First Friday Focus

Lori Hill's First Friday Hit List

by Lori Hill

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Published: Dec 31, 2007

Vox Populi

The Golden Age (2007) by My Barbarian; two channel video (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Fake news, true fantasy, historical fiction and bizarre mythologies come together for an examination called "Fact or Friction" at Vox Populi. Guest curators Geir Haraldseth and Ruba Katrib looked everywhere from Norway to Venezuela to find artists who play with the boundaries between truth and lies with no remorse. While considering what constitutes history and how it is filtered and retold, these artists use video, text, paintings and multimedia as their own filtering mechanisms, creating another layer of fiction in our history's massive game of Whisper Down the Lane. The show even includes works on the theme by folks who might not consider themselves artists: O.J. Simpson's book If I Did It: Confessions of a Killer and Stephen Colbert's Web site wikiality.com. At the very least, Haraldseth and Katrib have gotten me hooked on My Barbarian, an almost uncategorizable group of musicians (artists? actors? freaks? I don't think they'd be offended) whose backyard theatricals muse on Morgan le Fay, among other themes. They're on YouTube. Go ahead. You won't be able to look away, no matter how much you may want to. While at "Fact or Friction," duck in to Screening, an independent gallery within Vox's space dedicated to video work, and therefore a very welcome addition to Philly's art landscape. Run by artists Matthew Suib and Nadia Hironaka, Screening is now showing part of Adam Putnam's shadowroom series, whose steady shots of empty rooms amplify the eeriness of its subject's antique wallpaper and scuffed floors.

Opening Fri., Jan. 4, 6-11 p.m., through Jan. 27; gallery talk with exhibition curators, Sat., Jan. 26, 3 p.m., 319 N. 11th St., third floor, 215-238-1236.

Wexler Gallery

For its first show of 2008, Wexler Gallery has paired two of the most renowned artists of their chosen fields of work. Chuck Close and Wendell Castle have worked for more than 40 years fine-tuning their techniques and continuing to be inspired by new ideas, materials and technologies. With a cadre of other painters in the late '60s and early '70s, Close generated the photorealism movement in which photographs are painstakingly re-created using a variety of methods, like placing a grid of boxes over the photograph and the blank canvas and reproducing the image box by box. Not by necessity only, the quadriplegic Close has toyed with the hyperrealistic elements, abstracting those tiny boxes into bright bubbles of color and pulsing dots, once again revolutionizing the form. Wexler's show features Close's works on paper spanning the last few decades, powerfully illustrating the scope of his techniques. The differences alone among a 1986 black-and-white etching, a 1995 silkscreen self-portrait, and a 2003 silkscreen of a man named Lyle are distinct and telling. From a distance, the first looks like a photographic portrait, the second a hooked rug, and the third a pixelated digital image. Wendell Castle, on the other hand, has taken craft furniture to new heights with his whimsical pieces that reference everything from trompe l'oeil to pop art. Castle, who not only has one-of-a-kind works in collections all over the world (look for his gorgeously tricky Table with Gloves and Keys at its Philadelphia Museum of Art home) but produces work commercially, as well, is that rare artist who achieves such a graceful balance. Now Castle's newest works take their titles (and likely more) from the lyrics of songwriter Tom Waits (see Shoot the Moon). Two small, oil-slick-black tables bear the names Bud and Buddy and do indeed look friendly. What's truly remarkable about Castle's work is that it remains functional as well as fun (although I wouldn't recommend making yourself comfortable with what's on view at Wexler).

Opening Fri., Jan. 4, 5-9 p.m., through Feb. 29, 201 N. Third St., 215-923-7030.

And Then There's ...

40th Street AIRSPACE hosts the work of students from the Southwest Community Enrichment Center, where the young artists worked with Beth Pulcinella and Mariel Waloff to unveil their talents in papier-mâché, photography and other media. Reception Fri., Jan. 25, 6-9 p.m., runs Jan. 7-Feb. 1, 4013 Chestnut St., 215-694-8719. ... "Sock & Awe: An Overwhelming Display of Sock Monkey Art" continues at Mew Gallery, lending new gravitas to the humble craft. Through Feb. 2, 906 Christian St., 215-625-2424. ... Sarah Everton, Kate Norton, Jesse Greenberg and Nick Lenker answered Pageant: Soloveev's open call for Philadelphia artists, and the result is the gallery's "Isskustvo Transmagica Provinces Animamina," a collection of unrelated but nevertheless harmonious works by the artists. Through Feb. 3, 607 Bainbridge St., 215-925-1535.

(l_hill@citypaper.net)

 

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