First Friday Focus

Holly Otterbein's First Friday Hit List

by Holly Otterbein

Billboard, by Erin Murray, oil on MDF panel, part of the exhibit "Architecture Parlante" at Fishtown's Slingluff Gallery.

Marginal Utility

A gallery recently didn't show Jayson Scott Musson's video series because it used the word "nigger" too much. Before that, Musson made a piece that imagined a new reality TV show, Find the White Neighborhood, which would drop contestants into a black community, and then challenge them to find their way out. He's not for everyone. But in "Neotony /// The Hard Sell," the inflammatory, oft-misunderstood artist's gone too far: Musson has disrespected the beloved TV character ALF, by placing a bone through his nose a la the Tea Party posters of President Obama. We'll stop there, for fear of spoiling the exhibit's shock value. Opening reception Fri., Feb. 4, 6-11 p.m., free, through March 27, 319 N. 11th St., second floor, 917-355-4487, marginalutility.org.

The Slingluff Gallery

Erin Murray used to hate Northeast Philly. But one day, the post-war homes along Harbison Avenue suddenly had charm. She was swept up by how they don't try to hide what they are: "They're the result of having to make a lot of housing with not a lot of money. It's humbling, and the houses look humble," she says. There's a term for such expressive buildings: "Architecture Parlante," also the title of Murray's exhibit made up of oil paintings and charcoal drawings of the local, often agrestic, built environment. A term that's rarely been used since the '40s, architecture parlante usually refers to structures that obviously reveal themselves, like a doughnut shop shaped like a doughnut. But Murray's buildings adumbrate their purpose. Take Yokefellow, an oil painting of what is technically a church, but what actually looks like a glorified shed. This structure tells us that it's young and tacky, unfathomably far from the holy places that inspired Michelangelo. Likewise, Billboard (pictured) shows an empty commercial property, notable for its poor paint job and graffiti — sending a clear message to passers-by. "These buildings are inconsequential," Murray says, "and by painting them and using this vernacular to talk about them, I can make them more important than they are." Opening reception Sat., Feb. 5, 6-9 p.m., free, through Feb. 28, 11 W. Girard Ave., 215-307-1550, slingluffgallery.com.

The Great and Terrible Artists' Collective

There's a saying about music journalism: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." For her "Rock, Paper, February" exhibit with paper artist Breana Copeland, Lisa Murphy tackles a similar challenge — sculpting about music. Moved by her two favorite composers, Donizetti and Mozart, Murphy creates architectural wooden sculptures depicting everything from banal doors to shuttle launchers. There's a delightful Bruno Ernst-like quality to her work, even though it's 3-D. "What's interesting to me about opera," Murphy says of her unlikely muse, "is that it's all of the different arts combined." Opening reception Thu., Feb. 3, 6-10 p.m., free, through Feb. 17, 172 W. Montgomery Ave., 703-975-0287.

(holly.otterbein@citypaper.net)