Carnegie International Reviews Pour In -- Updated List

No excuse, but I haven't seen it yet.

The professional art world is a bit of a circle jerk, where open, honest criticism is rare. Even so, the reaction seems very positive, with reviewers using words like smart, understated & playful

Check out the the blog entry with links. 

Pittsburgh Children's Hospital Surprises kids with Super Hero Window Washers

Not exactly a fan of the monolithic, UPMC healthcare giant, a non profit that claims to be the region's biggest employer while saying it has no employees.

File this in the Pittsburgh fun & awesome category. Obviously many of these non employees and contractors are pretty good people.

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

Chris McGinnis at 709

Chris McGinnis The Productive Machine #13

A really stand-out exhibit at the last downtown Gallery Crawl in July was at 709, where Chris McGinnis is showing The Productive Machine.

The presented works are a combination of drawings and paintings, with the subject of manual labor and urban environment. The works themselves seem to herald a romanticized vision of skilled labor, reminiscent of the Social Realism movement. There are some subtle observations about the nearly-defunct manufacturing dichotomy. The works record the current state of Rust Belt environs, showing the abandonment of manufacturing. Social Realism aimed to expose the plight of the underclass; these works continue to record those disparities.

Chris McGinnis
Staccato Rhythm II (After Gilbreath)

Interesting in this show is the exhibit of studies alongside their painted counterparts. And in an exhibit of interesting works I thought The Productive Machine #13 (above) particularly interesting. The study that paired with the piece, Staccato Rhythm II (After Gilbreath) (pictured left), is inset into the corner. The discord was intense, since the inset was an entirely different handling of pigment. The color keeps the superimposed images justified, but the deliberate obliteration of detail in the figure as well as the glowing diagram lines push an aslant dimension into the plane.

I like this pairing too -

Chris McGinnis The Productive Machine #12

Chris McGinnis The Productive Machine #12 (Study)

 The drawing is held very true to form in both of these pairings,as well as with the pairings in the rest of the exhibit. Color gives the work an added dimension, while remaining true to composition and values. Because I am an artist myself, I would love to see the previous steps that led up to the drawing as well as any intervening studies between these very fine drawings and their pigmented counterparts.

Nothing like procrastination; I have been meaning to write about this exhibit for a couple weeks. Unfortunately for you, Dear Reader, there is only this weekend to see it. The Productive Machine closes on Sunday, September 1. Yes, 709 Gallery does have Sunday hours. So, what are you doing this weekend?

Chris McGinnis
The Productive Machine
709 Penn Gallery
July 12-September 1, 2013

The Corpse Flower is Blooming @ The Phipps- Promising a Sick & Amazing Experience

Yes, this is an absolutely huge flower that smells like a rotting corpse and is pollinated by carcass eating insects. People travel thousands of miles and hike for hours to see this in its native Sumatra.

From the Wikipedia

"The titan arum's inflorescence can reach over 3 metres (10 ft) in height. Like the related cuckoo pint and calla lily, it consists of a fragrant spadix of flowers wrapped by aspathe, which looks like a large petal. In the case of the titan arum, the spathe is green on the outside and dark burgundy red on the inside, and deeply furrowed. The spadix is hollow and resembles a large loaf of French bread. Down inside the sheath of the spathe the spadix bears two rings of small flowers. The upper ring bears the male flowers, the lower ring is spangled with bright red-orange carpels. The "fragrance" of the titan arum resembles rotting meat, attracting carrion-eating beetles and flesh flies (family Sarcophagidae) that pollinate it. The inflorescence's deep red color and texture contribute to the illusion that the spathe is a piece of meat. During bloom, the tip of the spadix is approximately human body temperature, which helps the perfume volatilize; this heat is also believed to assist in the illusion that attracts carcass-eating insects."

Apparently cultivating it is pretty hard and has only been managed by a few hundred botanic gardens.

The Corpse Flower segment on Essential Pittsburgh

The Phipps

Open until 2 a.m. nightly Aug. 20 and 21

Unblurred in the summer = hothothot

Night Market

I usually get these posts up in a more timely manner, but August makes me lazy. If you missed the August Unblurred, I feel a little sorry for you; it was a blast!

I thought the Night Market was going to be limited to the Cultural District, but it appears to be branching out. A block of N Pacific, between Penn and Dearborn, was filled with local DIY crafters and purveyors of sidewalk cuisine. There were familiar booths and vendors, along with some new faces and new wares.

