Heads Up For Massive: Handmade Arcade @ David L Lawrence Convention Center, April 16

You likely already know this, but Pittsburgh's largest Indie Craft Fair has been super sized to fill the downtown convention center--allowing for more space and 120 Vendors from Chicago, Ohio, Upstate NY, Baltimore, New Jersey, Seattle, Pennsylvania and of course many, many from the Burgh itself.

ACCESSORIES
TOYS
CLOTHING
CHILDREN
PRINT & POSTERS
JEWELRY
HOUSEWARES
BATH & BODY
STATIONERY
Other (often the best)

The Arcade website has been posting images and previews as well as full links to all the crafters home pages. Check it out

Also, I can't add to the great preview Steeltown Anthem has posted. Follow her blog, she will likely post more.

SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2011
11-5 (I think)
Admission: Free
200 Earlie Birdie passes for sale at $15 each allow an early hour of shopping before the crowd hits.


View Larger Map

Andrey Avinoff: In Pursuit of Beauty: Watercolors and Collections @Carnegie Museum

Iridescence, 1925/1947, graphite, pen and ink, and watercolor on paper mounted on artist’s board; Carnegie Museum of Art,

I have actually not seen this yet but it looks interesting on lots of levels. (BTW, The Paul Thek show at The Carnegie IMHO, will blow your head clean off. I haven't blogged about it partly because it's very hard to put into words.)

What I think I will like about this show is that it attempts to to create shows both artist's paintings and collections in a way that gives insight into an amazing life story involving global travel,serious science and artistic exploration. From 1926 -1945 Arinoff was director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

"Born in 1884 in Tulchin, Ukraine, Mr. Avinoff earned a law degree from Moscow University and in 1913 joined the protocol staff of Nicholas II. His interest in butterflies developed early, and in 1908 and 1912 he used inheritance money to fund collecting expeditions.

Mr. Avinoff first traveled to the United States in 1915 to purchase war supplies for the Russian Army. By 1918, as the Russian Civil War raged, he, his mother and his sister's family had immigrated to New York. When their dairy farm failed, he turned to commercial illustration to earn a living while his sister, Elizabeth Shoumatoff, developed a career as a portrait painter. (Her formal portrait of Mr. Avinoff is in the exhibition.)"

And then it goes on from there.

As you can see, he had mad technical skills as a painter too. Check out the Slide Show.

More articles and reviews.

Recollecting Andrey Avinoff Carnegie Magazine

Carnegie Museum of Art Unveils the Visionary and Rarely Seen Art by Andrey Avinoff Art Daily

Andrey Avinoff: In Pursuit of Beauty
February 26–July 24, 2011
Works on Paper Gallery

Agnes Gund: "Small is Beautiful" Defends Local Community Arts

I don't have time to dig it up, but earlier this year the new NEA head made comments that implied a need to concentrate support to a smaller number of large institutions--many of whom --MOMA, The Met, The Philadelphia Museum, Getty etc.. could likely very well fund themselves. He later clarified this view as seen in the link.

I just came across this defence of the small by the famous philanthropist, Agnes Gund.

"Big national museums have the idea that museums should help generate strong communities; it is something they work at. But museums like the Demuth relate to their communities in ways that precede policy and require less systematic effort. They practice community building by being a part of the community -- by inhabiting the soil and customs and histories of their regions. Their natural mission is to help define their communities, to help them grow and change. What I have come to appreciate is the presence in all America's places, large and small, east to west, of cultural institutions at home."

Hat tip to Brent Burket, who tweeted this link.

Cleveland International Film Festival March 24 -April 3 : Interview with Artistic Director on Freshwater

I was somewhat insulting when said Cleveland had such a short list of must see places/events. No way do I know it well enough to say that--plus I skipped a few cause I was just lazy.

High on any list is The Cleveland International film festival, the only truly -large festival of it's kind in wider region.

Check out this years list here.

Freshwater Cleveland has a good Q & A with the artistic director, who talks about balancing the mix of films to be both creatively important and accessible to a wide local audience.

Comments from people who attended would be great.

Innovation Erie Product Design Competion Submissions Open From April 1 --May 11

So many exiting creative events in our region this April from the TED X talks to the huge Handmade Arcade, GAGI Festival and The Cleveland International Film Festival. I try to point out a a few you may not know about.

For three years now, Erie has hosted a design competition, open to anyone anywhere with a product idea that can be manufactured in the Erie area.

The ideas are displayed in an exhibit at The Erie Art Museum this fall and judged by a panel of experts.Individuals, teams and small businesses may enter.

First prize is 10,000 for use in rent, services and support to develop the idea at a local business incubator.

Application Prospectus

Check out the details

Pittsburgh Weekend Art Events: 3/25-26/11.

c. David Grim (taken 3/19/11)

Sure. You could be forgiven for hibernating at home for one more weekend. After all, it is going to be unseasonably cold. But that's just the thing- it's "unseasonable" because it is indeed officially Spring! So get into the spirit and see what the local arts scene has to offer...

Friday

The Mattress Factory has had Gestures shows for years now. The North Side museum gives over space to mostly local artists and their installations. The 15th exhibition in this series (7-10PM) includes work by Will Giannotti, Wendy Osher, Garry Pyles, and others. It does cost $10 to get in, but likely includes access to a free beer or two.

Meanwhile, Melwood Filmmakers (4700 Melwood Avenue, Oakland) is showing the photography of Annie O'Neill from 6-8PM. Her series of 30 images documents folks who have worked in their profession for at least 50 years, and presents them in uniform. This reception is free (and recommended).

If you have a strong taste for photography, you can check out Silver Eye's very first Juried Member Exhibition (6:30-8PM). Curator Darren Ching looked at 1000 images from 100 artists working all over the world and chose work from six of them- Susan A. Barnett (New York, NY); Hope Guzzo (Laurel, MD); Nic Lyons (San Francisco, CA); Leigh Merrill (Dallas, TX); Monika Merva (Brooklyn, NY); and Stephen Strom (Sonoita, AZ). The gallery is located at 1015 East Carson Street.

And stop by Modern Formations (4919 Penn Ave.) on either Friday (7-10PM) or Saturday (8-11PM) to see the creative work of artisans from Specter Studios (located in Sharpsburg) . They were given raw latex masks and invited to come up with original designs.


Saturday

"Ladies' Choice" is opening at Artform Gallery & Tattoo (2603 Leechburg Rd., Lower Burrell). The show is meant to celebrate "Support Women Artist Now Day", and features female creators from all over Western PA, including Terri Perpich, Vanessa German, Lauren Toohey, Steph Scullio, Laura Petrilla, Lauren Musulin, Sam Thorp, Tamra Jutting, Tiffany Babinsack, Mia Donna Maneer, Christiane D, Jen Spisak, Mahala McWilliams, Anne Michelle Lyons, Masha Fikhman, Katie Moran. Stop in between 7 and 11PM.

Cleveland Makes Progress by Removing Waterfront Highway--Um Sort Of?

NPR recently did a story on how mainstream taking down urban highways has become.

"Cities as diverse as New Haven, New Orleans and Seattle are either doing it or talking about it. The chief motivation seems to be money.

Milwaukee removed a freeway spur for $30 million. Officials estimated it would have cost between $50 million and $80 million to fix that roadway. That inspired Akron, Ohio, officials to study what to do with an aging six-lane freeway that few motorists use.

"Perhaps we can remove sections of it and have it fit in better with the Akron grid system and offer an economic benefit by making land available," says Jim Weber, Akron's construction manager."

Shockingly, even Cleveland is well along the way towards removing the lakefront, West Shoreway freeway, and replacing it with a boulevard.

