| My Thanksgiving Vacation... Philly |
| Written by Ken Hamel | |
| Wednesday, 05 December 2007 | |
 Perelman Building at the Philadelphia Museum of Art - Photos by Ken Hamel/DenverArts.org PAFA never disappoints, and the newer Hamilton building had a great show titled "Space is the Place" featuring a variety of artists' post-modern riffs on the heyday of space exploration. My favorite pieces were Adam Ross' precise, abstract future cityscapes, Lia Halbran's large oil canvases featuring fictionalized women astronauts and sisters Jane and Louise Wilson's photographs of the ancient relics from "Star City," the famous Russian cosmonaut training facility outside of Moscow. In addition, the 2nd floor offered up a first-rate showing of modern highlights from the permanent collection starting at the 40s with Yves Tanguy and Adolph Gottlieb, moving up through Mark Rothko and Richard Dibenkorn (and a beautiful large Lee Krasner untitled work), right up to Jennifer Bartlett's "Small, Medium, Large" featuring a series of baked enamel grids with black dots, and low and behold, a Vik Muniz piece "Charles Wilson Peale - Pantheon From Pictures of Ink". Muniz used tiny ink drops to create a simulacrum half-tone "news print" image that was then photographed and made large in the classic Muniz style, a fantastic piece. (If you have not been to the Museo to see his show, don't hesitate!) The Institute for Contemporary Art at Penn had a great show featuring a variety of contemporary artists on the theme of sound; the exhibit was highly interactive and a fun, noisy experience; the highlight was a wonderful Tim Hawkinson music box out of rusted drywall screws, knives and an old thermos. The new Perelman building, part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which opened earlier this year was a treat, featuring an exhibit of modern furniture ("Designing Modern: 1920 to Present") and Alfred Stieglitz photographs. The library in the building is also a welcome addition with 100s of art periodicals from around the world available to browse. Below: pictures from "Ensemble" at The Institute for Contemporary Art at the Univeristy of Pennsylvania Below: pictures from "Space is the Place" at the Pennyslvania Acadamy of Fine Arts Below: pictures from the new Perelman building at the Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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