Pittsburgh Weekend Events: 6/12-13/09.

I realize that most prideful 'Burghers are likely to focus on the fortunes of their beloved Pens this weekend, and believe me... as far as vicarious pleasures of the sporting nature, I can think of few better than NHL hockey. Having said that, don't forget that you have many opportunities to engage in much more direct amusements, and on a much more intimate scale. For instance...

Friday

Local arts collective Unicorn Mountain is having the reception for a group show of participating artists, featuring many stellar works including those of rising star Elina Malkin. It all goes down at the Steve Mendelson Gallery (5874 Ellsworth Avenue, Shadyside) between 5:30-8:30. Participants include Jon Carling, Bill Wehmann, Jeff Schreckengost, Masha Vereshchenko, Ian Finch, David Grim, Christopher Kardambikis, Jenifer Cooney, Ben Kehoe, Beano, Christopher Cornwell, Tom Hall, Katherine Young, Amy Conroy, Brian Holderman, Laura Jean McLaughlin,
Paul Roden, and Valerie Lueth.

Continue the swank by making a hop to the North Side for the Urban Garden Party fundraiser at the Mattress Factory. Gourmet food, drinks, entertainment, artwork, and this year's "rock theme" should justify the exorbitant admission price. Besides you'll just feel cooler if you are there, rather than sitting at your local neighborhood bar doing whiskey shooters and talking about how great it feels to piss in a public sink (not that I know anyone who has ever done such a thing).

If you feel some pressing need to head downtown, stop by the SPACE gallery for "Smoke and Mirrors". Check out this roster- Cory Arcangel, Matt Barton, Chris Bearegard, Robin Brasington, Jacob Ciocci, Olivia Ciumo, Thad Kellstadt, Ladyboy, Guthrie Lonergain, Spencer Longo, Eileen Maxson, Jesse Jamaica McLean, Alex Miller, Jae Ruberto, Mike Smith, Scotty Vera, Jeffrey Vulture, John Daniel Walsh and David Wightman. Too bad I'm gonna miss this one. Also see ArtUp's "Homeland Insecurity" (937 Liberty, 8PM, $10).

And in the South Side (for the real masochists), Sam Thorp will be showing her latest work under the title "Adjournment" (7:30-11PM) @ The Rex (1602 East Carson). I've always enjoyed the clean lines and bright pallette of her portraits.

Saturday

If you want a window into the vast diversity of celebratory options in Pittsburgh, consider visiting the Cultural District on Liberty Avenue in glorious downtown for "Pride in the Streets"- a block party featuring DJs, food, and fierce fun. That gets underway at 7Pm, and costs a mere $20. Jennifer Holliday headlines, and while I don't know who that is, I am assured that she is famous, and honey... that's all that matters.

Or for a completely different scene, check out the free opening for Warhol Live at the Andy Warhol Museum (competing at the 7PM slot). This show focuses on the themes of music and dance in the great one's work. Also, you get a chance to see Dean and Britta (of the band Luna) for a very reasonable $10.

Pittsbugh Art Happenings: 1/23-24/09

We're going to get a bit of a break in the weather, if we are to believe local weather forecasters. Perhaps the warmer temperatures will even stretch into Friday night. That would be ideal for those of you who have intentions of heading downtown tomorrow night for the seasonal Downtown Gallery Crawl. This time Cultural Trust organizers had the good sense not to plan their event to conflict with other First Friday activities around town. As a result, art appreciators don't have to make too many hard choices about what to miss. Naturally there are a few options that don't involve having to deal with the Golden Triangle- but if you plan it right, you may be able to hit them as well.

Friday

The Miller Gallery at CMU (Purnell Center for the Arts, 5000 Forbes Ave) hosts a "Winter Harvest Reception" (6-8PM) for Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s, a collection of "posters, photographs, moving images, audio clips, and ephemera" documenting various international social movements spanning four decades. The exhibition is guest curated by Dara Greenwald + Josh MacPhee. In keeping with the spirit of the content, Artists Image Resource and the Andy Warhol Museum will be demonstrating live screen printing.

