ARTS

First Friday Focus

Lori Hill's First Friday Hit List


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Published: Apr 1, 2009

Bridgette Mayer Gallery

Pour (detail) by Tim McFarlane, part of "Right Now" series, acrylic on panel, 2008

Bridgette Mayer Gallery

An obsessive weaver of color, Tim McFarlane lays it on thick. Using two spaces at Bridgette Mayer for his experimentations, McFarlane brings the background to the foreground and vice versa. Where sometimes the grids and layers of color are the main attraction, the artist will often concentrate on their resting places. In the series "Right Now," the coils, links and twists sit on perfectly alternating stripes, fat bands of color, or sickly, skim-milk shades of bluish-white. The backgrounds only serve to jack up what's on top, making his curvy lines look even more alive with movement. He's stretching the boundaries now, too, with his work in Mayer's Vault Room. This Moment is a site-specific, in-progress work that McFarlane is drawing directly on the wall. Starting Sunday, April 4, from 1 to 3 p.m. and at various times throughout the run, he'll work in-house, demonstrating his studio working style. In case you don't catch him live, he's documenting the work through photos, writings and perhaps video. Opening Fri., April 3, 6-8 p.m., exhibit through April 25, 709 Walnut St., 215-413-8893, mayerartconsultants.com.

Painted Bride

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Curator Anabelle Rodríguez felt that the time had come to consider the ways artists — hey, all of us — deal with the "hyperstimulus," the cacophony, the chaos of millennial life. She's brought together a group of artists whose work in digital animation, painting and experimental photography is reflective of this mad, mad world. The show's title — "Synesthesia," or the blending of the senses — hints at its intent. In fact, most of the artists engage in sensory overload. Matt Neff's fabric swatches pop with candy apple reds, greens and yellows — making you want to reach out and touch them. On the other hand, Mario Rodriguez's Tastes Like Broken Glass pierces the eye with sharp ends and jagged lines. Space 1026 member Mark Price will present a large installation of silk-screen prints on paper, cardboard sculpture, acrylic paint and black light called Into Pure Fantasy. John Schenk's Ayako-doll is mysterious and airy, with a depth of field difficult to wrap your head and eyes around. One refreshing bit of exploration of our cluttered world is Samantha Ernst's Heightened Awareness. Ernst aims to reduce her "eco-footprint" with all of her work, and with this installation, she analyzes and employs the evidence of her own consumerism (and hence, ours): cardboard from boxes, shoes, beer, shopping bags, even tags from her clothing. There's more to it, of course, but you'll have to go get stimulated for yourself. In her statement about the show, Rodriguez assures, "If this exhibit seems to be over the top and a tad too much, it has succeeded." Opening reception Fri., April 3, 5-7 p.m., exhibit through May 16, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 215-925-9914, paintedbride.org.

Cerulean Arts

Continuing the theme of density and stimulation, "The Air Is Thick" is rich with color and texture, brimming over with the intensity of the artists' expressions. The idea was to unite painters with alternative approaches to traditional landscape: Laurie Riccadonna's garden-inspired explorations, Christopher Schade's surrealistic geometric puzzles, Marc Connor's sculptural topographies and Zoe Pettijohn Schade's glittery celestial planes. Riccadonna's Latitude is a feast of flora and exquisitely patterned patches of design. What fun it would be to get lost in one of her paintings — a maze of exotic plant life and swirling grains of color. It's hard to know where one stands with Christopher Schade's work. Perspectives are skewed, the visual plane shifts and the subjects are enigmatic. Schade seems eager to confound, but when the bottom falls out of the ocean (sky?) in Horizon Island, it's a pleasure to dream about where it will drop you. Like a 3-D topographical map, Connor's works toe the line between painting and sculpture. His application of paint builds until it takes on the shapes of the natural forms he's representing. Like the rest of the show's paintings, the ethereal images of Zoe Pettijohn Schade challenge the notion of landscape. In Father's Space, gauzy layers of fabric-like patterns share space with floating triangles and glowing drops of light. Opening reception Fri., April 10, 5-9 p.m., exhibit through May 15, 1355 Ridge Ave., 267-514-8647, ceruleanarts.com.

And Then There's ...

Barbara Lee Smith also works in landscapes, zooming in so the intimacies of a blade of grass or a lap of a wave come to the fore. Her show, "Going Out Going In," continues at Snyderman. Through April 18, 303 Cherry St., 215-238-9576. ... Kocot and Hatton's study in blue continues at Larry Becker, buzzing and glowing and floating in black squares that mesmerize and relax. Through April 18, 43 N. Second St., 215-925-5389.

(l_hill@citypaper.net)