Except, in spite of the hype and good press, this has gotten, things are not exactly what they seem. Angie Schmitt,from Rust Wire notes that the resulting ground road will be very much a freeway.

"Several years ago, city planners and neighborhood activists on the west side hatched a plan to reconnect city residents to Lake Erie by converting the West Shoreway into a pedestrian-friendly boulevard. Planners recommended reducing the speed limit from 50 to 35, adding stoplights with crosswalks and installing a bike path.

Despite almost universal recognition of the importance of lake access, advancing the plan was not the slam dunk you might expect. In order to lower the speed limit, the state legislature would have to formally act in favor of the proposal. Although local planners estimated the reduction would cost the average commuter a mere 70 extra seconds of travel time, the legislation stalled in the statehouse. Even city council members from the farther-west wards of Cleveland came out against the plan, joining a powerful opposition group of suburban commuters.

Furthermore, in order to convert a limited-access highway into a boulevard with stoplights that would allow for pedestrian crossing, the plan would have to be approved by the Ohio Department of Transportation. After reviewing the proposal, ODOT nixed the stoplights, saying they would increase congestion. The city was forced to scale back plans"

Yes, you read right, In Ohio, speed limits and traffic light placement on major roads are not up to the local community, but the state DOT. So, now exactly how will local residents and visitors cross this road--through new improved tunnels (you really think many people will actually use these?) built at a city expense of $2.5 million. Sure seems like a freeway.

Not that it's exactly that simple since plans to reduce speed limits spurred not just suburban but city opposition in a town so oriented around the car. Those opponents can point to the relative lack of pedestrian life in the downtown and areas near the lake and say there is just no demand for pedestrian access--just like there wasn't in NYC or San Francisco before their waterfront highways came down. Even so, Detroit Shoreway and Gordon Square near the lake are fairly popular places.

One added note is that once again, a major factor here was the very unwise placement of a huge football stadium, requiring massive parking and highway access on the central city waterfront.

Important Oakland Community Planning Meetings Kick Off Tomorrow Night

"The kickoff event this Thursday will introduce a series of five dialogue sessions that will take place between March 24 and the first week in May. Each session will include eight to ten community members discussing the issues they're passionate about in Oakland, and the changes they would like to see over the next fifteen years. These events, lead by a facilitator, will build upon each other in order to identify the most pressing concerns about the neighborhood, likely covering future development strategies, green initiatives, new multi-modal transportation opportunities, and public education enhancement."

As I recall, Lawrenceville went through this process-resulting in very few significant changes.

I have a pretty significant gripe here. We all know that Oakland, as the core area holding the bulk of the city's major educational and medical institutions, is critical to the city's future. We also, know that the major players already have major ideas which they likely will ram down our throats anyway-through eminent domain.

The problem here is that the major issues and thinking has to be done on a larger level--and at a minimum involve the major surrounding areas--South Oakland, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, East Liberty and the Hill District. In the absence of this, no significant progress is likely and the self destructive trend towards traffic, sprawl and poor quality urban design will continue.

For a good example of how a broad planning process that might help shape major infrastructure in the city one has to go no further than Youngstown, Ohio.

Funerals, New Works by Pittsburgh Artist, Mike Egan @Anno Domini Gallery In San Jose, Through April 16Th

Since there is slightly better coverage of local shows around now, I feel more free to turn the blog more towards discussion and creating more awareness of out of town happenings.

If you have been around the scene here, particularly at Modern Formations, you likely know local artist Mike Egan. He's having what looks like a big show in San Jose right now at a gallery called Anno Domini.

"In his newest body of work, Pittsburgh, PA artist Mike Egan looks back on his time spent working in funeral homes. Surrounded by death and mourning, Mike started painting not only the stories of those who have passed, but the stories of those left behind after one's passing; the mourners, the lovers, the hurt and the relieved.

Funerals shows death in a tongue-in-cheek perspective of the one's who have passed, the ones who survived, and the people who deal with death on a day to day, the clergy. Devils and crosses, Clergymen spitting blood, and skeletons smoking pipes; Funerals shows satire in death and the rituals of saying goodbye."

Check ot all the images and instalation shots here.

More gallery info here
Show ends April 16th

Tuesday-Friday Noon-7 p.m.,
Saturdays Noon-5 p.m.
additional hours by appointment

Anno Domini

366 South First Street
(btwn San Carlos & San Salvador) map
San Jose, CA 95113
t: 408.271.5155

Fresh Baked Goods: CMU’s Master of Fine Arts Exhibition Opens at Bakery Square on March 26

FRESH BAKED GOODS: New site-specific works at Bakery Square
by 1st & 2nd year MFA students at Carnegie Mellon University

Curated by Adam Welch

Bakery Square gallery hours:
Wednesday-Friday, 5-8pm, Saturday 1-4pm

Nina Sarnelle
Agnes Bolt
Oscar Peters
Jonathan Armistead
Sung Rok Choi
Jesse England
Riley Harmon
Erin Womack
Felipe Castelblanco
Steve Gurysh
Craig Fahner
Scott Andrew
Dan Wilcox
Luke Loeffler

more info

Cleveland Admires Pittsburgh's Growing Bike Culture

Given the childish rivalry, it might be bad to say Cleveland's new version of POP City has a story looking enviously at Pittsburgh's increasingly pro cycling culture.

"A critical mass of bicyclists -- activists or not -- is one ingredient that Pittsburgh needs to become the kind of hip place that attracts talented young workers now and in the future," the Post-Gazette posited almost prophetically in 2003, at a time when even many in the cycling community considered the city a dangerous place to ride.

Fast forward to present day and you'll find a vastly different bike culture has taken flight. Pittsburgh recently won the honor of being named a Bronze-level "Bicycle Friendly Community" by the League of American Bicyclists, putting them on par with regional leaders like Columbus and Indianapolis. With support of its mayor, Pittsburgh is aiming even higher, hoping to join cities like Denver, Austin and Minneapolis in the Silver class."

It's kind of funny in a way, because Pittsburgh actually has a pretty challenging geography that while attracting avid cyclists, doesn't make it easy to ride here.

Fight the good fight Cleveland, as the article shows, none of the progress made here has been easy.

Hat Tip to Rust Wire.

Donald Judd Remix Opens Tonight @FE Gallery

Donald Judd Remix @FE Gallery

OPENING RECEPTION

Friday March 18, from 7 - 9 pm
Exhibition Dates: March 18 - April 23


Don't be put off by this show if you find Donald Judd's work boring, it seems pretty clear the curator, Vicky Clark has used this is an excuse to bring to together four artist's with work losely related to boxes.

"It would take time for artists to assimilate and interpret his forms. So it began: any use of boxes referred back to Judd. I doubt that the four artists in Donald Judd Remix based their work directly on Judd, but there is the acknowledgment of a minimalist structure. All point to aspects of the originals: serialization, display, materials, etc. But they include the personal in a variety of ways, leaving the sterile behind. They add what Judd left out, creating a new kind of minimalism, or at least expanding the original definition by emphasizing meaning and the personal and the hand of the artist."

Jeremy Boyle
Bill Radawec
Mark Franchino
Janet Towbin

Janet Towbin has for a number of years lived in Arizona, but was once a significant figure in the scene here. Eager to see her work.

Thursday and Friday from 12-3
and Saturday from 12-4

MFA Season: Carnegie Mellon MFA Thesis Show Opens Tonight @Miller Gallery

As you can see from the links, the region has lots of good colleges, a good number of which, like CMU,Chatham, Kent State, WVU and IUP will be having their thesis shows starting. Sadly, it won't be very easy to see most of this work without an extreme amount of effort. As I have said before this is both a huge loss to both the artists and the public.

