Monthly Archives: January 2017

Form

Charles Sheeler, Michener Art MuseumBobbi Arnst (click photos for large images)

James A. Michener Art Museum Will Present Groundbreaking Exhibition

Charles Sheeler: Fashion, Photography,
and Sculptural Form 

Multimedia retrospective to display never-before-seen photographs from a modernist icon created during his five-year tenure at Condé Nast

DOYLESTOWN, PA – In March 2017, the James A. Michener Art Museum will present Charles Sheeler: Fashion, Photography, and Sculptural Form, a groundbreaking exhibition that features never-before-seen photographs by Charles Sheeler, one of America’s most celebrated modernists. Inspired by Sheeler’s portrait and fashion work for Condé Nast from 1926 to 1931, the multimedia show will feature a significant display of these newly discovered photographs as well as paintings and other photographs created by Sheeler, 1920s fashion ensembles, and Sheeler-designed textiles. Evoking the exuberance, glamour, and promise of the Jazz Age, the exhibition will be on view from March 18 through July 9, 2017.

Charles Sheeler, Michener Art MuseumAldous Huxley

A Philadelphia native, former Doylestown resident, and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumnus, Charles Sheeler is one of the founding figures of American modernism. In 1910, Sheeler and fellow artist Morton Schamberg searched for a place to retreat from Philadelphia to sketch. They found a creative and inspirational escape in Doylestown, making their home at the historic Worthington House on Mercer Avenue. It was here, a mile and a half from where the Michener Art Museum now stands, that Sheeler began to explore photography in earnest.

Charles Sheeler, Michener Art MuseumIna Clare as Betsy Ross

Sheeler’s fashion and portrait photography for Condé Nast, however, has been almost universally dismissed as purely commercial, a painter’s “day job,” and nothing more. In reality, this commercial work was instrumental in shaping his aesthetic vision. Trained in an impressionist approach to landscape painting, Sheeler experimented early in his career with compositions inspired by European modernism before developing a linear, hard-edged style now known as Precisionism. While working in this mode, he produced powerful and compelling images of the Machine Age: skyscrapers, factories, and power plants, images that established his reputation as a leading figure in American art. Charles Sheeler: Fashion, Photography, and Sculptural Form will show that his dramatic viewpoints, rhythmic patterning, and abstract compositions were influenced by his work at Condé Nast.

Charles Sheeler, Michener Art MuseumMadame Lasse

“This exhibition will show how Sheeler’s modernist vision was refined over the course of his time at Condé Nast,” said Kirsten M. Jensen, Ph.D., the Gerry & Marguerite Lenfest Chief Curator at the Michener Art Museum and curator of the exhibition. “It was while there he fine-tuned his particular style-objective, distant, and rigorously formal-that he then applied to all of his subsequent work.

The core of the exhibition is 85 portraits and fashion photographs from this period, on loan from the Condé Nast archives. Models adorned in jewels and couture gowns, literary giants of the era, and Broadway actors and Ziegfeld Follies dancers: the subject matter is as sensational as the Jazz Age itself. The exhibition also features select prints from Sheeler’s famous Doylestown House series as well as his photographs of modern sculpture and early portraiture, the film Manhatta (a collaboration with Paul Strand), period costumes on loan from the collections of the Museum of the City of New York and Drexel University’s Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection, and paintings and photographs on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Columbus Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Princeton University Art Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and other major institutions.

Charles Sheeler, Michener Art MuseumHelen Menken

“The James A. Michener Art Museum is an especially relevant venue for Charles Sheeler: Fashion, Photography, and Sculptural Form considering Sheeler’s strong ties to the region,” said Lisa Tremper Hanover, director and CEO of the Michener Art Museum. “We’re thrilled to present this unknown body of work in Doylestown, where Sheeler made his first important photographs.”

Complementing the exhibit will be programming that includes lectures, curator talks, a Scholars Day, a film series, musical performances, and a New York-based symposium. For the full schedule, visit the exhibition website at CharlesSheeler.org.

Advance tickets and group tours for Charles Sheeler: Photography, Fashion, and Sculptural Form are available at MichenerArtMuseum.org or by calling 215.340.9800.

A member reception will be held on the evening of March 17, 2017, the day before the exhibition opens for public view. To become a Michener Art Museum member and receive an invitation, visit MichenerArtMuseum.org or call 215.340.9800 x110.

Major support for Charles Sheeler: Fashion, Photography, and Sculptural Form has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with further support from The Coby Foundation, Ltd., Visit Bucks County, an anonymous donor, and the Bucks County Foundation.

Additional funding has been provided by Bonnie J. O’Boyle and Virginia W. Sigety, Independent cabi Stylist.

In-kind support is generously provided by Condé Nast Editions.

