Pittsburgh Art Happenings: 2/6-7/09

Predictably, this first weekend of February is packed with openings after the typical January layoff. The feast or famine proposition is once again in full force... there's little chance that you are going to see everything, so take a miute or two to identify a couple priorities.

Friday

The first Friday of the month (almost) always brings Unblurred (on Penn Avenue between Garfield and Friendship), and as usual there is a lot to see. Your first stop should be Clay Penn (5111 PENN AVE), where Laura Jean has put together PRINTS N'AT, a collection of choice work by Bob LaBobgah, David Pohl, Bob Ziller and yours truly. I'm quite happy to be put together with these three distinguished artists, as they have many years of art-making experience between them. My contributions for the show constitute a photographic postmortem for the "American Dream". Stop by between 7 and 9PM.

Imagebox (4933 PENN AVE) is featuring the collages of Richard Schnap, in a show entitled "Strange Channels". If you've been a habitue of the local art scene for any length of time, you are already familiar with his work. Lauren Toohey entered the Pittsburgh consciousness relatively recently, but has been prolific in her output. She is presenting a steamy assortment of her paintings along with Elisabeth Scott under the title SEXUAL at Most Wanted Fine Art (5015 PENN AVE).

In recognition of Black History Month, Garfield Artworks (4931 PENN AVE) is offering "The Biko Museum Experience", as well as "Facemadics" by craftsman and artist Diamond Axe. I've seen Homewood resident Emory Biko's work at the Mattress Factory, and I recommend you take a breath or two before appreciating his hard-hitting social commentary. Meanwhile Ed Steck has some commentary of his own regarding the degradation of the American landscape. His reception for the METAL NJIGHT (4919 PENN AVE) series is at Modern Formations .


Due to my frequent attendance at Unblurred, I never make it over to Shadyside's monthly art walk. But I just might make the effort this time to see Thommy Conroy' solo of paintings over at Steve Mendelson's gallery (5874 Ellsworth Avenue, 6-8PM). Conroy used to be co-owner of the now defunct (but always spectacular) La Vie on Butler Street in Lawrenceville. There used to be a time when I saw him almost weekly, and I've often wondered how he's been spending his hours. This looks like the perfect opportunity to find out.

No doubt I'll end my art travels with a stop at Zombo Gallery for the opening of Adam Waddell's paintings. This guy is pretty brash. During last year's Art All Night he hung up a portrait of a smiling "Chinaman" accompanied by a "Rising Sun" flag. With this kind of geographical and cultural confusion as an example, I can only imagine what type of stuff his disordered mind can create. Good thing I don't have to speculate anymore.


Saturday

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts has turned over all of their spaces, and the opening reception for the new exhibitions are this weekend (5:30-8:00PM). Patricia Bellan-Gillen's ZOO.Logic+ looks intriguing, with her "vast planes of vivid color and masterfully drafted animal imagery". I love all creatures... big, small, and painted. God only knows what the Society of Yoruba Beads will offer with their Transformations... and "generative processes" by Los Angeles-based C.E.B. Reas and Berlin-based Marius Watz sounds equally enigmatic. But everything will certainly be brought under the blinding light of infinite clarity at the Associated Artists of Pitsburgh show, which celebrated its organization's longevity by asking their members to come up with pieces inspired by the theme "99". Overwhelmed patrons can check out the ambiguously titled Video Retrospective, 1990-2009.

Panza Gallery (115 Sedgwick Street in Millvale) is featuring the work of U. of Pgh art grads Adrian Chin and Julian Betkowski. I'll get a preview of the work tonight, but readers of this blog will have to make due with the promotional image for the show. I know it sparks my interest. The opening reception is from 6-9PM.

December 2008 Unblurred.

The first Friday of the month is just about here, and you know what that means... free drinks! Actually, there are quite a lot of folks that exert great effort to put together local art events, and they deserve more than for you to just show up and cadge their alcohol. Remember- someone had to pay for it. Take the time and enjoy the work while you're stuffing your face.

Friday:

December Unblurred is upon us, and it looks like just about every available venue is planning something. As always I'm just going to hit upon the highlights as I see them, but I encourage you to check out everything. Personal aesthetics differ wildly, and you may find a favorite that I don't even mention.

I'm personally excited to see that Laura Jean McLaughlin is returning with a group show at Clay Penn (5111 PENN AVE). She's been busy the last several months, and I've missed using her gallery/work space as a home base for these events. I'm not sure who will be involved (besides the very talented painter Victoria Cessna), but I like a lot of the artists she shows. At the other side of the street Carolyn Wenning is opening her SPACE (4823 PENN AVE) after a stint of public inactivity. She's billing the evening as an "open studio", and promising "music, food, and fun".