Downtown Gallery Crawl

During the last Crawl, Wood Street Galleries (601 Wood Street, above the "T") featured a line of people waiting outside the transit station for the elevator that provides the only access into the space. Despite the recommendations of several friends that said the work inside was "not to be missed", I refused to spend half of my night at one destination. Perhaps Chico MacMurtrie's 16 Birds and Inflatable Architectural Body won't present the same logistical nightmare. Having a look at his site, I kind of doubt it. Still, the images there do suggest that it would be worth a little bit of trouble to experience it in person.

Meanwhile, you can check out a survey of architectural images presented by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) at SPACE (812 Liberty Avenue). Those folks are encouraging visitors to come on down and vote for their favorite Pittsburgh buildings. 707 Penn has a sound installation comprised of remixes of Ramones tunes, and 709 Penn is offering Puppets, Wood Cuts, and Installation by Amy Trompetter. 937 Liberty has stuff on all three of its floors, including the Brew House Distillery Artists: A Sense of Place, photography by Tim Fabian and Bryan Conley, and a celebration of Latin American Culture (read: food! art! music!).

As always, there is lots of other stuff to stumble upon... much of which I have no comment on. I do want to mention ArtUp @820 Liberty, which is featuring Gritty 250: the Art of Work in Pittsburgh- ostensibly a recognition of this town's labor heritage.

Friday and Saturday

There's a relatively new venue in East Liberty that I have yet to attend. Art Dimensions Gallery (6000 Penn Avenue) has invited local artists to use vinyl records to create works for a juried show. Unlike most open calls for submissions, this solicitation included the prospect of winning prizes in two categories- paintings applied directly to the records and 3D or "multidimensional" creations incorporating vinyl. Festivities start tomorrow (from 3-8PM), including comedy, spoken word, and live musical performances. On Saturday evening (7PM-2AM) the prizes will be awarded, and there will be another full program of entertainment.

Sunday

Come on down to the Double Wide (2339 East Carson Street) at 9:30PM, to witness the postponed screening of Race with the Devil. I assure you... you don't want to miss this one.

Pittsburgh Art Happenings: Weekend of 10/3-4/08.

Is it possible that anything other than politics can hold my attention for more than a short period of time? It would be nice to have some distraction. Luckily there is plenty of art to see around town this weekend to clear the imagery and lingering words from last night's debate. And what makes it even better is that the shorter your attention span is- the more you'll get to see!!

Friday:

The tough decisions are going to have to be made tonight. Typically in Pittsburgh, a lot of art events fall on the same date. It's possible that you could skip around town and actually be in the physical presence of just about everything, but you aren't likely to enjoy yourself with such a strategy. For the purpose of simplification, I'm going to focus on what I'm interested in.

If I get the opportunity, I'm going to start the evening early... say 5:30 perhaps. That will give me enough time to get downtown and find a parking spot, once all the restricted ones become available at 6PM. As is my usual routine for these seasonal events, I wil start my exploration on Liberty Avenue. If the lines aren't long, I'll run through Wood Street Gallery (601 Wood Street). I don't expect to spend a lot of time there, because I haven't liked anything in that space for close to a year. This time around they've got "immersive environments" from Austrian-native Kurt Hentschlager. I'd suggest that his work appears compelling, but I've been wrong before with Wood Street. Have a look at his site, and decide for yourself.

Then I'll stop at Space Gallery (812 Liberty Avenue) for a group show called "Make, Shift, Home". I'm likely to enjoy looking through and picking a favorite or two out of the ten artists involved. It's co-curated by Mario Marzan and Sharmila Venkatasubban (who I'm unfamiliar with) and I don't recognize any of the artists' names. I do know that Venkatasubban has put together shows at this gallery before. After that I'll go to 707 Penn, where my friends Paul Roden and Valerie Leuth have an exhibition of their woodcut prints. They are an extremely talented couple and own Tugboat Printshop over in Larryville. I expect this to be a highlight of the evening.

I'll choose to leave for Unblurred on a high note. Hopefully I'll get there around 7:30 or so. Normally I'd make the Clay Penn my home base, but I don't think Laura Jean has anything planned there this month. So I'll probably get right to the juicy center of things. I'll make a quick pass through Garfield Artworks (4931 Penn Ave.), where on occasion I am pleasantly surprised. I don't know "Evil Twin" (I think Gina Favano is from Philly), and I couldn't find examples of her work online. But I did learn that she's into working on cars that run on vegetable oil.

