Inspiration bubbles in the galleries

There is no shortage this fall of quirky gallery shows.For starters: The Chinese artist couple Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen, admired for their massive chopstick sculptures, are taking over the Philadelphia Art Alliance for an installation about Chinese home life; the late, self-taught Milwaukee artist Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, known for the creepy, pinup-inspired photos of his wife, paintings of imaginary worlds, and ornate ceramics, will get further scrutiny at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, and violent crime has inspired the group show "No Bingo for Felons" at Arcadia University Art Gallery.

Look for more solo shows than in the last two years, as well as mature artists doing their hottest work ever - among them, Elizabeth Osborne-turned-pure colorist at Locks Gallery, and Knox Martin's big, sensuous, female-inspired abstract paintings at LGTripp. Otherwise, the gallery landscape appears evenly divided between emerging and mid-career artists working in painting, sculpture, installation, photography - and sometimes several of these at once. - Edith Newhall reviews galleries for The Inquirer

Marlo Pascual. Moore College of Art & Design's Goldie Paley Gallery gets a makeover by a graduate of Tyler's MFA program. Pascual's photo-based sculptures and installations combine altered vintage photographs with furniture to evoke domestic interiors of a modernist bent. Through Oct. 19 (215-965-4027 or www.moore.edu/the-galleries-at-moore).

'A Stirring Song Sung Heroic: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom, 1619 to 1965.' William Earle Williams, Haverford College's Audrey A. and John L. Dusseau professor in the humanities, professor of fine arts, and curator of photography, is exhibiting his own photographs of sites of Civil War battles, slave cabins and cemeteries, and stops along the Underground Railroad, alongside historical artifacts from his collection of books, letters, and maps, in the college's Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery. Through Oct. 11 (610-896-1287 or www.haverford.edu/exhibits).

'Serena Perrone: Reverie.' Enormous woodcut prints of figures in romantic landscapes by the Philadelphia-based artist who blends autobiography and fiction, at Swarthmore's List Gallery. Through Oct. 27 (610-328-7811 or www.swarthmore.edu/list-gallery.xml).

'Katie Grinnan: Three-Headed Lady.' A newly commissioned work for the Print Center by the Los Angeles-based sculptor, in which she'll create a growing knowledge center using data and digital prints collected from her friends, family, and the public. It will be further developed during her fall residency at Temple University's Tyler School of Art. Through Nov. 23 (215-735-6090 or www.printcenter.org).

'The Way of Chopsticks.' The Beijing-based husband-and-wife team Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen come to the Philadelphia Art Alliance to show the final set of their iconic chopstick sculptures and a video examining the evolution of family life in China since the regime of Mao Tse-tung. Through Dec. 29 (215-545-4302 or www.philartalliance.org).

'No Bingo for Felons.' At Arcadia University Art Gallery, the second installment of an evolving traveling group exhibition organized by artists Julian Hoeber and Alix Lambert that investigates the nature of crime and includes works by criminals, crime-solvers, artists, and crime-scene photographs from the collection of writer Luc Sante. Through Nov. 3 (215-572-2131 or www.gallery.arcadia.edu).

'CITYWIDE Philly.' Because they want you to get to know them better, more than 20 of Philadelphia's artist collectives are collaborating in a multigallery exhibition that will run the month of November, exchanging spaces, practices, and ideas (www.citywidephilly.com).

Eugene Von Bruenchenhein. Fleisher/Ollman Gallery's first overview of the self-taught artist (1910-1983), including his photographs of his wife posing as a pin-up girl, visionary paintings, and ceramics. Oct. 10 - Dec. 7. (215-545-7562 or www.fleisher-ollmangallery.com).

'Camp Paradox Days.' A group show of painters, sculptors, and photographers - Lucas Blalock, Alex Da Corte, Andrew Gbur, Amanda Ross-Ho, and Tyler Rowland - who take inspiration from found sources and share an ironic sense of history, at UArts' Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery. Through Oct. 8 (215-717-6480 or www.uarts.edu/about/rosenwald-wolf-gallery).

'Ryan McGinness: Finding Infinity.' The artist's first solo show with Bridgette Mayer Gallery coincides with the dedication Oct. 11 of his mural for the University City Science Center. Oct. 9 - Nov. 16 (215-413-8893 or www.bridgettemayergallery.com).

'Dialogic.' Works by Lesley Dill, John Giorno, Jenny Holzer, Glenn Ligon, Jaume Plensa, and 12 others that explore the contradictions, hidden meanings, and implicit ideologies of language, at Rowan University Art Gallery. Through Oct. 8 (856-256-4521 or www.rowan.edu/artgallery).

More galleries choices from Edith Newhall: 

'Luminous Paintings by Elizabeth Osborne.' At Locks Gallery, the Philadelphia artist's first entirely abstract body of work. Through Oct. 12 (215-629-1000 or www.locksgallery.com).

'Astrid Bowlby: Sample (d) (r).' At least 10 pairs of 9-by-9-inch drawings made with the same pens and ink, and using the same process, with only one from each pair available for sale, at Gallery Joe. Nov. 23 - Jan. 11 (215-592-7752 or www.galleryjoe.com).

'Knox Martin: She.' Recent paintings by a leading member of the New York School, at LGTripp Gallery. Through Oct. 26 (215-923-3110 or www.lgtrippgallery.com).

'Steve Riedell: In and Out of the Light, New Works on Paper.' Works on paper that use the fold-shaped motifs of his "Folded-Over" paintings, at Larry Becker Contemporary Art. Oct. 12 - Nov. 23 (215-925-5389 or www.artnet.com/lbecker.html).

'Edward McHugh: Law of Reflection.' Gallery 339's only fall show, of McHugh's landscape photographs and abstract paintings that examine the properties of reflection. Oct. 4 - Dec. 14 (215-731-1530 or www.gallery339.com).

'Soulmates: Piper Brett.' The artist's first one-person show with Rebekah Templeton Contemporary Art includes appropriated photography, video, and sculpture. Through Oct. 26 (267-519-3884 or www.rebekahtempleton.com).