Garfield Artworks (4931 PENN AVE) is featuring two old hands- figurative painter Evan Knauer, and post-hippie photographer David Harris. To say that these vets are seasoned is an understatement. This is a must-see exhibit for the night. Together these artists represent decades of experience in the local arts scene. As they are both rather "old school", neither of them have much of an internet presence, so you have to come and see the work in person.

Meanwhile Modern Formations (4919 PENN AVE) is offering up Kathryn Cole's “Bits and Pieces of a Place”. Cole was the winner of the gallery's annual juried salon show, during which scenesters got to choose a contributor that should be offered a solo. Over the years a lot of quality artists have been introduced through these exhibitions, and I have no reason to suspect this will be any exception. Cole uses found scraps of metal to construct unique assemblages.

Finally I want to highlight this excerpt from Grace Morrow and Ronn Akins' joint statement about their show at Imagebox (4933 PENN AVE) : "Through various mediums, simple and complex patterning, they search for that connection, that spark that holds us one to another and tells us: we are not alone; we are part of each other; we are part of everything that is; WE ARE!" Can you really afford to miss that?

Saturday:

You can get a jump on your holiday shopping by making a visit to Moxie Dada on the North Side (1416 Arch Street). The Firehouse Studios (the group of artists who do their work above the gallery itself) have a wide assortment of ceramics and jewelry for sale. The reception for "We've been Good" runs from 6-9PM.

Pittsburgh Art Events: 9/5-6/08.

We've officially entered into the election season, and people all over the nation are amped up about their favorite candidates. I can definitely be accused of being a bit obsessed myself, but I'm finally starting to run out of steam. So this weeekend should be a good opportunity for me to relax and take in some decent art and conversation with friends. Sorry this is coming a bit late; I just couldn't keep myself from being distracted.

Friday:

September Unblurred is here. The leaves on the few trees along Penn Avenue will begin to carpet the sidewalks, and it should be comfortable both inside and out. This month sees the re-opening of the Clay Penn (5111 Penn Avenue) after an extended hiatus. Laura Jean will be presenting Mish Mash A Go Go, with the work of various artists including ceramics by Tom Binger and Louise Radochonski. Modern Formations (4919 Penn Ave.) will also be featuring several creators in a show called Of Beasts. "Jason Rosemeyer, Christian Breitkreutz, Bethany Chiarizio, and Michael Ninehouser collectively convey a sense of warning while maintaining a subtle sense of wit as they visually dictate the daunting pleasures and splendid anxieties of modern day living. " Hey, who doesn't have a penchant for modern beasts?

IMAGEBOX (4933 Penn Ave.) is exhibiting the work of a group of emerging photographers from Pittsburgh Filmmakers (Sally Bozzuto, Matthew Robison, and Vanna Weaver) and Jason Sauer is celebrating the one-year anniversary of his Most Wanted Fine Art Gallery with help from Jon Howe from the United Kingdom. Howe is inspired by Picasso's Cubist period, and Sauer calls his assemblages "Neo Classical appropriation with Rauschenberg assemblage".

Unblurred events generally run from 7-10PM.

Friday and Saturday

If you find the time to break away from Penn Avenue between 6 and 11 PM on Friday, you'll be able to see a performance by Andrew the Impaled at the Zombo Gallery (4900 Hatfield Street) in Lawrenceville. I've known him long before his days in real estate, and I can assure you that he is well worth seeing. Have you ever seen a man sew his own mouth shut? This trick would have been especially appropriate for some of the speakers in Minneapolis last night, but they are much more adept at putting their collective foot in their mouth. We'll just have to leave it for the expert. Andrew's appearing in conjunction with Nat the Signgrrrl's exhibition of paintings. Zombo himself promises "Tikis! HotRods! Pinups! and handpainted car hoods!"

In the event that you can't make it, the show will be up for viewing on Saturday as well (sans Andrew, I'm afraid). Michael Devine (aka Zombo) is filling out his monthly schedule with a series of two-night shows on the first weekend of every month. Apparently there are just that many folks around town who would like to show their "lowbrow" work. That's what I'll be doing in December, as it's a nice oportrunity to try and sell art without any commission. And that means that stuff is priced cheap!