CMU MFA Thesis Show

UP DOWN UP DOWN
Carnegie Mellon 2011 MFA Thesis Exhibition
Organized by the School of Art
March 18 - April 17, 2011

March 18, Fri. 6-8pm: Reception

March 22, Tues.
6:30-9:30pm
Critique and discussion with Tina Kukielski
Associate Curator, Carnegie Museum of Art

"I am writing on the threshold of the MFA thesis exhibition, where each year the graduate students extend themselves to produce something extraordinary. This stretching of imagination and ambition creates an adrenaline-fueled run-in for all concerned. Jesha will push the envelope; Sean will produce yet another magical bricolage; Dan will combine the poetic and the profound; Rob will puzzle us with some photographic conundrums; and Courtney will present us with a wry intellectual challenge. This year’s exhibit promises to be bold, ingenious, thought-provoking, and tinged with humor. I have seen them develop their work and grow in confidence over the last three years, through a mutually supportive camaraderie, which has seen them through their Carnegie Mellon journey. All have had to reappraise the notions they arrived with, and have undergone a rigorous period of critical evaluation, in order to recognize their fundamental motivations and to refine their mode of practice. Not only does this exhibit showcase their talent and considerable achievements, but it also represents the philosophy of the MFA program, which is to produce self-defined artists of exceptional ability and initiative, able to create opportunities for themselves and connect meaningfully with the communities and cultures around them."

Artists

Sean Glover
Jesha Chen
Daniel Luchman
Courtney Dow
James Robert Southard

Fitting the somewhat accurate stereotype of the CMU Art Dept, traditional painting and drawing seem light in this show. But I haven't seen it yet.

Miller Gallery
at Carnegie Mellon University
Purnell Center for the Arts
5000 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Tues.-Sun., 12-6pm
Closed Mondays

Admission:
Free and open to the public

wats: ON? Festival Brings Together Speed Based Film, Multimedia Work @Carnegie Mellon, March 17-19

Lot's of stuff always going on at CMU, often related to the cutting edge of art, design and technology. This festival of lectures, film screenings, music and events caught my eye late.

wats:ON? Festival

"Notions of speed in contemporary culture are often tied to technology and its impact on everyday life. Information dissemination and interactions are accelerating, and with it hopes and fears of the future change with every new invention or discovery. Our culture of speed harnesses energies beyond our comprehension, while calling into question the nature of our everyday reality.


Speed is not merely acceleration, but a magnitude of velocity, fast or slow. It becomes a measure of time and space, of dislocation and change, of transformation and evolution. The extremes of fast and slow heighten our awareness of our surroundings, creating a seamless interface between the visceral and the subliminal. Speed creates a blur between what is real and what is imagined.
wats:ON 2011 will examine speed in relation to the production and presentation of creative work encompassing a range of interdisciplinary events."

As with everything else on the cutting edge, a lot of this stuff may not transend beyond the wow, geek factor into art. If 15% of it does, it's more than worth it.

See full schedule and info here

New Film: Kill The Irishman Recalls Cleveland In The 70's: Bomb City USA

A Hollywood fact is that what's scary, upsetting and horrible in real life, will probably make a great movie.

Two new movies, one a documentary bring back the life and times of Danny Greene. Cleveland Magazine has a long story and feature about them, giving lots of info and links about this period.

NYC, has changed so much since the 70's that films about this era of Son of Sam, The Westies, graffiti and Fort Apache seem nostalgic. For Cleveland, it's not quite that way, the grit and history is close to the surface.

"It is a strange moment in the history of Cleveland pride. Kill the Irishman proves that 1970s Cleveland's rakishly charming crooks and killers are as worthy of a gangster film as those in '20s Chicago and '40s Los Angeles.

In 1976, 37 bombs exploded in Cuyahoga County — and legend aside, Danny Greene and the Mayfield Road Mob were probably responsible for less than half of them. Add City Hall's default, industrial decline, the rise of the Cleveland joke and a cellar-dwelling sports team or two, and the '70s may have been Cleveland's low point, its gloomy, unrelenting era of gray despair. But just as locals celebrated surviving the Blizzard of '78, they celebrate outlasting the blizzard of bad news, the drought of default, the epidemic of dynamite. Hitting bottom forges character — and characters.

So, to see back in time to the real Danny Greene, we consulted people who knew him well, writers who've tackled his story before, and documents and footage from his lifetime. We also talked to the lead actor, director and co-producer of Kill the Irishman to hear how they aimed to capture Greene's essence. The story takes us back to an era when the city's ethnic neighborhoods produced fierce rivalries and Clevelanders watched their high school classmates grow up to be union leaders and judges, cops and gangsters, nodding warily toward one another over lunch at the Theatrical Grill."

Kill The Irishman


Danny Greene:The Rise & Fall of the Irishman Documentary

Cleveland: 78TH Street Studios Gallery and Studio Openings Friday, March 18

From a distance, the number of things I truly envy about Cleveland is short--The West Side Market, The Rock Hall, The Cleveland Museum, The Cleveland International Film Festival and for the moment them hosting NCAA tournament games.

Way up on my list is the few top to bottom buildings open to artist studios, galleries and creative businesses.


Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery

"Join us each third Friday monthly from
5-9p to explore 78th Street Studios, a vibrant community of arts & entertainment businesses housed in the former American Greetings Creative Studios, between West 78th & West 80th Streets in Cleveland. 78th Street Studios anchors the west end of the Gordon Square Arts District and is a true destination for visitors to the revitalized Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood."

This month the Adnan Charara show at Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery really peaks my interest. Also, Cleveland artist Dana Oldfather at Survival Kit Gallery the Cleveland West Art league's six in a studio project might be interesting.

I really miss this kind of convenient mix of studios and galleries I remember from Chelsea and Dumbo way back. Makes it really fun and easy to explore. In San Francisco it seemed that by popping into 49 Geary St., one could catch half the city art scene in one place.

Great Blog: The Pittsburgh Art Blog

I always fear that a few people from out of town might assume this blog covers everything there is to see or know about the Pittsburgh art scene. LOL, it would be pretty sad if it did.

IMHO, the best single source to follow for local openings, calls for artists and grant opportunities is The Pittsburgh Art Blog, the product of one insanely dedicated local artist who puts up several posts a day.He can't likely do more on his own. Coverage of the major museums is light. Rick tries to put the focus on local artists.

Check out: The Pittsburgh Art Blog

Also Follow him on Twitter.

Deanna Mance @Box Heart

Deanna Mance brings discipline to her works on paper, creating intricate, large-scale abstract 'scapes. More than anything, the works are reminiscent of maps, cataloging more than streets and implying the sense of activity that one finds in a busy city. In her recent show at Box Heart, The Dead Engineer, Mance exhibits works that span the last seven years. This body of work reflects a dedication to her medium, remaining a consistent presentation. From Box Heart's release:

As Mance looked back over those seven years, she acknowledged the transformation her artwork made in things such as; scale, material, design, color, and overall composition. Although one can certainly acknowledge those differences, the works do share a common thread. They all strive to mimic the lay-outs of improbable objects or the mistranslation of an undiscovered language. Perhaps the location of a secret hiding place or intelligence gathered from deep within the mind. Not a real engineer, Mance perceives her art as blueprints of objects that could never manifest within known physical reality.

It is a dichotomy, to say that a work can be precise as well as intuitive, but the works have that kind of feel to them. Like a jam session, where the musician knows his instrument and its range so well that he can impart incredible impact to his riffs, only Mance is doing it on paper.

