ARTS

First Friday Focus

Holly Otterbein's First Friday Hit List


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Published: Jan 5, 2011

F.A.N. Art Gallery

The name of Rick Buttari's pencil drawing is Sam and Bike (pictured above), not Bruce and Bike, so it can't be The Boss — despite the fellow's dark kinky hair, snug jeans, slick deportment and the Philly townhouse background. Buttari, a PAFA-trained local artist, has a way of making his subjects in "Recent Paintings" look famous, or at least like people you knew in a past life. His pieces are imperfectly framed, like pages from family photo albums and newspapers. His subjects — women with shoulder-padded blazers who stand impatiently in line, forlorn adults awaiting a parade, bony teenagers who avoid eye contact — are all captured lovingly, but casually, like in Dad's Polaroids. Opening reception Fri., Jan. 7, 5-9 p.m., free, through Jan. 29, 221 Arch St., 215-922-5155, fanartgallery.com.

Seraphin Gallery

Abandoned houses, no matter how many windows or doors are missing, always look unbearably heavy. But Kelly Wallace's graphite-and-pen drawings of shuttered homes are tragically light, like you could blow them off the page with the same breath needed to push away dandelion seeds. In "Capital Salvage," the Canadian artist sands down his gessoed panels till they're vegan-thin, leaving you with a disturbing reminder of how frail our built environment is. Anne Canfield provides a fine balance to Wallace's seriousness in "No Match for My Tiny Fortress," a series of oil paintings depicting mermaids, castles and cats so mischievous they must be from the same neighborhood as the Cheshire. Opening reception Fri., Jan. 7, 6-8 p.m., free, through Feb. 13, 1108 Pine St., 215-923-7000, seraphingallery.com.

Extra Extra

Akhil, a 25-year-old living in India, must be the envy of his office. For the multimedia project "Virtual Assistance," artist Andrew Norman Wilson hired Akhil, an employee of the company Get Friday, to be his personal assistant. Under normal circumstances, Akhil would do Wilson's taxes, organize his calendar and, according to Get Friday, perform other "tedious tasks, leaving you to pursue more important things." Instead, Wilson seeks to treat Akhil like a collaborator — no, a partner-in-crime — and the two make boats together, envision the end of the IT boom, simultaneously take each other's pulses, and analyze Get Friday's business tactics. Wilson's exhibit (made up of written and taped correspondences between the two) criticizes the power imbalances inherent in outsourcing by embracing them — meaning he and Akhil can never truly stand on equal ground. Still, they get closer than even Thomas Friedman thought possible. Opening reception Fri., Jan. 7, 6-10 p.m., 1524 Frankford Ave., eexxttrraa.com.

And Then There's ...

Still suffering from New Year's Eve-induced wet brain? Put off the gallery stroll for another week. The Institute of Contemporary Art waits till Second Thursday to take on misogyny, war and death (via two characters adorably and inappropriately named "Bloodie" and "Peg-Leg") in "The Illuminations Project." Opening reception Thu., Jan. 13, 6-8 p.m., through March 20, 118 S. 26th St., 215-898-7108, icaphila.org. ... Gallery Joe's exhibit "Sebastian Rug" features abstract drawings that look like deconstructed maps, but not till next Saturday. Opening reception Sat., Jan. 15, 6-8 p.m., through Feb. 19, free, 302 Arch St., 215-592-7752, galleryjoe.com. ... Rebekah Templeton Contemporary Art's show "Anosognosia" is a series of mixed-media works that draw parallels between the titular neurological condition that causes disabled people to be unaware of their disabilities, and current environmental disasters. It's worth the wait, unless you're in denial. Opening reception Thu., Jan. 13, 6-9 p.m., through Feb. 26, free, 173 W. Girard Ave., 267-519-3884, rebekahtempleton.com.

(holly.otterbein@citypaper.net)