Unblurred in June

As always, Unblurred was an excellent night. And it's becoming such an active, community event. I love the addition of the Garfield Night Market. It's a great combination of artisan and street foods, and a perfect way to wind down after visiting the galleries.

Image Box
Eastern Standard: A Time Exhibition
14 local artists displaying clocks and other time-based mediums. Curated by Joe Mruk
Great show, with some really fun clocks! There are images in the gallery at the end of this post, but this one was totally my favorite. I could have taken pictures of all of them, really. Such a nice idea for an exhibit, too.

Maggie Negrete Elemental Flame

MOST WANTED FINE ART
Pittsburgh Society of Artists presents SMALL WORKS Jason Sauer, Juror

With a plethora of works, it was really hard to stay focused. Nice show, HUGE variety of works, considering that all of them were small format. There were a few encaustic works in the exhibit, a process that I find fascinating. There were a few familiar names, but the gallery was so packed, I'm sure there were some nice works that I missed. I particularly like the work by Martha Hopkins Skarlinski (pictured below), an encaustic and mixed media piece.

PSA, founded in 1965, is one of several artist-centric guilds that operate in Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. Coming up in July, another guild takes over the walls at Most Wanted. Associated Artists will be mounting a group exhibit at the Waterfront location, opening this coming Saturday.

Martha Hopkins Skarlinski Prelude

IN THE MWFA BASEMENT
Stuff N Such Society
DS Kinsel Know News is Good News
From the show description:

A shrine dedicated to the dying newspaper industry built by D.S Kinsel. The audience is invited to enter the sanctum of information and immerse themselves in a fading mode of information exchange through consumption of print.

So, with that in mind; I don't really know what to say. I have been blogging about the local art scene for several years now. I've continued to blog, even if somewhat sporadically, because there is so little support from local publications for emerging visual arts venues. There is at least one paper in town that only reviews exhibits in the non profit galleries. This policy really undermines the vibrant local scene, imho.

As a blogger, I am a little on the fence on this issue. Professional writers do have a certain cache because they have a value that is accepted associated with their work. They have the time to dedicate to running down facts and editing their work. On the other hand, I don't have anybody looking over my shoulder. I think that there is value in both, but I think that the physical press is entirely to dependent on commerce to be as objective as they could be.

July's Unblurred is scheduled to take place over two days, and those lovely people at the Penn Ave Arts Initiative have released a schedule. I am planning to make it up to Penn Ave, how about you?

May Unblurred

Garfield Night Market

It was a really great Unblurred this month, even with the evening on the chill side. Lots of really good work up in the galleries, and the return of the Garfield Night Market. Personal recommendation for nibbles at the Night Market: Tacos from Chicken Latino. It's the splash of lime that gives it extra deliciousness.

I do travel on my stomach. But it really is worth mentioning. On to the art!

I've never seen a full exhibit mounted at Fieldwork before. Sometimes it has art displayed in the windows. But for the May Unblurred there was an exhibit from CSA PGH. The show was really amazing. Small, because the space wouldn't really allow for large works. But tightly curated and well-produced. If I'm reading correctly, the show extends through June, so I may be able to get additional information at the next Unblurred. There are several images from the exhibit in the gallery.

CSA PGH is a unique take on support for artists. It's modeled after the community supported agriculture programs that deliver locally grown produce to its members, but they're delivering culture. It has a strong core membership of local makers, all practicing professionals. It's like black-box art, you don't know what you're going to get when you purchase a share. Whatever is in season!

DS Kinsel, Topographic 5

Great exhibit at MWFA this past month. Very good pairing of DS Kinsel's topographical explorations and Richard Jackley's pigment and surface experiments. The colors were beautiful, and the works had an intriguing surface inticracy.

Tilley Hawk, Motile Trinity

I really enjoyed Tilley Hawk's exhibit at Mr. Roboto, too. Given the presence of animal bones and distressed wood, I was surprised that the work didn't feel ominous, but instead felt peaceful. I can't pinpoint what gave me that interpretation of the work. Even the lighting should have played up a sense of danger.

This is so late out of the box, with June's Unblurred less than a week away. I've been a little distracted this month, and could just kick myself. It was such an awesome Unblurred. I'm sure Hune's edition will be pretty fantastic, too.