The Dead Engineer is on exhibit through March 26 at Box Heart.

March 1 - March 26, 2011
The Dead Engineer:a collection of works by Deanna Mance
Box Heart
4523 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
P. 412.687.8858
F. 412.687.6338
Gallery Hours:
Tuesdays: 11am - 6pm
Wednesdays - Saturdays: 10am - 6pm
Sundays: 1pm - 5pm

A Painter's Legacy: The Students Of Samuel Rosenberg @JCC

Samuel Rosenberg was a great Pittsburgh artist, who in spite of being widely shown here, still is under appreciated. This show at the Pittsburgh JCC looks into his other, perhaps greater legacy as a teacher and influence on hundreds of artists.

As a student at Pratt in NY, I was taught basic drawing and printmaking by Rosenberg student, George Nama.

My one gripe about this show, which includes so much great work, is that it still barely scratches the surface. This was a show for The Miller Gallery; The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts or even better The Warhol, since Andy also was a student. I mean--you need the whole Warhol.

“I could spend the rest of my curatorial career grouping these works together,” said Hiller, the AJM’s director. “I could do that for the next 30 years.”

The number of possible artists who could have been tapped for the exhibition is seemingly endless: “A Painter’s Legacy” taps only a fraction of Rosenberg’s students, whether they painted with him at the Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University), the Irene Kaufmann Settlement in the Hill District or the Y in Oakland."

A few highlights of the show, which included lots of loans from museums, artists and artist estates included works by Abe Weiner, Jane Haskell, George Nama, Philip Pearlstein, Aaronel deRoy Gruber, Marie Kelly and Milton Weiss. A nice addition are informative labels and quotes from artists.

Again from The Jewish Chronicle,

Though Rosenberg was an active painter from 1915 to 1972 and taught countless students, there was no resulting “Rosenbergian school,” in terms of style, said Hiller. “That would’ve been antithetical to Rosenberg, or to any good professor who wants to teach students how to have confidence in their own style.”

A Painter’s Legacy: The Students of
Samuel Rosenberg

Open through April 30

Opening reception, March 13, 1 to 3 p.m.

Fine Perlow Weis Gallery and Berger Gallery

American Jewish Museum, Jewish

Community Center

Read more

POP City

The Jewish Chronicle

Why "The Next Three Days Was Filmed In Pittsburgh"

I did an earlier post about the film, The Next Three Days, which I liked a lot. First, few films have ever used the whole city as a setting better-but on a deeper level there was something right about the setting that fit the-it can happen to you plot.

Callie Curry aka Swoon: TED Talk

Swoon, the street artist some of you may know from her works around town, involvement in projects like The Braddock Library print studio, the Transformazium or Braddock Public Art Projects, gave this talk last year. I think it gives a great idea of her motivations, and creative process.

I've had conversations with a few people who point out that her work, comprised mostly around wonderfully crafted block print portraits doesn't break a lot of new ground. On some level, this is true. I myself think she part of an ongoing trend toward artists interested in sincere engagement with something beyond just the art world.

It works both ways, the the free form collaboration she triggers helps her to do things beyond what a single person could alone. She also is less defined and controlled by the need to please a tiny group of dealers, collectors and curators.

She talks about her major projects, like the raft journeys and her recent earthquake resistant house/public space in Haiti.





FYI, I have little new info on how the Transformazium is going or when it might open. Swoon follows a pretty organic process tending to use the efforts of collaborators and grass roots fundraisers, selling prints and some income from her art sales for funding. They did get a modest grant recently as far as I know.

March Unblurred

I am sorry to say that March's Unblurred was the first I've managed to get to in the last few months. It was a good one, with lots of familiar faces. The venues along Penn Ave are offering a full plate of the arts, adding readings to the evening's fare. Awesome Books, Most Wanted Fine Art and Garfield Artworks al had scheduled readings. Next month, I'll try to plan a bit better so that I can include attending one in my trip.

The International Childrens Art Gallery had some very interesting large scale paintings up in one room. Unfortunately, they weren't labeled, and there wasn't anybody around that knew who the artist was. Apparently, these works have been installed for a bit. If anybody can solve the mystery of who the artist is... I wish I could provide an image. None of the shots I took were very good.



Richard Schnap has a collection of his collages at Imagebox. The works are small, at about 9" x 12". But they pack a lot of impact and commentary into that small space.Mr Schnap has a collection of his work online.

At Garfield Artworks --
13th installment of the Evolution in Arts series, showcasing artworks from regional Artists

artworks from:
Adia
Andres Ortiz Ferrari
Matthu Stull
Michelle Gregio
Radikal Kats Photography


Images: Michelle Gregio, Andres Ortiz Ferrari and Adia

Garfield Artworks had a tightly curated show for March's Unblurred, with a nice selection of painters. The works by Michelle Gregio concentrated on palette, offering a beautiful depth and variety. Please, don't be mislead by the image. (bad camera! bad!) Andres Ortiz Ferrari offered several works on unstretched canvas,tightly controlled in color and line. Adia presented symmetrical works, with a beautiful flow of shape.



Modern Formations has an exhibit of surreal photographs by Lindy Hazel. The above is an example taken from the artist's site. The works are beautiful, clean and fantastical. The work provoked a sense of image play and were more gentle than disturbing.

Next month sees the return of the Ga/Gi Festival. From their site:

GA/GI Festival (pronounced GAHgee) is opening a world of possibles for non interacting industries to network and collaborate. while providing real tangible value to emerging artists and other innovators who want to demo or exhibit their talents to the general public while allowing that public of diverse demographics to see and explore innovation.

The festival takes place on April 1, along Penn Ave. There is a full list of festival activities on their site.

Awesome Girl Talk Video

Came across this video on the huge Pittsburgh mashup artist,Gregg Gillis, AKA, Girl Talk that gives a good idea of what his stuff is about.

Girl Power: Women Take leading Roles In Many Pittsburgh Arts Organizations

The Trib had a nice piece highlighting the leading role women play in the city's art establishment. Included are some nice quotes and interviews.

For whatever reasons, women were important players in this field long before they were in many others. Cross Peggy Guggenheim, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Grace Borgenicht, Betty Parsons, Holly Solomon, Ilena Sonnabend, Paula Cooper, Mary Boone, Gracie Mansion, Annina Nosei, Pat Hearn, Andrea Rosen, Dominique De Menil, Lisa Spellman, Barbara Gladstone and the like out of 20th century art history and you get a very grey picture.In light of these powerful roles, it's surprising women artists were so ignored.

As you can see from the list below, The Mattress Factory, Quantum Theatre, Dance Alloy and Attack Theater would not exist without the women who founded them.

List from The Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Barbara Baker: president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium since 1990

Karla Boos: artistic director of Quantum Theatre, which she founded in 1990

Tracy Brigden: artistic director of City Theatre Company since 2001

Betsy Burleigh: music director for the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh since 2006

Rene Conrad: executive director of the New Hazlett Theater since January.

Michelle de la Reza: founded Attack Theatre with Peter Kope in 1994. They serve as artistic directors.

Jackie Dempsey: founded Squonk Opera in 1992 with Steve O'Hearn. She and O'Hearn serve as artistic directors.

Ellen Fleurov: executive director of Silver Eye Center for Photography since 2009

Dawn Keezer: director of the Pittsburgh Film Office since 1994

Barbara Luderowski: founding director and board president of The Mattress Factory, North Side, which she founded in 1977. Since 2008, she and Michael Olijnyk have served as directors.

Barbara K. Mistick: outgoing president and director of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh; a position she's held since 2005.

Ann Metzger: Henry J. Buhl Jr. co-director with Ronald J. Baillie of the Carnegie Science Center since 2009.

