May 6-12, 2004

first friday focus

Dan Anderson, Gulf Water Tower (2004), 11 by 9 by 9 inches, stoneware, wood fired and decal fired.

by Lori Hill

Snyderman-Works

Illinois artist Dan Anderson makes stoneware vessels that don’t look like stoneware at all. A collector of antique oil, kerosene and gasoline cans, Anderson mimics the weatherbeaten surfaces and rusted coloring of these items with a variety of firing and glazing techniques. He uses the colorful, familiar logos of Conoco, Shell and Gulf to trigger a bit of nostalgia along with the wonder of his craft. Even when invoking larger structures like barns and water towers, Anderson is able to incorporate details and textures that viewers have no trouble identifying. Meanwhile, local painter Larry Spaid is showing work influenced by a lengthy stay in Vietnam and Cambodia. His minimalist canvases have always betrayed an interest in Eastern style and perspective, but these recent works add layers of texture and patterns that are new and provocative. He became interested in fabric coloring processes, and that research shows in the backgrounds he creates for his work. Oddly edged shapes lie on top of a gingham-like ground that appears worn and stained -- all for a collage effect in a work that’s merely acrylic on wood.

Reception Fri., May 7, 5:30-8:30 p.m., exhibit runs through May 29, 303 Cherry St., 215-238-9576.

Rosenfeld Gallery

Rick Buttari’s works are small in size but big in emotional scope. Most of his painted landscapes are unpopulated but their long, winding roads, open fields and empty lawns speak volumes about who’s been there and why. Even in one charcoal drawing, the figure is only in shadow, lurking in a dimly lit room. Buttari’s rich use of color might be most fully realized in Exit Ramp, a 7-by-9 1/2-inch oil painting whose focal point is a tiny but vivid black-on-orange arrow sign pointing off into a darkened underpass. Underpasses and overpasses appear in the encaustic work of Dale Roberts as well, but his landscapes look as if they’ve been exposed to long, bright flashes of white light. Overhead train tracks loom above a blindingly snowy parking lot in Winter Trains, while a nearly featureless hill sits adjacent to a pale yellow field in Ethereal Landscape. Even an interior still life is dominated by milky white hues, but the light is soothing and warm, not harsh.

Through May 23,113 Arch St., 215-922-1376.

And Then There's…

One month remains to see the Warren Rohrer show at Locks Gallery, but while you’re there, another treat awaits: sculpture by Alexander Calder. Reception Fri., May 7, 5:30-7:30 p.m., through May 28, 600 Washington Sq. South, 215-629-1000. Ö Two Palms Press, a New York fine art press whose clients include Chuck Close, Cecily Brown and Elizabeth Peyton, will bring some of its most recent work to Works on Paper. Besides the aforementioned, Carroll Dunham’s agitated animation-like engravings and Mel Bochner’s colorful, spotty embossed monoprints will be on view, along with the work of Ellen Gallagher, Mathew Ritchie and Terry Winters. Reception Fri., May 7, 6:30-8:30 p.m., exhibit runs through June 30, 1611 Walnut St., 215-988-9999. Ö Sculptor Jury Smith’s MFA thesis exhibition, "Liminal Cast," is a large-scale installation at Temple Gallery that includes mixed media sculpture accentuated with graphite lines. Smith also just installed a work at the Crane Arts Building in Northern Liberties. Reception Sat., May 8, 6-9 p.m., on view May 6-8, Temple Gallery, 45 N. Second St., 215-782-2776. Ö In May, besides a group show called "Spring" that will include home and garden-ready ceramics, The Clay Studio will show new work by Kate Doody, who takes multiple slip cast pieces and uses them like interlocking parts in a cohesive whole. Reception Fri., May 7, 5-9 p.m., Kate Doody show through May 30, "Spring" through June 13, 139 N. Second St., 215-925-3453.

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