About the James A. Michener Art Museum

The James A. Michener Art Museum collects, preserves, interprets and exhibits American art, and promotes the work of nationally and internationally known Delaware Valley artists of all eras and creative disciplines. The museum presents exhibitions that explore a variety of artistic expressions and offers diverse educational programs that develop a lifelong involvement in the arts. Throughout the year, the Michener Art Museum hosts a wide range of programs open to the public, including lectures, artists conversations, gallery talks, artist studio tours, dance performances, jazz performances, family-themed activities, and other events. The museum also offers diverse selection of art classes for children and adults, which include instruction in drawing, painting, sculpting, and printmaking as well as programs for the public, schools, and teachers designed to support arts education. The James A. Michener Art Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

The James A. Michener Art Museum is located at 138 South Pine St., Doylestown, PA. The Museum is open Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 am – 4:30 pm; Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm; and Sunday, noon – 5:00 pm. For more information, visit MichenerArtMuseum.org or call 215.340.9800.

Twitter: @MichenerArt

Facebook: MichenerArtMuseum

Instagram: michenerart

Thank you to Christine Triantos, James A. Michener Art Museum, Associate Director, Marketing and Communications for the content of this post.

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Excellence

Jakob Weissflog, Sculptures in Wood, Ist Bob Stocksdale International Excellence in Wood Award, The Center for Art in Wood

The Center for Art in Wood offers activities from within several different program areas, including the Gerry Lenfest Gallery, the Museum Collection, The Fleur & Charles Bresler Research Library, the Museum Store, and The Earl Powell Artist Research Files.

The Center displays wood art on site and in traveling exhibitions. Our Windgate ITE International Residency Program has involved over 100 international residents as it continues through its third decade. Education and community outreach programs bring hands-on wood turning and woodworking experience to students throughout the region. The Museum Collection contains over 1000 objects from around the world, ranging from functional, every-day objects to contemporary sculptures. Our research library consists of over 25,000 images, artists’ files, and books that help preserve the exciting history of wood turning and woodworking and their continuing evolution as a contemporary art form.

Over the last two years, the Center mounted 15 exhibitions which served as the central programming focus during the time of their presentation. For instance, the Center publishes catalogues and books around many exhibitions and offers special events and dinners that correspond with each show. The Center comes alive during Old City District‘s notable First Fridays, which are the perfect opportunity for exhibition openings and events.” – The Center for Art in Wood

“German craftsman Jakob Weissflog just won the first Bob Stocksdale International Excellence in Wood Award. He learned woodturning from his father Hans Weissflog. Both are world class artists in wood.” – John Thornton


Jakob Weissflog, Germany, is the inaugural honoree recipient of the Bob Stocksdale International Excellence in Wood Award.

Supported by an anonymous donor, the Bob Stocksdale International Excellence in Wood Award annually grants $1,000 and a documented exhibition to an emerging or mid-career artist whose work, like Stocksdale’s, unites quality of craftsmanship and respect for materials.

All exhibition items are for sale to the public. For inquiries, please contact Lori Reece, at 215-923-8000 or by email at lori@centerforartinwood.org.” –The Center for Art in Wood


“Bob Stocksdale (born 1913 in Warren, Indiana—died January 6, 2003 in Oakland, California) was an American woodturner, known for his bowls formed from rare and exotic woods. He was raised on his family farm and enjoyed working with tools. His wife of more than 30 years, Kay Sekimachi, stated that, “His grandfather gave him a pocketknife, and he started to whittle. That’s how it started.”

According to an oral history he recorded at the University of California Bancroft Library, Stocksdale powered his first lathe with a surplus Maytag gasoline washing machine motor. He turned baseball bats and spindles among early projects. After graduating from high school, he worked in a factory making wooden paddles used by cracker bakers. Later he worked in a factory that made cedar chests. His job was to assemble the chests from the pre-cut wooden pieces.

He was drafted into the Army in 1942. Like two of his three brothers, he claimed conscientious objector (CO) status during World War II because he believed war never solved anything. He spent World War II in several CO camps doing forestry work. It was at a camp in Michigan where Stocksdale turned his first bowl on a lathe. This brought him to the West. He was encouraged in his woodturning efforts by Helen Winnemore, the owner of a crafts gallery in Columbus, Ohio.

After the war, Stocksdale moved to Berkeley, California in 1946, one year after Gump’s in San Francisco began showing his work. His first solo exhibition followed in 1958 at the Long Beach Museum of Art. He bought a Victorian duplex in South Berkeley, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. He put together a shop of modest tools in his basement, and there turned out work for more than 50 years that gradually earned him acclaim and fame as a woodturner. He was a friend, and sometime collaborator, of Sam Maloof.

His work was included in the American exhibit of the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair and has been recognized internationally for fine design and workmanship. His many honors include the American Association of Woodturners Lifetime Achievement Award (1998) and the Masters of the Medium Award, James Renwick Alliance (2003). Stocksdale received the American Craft Council’s Gold Medal in 1995.