The Community Center on N Pacific, hosted a small press book fair, which is just the kind of event I love. Local and visiting authors and illustrators were on hand with tables of self-published books, 'zines and graphic novels. I am so glad that I didn't know it was taking place until I was on Penn Ave. I only had a limited amount of cash with me and these events always put a gaping hole in my budget!

Assemble was extremely active, hosting No Fly Zone - an installation by D.S. Kinsel. The space was a riot of color and sound, with paper airplanes (with greater and lesser success) sailing across the space.

Across the street at Mr. Roboto were these super sweet cross stitch pieces by Steel Wools:

Steel Wool at Mr Roboto Project

I spotted several of this artist's pieces in the wilds of Pittsburgh, and have wondered about them. They're such a nice surprise to run into on a street corner. It's nice to be able to make some connection between these anonymous works and at least some semblance of their agent. Steel Wool documents their work on Tumblr. I am looking forward to spotting more works in the wilds of Pittsburgh.

Kathryn Carr Glorious Growth Hormone

Most Wanted Fine Art hosted an exhibit of Kathryn Carr's cut paper works. These are exceptionally striking pieces, with a lot of character to them. I was particularly intrigued by Glorious Growth Hormone (picture above) with its layered papers and its claim to a contiguous, amorphic space. While the works maintain a certain delicacy, they are considerably stronger than previous shows that I have seen.

There are several images of the exhibit in the gallery, but for a more complete picture of Kathryn Carr's work, check this link.

Carolyn Wenning

  Carolyn Wenning opens her doors for some Unblurred events, and I was lucky enough to get in for a few minutes during the last event to see what is fresh from her easel. These very fresh paintings were up in her space. Her work is so atmospheric, with just a wonderful glow. I was so happy to see her open for the event, and I am looking forward to seeing her open again for future Unblurreds.

The next Unblurred is coming up soon, just a couple weeks away on September 6th. The Penn Ave Arts Initiative should be releasing the new calendar soon. I'm looking forward to it!

First Impression - Knit The Bridge is Both Awesome & Underwhelming

A few initial personal impressions of The world's largest "yarn bombing" project, Knit The Bridge. (Opinion is my own and may change as I spend more time with it) 

Tons of people put lots of time, effort and love into this project and I'm very glad they did.

Awesome:

The awesome part of this sort of explains itself. The project was huge and pulling it off demonstrated a tremendously powerful community effort; technical skill and almost military coordination. Using an iconic bridge as a metaphoric demonstration of civil society involving almost 2000 people.

From The Post Gazette

"A niece in Toledo, Ohio, Rose Durant, also got involved. Ms. Deaniello didn't stop there, though, and brought in yet another acquaintance to create panels, 90-year-old Zella Poindexter, who lives in a Pittsburgh nursing home.

Much of the pre-site planning for Knit the Bridge was accomplished at the Spinning Plate gallery in East Liberty, where volunteers such as Ms. Deaniello, 71, were "little worker bees," she said, laughing.

The real buzz began early Saturday, when the actual assembly began. With the bridge closed off to vehicle and foot traffic, the low chatter of conversation from the mostly female crews was a backdrop as they stitched away hours in the sun."

Underwhelming:

The weakness of the project in some ways comes from it's greatest strength. 

Yarn Bombing as a movement tends to relate to street art and gather strength from pushing boundaries. Overwhelmingly the aesthetic is about softening the hard, technical world with the handmade, funky and chaotic. 

The main tower covering was machine knitted according to reports. Also, the most interesting aspects of the bridge like the cables were not "bombed". 

One also gets the strong impression that an effort was made to control and design out unexpected content or quirks- washing out anything remotely offensive or personal. (Could be wrong about that)

While I understand the physical and logistical barriers involved, the project fails to push the envelope in a way that creates true art. 

Views were from first look late Sunday evening. I may change my mind as I walk the bridge and soak it all in.

Station To Station Seeks Submissions for Mobile Train Public Art Spectacle.

The Station to Station concept seems to be fleshing out. It's gonna cost $25 to attend and honestly seems more about Art Star theater than real collaborative participation.

Even so-- they say they want your input.

"Send us images that inspire you-- an impromptu moment of beauty, absurdity, poinance or revelation. It can be a parking lot, the back of a bus, a field up-close, someones expression on a train platform- anything that moves you.

