Spring Arts- Galleries: Shows by artists’ fave artists, including Tacita Dean, Hank Willis Tho
Look for an interesting mix of new and established artists this spring, especially shows of works by artists admired by artists: filmmaker Tacita Dean at Arcadia University; photographer Hank Willis Thomas at Haverford College's Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery; Shelley Spector at Bridgette Mayer Gallery; and fiber artist Lenore Tawney at the University of the Arts' Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery.
There seem to be fewer group shows than usual, but the ones approaching are carefully orchestrated efforts with thought-provoking themes, most notably Moore College of Art & Design's sprawling celebration of 20 years' worth of cultural works blurring art and everyday life, "Living as Form (The Nomadic Version)," curated by Nato Thompson and co-organized with Creative Time and Independent Curators International.
In March, Philadelphia's burgeoning north-of-Chinatown art district will get a considerable boost when Fleisher/Ollman Gallery opens the inaugural show at its 5,000-square-foot space at 1216 Arch St., next door to the Fabric Workshop and Museum and within easy walking distance of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Asian Arts Initiative, and a bevy of alternative galleries.
- Edith Newhall, Inquirer gallery critic
"Living as Form (The Nomadic Version)" Creative Time's chief curator Nato Thompson solicited 25 curators from around the world to help him identify 40 socially engaged projects produced over the last two decades; Moore College of Art & Design provides the venue and some ideas of its own. Local contributors to related events include Hidden City Philadelphia, the St. Claire, and Warrior Writers. Through March 16. (215-965-4027 or www.galleries@moore.edu)
"Fiat Lux" Works by five emerging Philadelphia artists - Stefan Abrams, Micah Danges, James Johnson, Anna Neighbor, and Brent Wahl - who studied photography and taught at local universities and art schools, but whose own works use the medium in unexpected ways. At the Print Center, April 5-May 24. (215-735-6090 or www.printcenter.org)
"Lenore Tawney: Wholly Unlooked For" A retrospective of fiber works, drawings, books, and collages by the well-known American fiber artist at the University of the Art's Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, organized by the Maryland Institute College of Art and UArts, through March 2. (215-717-6480 or www.uarts.edu/about/rosenwald-wolf-gallery)
"JG": A New Film Project by Tacita Dean A 26-minute, looped, 35mm anamorphic film commissioned by and made for Arcadia Art Gallery with funding from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Shot in the saline landscapes of Utah and Southern California, JG was inspired by Dean's correspondence with British writer J.G. Ballard (1930-2009) about the connections between Ballard's 1960 short story "The Voices of Time" and Robert Smithson's earthwork (and related film), Spiral Jetty (both 1970). Feb. 7-April 21. (215-572-2969 or www.arcadia.edu)
"Sedrik Huckaby: Hidden in Plain Sight" Richly textured, colorful, often monumental-scaled paintings that mix abstraction and representation and celebrate family, faith history, and community, at Swarthmore's List Gallery, through Feb. 24. (610-328-8488 or www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/art/Gallery)
"OPP: Other People's Property" A survey of works by Hank Willis Thomas, who uses film, photography, sculpture, and other media to comment on racism and exploitation in professional sports in the United States. Curated by Kalia Brooks, a professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. At Haverford College's Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery through March 8. (610-896-1267 or www.haverford.edu/finearts)
"Catch as Catch Can" A group show organized by Fionn Meade for Locks Gallery that embraces a spirit of rupture, allowance, and divided attentions, with works by Will Benedict, Kerstin Bratsch, Tom Burr, Michaela Eichwald, Nicole Eisenman, Jutta Koether, Nick Mauss, Francis Picabia, Sharyar Neshat, Lucy Skaer, Kianja Strobert, and Viola Yesiltac. Feb. 13-March 30. (215-629-1000 or www.locksgallery.com)
"Outsiderism" Fleisher/Ollman Gallery's inaugural exhibition in its new Arch Street space examines the diminishing divide between self-taught and contemporary art through works by artists with developmental disabilities and behavioral health issues from studio programs in Australia and Wilmington, Del.; paintings by Paul Laffoley exploring theories through charts, diagrams, and text; photographs by Mark Hogancamp of World War II-inspired dioramas that began as therapy for head injuries; and Harrell Fletcher and Chris Johanson's video collaboration with David Jarvey, an artist with Down syndrome. March 8-June 1 (tentative) (215-545-7562 or www.fleisher-ollmangallery.com)
"Shelley Spector: But Not as Much as Tomorrow" Spector's first solo show with Bridgette Mayer Gallery will include prints and two- and three-dimensional works made with reclaimed and recycled materials such as wood, paper, paint, metal, and vintage upholstery passed down through her family. Jan. 30-Feb. 23. (215-413-8893 or www.bridgettemayergallery.com).
"Christine Hiebert: Space for the Mark" Large-scale abstract drawings from 2012 in which marks are laid down in block printing ink, charcoal, and graphite to create relationships that command, enlarge, and push into space. At Gallery Joe, March 16-April 27. (215-592-7752 or www.galleryjoe.com)