Saturday

Moxie Dada (1416 Arch Street in the North Side) has a reception (6-9PM) for Philadelphia-born painter Maria Napoli. Pieces of the Puzzle draws on the artist's "emotional journey and allows us to see glimpses of her spiritual awakenings and understandings." But I'll probably go anyway. I like the gallery and its curators.

Back in Lawrenceville, The Framery (4735 Butler) offers up There are No Birthdays in Hell (5-8PM), by Satan's Camaro (apparently a collaboration between Justin Strom and Lenore Thomas). The artists themselves claim that their nom de plume represents "the lovechild of eighties rocker Nikki Sixx and teen pop star Tiffany." You can hold them responsible for this at their blog. And while you're at it, drop by the Trinity Gallery (4747 Hatfield St.- right down the block from Zombo) for Anne Lee's paintings of the neighborhood (reception starts at 7PM).

April Unblurred. (This Friday Evening).

Another long, cold winter is finally behind us and this month's Unblurred is waiting to welcome us into spring. We might get a bit of rain this Friday evening, but temperatures should be mild and a little bit of moisture shouldn't keep you away from seeing what the Pittsburgh arts scene has to offer. If you've never been to Penn Avenue (between Friendship and Garfield) for this event, you'll likely be pleasantly surprised by the amount of galleries that thrive along the street. You can easily spend a couple of hours meandering about. Have a cup of wine, maybe see a performance, and consider purchasing an affordable piece of art. There are several highlights you shouldn't miss this go 'round.

If the weather kept you home last month, you can still see the closing at The Green Building Gallery (5515 Penn Avenue). It features the work of two distinguished artists, one currently based in Pittsburgh and another who used to be a fixture here in town. James Shipman is president of the Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors, and creates mixed media edifices that suggest a hankering for long-past rural and industrial glories. John Sokol uses tar, oil, and acrylic to achieve classically-styled paintings featuring pastoral subjects, suggesting old-timey advertising on a large scale. The exhibition was curated by local favorite Bob Ziller, who has proudly sat the inaugural show of the new gallery for the past month.

Meanwhile, down at the Clay Penn (5111 Penn Avenue), proprietor Laura Jean McLaughlin is showing off a brand new series of paintings by the Mt. Washington-based Victoria Cessna. The artist is a particular favorite of mine, and I've been looking forward to another solo show of her work since her last one at Coca Cafe (Lawrenceville) in 2006. Previously Cessna's imagination has been stirred by old found snapshots that she has discovered in her travels. Her current batch of paintings (entitled Friendly Fire) have been inspired by a series of unfortunate events that have occurred to her and her family over the last year. With her postmodern-impressionist aesthetic, and a mix of forlorn nostalgia and dark humor, Cessna's work is absolutely something you want hanging on your wall. If you want a preview, check out her excellent website.

The other main highlight (as far as I'm concerned) is the Annual Spring Salon Juried Exhibition over at Modern Formations (4919 Penn). Jen and Devin have done an extraordinary job with this space from day one. Few in Pittsburgh know how genuinely difficult it is to run an art gallery- especially with no side business such as framing. Yet the proprietors here have consistently brought in interesting (and often excellent) artwork. There are quite a few young local artists that got there start here. In the years I've been frequenting the gallery, I've become acquainted with the works of the Kehoe brothers, Katherine Young, Jairan Sadeghi and Josh Tonies. I have no doubt that this year's salon will introduce me to some additional quality work.

As usual there will be other venues with entertainment and artwork. Although I'm not familiar with the featured artists this month, it's always worthwhile to stop in at Metamorphose (4922 Penn) and Imagebox (4933 Penn). Both locations are owned and operated by people who are dedicated to the viability of the neighborhoods they inhabit. Much the same can be said about the Attack Theater (4805 Penn), which regularly offers ten-minute previews of their new dance performances. Their space is also a good place to sit down for a bit with a beer or some wine, socialize with someone new, and play an old-school Atari 2600 videogame.

NCECA Ceramics Pittsburgh.

Truth be told, the sum total of all I know about ceramics could fit into a soup bowl. Naturally I never thought I'd be writing a post about this crafty art form. But one never knows how the exigencies of fate will conspire to make you consider something you never really expected to think about. I guess the seeds for this particular post were planted when the funding for the new David L. Lawrence Convention Center was in place. The state-of-the-art facilities have attracted a number of events that ordinarily would have bypassed Pittsburgh. Who could have ever predicted that the Furries would come to the Three Rivers? Likewise, who would have known that NCECA would decide to locate their annual event in the Burgh?

