First Friday Focus

Lori Hill's First Friday Hit List

by Lori Hill

Bridgette Mayer

Grace, by Paul Oberst, 2006, silkscreen ink on wood and cotton (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Like Monet and his haystacks, Maine-based sculptor Paul Oberst has been transfixed by a singular image. For 27 years he's studied the idea of the temple, and for a show at Bridgette Mayer called "Temples, Towers, and Totems," he has crafted structures from pine and mixed media that breed contemplation with their seeming simplicity. On closer examination, ritual and meditation break through as the repetition of words — soul, spirit, shroud — stamped on the surface brighten and bring greater meaning to the pieces. If these structures existed life-size, they would have legions of visitors waiting to worship at their doors. A sensory departure from the minimalist calm of Oberst's structures, Philly artist Clint Takeda creates wire-and-synthetic foam pieces covered in brightly colored glossy paint. Like Oberst, though, Takeda's interested in spiritual iconography. His work is influenced by the representations of Buddhist deities he saw growing up in Japan. Wildly abstracted figures stand proudly with their faceless heads and rough-hewn appendages in his "Transfigured" show. Are they warriors? Gods? Both? The appeal is in the mystery and in Takeda's bold, loose technique. Opening reception Fri., April 4, 6-8:30 p.m., runs through April 26, 709 Walnut St., 215-413-8893.

222 Gallery

A few collectives gave artists in Seoul, L.A. and Philly Lomo cameras and set them loose. The idea was to investigate — in 36 exposures — the way local architecture, physical spaces and urban environments shape the culture of a city and the lifestyle of its residents. The assignment was both liberating and stressful for Philly's Ted Passon, who says in his artist's statement, "[When] it dawned on me what it meant to only have one roll of film to shoot for the whole show ... I started to get a bit nervous. There's plenty of times when you just shoot a shitty roll and usually it's no big deal because no one is going to see it." In the end, Passon's images reveal a Philly that we all know and love — row houses, cluttered apartments, birthday parties and corner bars. Lomographic cameras encourage a shoot-from-the-hip spontaneity and produce blurry, oversaturated images that are fun to take and even more fun to look at. But the organizers of the "12x36" exhibit threw the artists for another loop by giving them cameras with the Colorsplash feature — a choice of three colored filters over the flash to cast alternate moods over the images. It's fascinating to see what Randall Sellers, known for his monochromatic microscopic drawings, sees with color photography. He says he chose to focus his one-weekend shoot on the "ethnic mélange" of the city, something he's not seen much of since a move to the Poconos. Everyday city life — kids playing football and women waiting for the bus downtown — won his attention. Philly's Dan Murphy and Melissa Farley and artists representing Seoul and L.A. will also show three photos each, along with their full contact sheets. Opening reception Fri., April 4, 6-9 p.m., runs through May 30, 222 Gallery, 222 Vine St., 215-873-0750, 222gallery.com.

And Then There's ...

BlinkArt Gallery is showing Dexiang Qian's paintings of Chinese women engaged in various beauty rituals or domestic tasks or looking at themselves in the mirror. At first, the style and content seem old-fashioned, but with increased viewing, they hint at a modern inner life. Opening reception Fri., April 4, 6-9 p.m., runs through April 30, 108 Chestnut St., 215-588-4445.

(l_hill@citypaper.net)