Annabeth Rosen: Contingency, Mei-Ling Hom: Yun Nan = Southern Clouds and Paul Swenbeck: Shaker Legend-Trip
Fleisher/Ollman Gallery
1616 Walnut Street,
Suite 100
Now — May 1
With Philadelpha still reeling from hosting the National Conference for Education in the Ceramic Arts, Fleisher/Ollman offers up the work of three innovative ceramic artists working primarily with clay. Rosen's huge, organic columns, composed of thousands of painstakingly crafted individual pieces, stand ominously in the gallery. Hom collaborated with a self-taught ceramicist in order to make a series that continues an ongoing personal contemplation of cloud imagery, iterations of which are spread over a variety of mediums. Rounding out the show with socially conscious content is Swenbeck, whose work has an interesting connection to both Wiccan belief and the Salem witch trials. Upon first glance, the shared medium of the works might come as a surprise. The manipulation of raw clay into such widely disparate finished sheds light on its innovative potential as a medium. We're definitely not just dealing with cups and plates anymore.
Kathy Butterly and Jill Bonovitz
Locks Gallery
600 South Washington Square
Now — April 24
It turns out that Kathy Butterly’s small-scale ceramic pieces look just like her name sounds – warm, melty, playful and fun. With works in the collections of MoMA and the Smithsonian, Butterly’s inviting sculptures definitely warrant a visit downtown. Exhibiting in conjunction with Butterly is ceramicist Jill Bonovitz, whose work takes a more minimal approach to clay. Continue to push the limits of clay and pay these two greats a visit.
.matrix
The Crane Buidling
1400 N. American Street
Now — May 28
Although it opened in the beginning of March, .matrix is something we’re delighted to see stay open so long. Organized by the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, the show challenges each of the participating artists to push the limits of the printed image and its usage beyond the basic fundamentals of photographic printmaking. The show contains photographs that have either been modified after the printing process or changed radically during the process itself. If you’re a photo buff who has wondered about the printing and developing process, head to .matrix and shake up your conceptions of photography.
