On the House

With four simultaneous powerhouse exhibitions, ICA's new free-admission policy is perfect timing.

by Natalie Hope McDonald

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Published: Sep 3, 2008

The price to see the most talked-about contemporary art in the city? The cost of a subway ride to West Philly. Since July 1, UPenn's Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) has been offering free admission for the first time in its 45-year history. Made possible by a grant underwritten by Wharton alumnus and ICA board member Glenn R. Fuhrman, the new policy will be in place for at least the next five years.

Says Marilyn Pollick, ICA's director of development, the major challenge in 2013 will be securing funds to maintain comp admission from a charitable corporate world that often balks at sometimes controversial art. "Edgy art prompts discussion ... and is a little harder for businesses to understand," says Pollick. "Because of this, ICA does not target children under age 12. We don't have buses of fourth-graders lined up for tours the way the Franklin [Institute] does."

Pollick says new member benefits will extend to special events and programs. "There will be some programs open exclusively to members at a modest cost," she says, "that will not be open to the public." Those member-only perks include the highly anticipated Robert Mapplethorpe symposium slated for February of next year.

In celebration of this financial first, the ICA is hosting a community-wide opening tonight to kick off the institute's fall exhibition schedule, featuring modern masters including Douglas Blau, R. Crumb, Kate Gilmore and Odili Donald Odita. According to Stamatina Gregory, ICA's curatorial fellow, each of the shows reflects the ongoing efforts of the ICA to showcase new, multimedia works from American and international artists (and in one case, a Philly native).

Using framed collages of photography, postcards, film stills and printed matter, New York artist, critic, writer and curator Douglas Blau creates epic visual dialogues, often of a political nature, as seen in The Conversation Piece (1993/1995). In it, words, images and reproductions are juxtaposed to create an explicit narrative about political culture.

Word and image continues to play a leading role at the ICA with an exhibition by Philly-born cartoonist (and cult sensation) R. Crumb. Characterized by adult satire, classic storytelling and crass commercialism, Crumb's illustrations were first featured in local publications Yarrowstalks and Zap Comix. More than 100 works, including his early comics, greeting cards, drawings, sculptures and sketchbooks, will be displayed.

Crumb's collaborations with notables Harvey Pekar, Jay Lynch, S. Clay Wilson and the cartoonist's wife and daughter, Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Sophie Crumb, will also be included.

The third simultaneous exhibition features performance-based videos by Kate Gilmore in which she tries to outwit physical obstacles. "Viewers will see a new work titled Between a Hard Place, created for the Project Space," explains Gregory. "Gilmore was trained as a sculptor, and she creates physical challenges in order to overcome them. She then documents herself making the attempt, and the resulting video is her finished product."

In the video, the artist kicks and punches her way through plywood and drywall until reaching a dead end. "As always, she carefully coordinates her outfits to her surroundings, and her bright yellow heels match the color of the wall she fights her way to," says Gregory.

The fourth exhibition is a large, abstract wall painting by Odili Donald Odita, created specifically for the space — and painted directly onto its walls. "Odita is carrying on a sophisticated dialogue on abstraction that began in the mid-20th century, says Gregory. "He begins with hard-edged abstraction, and then fragments it and blows up its scale."

In total, 115 different colors of house paint are included in this installation. "They add narrative and multicultural inflection," says Gregory. "The installation is a vast, animated landscape upon which viewers can create an infinite amount of visual associations." In other words, the overall effect is very much in the eye of the beholder.

(n_mcdonald@citypaper.net)

Opening reception Sept. 4, 6-8 p.m., free; exhibits run Sept. 4-Dec. 7, Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 S. 36th St., 215-898-7108, icaphila.org.

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