Your submissions will appear on our tumblr, and have the chance to be projected as part of the happenings! Help us make Station to Station a true nomadic experience, occurring over borders and beyond boundaries. The train is just the beginning."

Feel free to submit

Details to attend.

Bill & Ai Qiu Hopen's Mysterious Sutton West Virginia Studio

Once in while we get down to West Virginia, where one sometimes finds the strangest, most magical things. These shots were taken in a tiny place called Sutton. The old church seems abandoned but outside is a very romantic hanging bronze. Nearby is a store front with small maquette's displaying great skill. A worn flyer seems to indicate the artists.

 From, The West Virginia Encyclopedia

 (Bill)"Hopen studied painting at Lehman College, a branch of the City University of New York, and is largely self-taught as a sculptor. In the mid-1970s, he moved from Manhattan to Sutton. West Virginia hardwoods and stone were the materials that he first used for carving. Later in his career he devoted himself largely to sculpture cast in lead crystal, bronze, and other metals." Bill has had many commissions, throughout West Virginia, as well as New York, Wichita, Baton Rouge and elsewhere.

 His wife, has works all over China and keeps a studio near Shanghai. Amazingly, both artists have made life in West Virginia work for them. Hope they don't mind me sharing these shots from last year. Their aesthetic is similar enough that I can't be sure who did what. My guess is the dancing/floating violinist may be Ai Qiu's work.

Bill Hopen's Website

Ai Qiu Hopen's Website

Andy Warhol Bridge Yarn Bombing Begins: Knit The Bridge Project Should Be Complete By Tomorrow Night

Article in Post Gazette Follow #KnitTheBridge hashtag on twitter for images. Or go downtown and watch.

Artist Couple Makes Wild & Wonderful, West Virginia Window House

For people willing to put the effort in to live a creative life fully, West Virginia can be a great place. From This Is Colossal

"For their very first date, photographer Nick Olson took designer Lilah Horwitz on a walk in the mountains of West Virginia. While chatting and getting to know each other during a particularly scenic sunset the two jokingly wondered what it would be like to live in a house where the entire facade was windows, so the sunset would never be contained within a small space."

A year later, they had quit their jobs and started a road trip, scrounging windows & doors at garage sales and salvage stores along the way.

Half Cut Tea . com | Nick Olson & Lilah Horwitz from Matt Glass on Vimeo.

Not sure where this place is.

Lawrenceville's Rock All Night doubles size to 20 venues & 70 acts

I love this kind of free form event that links existing venues more than a lot of giant festivals. It really connects one to the neighborhood by making one roam and discover.

From The Post Gazette

"A 16-hour free festival featuring more than 70 acts at double the venues (20). The goal of actually rocking all night hasn't panned out yet -- they're still looking for a place where they can do a rock 'n' roll breakfast from 2 to 6 a.m. -- but they're starting earlier with unlikely venues such as the Dozen Bake Shop, Embody Juice Bar and Wild Purveyors Market playing host to acoustic music at 10 a.m."

Venues include:

4 - 8 PM Arsenal Park concert
Neid's Hotel- Classic Rock
Thunderbird
Stinky's -Blues
Cattivo - Punk/Metal
Eclipse Lounge -Electronic/World Music
720 Records - Jazz/R&B
Hambones - Bluegrass
Arsenal Lanes (Bowling Alley)
Kopec's
Dozen Bake Shop-  Acoustic
Wild Purveyors Market- Acoustic

Also busking zones outside Rather Ripped Records and other places.

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Figment Project Live Streams Andy Warhol Gravesite

Love him or hate him, Warhol has become an immortal vessel on which the public projects itself.

"The Figment Project

To honor the anniversary of Warhol’s birthday, August 6, 2013 The Andy Warhol Museum and EarthCam launched a collaborative project titled Figment, a live feed of Warhol’s gravesite. This live feed, viewable 24 hours a day, seven days a week worldwide is available above.

Gravesite as Pilgrimage

Andy Warhol died on February 22, 1987 and is buried at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery, which is owned and operated by St. John the Baptist Church in Pittsburgh - a sister parish of St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church. Warhol’s parents, Julia and Andrej, are also buried at the same cemetery.

Hundreds of devotees make the pilgrimage yearly to Warhol’s resting place. Often these visitors leave mementos at the site, including such popular culture items as Campbell’s Soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles."

Follow the stream here:

http://www.warhol.org/figment/