Judith O'Toole: director and CEO of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art since 1993.

Greer Reed-Jones and Susan Sparks: artistic director and executive director, respectively, of Dance Alloy, since 2009.

Janera Solomon: executive director of the Kelly-Strayhorn Theatre since 2008

Jane Werner: executive director of the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh since 1999.

Lynn Zelevansky: Henry J. Heinz II Director of Carnegie Museum of Art since 2009.

March Regional Arts Roundup

A late attempt to roundup some of the more interesting shows in the wider Northeast Ohio, Western PA region. Many of the ones I mentioned last month are still up and won't be highlighted. It's a big area so lots of stuff isn't mentioned.

The extensive show of 130 of M.C. Escher's prints at the Akron Art Museum running till May 29th is high on my to do list.


Cleveland

Cleveland Museum

FYI, The Cleveland Museum is huge; the closest thing this region has to a Met and there are a number of great shows going on there at any given time. Not to insult Cleveland, but this place alone justifies a trip. A few important shows are coming down there.

In Honor of the Cleveland Arts Prize Closes March 13!

"This exhibition commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Cleveland Arts Prize, featuring some 30 works in all media created by former visual arts prize winners whose work is in the permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The museum’s partners in this wide-reaching celebration—MOCA Cleveland, SPACES, and the Sculpture Center—will feature exciting, newly commissioned programs held throughout the summer to draw attention to the excellence of the arts in Cleveland through the lens of the Cleveland Arts Prize. The museum’s exhibition is accompanied by the Annual Awards event for the Cleveland Arts Prize, which will be hosted in the newly renovated Gartner Auditorium on June 26, 2010."

June 13, 2010–March 13, 2011

Sorry, I dropped the ball on telling you about this show.



The Glory of the Painted Page Manuscript
Illuminations from the Permanent Collection
November 6, 2010-April 17, 2011

"The history of manuscript illumination corresponds almost exactly with the epoch we know as the Middle Ages, a vast period of about a thousand years. An illuminated manuscript is a book that was written and decorated by hand sometime between the fall of Rome, in the late 5th century AD, and the perfection of printing technology towards the end of the 15th century. Its texts were written on vellum (animal skin), not paper. These were enlivened by the application of colorful inks, pigments, and gold. In antiquity, literature was thought of as something spoken or heard. The Middle Ages broke with this tradition by considering a literary text as something to be revealed visually to be understood through the written word. Often elaborately decorated in a multitude of styles and formats, illuminated manuscripts flourished in ecclesiastical, monastic, devotional, courtly, legal, and academic contexts throughout the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. This exhibition presents a selection of liturgical, academic, and biblical leaves from the museum’s permanent collection."

MOCA Cleveland

Three contemporary artist shows there, two of which I covered last month.

Javier Téllez : Letter on the Blind, for the Use of Those Who SeeOn view January 28th, 2011 through May 8th, 2011

"Commissioned by Creative Time and Galerie Peter Kilchmann for the 2008 Whitney Biennial, Javier Téllez's stirring film, Letter on the Blind, for the Use of Those Who See (2007) documents six blind people as they touch and respond to a live elephant. Based loosely on an Indian fable, the film balances footage of these interactions with verbal commentary by each subject about his or her blindness. The rawness of the environment - an empty swimming pool in Brooklyn's McCarren Park - sharpens the rich poignancy of the individual's distinct, often profound physical and emotional response to the elephant. A compelling portrayal of non-visual perception through a visual medium, the work probes the value of sight in the interpretation of reality."

Spaces Gallery

Manic Growth
Elizabeth Dunfee
February 11 - April 01, 2011

"Akron-based artist Elizabeth Dunfee uses lyrical painting and mixed-media elements as a means to explore the consistent introduction of synthetic chemicals to our natural environment. Particularly, she weighs the alteration and manipulation of natural elements with the effects that they produce in human bodies. The resulting exhibition, Manic Growth, consisting of a large-scale "painting" environment will be on view at SPACES February 11 through April 1, 2011.

Dunfee employs microscopic cell imagery blown up to wall-sized proportions and then infuses the painting with three-dimensional objects, video and synthetic, "toxic" color to form a tension between the natural and the introduced. Her multi-media collage is a metaphor for the juxtaposition of chemical elements that lead to both beneficial as well as catastrophic results. This installation environment depicts a manic growth where she notes how altering our world for "survival" forms a paradoxical relationship with it."

Camp Cleveland
Machine Project, Emily Lacy, Nate Page, Ezra Buchla, Corey Fogel, Liz Glynn, Asher Hartman, Haruko Tanaka, Adam Overton, Laura Steenberge
February 11 - April 01, 2011

Put in plain English these are a loose group of artists who take over the space and create an ongoing series of events, performances, readings and ongoing installation projects.

Spaces Website

Sculpture Center (Cleveland)

Qian Li: No Matter How Hard I Yell and Daniel McDonald: Reluctant Redemption

Exhibition dates: March 11 – April 16, 2011

"Qian Li’s mixed media installations of sculpture and projected video incorporate memories, dreams, and visualizations of her troubled childhood and traditional Chinese background. She constructs a world of desperation, mental and physical pain, anxiety, and restlessness. Three different works will examine separate traumatic instances that have shaped her expression through art. These works take on a therapeutic aspect for the artist but the brutal emotional honesty of the pieces confronts the viewer directly.
To add another dimension of meaning and response to the artwork of No Matter How Hard I Yell, composers of FiveOne, Cleveland’s new music ensemble, are writing original music for solo instruments for each of Li's pieces."

"Daniel McDonald’s sculptures give form to the internal dilemmas he feels from the overlap of his spiritual upbringing and cultural convictions. Never quite comfortable in the socio-cultural environment of his Mormon childhood, McDonald’s works are partially cathartic but he also seeks to relate to the viewer by addressing broader social concerns such as stereotyping, manipulation and self-evaluation. His three sculptures in Reluctant Redemption examine what he deems “faith-promoting” stories, those which are fed to masses in order to create motivation through unconquerable goals and situations. By creating a dialogue with the work, McDonald hopes to create some resolution for his personal fixation while also scrutinizing the correlations and differences between expectations and eventualities."

Sculpture Center Website

Akron Art Museum

M.C. Escher: Impossible RealitiesFebruary 12, 2011 - May 29, 2011

"M.C. Escher: Impossible Realities features 130 works by master printmaker Maurits Cornelis Escher, including woodcuts, lithographs, mezzotints, sculptures, and rare preparatory drawings that provide an in-depth view of the artist's creative processes. Featured in the exhibition are seminal and instantly recognizable works such as Drawing Hands and Reptiles, as well as the extremely rare lithograph stone for the making of Flat Worms.

The exhibition comes from the Herakleidon Museum in Athens, Greece, which houses one of the world's largest collections of Escher works. Akron is one of only two North American venues for this extraordinary loan."

Akron Art Museum website

Erie Art Museum

Hidden in Plain Sight: Art Treasures from Regional Collections
Main Gallery
October 23, 2010 through April 3, 2011

The perfect show for this post!

"Throughout our region—northwest Pennsylvania and neighboring New York and Ohio—are numerous collections containing outstanding works of art. Some, like the art museums in Cleveland and Buffalo, and the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, are well known to visitors from around the country; however, dozens of collections exist in small museums, historical societies, colleges, libraries and other institutions. These collections are often unknown to their local audience, let alone within the region. To celebrate the grand opening of the new galleries, the Museum has borrowed artworks from these various collections, providing an opportunity for our audience to sample the treasures that can be found throughout the region.

