Art

The new art season promises all the excitement of a Hollywood movie and it starts with a bang.

Explosive!

Swiss artist Roman Signer(Jan. 24-March 13, Moore College of Art and Design, 20th and the Parkway, 568-4515) transforms the everyday — violently. Earth, air, fire and water are his tools, as are drawing, video and photography. Metamorphosis, whimsy and metaphysics mark his work.

Signer will present an action, "I Was Here," on Friday, Jan. 24, 5:30 p.m. in the Atrium of the Moore galleries. A day-long symposium, "BOOM: Explosive Trends in Contemporary Performance, Video and Sculpture"(Sat., Jan. 25, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.), features artists and writers from all over the world.

Action-Packed!

Kinetic sculpture is the highlight of Jon Kessler: plugged in (Feb. 28-April 18, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts, Broad and Pine Sts., 875-1116). The internationally recognized artist makes funky found objects do peculiar things; he doesn't confine himself to Americana but draws on the consumer culture of places like China, Taiwan and Japan. Kessler will give a slide presentation, Tuesday, March 4, 5:30 p.m. (CBS Auditorium).

Women of Beauty

The Women's Caucus for Art national conference will celebrate its 25th anniversary in Philadelphia on Jan. 29. Muse Gallery (60 N. 2nd St., 627-5310), Philadelphia's only women's cooperative gallery, plans a complementary show. Curated by Mary R. Hopkins (author of the video series Woman and Her Symbols), Women Revisioning the Sacred(Jan. 29- Feb. 22) will feature the work of artists from New York, Wisconsin, California, New Mexico, Philadelphia and Peru. Original drawings from the popular book Motherpeace Tarot will also be exhibited. Local artists include Susanne Okamoto, Charlotte Schatz and Etta Winigrad. Also, Miriam Schapiro and Us at ArtForms Gallery (4450 Main St., Manayunk, 483-3030, through Feb. 16) features major work by a leading feminist artist and is scheduled to coincide with the WCA conference.

Shakin' it Up!

John Mason invented the eponymous jar and the even more ubiquitous salt shaker. The Clay Studio (139 N. 2nd St., 925-3453) is celebrating the latter achievement with Salt & Pepper: Shake & Grind (Feb. 2-Mar. 2). Salt and pepper dispensers made by some 25 invited ceramists and juried artists will be exhibited. A historical/kitsch component drawn from local collections is another fun aspect of this well-seasoned show.

In a Class by Itself

The Philadelphia Museum of Art (20th and the Parkway, 763-8100) has so many brilliant shows and events that it tends to dominate lists of upcoming art events. The PMA is always a "best bet" 'cause there's more good stuff going on there than a person can possibly see. Therefore, in the spirit of City Paper's "Readers' Choice" awards, we're giving the PMA permanent "Best Bet" status and picking one event to highlight.

The Winner: Encounters with Modern Art: Works from the Rothschild Family Collections (March 2-May 11). This is the first time since 1966 that modernist works acquired by the Herbert and Nanette Rothschild family will be on public display. The hundred or so paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures include pieces by Gris, Gontcharova, Arp, Sonia Delaunay, Leger, Matisse, Picasso and more! Some are major works.

Can't resist a runner-up in the PMA category. Rodin and Michelangelo: A Study in Artistic Inspiration (March 27-June 22)will feature two of the most popular sculptors of all time. Curated by the PMA's Christopher Riopelle, the traveling show will explore Michelangelo's influence on Rodin. The highlight for Philadelphians will probably be three small-scale sculptures and 13 drawings by Michelangelo, but the Rodin part of the show is larger, including a number of works from our Rodin Museum — altogether 20 sculptures and 12 works on paper.

A related exhibition, Hands of Rodin: a Tribute to B. Gerald Cantor(March 27-June 22)is also a traveling exhibit. Rodin is famous for his interpretations of hands and this show suggests how much they fascinated him. It includes 60 works in bronze and plaster, several of which are unique. It was organized by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation.

