First Friday Focus

Lori Hill's First Friday Hit List

by Lori Hill

Projects Gallery

The apples grew ripe and fell far from the tree by Krista Steinke, 2006, digital print (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Everything in Projects Gallery's exhibition "Child's Play" straddles the line between the innocence and the often bewildering experience of childhood. Years often associated with joy and freedom are here fraught with distress and inscrutability. Nothing exemplifies the tension more than Krista Steinke's stunning photograph the apples grew ripe and fell far from the tree. A small boy crouches on a front porch, smashing apples with a hammer while another little one watches. Everything here is pitch-perfect for a mystery — the lights from within the house, the shadows on the wooden porch slats, the way the boy's hands grip his weapon. It's bizarre and wonderful. (Do yourself a favor and check out the rest of Steinke's series "Backyards BB Guns and Nursery Rhymes": kristasteinke.com.) The other artists offer equally compelling work that challenges us to reconsider our notions of childhood. Elaine Erne's teddy, depicted in her graphite drawing Bear Hug, is a soulless, straitjacketed companion, devoid of eyes but waiting for someone to pick him up nonetheless. Jennifer Layzer plays with her Barbies again, this time posing them in scenes from the Salem Witch Trials. Look out also for Caleb Weintraub's cotton-candy-colored landscapes and Elizabeth Bisbing's faceless toddlers, not to mention the work of Ross Bonfanti, Jim Brossy and others.

Reception Fri., March 7, 5-8 p.m., runs through March 29, 629 N. Second St., 267-303-9652, projectsgallery.com.

Da Vinci

This month, a slew of galleries, with UArts as home base, have exhibitions as part of "Materiality and Meaning," an international fiber symposium in Philadelphia. Gross McCleaf, Snyderman-Works, Temple Gallery, Fabric Workshop and others will participate, but we thought we'd home in on one of the little guys, South Philly's Da Vinci Art Alliance. This small space on Catharine near the Fleisher Art Memorial has been going strong since the 1960s, and as an organization since 1931. For the symposium, Da Vinci will host an "Exhibit of Texture and Technique," with the handiwork of Alyse C. Bernstein, Ed Bing Lee, Kathy Weaver (born to be a fiber artist?), Amy Orr and others. Susan Leonard's quartet of sunflowers is a study in color contrasts, while Bette Uscott-Woolsey's "Square Dance" nicely toes the line between classic and contemporary. The show will be curated by K. Pannepacker, herself a textile/visual artist who has a concurrent solo show at William Way Community Center called "Works Woven." So check out what Arthur Ross and the PMA have to offer, but don't miss Da Vinci's local charms.

Reception Sun., March 9, 1-5 p.m., runs March 5-30, 704 Catharine St., 215-829-0466.

And Then There's ...

Don't make that face ... it'll freeze that way! My dad would say this when I was a snotty 10-year-old. I never really believed him, but there was a kernel of doubt ... what if it did? At the Clay Studio, David Garratt makes it so with his faces frozen in contorted, painful expressions. "The Bird," a group homage to Constantin Brancusi; and the work of robot fan Kurt Anderson round out the gallery's March. Reception Fri., March 7, 5-9 p.m., runs through March 30, 137-39 N. Second St., 215-925-3453, theclaystudio.org. ... Continuing at FLUXSpace is "Born to Fight," an installation by Katherine Nanfro, who photographs her cutout, life-size drawings of horses, wolves and other animals, plops them in unlikely places and snaps a photo. First you're like, uh, what? Until you see her shot of a cardboard tiger lounging by the sea. Then, you're like, of course. Through March 15, 3000 N. Hope St., thefluxspace.org. ... Motor City artists come to the Brandywine Workshop as part of its American Cities series. "Detroit: Contemporary Works on Paper" is a showcase of prints, drawings, photos and more from 23 artists. Through April 26, 730 S. Broad St., 215-546-3675, brandywineworkshop.com.

(l_hill@citypaper.net)