The exhibition features sculptures, paintings, drawings, Native American artifacts, furniture and more. Highlights include works by American artists Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart, Ralph Albert Blakelock, Jasper Francis Cropsey, Thomas Hart Benton, Adolf Dehn, Walter Ufer and many others. Native American works include a rare, early Navajo serape, a painted parfleche and a set of pictograph drawings. Works created in the region include a portrait done by John James Audubon during a sojourn to Meadville, a wonderful collection of carved and painted folk art birds by a Crawford County farmer and sculptures by Marion Sanford. Crafts enthusiasts will enjoy Japanese pottery and baskets, a Calder weaving, a Wendell Castle table, sculptural ceramics by Daniel Rhodes and Ken Ferguson, and an unusual late 18th century Windsor chair. Many of these treasures have never been exhibited outside of their home institutions; some have never been exhibited at all."

Erie Art Museum website

Saturday Benefit for Dara Greenwald: Print Sale at Just Seeds & Dancing at Brillobox

This is likely a case of the broke helping the broke but A young creative person has cancer and you can help out by checking out a bunch of great prints, zines and other stuff for sale at Just Seeds (free admission) and or showing up for a dance benefit at Brillobox later.

"This Saturday, Mary Tremonte (aka Mary Mack) has helped organize a 3-tiered event to raise money for her friend and cohort Dara Greenwald, who has been working through cancer alongside her partner Josh MacPhee since this past summer. Josh and Dara are important creative forces within the Justseeds Collective. These events are apart of a series happening around the US and are a local effort to lend them a financial hand in their time of great need. People are also encouraged to have a fun time while helping out!"

Full details here on SteeltownAnthem

1-5 PM poster sale at Just Seeds3410 Penn Ave

Video screening and dance party at Brillobox 8--whenever

Pittsburgh Weekend Art Events: 3/4/5/11.

c. David Grim (2/18/11)

Friday


Yay. Not only is Unblurred this weekend, but it's the last one of the cold season. That makes me happy.

"Worlds Away" is billed as a photographic series featuring Robert Eisenberg and Lindy Hazel. It's at Modern Formations (4919 Penn) starting at 7PM. Eisenberg offers photojournalism, while Hazel makes Gothic-inspired imagery.

ImageBox (4933 Penn) has the collage work of Richard Schnapp, while Lauren Toohey & Steph Scullio show their bird images at Most Wanted Fine Art (5015 Penn), and are accompanied by music courtesy of Grand Snafu. And if you are in the mood for a reading, stop in (6PM) at Awesome Books (5111 Penn) to hear Amir Rashidd read from his book "Blood Call".

Or if music is more your thing, you can catch the Celtic-inspired Sgt. Early's Dream at the Pittsburgh Beautification Project (7-9PM), while you see artwork by Dean Cercone, Bob Ziller, and James Shipman. At 9PM, you'll hear the acoustic stylings of Ivory Weeds.

Meanwhile Gallery Chiz (5831 Ellsworth Ave.) will show a retrospective of the work of Shadyside-based artist Peter Calaboyias. Apparently he has a notorious wall sculpture at the Pittsburgh International Airport. I don't recall it, however, as I haven't flown in an airplane since 2000. Check out the full range of his work from 5:30-8:30 PM.

And some of the galleries downtown (Future Tenant, Space Gallery, and 709 Penn) are once again scheduling their openings to compete with Unblurred. Go down there and struggle for parking, if you will.

Saturday

I always have the best intentions to go to the Annual Black Maria Film Festival at Melwood Filmmakers. But every year I find a good excuse not to attend. This year is no different. I'm going to see the Carolina Chocolate Drops at the Kelly Strayhorn (it's sold out, so don't get any ideas). Well, this cutting edge traveling film series is in its 30th year, so won't someone please plan to show up on my behalf? It starts at 7:30PM.

And the Brew House in the South Side (2100 Mary Street) is having its first opening in many moons from 6-9PM. It has been shut down for awhile due to building code violations. But thanks to a small grant it will be featuring an opening for participants in the Distillery 5 program. The work of Aimee Manion, Meghan Olson, Jaci Rice, Kara Skylling and Ryan Woodring will be included.

Oldtime Digging Pitt alumnus Deanna Mance is having an exhibition of her work at Boxheart (4523 Liberty Ave.) in Bloomfield. Show up for "The Dead Engineer" between 5 and 8PM for the reception. And if you find yourself in Squirrell Hill during that time slot instead, stop by the Christina Frechard Gallery (5871 Forbes Ave.) for the work of Annette Poitau.

Writers Tweet Warhol's Eight Hour Film :Empire

One thing I like about twitter is that random and continnuing converstions about almost anything can develop.

Warhol's eight hour film consisting of one continuous shot of a nighttime Empire State Building became a forum for a continuous stream of consciousness from a group invited (so lucky!) to sit and tweet the experience from MOMA.

Post about it here.

Not here yet, but keep eyes open for movie about 80 year old street and fashion photographer Bill Cunningham

To quote the 80 year old NY Times photographer Bill Cunningham " The best fashion show is definitely on the street, always has been, always will be". Mr Cunningham has been going around NYC for years shooting street fashion for the Times. He is a free spirit, and consummate artist. And, boy, does he look happy. This is a trailer for an award winning documentary film. The film had recent screenings in NYC, I don't know when the film ("Bill Cunningham, New York") will be in Pgh.
If you think you are only marginally interested in this.... definitely watch the trailer



another short on the film

Bigg Heff's Industry Tour Attempts to Create Opportunities and Connections In Braddock

Wow, I don't mean to make this an all Braddock station but I keep coming across things that seem interesting and relevant.

Not mentioned in the recent Times piece-and rarely spoken of in the media in any positive light is Club Elegance,(formerly Club 804) where several violent incidents have happened. The mayor has made it a personal mission to shut it down.

Might the place have some value as a potential connecting point? A former resident and several others have hooked up an event, aimed at helping local artists to interact with major label execs and show off their talents.

Featuring representatives from Def Jam, Interscope, Sony, Good Music, Fontana/Universal and EMI Records, the tour gives artists who pay a $100 entrance fee a chance to network with and perform for executives.

The tour also will take artists to local music studios and allow them to perform during a closing showcase at Club Elegance, 804 Braddock Ave. The showcase winner will receive several prizes, including the chance to perform in another city on the tour's next stop.

Read full article for details.

Extensive, Updated, Cleveland City Guide on Design Sponge

Design Sponge has an updated city guide to Cleveland, posted by a young store owner who knows it well. It's broken down by neighborhoods with a few nice photos.You could spend a day looking at everything and it looks like a good few weeks checking it all out in person.

Many here, who want nothing to do with the so called "mistake on the lake", should consider the harm done by advertising Pittsburgh as the best house in a slum neighborhood. Especially, since most of us really don't know Cleveland.

Editorial in PG by David Conrad: Civic Arena: Crime Scene

This piece which although it pulls too many punches for my liking, is one of the few opinions sensitive to the real history and effects of the Civic Arena--and how it was built.

"Yes, the arena is an important symbol, an historically crucial object. Because it's a modernist masterpiece? I'm no architect, but I'd have to say, "No."

It's important because it's evidence in a crime scene. It's a weapon left on a battlefield. And this sword should be made into a plough share.

We should never forget what happened on those 28 acres. A strong, nationally known working-class neighborhood was wiped away. A neighborhood that gave Pittsburgh and America a symphony of cultural giants -- musicians, actors, merchants, sports heroes and civic leaders -- was chopped off at the knees."

I partly bring it up cause it relates to my views about what happened in Braddock.

