First Friday Focus

Lori Hill's First Friday hit list.

by Lori Hill

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Published: Apr 4, 2007

Space 1026

Jungleland, Gangland, Copland by William Buzzell, acrylic and ink on wood (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

In the wilds of Space 1026 this month lurk lonely-hearted lovers, cops and a Magic Rat. In this "Jungleland," and in the classic song by The Boss, four friends find inspiration in spades. "The song 'Jungleland' really captures an interesting time and place, but it also has elements of tragedy and trashy teenage culture which the four of us thought would be amazing to delve into further," says artist William Buzzell. The four interpret the song in drastically different ways and with drastically different approaches: The blackest of industrial smoke looms in Alex Lukas' precise drawings of infrastructure and buildings as if seen from the relative safety of the highway. In stark contrast, Joe Buzzell's work, in electric pinks, blues and yellows, looks like a great struggle between video game architecture and comic book characters, with a little bit of pop art for good measure. His cubes and pixels tussle with droopy-eyed ghosts and wailing heroes in what resembles an arcade game from 1986. Like a postmodern Henri Rousseau, Matt Leines paints jungle animals, tropical flowers and skeletons with a primitive creepiness I'd rather not talk about anymore lest I terrify myself.

It's William Buzzell whose work appears to most literally interpret Springsteen's storytelling, and with great effect. He turns the stomping ground of the song into a loud, crowded landscape of signage and humanity. Turnpike signs, smokestacks, highway equipment, wrecking balls, water towers and landfills are the playground for Jersey girls, rock bands, townies and, of course, the Magic Rat. "That piece [Jungleland, Gangland, Copland] is meant to capture elements of driving down the New Jersey Turnpike or Garden State Parkway, which if you've ever driven down, is essentially a barrage of signs and logos," says Buzzell. As for these friends getting along on the job? "[Alex, Matt and I] flew out to Stockholm for a show last fall and we got into a massive five-day fight about who got which wall of the gallery. The show came out well but we definitely re-enforced every stereotype about loud, aggressive, selfish Americans to our Swedish hosts," says Buzzell, adding, "The addition of my little brother hasn't made 'Jungleland' any less difficult to execute."

Opening Fri., April 6, through April 27, 1026 Arch St., 215-574-7630.

Painted Bride

Looking at a Daniel Oliva painting is like being on the final descent of an overnight flight, all hazy lights and midnight blues. His show "Nightscapes" at Painted Bride this month is a collection of his rich, timeless portrayals of the universe. Working from satellite images of the Earth pulled from NASA's Web sites and others, Oliva constructs his own, very-21st-century architecture of the night sky — one lit not by constellations but by artificial light. He paints New York, San Francisco, North Korea and the West Bank border region not only for the geographical patterns created by the lights, but because he wants to incorporate social, political and cultural identities into the profiles. He looks at maps and documents and considers current events when making the images so that, inevitably, the personal nature of a place glows just as much as its emanations. Seeing the patterns also provokes thoughts about the locations on micro and macro levels, what the individual street lamps and skyscraper lights look like on the ground, and the designs they create from miles above. "I find it challenging to paint both the randomness of star light and the (kind of) rational order of earthlights," says Oliva. "For example, east of the Mississippi, the electric lights of the U.S. form a remarkable grid. Locally, the grid that our city planners thrust upon the land is evident at night, and that becomes an example of our living history." In Chicago and the Lake, the region looks like a galaxy in itself, a swirling milky white way of its own. These depictions of this other night sky create conflicts for Oliva. "On one hand I try to make calm images that the viewer can contemplate, and on the other I want to raise the question: What is the need for a night sky in a 24/7 world?" he says. "The duality of light and dark is a foundation of our culture, and we have reached a new point in our growth where night is no longer dark and the moon and stars can no longer compete with artificial light; I feel that this has severe consequences for us in a spiritual sense, although the work does suggest that we can find comfort in a growing sense of global unity." The amount of incandescent activity depends on the image; the white lights of Atlantic Coast thread themselves up the coastline with little interruption, while From the River to the Sea looks like a Morse Code of dense radioactive energy on the Israeli coast. Oliva sees his mapping of these earthly constellations as a collaboration with us, the viewers. "I believe that the patterns created by humanity on Earth are artworks in themselves, and they reflect our collective culture. ... Since the viewer creates the lights that I paint, and then can view the painting itself, he or she is as much a participant in building meaning as I am." The tangled, pulsing lines of Night Roads Into Philadelphia say much of what we've created in our own city of light.

Opening Fri., April 6, 5-7 p.m., through May 19, 230 Vine St., 215-925-9914.

And Then There's...

Through the end of the month at Pentimenti, Kay Hwang shows her oil pencil drawings, formal geometrical compositions in primary colors of the gadgets and devices that live in her mind. Hwang works plungers, tubes, blocks, tops, pencils and tricycles into formations like a true draftswoman. The "Schematics" series are named with cryptic serial numbers, while the "Toys" drawings have the fun subtitle "No Problem With Fine Motor Skills." Through April 28, 145 N. Second St., 215-625-9990. ... Later this month, see what author, architect and interior designer Lisa Roberts calls the "Antiques of the Future" at the Design Center at Philadelphia University. Roberts will sign her book of the same name, but better yet, on display will be more than 100 pieces from her collection of everyday objects that are anything but ordinary in design (think Karim Rashid and Michael Graves, for starters). Form follows function? Sure, but that doesn't mean the form can't be revolutionary. Opening reception, Fri., April 20, 6-8 p.m., through June 25, 4200 Henry Ave., 215-951-2860.

(l_hill@citypaper.net)

 

Things That Matter To People Who Matter
All Things Considered
Reunited
Keyed Up Down Under
Better With Age?
Insane in the Membrane
Silly Love
Fall of the Legends
In the Rough
Steps Lively
Now See This
Moscow Festival Ballet
Mark Mothersbaugh
Shakespeare Cafe