan. 19, to Feb. 16, 2013.
Panza's image album
Panza Gallery
412.821.0959
panzagallery@mac.com
www.panzagallery.com

gallery hours:
wd.thur.fri 10-5
& sat 10-3