ImageBox (4933 Penn) has Charles A. Smith II and Brian J. Olmstead. They are promising a "unique contemporary abstract event", but I bet the spread will be a draw as well, as the two are co-owners of a catering company. Modern Formations (4919 Penn Ave.) has Creation by Accident: Works by Aimee Manion and Sebastian Van Gorder. Just judging by their hot card, I'd have to say that this is promsing. After I hit my favorite spots, I'll wander around stopping in anywhere that catches my eye. This usually includes the International Children's Art Gallery (5020 Penn Ave.) and Most Wanted Fine Art (5015 Penn Ave). Of course the main attraction is seeing such a wide variety of people on one single night.

Saturday

Save a bit of energy for two openings on Saturday. The Panza Gallery (115 Sedgwick St. in Millvale) brings you the portrait and landscape paintings of Mark Mclaughlin. This painter has that flat and illiustrative style that many associate with "outsider art". It should be a lively reception (7PM-?). And Moxie Dada (1416 Arch St. in the North Side) is offering up (6-9PM) A Beholding: Prashna Paramita Parasher, a body of work to challenge the Western perspective.

Enjoy it while it lasts. The politics are returning soon.

Act as if you wanted to stay forever.

Like most people, I generally find myself socializing with people that are interested in the same things as me. For that reason it's easy to lose perspective on the broader issues around town. I had a chance to sit down with a couple of work colleagues the other night after seeing a great music performance. We got talking about the cultural strengths and weaknesses of Pittsburgh. We all agreed that there's a certain provincialism that prevails in town. Anybody who has lived here for more than a year realizes just how insulated 'Burghers get within their own neighborhoods. You'd think that crossing a bridge was a death-defying act. It's easy to believe that you have the finger on the city's pulse without even leaving your block. But that's a mistake.

As much whining as I hear among my artist friends, there's very little understanding of what other folks in Pittsburgh go through. We may lament that there are only 50-100 collectors in the entire city, yet we gloss over the fact that art events are generally well attended. This point was brought home to me in my discussion with my colleagues. One of them is a musician in a band that has been playing around town for years. As he is also involved in the visual arts, he is in a good position to compare and contrast milieus. He estimates that the art community is a full four years ahead of the music community in terms of involvement and promotion. Simply go out to almost any local band's show, and you'll confirm his contention.

It's really a shame that we can't get our act together and build a broader cultural scene. I'm as much to blame as anyone else, as I rarely socialize with musicians (let alone dancers, theater actors, etc.). Hell, I hardly ever go out to see local music anymore. I'm not exempting myself from criticism. But I'd be likely to do so if an event married local artists to musicians. Remember how much fun the FLUX series was? That was the best example of what I'm talking about. What happened to that? Was it only last year that they returned with a FLUX in Braddock, and plans to hold three each year? I haven't heard anything lately from the organizers. If anyone has any information on it, please chime in with a comment.

We still have the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Yet that mostly appeals to mainstream suburban tourists. They want to come downtown, buy a hot dog and a Coors Light draft, look at crafts, and see a national act. How many of them even know that there's a juried show of regional artists? How many of them care? No... I'm talking about more grassroots efforts. As much as I slag the Cultural Trust, I have to give them credit- at least for the SPACE Gallery downtown. Not only do they show Pittsburgh artists, but they often have a local band or deejay playing at their openings. There are also a few bars and venues that make an effort- check out the Garfield Artworks and the Brillo Box along Penn Avenue, for example. These places seem to "get it".

Maybe there aren't a lot of people in Western Pennsylvania that know that culture extends beyond sports. There's no lack of enthusiasm for the Steelers, the Penguins, and the Pirates (well, perhaps I'm stretching the case a bit with the Bucs). Still, what are we supposed to do, as fans of music and the arts? We can continue to sit around and complain about how Pittsburgh is a third rate city. Or we can get involved. You don't have to join a band, or make artwork yourself. It's a good start just to go out and participate in enjoying it. Tell your friends about cool things that are going on. Start a blog to publicize happenings. After awhile you might be inspired to organize something yourself. If you are going to stay in Pittsburgh, you might as well try to make it a place where you'd want to live.

Reflections On Local Art Chaos.