NCECA stands for the National Council on Education for the Ceramics Arts. It's too late to book your reservations for this year's conference, but you can still take advantage of the many events around the city that galleries, studios and other cultural institutions have planned in conjunction with NCECA. In fact, if you are a regular at art openings around town, you've likely already seen a fair amount of ceramics work this month. As I (somewhat offhandedly) remarked to one friend via e-mail- "This town is lousy wit' 'em" (ceramics, that is). And just from one observer's perspective, it is amazing how versatile artists can be while working in this medium.

Surely anyone who grew up in the 80's knew at least one person that got caught up in the trend of ceramics painting. You'd go choose one from among many generic molds, and paint a hardened gray object to suit your tastes, and to match the colors of your home furnishings. I'm not very proud of the fact that I broke many of these craft products in the process of negotiating my way through my tempestuous preteen years. Little did I know that I'd be looking at examples of the form in art galleries a couple of decades later. The difference is that these are one-of-a-kind works of genius. The range of subjects that can be conveyed in clay of one sort of another is limited only by the wild imaginations of the creators.

I bought my first ceramics piece from Laura Jean McLaughlin -a friend of mine that runs a great galley/studio called the Clay Penn. I caught sight of a truly wondrous object- a round glass tabletop suspended above a fantastically strange mermaid. It was something out of a child's fevered hallucination-dream. It was truly unlike anything else I had ever seen, and I had to have it. It took me months to arrange its purchase, but it now occupies a central place in my burgeoning art collection. I have since acquired several more of McLaughlin's pieces, which are dispersed throughout my house. I've also subsequently learned that my friend is internationally-known for her work. And I've started to appreciate ceramic arts in a way that I would have never guessed. But you can see for yourself this weekend...

Particular highlights around town include the work at the La Vie Gallery, the Clay Penn, Fe Gallery, and Modern Formations. I've seen these shows personally, and so I can recommend them without reservation. Now that the official participants of NCECA have arrived (approximately 5000 of them), these places will be having official receptions to welcome connoisseurs. You can find out what's happening at the larger institutions around town by visiting NCECA's official site. But to really get the most out of this weekend, you are going to have to do some digging. If you have a favorite gallery in the area, stop by and see what they are offering. Some of the places that I know are hosting ceramic art (that I haven't visited) include Moxie Dada (North Side) and the James Simon Gallery (Uptown). This "gallery guide" site is an especially comprehensive gateway for specific information.

"Color Swap" @ Unblurred this Friday.

I really didn't anticipate having a show of my work so soon after becoming a father. Putting together a solo ordinarily requires a lot of work, and I simply didn't think I'd be able to find the time to do it. But when Laura Jean over at the Clay Penn (5111 Penn Avenue) asked me to hang some photos as part of February's Unblurred, it was too tempting to pass up. The last time I had work at this event was all the way back in September/October 2005, at the now defunct Arrow Gallery. That was the "Works on Paper" show, and it was the first time I showed my drawings on phone-book pages. I've been attending the monthly installments of Unblurred for years, but I just haven't followed up on any opportunities to display my work there.

Another reason why I thought twice about exhibiting work is because I've been fortunate enough to be asked to participate in a number of shows over the past twelve months. I've had two solos, and I've been in multiple group shows. The last thing I want to do is to exhaust whatever small amount of interest people have in my work. I figure that I have a limited amount of occasions that I can request my friends and acquaintances to devote their limited free time to me. At some point the novelty simply wears off. Likewise I don't want to display the same images in different places over a short time span. Still, several of my friends who are accomplished artists have encouraged me to seize any chance to get my artwork into the public eye.

So anyway, I will have ten framed 11 x 14" photos on the walls of the Clay Penn this Friday night. They are part of a series that I took well over a year ago. Although I was pleased with the way they turned out at the time, they got buried in a backlog of shots that I eventually intended to show. There weren't enough of them to fill a large gallery, and yet they had to be shown in a series in order to convey their context. I waited for awhile for the right time to pull them out, but eventually I simply forgot about them. When I considered the spatial limitations of the Clay Penn, the series immediately jumped out as the most appropriate body of work to show. At the same time, I think that they fit the space itself very well, and complement the more permanent work that is always on display at the gallery.

These photos are the result of serendipity. I was at a my friend's bar in the South Side with a couple of friends, one of whom happened to have her Canon point-and-shoot camera with her. I asked to borrow it for a few minutes, and discovered a function called "color swap". To use the setting you simply get a light meter reading off of any source in your environment. Somehow the processing chip inside the camera takes the quality and color of that reading and inverts the rest of the visible scale accordingly. I took about 30 portraits and other shots over the next hour. They are vividly colored, and slightly hallucinatory. In some ways they relate to the Pop Surrealist paintings that I have been slowly accumulating over the last several years.

