Sherry Rusinack: Hats Off To The Insane @ Pittsburgh's Box Heart Gallery

I don't usually say this, but this is not just a great show to see but an amazing chance to buy great cheap art, with few works selling for more than $200 and many for as little as $35.
Works are being swapped out as things sell, creating an ongoing instillation of insanity.

If I had a gripe, its that I wish there was even more work by this prolific, intuitive artist on display. May get back with some shots.

Hats Off to the Insane: New Work by Sherry Rusinack
Box Heart Gallery
October 15--November 9
4523 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Obligatory Pittsburgh Duck Post

The Pittsburgh Duck ended up pretty much the way, I thought it would, by operating as a medium through which Pittsburghers could gaze at cute kids (One in a duck costume), dogs, weather, the river, and the stunning beauty of the city itself.  Is it great art? Who really cares?

West Virginia Bridge Day: Live Feed From New River Gorge Bridge Jump

Each year avid thrill seekers head to jump off a bridge over a massive gorge.

To each his own. You may not want to do this, but Pittsburgher's should be happy an amzing place like West Virginia's New River Gorge is just a few hours drive away.

http://www.officialbridgeday.com/live-feed

Penn Ave in October

Garfield Night Market

I started my Penn Ave tour at the Garfield Night Market last First Friday (aka Unblurred). Great place to start, since it opens earlier than most of the venues on Penn. Plus, you can get a taste of something to keep you going during your long walk. Unfortunately, October was the last Night Market for the season, but they will be returning in the Spring.

The Dirty Poet

A lot of random stuff happens on Penn Ave during Unblurred. This past one, we were treated to a mostly-brass marching band. Which was totally fun. Although the Dirty Poet posts all over the city, I did run into one on a pole near Evaline St. Always a pleasure to read these, and they're distributed pretty evenly across neighborhoods.

But the meat of Unblurred remains the exhibits. First up, Olga Brindar had a solo at Artists In Motion.

Olga Brindar - And then there was that unforgettable morning when Blackbird was out walking

There were more than a few of these large-scale drawings in the exhibit. I love the touch of myth that underlie these works.

I could here the sweet strains of John Coltraine, just a block away, at Mr. Roboto Project. Nicholas Perney, who uses the musicians of the jazz era as a source of inspiration, had a solo in the venue's space. The works were all created with mixed media on wood blocks. Very dramatic. (below)

Nicholas Perney at Mr. Roboto Project

The Irma Freeman Center exhibited its third round of Pittsburgh-based art. As always, the show is a democratic survey of Pittsburgh as seen through the eyes of its artists. The works are varied in media and concept, ranging from representational to concept.

Laurie Mancuso Rusty

 I particularly liked the above work by Laurie Mancuso, and there were a lot of really delicious works to enjoy. Some of my favorites are included in the gallery at the end of this post.

Paulette Poullet at ModernFormations Gallery

ModernFormations had a strong doubleheader for October. really a must-see pairing that offer completely different views on the subject of place. Paulette Poullet (above) is exhibiting Our Disappearing City in the back gallery. I wish the image did justice to the work, really. I found the work to be pretty compelling.

Kurt Garrison Looking Back: Tate Modern

 The front gallery at Modern Formations hosted Things Are Looking Up: Abstract Tourist & Architectural Photography by Kurt Garrison. The title really says it all. Really striking work that went way beyond the concept of tourist.

Enjoy the Gallery!

Birth of the Living Dead documents the making of Night of the Living Dead

Got say, Night of the Living Dead  is still very shocking and disturbing today. Low budget, quirky, raw and continually violent. Someday, I will get the nerve to watch it again.

Finally, what looks like a good documentary on the making of this pittsburgh icon, tracing the film partly to the unhinged nature of the 1960's when scenes not that different surged daily onto American TV screens.

Don't know where or when it's playing here- keep your eyes out.

Local Comic Artist, Ed Piskor goes Neck Deep into Hip-Hop History

This is weird for me, cause my high school, in Queens, Hillcrest was a hotbed of early Rap & graffiti culture. Ed goes really deep into this with his new comic book, Hip-Hop Family Tree and is certain to tell you things you, don't know.

Time magazine did a post and great video

Francis Crisafio at 707 Penn

Francis Crisafio

The last Gallery Crawl downtown was very packed, with spillover from the welcome party for the duck crowding the galleries. It was difficult to really get a good look at the work in most of the galleries during the Crawl, and I know I have to go back.

One show in particular was Francis Crisafio's solo at 707 Gallery. There's more to explore here than the undeniably good work on the walls, however brief a glimpse I got.

The works were large photographs that looked like live action collage. The images themselves were consistently strong and seemed very sensitive. But it was the use of masks in the portraits that was so intriguing.

The exhibition incorporates drawings, recycled photographs, and print media as well as body gesture to explore issues of race, class, and gender. The exhibition is open to the public Friday, September 13, through Sunday, November 3, 2013.

Holdup in the Hood
Francis Crisafio
through November 3, 2013
707 Gallery
707 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh PA 15222

Fragmentation: New Work by Seth Clark

Seth Clark Mass I (diptych)Collage, Charcoal, Gouache, Pastel, Acrylic, Graphite on Panel, 72" X 84"[/caption]

Really great show at BoxHeart this month. Seth Clark has a solo of his large collage works of deteriorating architecture.

The works are a contrast of serene, empty space with heavily layered paper combined with drawing media. Clark achieves an incredible depth in these works, I feel like my hand would sink into the surface of the collage. Honestly, I really wanted to riffle through those layers. I'm sure there are secret letters and old movie tickets hidden in the walls.

From the show description:

These images are created through an ambitious layering process. Clark collages with found paper to reflect the fragmented and complex tactility of decay. Once a dimensional foundation is achieved, various mixed media are used to bring definition and depth to these raw materials. The processes of collage and drawing alternate between themselves lending to a seamless blend of the two mediums. It often takes months for the subject to appear out of the many scraps of paper and scribble.

Seth Clark's Fragmentation exhibit is up through October 12 at BoxHeart. Well worth the time to go and see.

September 17 - October 12, 2013
Fragmentation
New Work by: Seth Clark
BoxHeart
4523 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224