Perhaps it's a mistake to get too excited when a Pittsburgh weekend promises a full schedule of art events. As last Friday approached, my level of anticipation reached a fever pitch. It would have been an understatement to say that I was merely looking forward to seeing what was on offer in our fair city. In retrospect I would have had to see some pretty amazing things to justify my expectations. Sometimes quantity can overshadow, and even obscure quality. It's not that I didn't see anything good... but rather that it all felt rather anticlimactic by Sunday. I had fun and saw lots of people I wanted to see, yet I came away slightly disappointed.

A big part of the letdown started with the choices I made on Friday night. I had received an invitation from the Mattress Factory to attend their opening. I have to say that I was quite impressed to see that venerable institution reach out to the blogosphere for coverage. All I would have had to do to avoid paying the $10 admission fee was R.S.V.P. And yet for some inexplicable reason, I decided to go to the Art Crawl instead. I made that decision despite the fact that I haven't been impressed by the downtown galleries in a couple of years. Part of the problem there is the reliance on the work of artists affiliated with CMU. And another factor is the dehumanizing scale of the spectacle itself. I prefer the intimacy of Unblurred.

Things started somewhat promisingly with a visit to SPACE. Although I didn't know any of the participating artists, the presentation was nice and I enjoyed the look of the freshly painted walls. I was particularly impressed by the sculpture/installation pieces of Steve O Hearn. His background in industrial and set design is clearly apparent in the wild fantasy and whimsical articulation of his work. I was less taken with a series of photos (by Renee Rosensteel) of ultimate fighters in action and repose. Photojournalism is often only as compelling as its subject matter. Still my interest in that show greatly eclipsed my enjoyment of the other venues offering 'art' that night. In the spirit of diplomacy, I'll skip the tiresome details.

Even after my post-Friday disenchantment, things still looked promising through the glare of Saturday morning. However, I had to spend hours getting a large format print of an image to place in Art All Night. I had a ridiculous amount of difficulty getting that done, as Ritz Camera wasted my time on Friday evening with tales of 'corrupted files' and printer breakdown. Finally I found myself working with the girl at Staples to iron out the kinks of a 20 x 30" enlargement of a newer abstract. Even with a cheap frame, I thought it looked pretty good. Its delivery to the former Roomful Express Warehouse went smoother than I thought it might. And the night began on a promising note with Kim Beck's show at AIR. Although sparsely attended, the exhibition served to round out my appreciation of her work.

Finally I was ready to explore the vast expanses of the soon-to-be-demolished warehouse where this year's Art All Night was held. First I tried to locate my piece. I found it along a highly-trafficked corridor, but the abysmal lighting obscured the details of the image. I tried to remind myself that the volunteers that hang this immensely broad show are harried, and have no time to be discriminating. Still I couldn't help letting this particular placement gnaw away at me. I knew right away that it wouldn't sell from that location. So I ended up passing on the few pieces at the show that I was tempted to purchase for myself*. At least this year there was plenty of room to breathe.


* Incidentally, does anyone know a painter named Jim Phillips?

Things to Do This Weekend.

Here we go again. There were a couple of slack weekends in a row with not much happening in the Pittsburgh arts scene... so it's typical to have tons of events packed into two evenings. The most notable is likely the Downtown Gallery Crawl on Friday night- a seasonal get together featuring a look at galleries and other events in the Golden Triangle. Of course it is officially Spring, so there will be tons of folks out and about. Doors start to open for visitors around 5:30PM and usually remain open and busy until 8PM , or so.

I can't say I'm overly excited by anything advertised by this particular crawl. At the 707 and 709 Galleries (Penn avenue) we have the closing of Jazz in Pictures, and the opening of Live Green, View Blue, Paint The Town Red. The latter includes the winning design models of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust International Design Competition. Up the block at Future Tenant (819 Penn Avenue), they are midway through their I am a Heather exhibition. Sure, sometimes it seems like everything has been done before. But who can truly say that they have seen a show of work entirely inspired by girls named "Heather"? Apparently someone within the CMU student curatorial staff has a thing for bad 80's movies.