I'm looking forward to seeing how those familiar with my work respond to these photographic prints. I'll probably be explaining the process by which I shot them, over and over again. It's important to me to point out that I did no post-production adjustments to them at all. I've never used Photoshop or any other editing program to tweak my photos. I don't have anything against those tools... I just haven't gotten around to playing with them yet. Regardless I think these shots are fun to look at, and so they meet at least one important criteria. They represent momentary slices of neon-lit nightlife that my friends and I have shared time and again. Come out and join us for the opening reception- this Friday (Feb. 1st) from 7-9PM.

December First Friday 2007..

December is officially here with its short days, icy sidewalks and freezing cold temperatures. What better way to honor the weekend but by meandering down the wind corridor better known as Penn Avenue for this month's Unblurred? Y'know, I have to be honest with you- I wasn't very impressed by the November offerings, despite my intial anticipation. I guess it's inevitable that (occasionally) I will remain unmoved by the displays of certain local artists. It wasn't as if I thought everything was terrible, but rather that I didn't see anything that I'm likely to remember. I did hear from a few friends that they enjoyed some of it, so it could be that it was simply a matter of personal taste. Anyway it was hardly a waste of my time. Even a bad Unblurrred is preferable to Happy Hour with the 'weekend warriors'.

I know for a fact that I'm going to enjoy at least one spot this go 'round. Modern Formations is featuring Jairan Sadeghi. She won the Grand Prize in the gallery's annually-juried 'Spring Salon'. I saw that show, and voted for her work over all others. Then I caught a wall of her stuff at La Vie in Larryville. She has a graphic illustrative sensibility, and is one among a number of my favorite local artists who have managed to conceive and depict visual worlds that are both compelling and idiosyncratic. If you like modern surrealism and/or art comix, then I'm sure you'll enjoy Sadeghi's stuff. Props go out to the proprietors , who have helped introduce us to a number of excellent young artists.

I've also been previously exposed to the kabbalistic mandala paintings of Juliana Morris. Her work is part of a group show at Garfield Artworks. If you are frustrated with the disproportionate success of local artists who paint corporate logos for bad television sitcoms, Juliana's pieces will be refreshing. She gives viewers a chance to quietly reflect on a deeper spiritualism that is often absent in the pop-culture-infested wasteland we call home. C'mon and get quiet!

Aside from the above, I'm sure you will find plenty of other spots that compel you to stop in and consume free alcohol. The fine women at Metamorphose are promising to have hot chocolate on hand. The Clay Penn and Most Wanted Fine Art are rolling out holiday group shows. Carolyn Wenning's SPACE will be open as well. And if all of that isn't enough to call you out into the cold, I want to mention that Todd Pinkham is showing 'tarp paintings' at the new International Children's Art Gallery at 5020 Penn Avenue. Todd was included in a Carnival-themed show I curated awhile ago, and I think the kids will find his melange of pop iconography and free-form 'street' paint-strokes fulfilling.

And then comes Saturday! The art-appreciation fun continues at Digging Pitt on Butler Street (Lawrenceville). They are offering a reception for the first of two Pittsburgh portions of The Blogger Show (which began in earnest in November in Manhattan). Both of their galleries will be featuring work by artists throughout the US that write art-related blogs. The final opening reception for The Blogger Show happens at Panza Gallery in Millvale next Saturday (Dec. 15th). Meanwhile the Zombo Gallery on Hatfield St. is showcasing the work of local photographer Corey LaChat. He's known around these parts for showing large fuzzily color-saturated portraits of plastic toys. If you haven't been to Zombo's yet, then you are missing out on the 'lowbrow' capital of the 'Burgh.

Finally La Vie (36th and Butler) is having a Holiday-themed group show (A Few of Our Favorite Things), featuring the work of many outstanding painters and photographers that have appeared on their walls throughout the last year- including (but not limited to) Renee Ickes, Dallah Cesen, Eric Stern, Elina Malkin, Thommy Conroy, Mike Budai, Jairan Sadeghi, Jae Ruberto, Edgar Um, and Katherine Young. In addition, I'd like to announce that I will be showing a piece during this exhibition at La Vie for the first time. It's one of my favorite photos, and it's never been displayed before. The distinguishing trait of AFOOFT is that (unlike at most opening receptions) if you find something you like, you can purchase it and pull it right off the wall. Come out and purchase some (reasonably-priced and hip) art for the holidays!