Balanced, Realistic View of Life In Braddock: Mayor of Rust

I stopped talking about or linking to the stream of Braddock stories a while ago, as they became more and more shallow, dreamy and unrealistic.

A new, long in depth story in the latest NY Times Magazine gives a better idea of the issues and personal/political dynamics that might be going on.

Still reading and rereading with hopes of doing a longer post.Don't hold your breath.

Pittsburgh Weekend Art Events: 2/11-13/11.

c. David Grim (taken 1/11/11)

Friday

I know A LOT of people work during the day (me included). But if you can find the opportunity to stop in at the University of Pittsburgh for the "I Made It!" market, you will probably be pleased and astonished by what local crafters have to sell in the 'Burgh. Check it out in the Student Union starting at 11:30AM. If you can't make it, show up on Saturday at the Glass Lofts (5491 Penn Avenue), where the crafty folk make another appearance starting at noon.

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts is unveiling multiple exhibits, and 5 bucks gains you entry into each and every one of them. CMU prof Golan Levin has audio-visual work, Heidi Bender shares her installation art, and Seth Clark is (once again) displaying his decaying Pittsburgh paintings. Aaron Henderson will share his video presentations examining state and county fairs, and Anna E. Mikolay, Ian Page, Henry Simonds and Gerald Van Scyoc round out the evening with a variety of pieces using a range of media. Hours are from 5:30-8PM. For more info... Rick has a nice write-up at the Pittsburgh Art Blog.

And Wild Card in Lawrenceville (4209 Butler Street) is celebrating the work of Ryder Henry with "4 Lydia Was…was, is, and will be a great space nation". Henry is noted for his meticulous creation of space age imagery in paintings and sculpture, so why not join him (6-9PM) in a virtual interplanetary migration characterized by vibrant colors and fine detail?


Saturday

My first inclination is to completely avoid any event that features "speed dating", but I am curious how that concept gets translated in an "arts environment". Fe Gallery (4102 Butler) brings whatever pleasures that forced small talk within specific time constraints can deliver starting at 7PM. File this one under "holiday spirit". The 5$ admission fee covers refreshments.

Sunday

This weekend marks the opening of a show inspired by noted local educator and artist Samuel Rosenberg at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill (5738 Forbes Ave.). The former Carnegie Tech professor's students have contributed a host of pieces for this group exhibition documenting Rosenberg's vast influence. Reception March 13.

Correction--The Rosenberg's Students show which I am for sure going to is March 13.

Pittsburgh To Cleveland Monthly Art Recap

Very sorry, I have let the blog slide so much but thankfully a few people have at least kept it on life support.I've been busy and also lost on twitter, which has captured me with it's easy style and immediacy as a quick, open way to spark conversations or transfer info.

Also, in the time blog has been around, the almost complete lack of online coverage has been filled by many awesome sources from POP CITY, to Steeltown Anthem, The Pittsburgh Art Blog City Creative to the trusty, I Heart Pittsburgh. IMHO, what this blog can add to this might be a greater regional awareness.

So I'm promising to bring back the monthly regional rundown of shows and events outside Pittsburgh from Johnstown to Cleveland.

Cleveland

Cleveland Museum Of Art (some highlights)

Kim Beom: Objects Being Taught They Are Nothing But Tools

"First solo museum exhibition in the United States of the work of Korean artist Kim Beom. The exhibition includes three new mixed-media installations and selections of drawings from 1994 to the present. It will be on view in the museum’s 1,800-square-foot project gallery from November 13, 2010, until March 6, 2011."

CLE OP: Cleveland Op Art Pioneers

"During Op’s heyday in the 1960s, several artists who studied and worked in Cleveland became internationally known for their vital contributions to the movement. In addition, Cleveland was home to the only artist collaborative in the United States devoted to Op. Drawn primarily from the CMA’s permanent holdings and supplemented with loans from private collections, CLE OP: Cleveland Op Art Pioneers showcases work by key figures in the local Op Art scene during its formative years."

Indian Kalighat Paintings

"This exhibition of Kalighat paintings will allow visitors an opportunity to view these rarely displayed Indian paintings, considered to be the beginning of modernism in Indian art. Originally created as souvenirs for nineteenth-century tourists, and regarded as a response to the sudden prosperity brought to Calcutta by the East India Company, the innovative and influential paintings are now highly regarded elements of museum and private collections. Motifs explored in the artwork include religious themes, Western material influence, and commentary regarding the changing social order. These highly stylized and brightly colored paintings also mock the newly affluent and depict contemporary newsworthy figures."

The Cleveland Museum has one of the largest and strongest asian art collections anywhere and there are several more Asian art exhibitions up. See all

MOCA Cleveland

Teresita Fernández : Blind LandscapeOn view January 28th, 2011 through May 8th, 2011

"Teresita Fernández is internationally known for immersive installations and evocative large-scale sculptures that address space, light, and perception. Made with polished stainless steel, glass, and other materials including plastic and graphite, Fernández's abstract sculptures incorporate reflection, light, and shadow in poetic, sometimes luminous formations that suggest natural phenomena. This survey presents a spectrum of the artist's most recent and ambitious projects created between 2005 and 2010. Featured among the exhibition's ten works is the artist's latest graphite and steel sculpture." (These things look really cool)

Lorri Ott : passive voicesOn view January 28th, 2011 through May 8th, 2011

In her new body of small-scale assemblages, artist Lorri Ott transforms synthetic and natural materials into poignant, evocative subjects. Through a process that is both calculated and spontaneous, Ott combines glossy colored resin with mundane found objects like rags, asphalt, and cardboard to create subtle but potent contrasts in form, technique, and medium. In rehabilitating banal objects to new life, Ott gives each work a unique yet ambiguous voice that supplants her own.

More

Spaces Gallery

The VaultSeptember 10 - February 13, 2011 closes next week!

Machine Project :Camp Cleveland
February 11-April 1 Opening February 11

"Machine Project operates as a loose confederacy of artists producing shows at locations ranging from the Santa Monica beach to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In addition they recently developed a year long project exploring how visitors experience the Hammer Museum. Within the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, Machine Project is a non-profit community space investigating art, technology, natural history, science, music, literature, and food. Within the Echo Park storefront as well as in projects held elsewhere they produce events, workshops, and site-specific installations using hands-on engagement to make rarefied knowledge accessible."

Youngstown

Butler Institute Of American Art

The museum also runs a number of satelite exhibit spaces (Why is this so rare?) but honestly, their website can make it hard to know whats up where.

Sydney Cash: Sculpture (Beecher Center, Youngstown)

"This exhibition features sculpture in which glass panels act as lenses that has reflective silver and/or copper imagery. This lens is mounted perpendicularly onto a wall or into a corner, and then illuminated with carefully targeted light. This results in reflected imagery above and cast shadows below the lens. These light sculptures change and intensify the background color, animating a wall's vertical plane."

OK, pooped, will do better next month.

Pittsburgh Weekeend Art Events: 2/4-5/11.

c. David Grim (taken 10/17/10)

Because the Cultural Trust had the foresight (finally) not to compete with the regular onslaught of art events that occurs on every first Friday of the month, you have an outside chance of seeing most of what is worthwhile on the local arts scene this weekend.

Friday

The long-anticipated "Surface and Rigor" show is opening (6PM) at the Mendelson Gallery (5874 Ellsworth Avenue) in Shadyside. It features the abstract works of painter Mark Gualtieri, photographer Rick Byerly, and painter Will Giannotti. These three artists are long-time staples of the 'Burgh arts scene, and it's been awhile since any of them have exhibited in town. Stop by and exchange some words with them before heading over to Unblurred.