The Wood Street Galleries has Text/Memory, installations by Jim Campbell & Mark Scheeff. Campbell makes "electronic art", while Scheeff apparently fucks around with robots (more information here). Something tells me I've seen this show before, but that seems impossible since tomorrow is the official opening. Perhaps the powers-that-be down at Wood Street need to diversify their interests a bit. A block down the street at SPACE Gallery (812 Liberty), Murray Horne has put together an exhibition (Pittsburgh Now) including a selection of artists he is evidently excited by. I'm not sure what these creators have in common besides the fact that five of them have (or have had) some ties to Carnegie Mellon University. That's certainly no novelty downtown.

Finally I will be making a point to stop by Artists Upstairs (937 Liberty) to see Dilated Dialogues (sic). It's reportedly "a photographic conversation between Americans who capture images abroad and foreign-born artists working here." There's no way to tell for sure (since I'm unfamiliar with virtually all of the artists at this Crawl), but it seems like this may be my personal highlight of the evening. If not, I can always take my butt down to the Culinary Institute and gorge myself on cheap chef-in-training-made delicacies.

If none of this appeals to your aesthetic sensibilities, the Mattress Factory is having an opening (7-10PM) called Inner and Outer Space, which features nine contemporary artists who promise to offer new perceptions of space by defying two dimensional surfaces. It costs $10 if you aren't a member. Or alternatively you could check out the Fein Art Gallery (519 E. Ohio Street). This North Side Gallery is having a display of then-and-now photos documenting Pittsburgh history. It's a group show, and includes some images from my new friend Rick Byerly. It's called See How It Was, See How It Is, and its opening reception runs from 5-9PM.


Saturday offers a whole new set of diversions for your wandering eye. Artists Image Resource (518 Foreland Street on the North Side) offers an exhibition of the work of 2006 Pittsburgh Center for the Arts "Emerging Artist of the Year", Kim Beck. I couldn't find much information about this specific show (other than the hours of 7-9PM), but I really liked what I saw at the PCA and I'm going to make an effort not to miss this one.

There's also a closing of Sublimation, a collection of pieces by artists involved in the Brew House Distillery Program. Local favorite Brett Davis is one of the eight artists involved, and it's always interesting to see what he comes up with. Your last chance to see this show is at the South Side location of this co-op at 2100 Mary Street, from 3-5PM.

Of all the happenings this weekend, I am most eagerly anticipating Lawrenceville's Eleventh Annual Art All Night. I'll always be sentimental about this event, because it was throughout this series that I first displayed my photography. Just as its title suggests, you can see artwork by hundreds of different local creators, starting at 6PM on Saturday, and extending through the wee hours all the way until Sunday at 2PM. The show is neither juried nor censored so you get a wide variety of work to enjoy. There's also food, drink and live music throughout the night. This year they are advertising the location as their biggest ever- in the former Roomfull Express Warehouse on 57th Street in Lawrenceville. This is a party you (and 7000 other 'burghers) don't want to miss.

See Some Art, January 25th.

If you have any interest, there's a full schedule of art to be appreciated this evening in the city. The seasonal downtown gallery crawl is tonight, and many of places will be featuring opening receptions for new work. If you are a regular visitor to these events, then you know that it's important to get down there as close to 6:00PM as possible. Obviously street parking is pretty limited, but things open up quite a bit when the rush hour restrictions expire. Even then it can be frustrating- there are always the garages as a fall-back, and many of them have reduced rates during non-business hours. Sometimes it's worth it to avoid the hassle of driving through the masses of pedestrians, and just spending the extra bucks for convenience. Generally the closer you are to Liberty and Wood Streets, the better off you are.

Anyway, as far as this installment is concerned, the crawl has a few intriguing possibilities. Given the current fashion of encouraging urban living in the "Golden Triangle", it's fitting that Wood Street Galleries would be presenting a show based upon the promise of new alternatives in downtown habitation. Unfortunately, given the lack of information on their website, I have no way of telling you what this entails. They haven't even posted biographical information for the included artists, so I don't know whether the perspectives they present are locally-based or just indicative of broader national trends. On the other hand, there are several decidedly local artists showing their work at the nearby SPACE gallery. Rick Bach, Ed Parrish, Pete Lambert and Tim Kaulen are among the creators who are showing off their facility with "hot metal".