Moore!

Thoroughly modern Marianne, that is. Like the Rothschilds, the celebrated poet Marianne Moore, whose living room is permanently installed in the Rosenbach Museum and Library (2010 Delancey Place, 732-1600), knew a lot of modern artists. Editor of The Dial literary journal, Moore corresponded with American avant-gardists (some transplanted from Europe) including Stieglitz, Steichen, Marin, Picabia and O'Keeffe. Letters and notebooks are currently on view in Making It New: Marianne Moore and the Visual Arts at the Rosenbach through March 2. Art by Sheeler, Demuth, Hartley, Zorach, Stieglitz, Steichen, Man Ray and others completes the exhibition.

Family Feature: That Sartain Something

London-born John Sartain and some of his Philadelphia-born children were 19th-century leaders of American art. A cluster of exhibitions and a major symposium ("The Sartain Family and the Philadelphia Cultural Landscape 1830-1930," April 11-12, Moore College of Art and Design) will return the Sartains to the spotlight. At the Museum of American Art (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 118 N. Broad, 972-5564)The Sartain Family and Their Philadelphia Circle (Jan. 17-April 13) will include works by contemporaneous American artists like Eakins and Sully.

John Sartain served on the board of Moore College, the first, and now only, women's art college in the United States. Subsequently, his daughter and his granddaughter headed the school. In conjunction with its symposium, Moore College is mounting an exhibition of collections left to the school by the Sartain family, A Living Legacy: The Sartains at Moore(April 1-17). The PMA will focus on John Sartain, 1808-1897: Philadelphia Printmaker in its complementary exhibition. One can even purchase original Sartain prints from the Philadelphia Print Shop Ltd. in Chestnut Hill.

Personal Choice

People always complain that a few guys get all the attention. There's generally truth to that complaint — especially when applied to groups which are already underrepresented: African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Latinas, women... That's why it's cool to see Nexus Gallery introduce some new names with 6 African American Artists Select 6 Emerging Artists (137 N. 2nd St., 629-1130). Curated by James E. Dupree, the selecting artists are rightly well-known. Their "guests" are mostly refreshingly unfamiliar.

This is a pair of shows. Part 1 (ongoing through Feb. 1) features selectors James Brantley, Syd Carpenter and Betty L. M. Leacraft and selectees Eric Prior, John Stone and John Abner. Part 2 (Feb. 7-March 2) features Barbara Bullock, David F. Stephens and Richard J. Watson and emerging artists Aaron J. Wilson, Marc Robinson and Judelka Florival. Of course, some of these emerging artists may not be African American. We'll have to go to the shows if we want to find out.

Very Now

Two video artists from New York and Philadelphia's Winifred Lutz will share the Institute of Contemporary Art (Feb. 8 -April 13, 118 S. 36th St. at Sansom, 898-7108). Video Installations: Maureen Connor, Tony Oursler features two artists who present videos in unusual ways. Connor addresses feminist subjects like the obsession with slimness. Her videos are projected within sculptural objects. Oursler projects images onto sculpture, distorting the images and elaborating the sculptural form. One of his works deals with multiple personality disorder. Another will interact with viewers.

As it has done with other local artists, the ICA commissioned Lutz to mount a large-scale installation. Cycles of growth and decay will be represented through 30-foot-tall living trees and a stump excavated along with its elaborate root system.

Very New

New is the title of the ongoing show (through Feb. 1) inaugurating John Ollman's ownership of what is now Fleisher/Ollman Gallery (211 S. 17th St., 545-7562). Actually, according to Ollman in a recent telephone conversation, little will be changing at the former Fleisher gallery which he has directed for a number of years. "We're still representing the inventory of 20th-century self-taught, primarily American artists and young emerging artists."New does introduce some self-taught artists new to Fleisher/Ollman.