And while we are on the subject of the monthly Penn Avenue Corridor extravaganza- make sure to stop by the Pittsburgh Glass Center for 'TENacity", its tenth anniversary show. There will be 31 glass artists presenting their work. Meanwhile there is a mother/daughter show featuring the namesake and progeny of the Irma Freeman Center (5006 Penn), new work by Brad Heiple and Katie Watson at Modern Formations (4919 Penn), and collages by Seth LeDonne at ImageBox (4933 Penn). Most Wanted (5015 Penn) has Chatham University students, and the latest addition to Unblurred is My Place on Penn (4900 Penn)- a venue selling "art furniture".

Listen... I think it's important to recognize the achievements of young local artists. Unblurred has always fulfilled the function of providing venues for unknown creators to get their work out in front of many viewers. CAPA seniors Kimi Hanauer and Emily Hutchings are getting that opportunity this month at the misleadingly-named International Children's Art Gallery (5020 Penn Ave). Give the youngsters some love.

Additionally, if you somehow find yourself with available hours during the workday (from 12-6PM specifically) and easy access to the South Side, stop by at the "Historic Home of Phillip Benz" (2112 Sarah Street) to see the figure paintings of Mahalah McWilliams and Sam Thorpe. Similar hours will be extended throughout the weekend. The artists will be on hand for discourse at 1PM and 5PM.

Saturday

For years now, Bloomfield gallery Boxheart (4523 Liberty Avenue) has been (rather quietly) attracting artists from all over the world to show on its walls. This month it is bringing the work of Hong Kong-native Chung Fanky Chak to Western PA. His series "The Boxes" are photo collages examining visual stereotypes about urban environments. Stop in for a reception starting at 5PM.

Pittsburgh Weekend Art Events: 1/28-29/11.

c. David Grim (taken 11/21/10)

Friday

Yay. Someone had the forethought not to schedule the Downtown Gallery Crawl on a First Friday! That means that art-lovers don't have to make some ridiculous decisions about what they "don't have to see" thisd weekend. This can only be a good thing.

Will there be multi-media installations at Wood Street (601 Wood St.)? Why yes, of course. This season features the transormative powers of Czech-born Jan Tichy. Apparently he's into shadows and light. You can take the time, do the research, and find out what it all means... or (like most people) just go and see whether or not it "looks cool".

You can see Jill Larson's work at 709 Penn Avenue. She has put together a site-specific installation meant to comment on her divorce. Larson was the founder and driving force (until quite recently) behind the Fe Gallery in Lawrenceville. Now it seems she's finally finding time for the purely personal. Ian Brill has a light installation next door.

There's a group show at Future Tenant (819 Penn), curated by Jersten Crosby. One-time Pittsburgh art stars Thad Kellstadt and Jesse McLean are participating. Jill Lena Ford displays her work above Tonic (971 Liberty, 2nd fl.). Meanwhile "Keepsake from the Cloud" at Kurt Shaw's gallery (805 Liberty Ave.) features reproductions from the British Library's album (China, 1750) of the same name.

Handmade Arcade will be set up at 939 Liberty where you'll have the opportunity to turn your old t-shirts into totes (whatever they are). And it's not too late to see the Ally Reeves's-curated group show SCALE at SPACE. Heidi Tucker is among the stand-out artists in that show.

Finally... if you really want to light up your night, check out Steel Town Fire at the Katz Plaza (7th and Penn). You'll see choreographed fire art utilizing props as diverse as poi, snakes, swords & other burning items. Performances will be underway at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 pm.

Mark your Calendars...GA/GI FESTIVAL is back! April 1 and 2

"We couldn't make people go home after the Festival last year" said Christine Bethea GA/GI Festival Director, "so why not do it again?" On Friday and Saturday April1 and 2 Penn Avenue once again goes eco, art and technology awesome with some of the Southwest Pennsylvania's most talented people. Artists and performers; inventors, techies and greenies; tree huggers and robotics makers will populate Penn Avenue from the 4800 to to 5490's with demos, dance, film, robotics, exhibitions, green ideas, fashion and LIVE performance.

Friday evening will be part of  the art district's monthly "Unblurred" art crawl with Saturday dedicated to families, which will include "Birds, Trees and Robots," eco/tech fun for kids @ the Union Project in Highland Park, a Fashion Artists Talk @ the Pittsburgh Glass Center and I-Made it Market presenting "I re-Made it SMART @ the Glass Lofts.

For updates and the events schedule follow the yellow "green" blog. http://www.gagifest11.blogspot.com/

Tonight Jill Larson "After The Sky has Fallen" opens at 709 Penn Ave.

Jill Larson's ( curator, artist and founder of Fe Gallery) exhibit opens at 709 Penn Ave Downtown from 6-8. Entitled "After the Sky has Fallen" the exhibit is a mixed media installation. Some of the works will be subtley effected by the every ten minute vibration that the Penn Ave space is known to have. Expect interesting and thought provoking work well installed and displayed. Come on you don't REALLY want to sit home again just cause it's cold!!

Pittsburgh Weekend Art Events: 1/7-8/11.

c. David Grim (taken 1/1/11)

Friday

Technically, Unblurred lies dormant during January. But this "First Friday" is far enough away from New Year's Eve to leave room for a few events along the Penn Avenue corridor. Garfield Artworks (4931 Penn) features the work of photographer Lexi Shapiro, who concerns herself with images inspired by some of the greatest cults of all time. This content is right up my alley, so I have some amount of expectations for this, even if I've never seen Shapiro's work. Like most Unblurred events it runs from 7PM to about 10PM.

Meanwhile Most Wanted Fine Art (5015 Penn Ave) offers up a selection of stuff from artists it plans to show throughout 2011. Some might call it a "preview" (7-10PM). Grand Snafu is providing musical accompaniment. Come out and show your gratitude for this gallery's year-round commitment to the arts.

In Lawrenceville, Wild Card is hosting an exhibition of rock show promotional art with the work of sixteen different artists- Andre Costello, Andy Scott, Ben Stewart, Christian Breitkreutz, David Pokrivnak, Gian Romagnoli, Jes Lavecchia, Jon Hemmis, Katie Gould, Maggie Negrete, Matt Ketchum, Megan Herwig, Nate McDonough, Ron Copeland, Seth Ledonne, Steph Neary. It runs from 7-9PM. Appropriately, there will be live music from Trash Knight and Means To An End (if you're into that sort of thing).

Laurie Mancuso's The Shop (4314 Main St., Bloomfield) will be having a reception for the photographic work of Brooklyn-based artist Akil Harris from 7-11PM. He's apparently obsessed with trees and leaves.

Saturday

Is it really THAT difficult to make it over to Homestead for an art opening? Well, it has been for me. Will this weekend be marked by my inaugural trip to Artspace 105 (105 East 8th St.) for the opening (7PM) of "Manufacturing Identity"? The work of Chris McGinnis, Aaron Miller and Daniel Kuhn "reveals the interrelated nature of mechanized society through industrial petroglyphs and images of popular culture, raw materials and assembly line production." Or so their press kit suggests.

If you did plan on staying on the East End, you could still see art at Boxheart's 10th Annual Inter/National Exhibition from 5-8PM. The gallery is located at 4523 Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield.

And because I personally like the venue and the people involved in running it- I think you should check out the paintings of John Frevyogel & Johnny Fry at Artforum Gallery and Tattoo in Lower Burrell (2603 Leechburg Rd.). I know it's a lot to ask to suggest you go see the work of some guys I'm not even familiar with... but really, it's not that far and you are BOUND to have a good time (6-9PM). Besides, there is a drive-through espresso joint right down the road to get you fortified for your drive back to the city.