Continuing up the Avenue (at 820 Liberty), you can see Art-iculate's version of fostering an online arts scene. They are giving live demonstrations on how to post and purchase art over the net. I don't have any personal experience with the hosting organization, but they are starting to get some name recognition and traction. 937 Liberty (3rd Floor) has an exhibition of work by the staff of the Mattress Factory. The internationally-recognized museum continuously presents some of the most challenging and timely installation art in the world. It should be interesting to see how those who make it their business process those influences. Over on Penn Avenue, Future Tenant is getting comfortable in their relatively new digs (819 Penn). Robert Raczka has curated a show of found art, entitled "Taste Matters".

I had the opportunity to stop by Future Tenant last week for the opening of this collection of pieces from regional thrift stores. Altogether there are 50 works (mostly paintings) by anonymous and unheralded creators who toiled in obscurity only to have their output housed alongside beta video recorders, used novelty mugs, and bad 80's home furnishings. The selection and quality is much what one might expect it to be- there are dog portraits, amateurish landscapes, and at least one homage to Walt Disney. What makes the show particularly worth attending are the curator-statement cards accompanying each piece. Because of the source of the material, Raczka had free reign to impose his own analysis and conjecture at will. I'm not sure whether he meant for the result to be highly satirical, but that's how I interpreted it. It's definitely worth a look-see.

After you've made the rounds downtown (including more environmental artwork at 937 Liberty 2nd Floor, and Ladyboy at the 707 Penn Gallery), you can conclude your cultural explorations at La Vie Gallery (3609 Butler Street in Lawrenceville). I know I repeat the virtues of this gallery ad nauseum on this blog- but it is truly one of the most exciting art-related sites in the city. Come and get to know the artists that represent the vanguard of visual delight. Have some tasty whiskey punch, and BUY some art. It's affordable and damn good. This months brings us Painting the Roses Red, and includes the visionary ceramic work of Laura Jean McGlaughlin (along with four others). Don't worry if you are running late- the opening lasts until 11PM.

Fall 2007 Downtown Gallery Crawl.

After a fairly odd week, its end comes as a welcome haven. This evening I plan to go downtown and see what the Cultural Trust is passing for art this season. It's unusual for a gallery crawl to occur mid-month, and the upside of this scheduling is that the event doesn't conflict with any other major art openings. So even if I am disappointed with whatever is featured, at least I won't have the sense that I am missing something somewhere else in the city. Being in the city at 6PM tonight is the obvious option for followers of the local arts scene. Hopefully this time around will be more impressive than the last few crawls.

Pittsburgh is in the midst of an atypical cultural visitation, as artists and performers from Australia are in town to share their special gifts with the Western hemisphere. Tonight at SPACE Gallery they are presenting paintings by the aboriginal inhabitants of Utopia- desert dwellers northeast of a town named Alice Springs. While the presented work is characterized as "contemporary cutting-edge", it describes the relationship between ancestral spirits, dreams, and the development of the land itself.

Meanwhile, Wood Street Galleries features the video and installation works of an additional six Aussie artists. Commenting on issues both specific to their home country, and broader phenomena that affects us all, the assembled creators all have something to say about identity "across cultures and times". Their message should resonate with a city's population that is desperately seeking to reconcile a proud past with an uncertain future.

Local artist Chris Lisowski and Buffalo-based Tullis Johnson are rolling out a large-scale installation piece at 707 Penn Avenue. SONAR explores the phenomena of whales becoming stranded on our borders with the sea. Testing of military-based applied sound technology presents a significant threat to the ongoing survival of animal species which have thrived in their vast natural habitat for millions of years. Environmentally conscious and interactive (as Lisowski's creations typically are), this show should be worth visiting. It includes sound components, paintings, and a 23-foot model of a beached whale. Bring the kids!

Finally I want to mention John Eastman's First Avenue Sculpture Exhibit. For the first time artists have seized the downtown banks of the Monongahela River (along the Eliza Furnace Trail), and installed a series of indoor and outdoor works. Individual pieces by noted locals Bob Ziller, Jen Bechak and James Shipman will be among the highlights. Granted this exhibition is a fairly substantial walk from the usual gallery crawl venues, but I think it will be worth wearing your most comfortable shoes. Along with the art on display, the location promises food, drink and live music. The reception runs from 6-10PM, but the work will be up until December 14th.