Stocksdale’s bowls are prized by collectors. They have been shown in Europe and Japan, and they appear in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Oakland Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Stocksdale died on the January 6, 2003, at Kaiser Oakland Medical Center in Oakland, California from complications of prostate cancer. He was 89. He was survived by second wife, Kay Sekimachi, a famous weaver and craft artist; a daughter, Joy, a noted fabric designer, of Sebastopol, California; a son, Kim, of Los Angeles; and a sister-in-law, Marge Stocksdale of Huntington, Indiana.” – Wikipedia


The Center for Art in Wood,141 N. 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, Jakob Weissflog through April 8th, 2017.

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Paros

I Love Paros, Off the Wall Gallery

I Love Paros!, Winter Getaway Show at Off the Wall Gallery at Dirty Frank’s

“GETAWAY ALREADY?: While it’s the first day back for most of us, it’s also never too early to think about vacations ahead. That is exactly what our WINTER SHOW, which goes up this Saturday, will conjure in your head. On display will be the output of 10 talented artists, including several OFF THE WALL veterans, who traveled to the Greek island of PAROS last year — under the guidance and tutelage of ALICE MEYER-WALLACE – to create, celebrate life, collaborate, find inspiration and then create some more! Please mark your calendars for the OPENING RECEPTION on THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 7:00 – 10:00pm. We look forward to seeing you then and getting away — if only for a few hours…and only through the power of art!” – Togo Travalia

  • Linda Avila
  • Meri Collier
  • Anders Hansen
  • Alice Meyer-Wallace
  • Jess Perlitz
  • Ron Ploeg
  • Susan Ploeg
  • Susan Stromquist
  • Phillis Dyer Weldon
  • Rick Wright

“Paros is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about 8 kilometres (5 miles) wide. It lies approximately 150 km (93 miles) south-east of Piraeus. The Municipality of Paros includes numerous uninhabited offshore islets totaling 196.308 square kilometres (75.795 sq mi) of land. It’s nearest neighbor is the municipality of Antiparos, which lies to its southwest.

Historically, Paros was known for its fine white marble, which gave rise to the term “Parian” to describe marble or china of similar qualities. Today, abandoned marble quarries and mines can be found on the island, but Paros is primarily known as a popular tourist spot.” – Wikipedia

The Dirty History of Franks, in a shot glass:

  • Dirty Frank’s opened its doors as “Franks” on November 8th, 1933, and was owned by Lou Silverman.
  • Prohibition was repealed December 5th, 1933 (how did Lou know?).
  • Frank Vigderman was the second owner. Apparently due to his hygiene, the name ‘Dirty Frank’s’ was born.
  • John Segal was the third owner from 1959-1978. He tried to change the name to the ‘347 bar’ but it never really stuck. In August of 1965 Dirty Frank’s was closed for 45 days as penalty for serving minors. John took the opportunity to tear down the dividing wall between the two rooms and to build the horseshoe-shaped bar that we still have today.
  • Jay McConnell became the fourth owner from 1978 – 2011. He completely embraced and embodied the Dirty Frank’s persona.
  • The Off the Wall Gallery was launched in 1979 by by Jay with Mary Liz, Bunky Devichios, and Phil Sumpter.
  • Since 2011,  Dirty Frank’s is owned by Brad Pierce and Jody Sweitzer, two longtime employees of the “institution”.

There you have it. And, as they say, much is still to be written…

Thank you to Togo Travalia for the content of this post.

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Star

David Bowie, Queer Star, Jimmi Schrode

Queer Star, David Bowie and Gender Anarchy

by Jimmi Shrode

At the age of 10, I had discovered David Bowie in the pages of 16 Magazine. The wholesome safe pop idols; David Cassidy, The Osmonds and The Jackson 5 were giving way to the Glam Rockers; Lou Reed, Alice Cooper and David Bowie. Bowie was the ring leader with a shocking vermillion rooster cut and tight satin pants. With shocking blue eyeshadow highlighting his mismatched eyes and lipstick, he lead the way for the Sexual Revolution by way of Gender Anarchy and Queerness.

As David Jones, young Bowie couldn’t get arrested with a string of forgettable Anthony Newley meets The Beatles songs that were too twee. Later he would don a maxi dress and sing folkish rock songs, some notice but not quite. The novelty of ‘Space Oddity‘ coincided with America’s Moon Landing brought minor fame, introducing us to Major Tom, an astronaut lost forever in the stars. It was Ziggy Stardust, a rock and roll messiah who came just in time for the end of the world to lead us to Mars, the world of Sexual Chaos. David had announced he was Gay despite being in a marriage with Angie Bowie and son Zowie (now filmmaker Duncan Jones). Bowie was launched into the stratosphere.

David Bowie, Queer Star, Jimmi Schrode

Bowie became godlike and seduced the teens of Britain and America. A clever ruse in an age where news traveled slowly. Bowie arrived on the shores of America with an entourage, claiming great status abroad in Europe. The record executives bought it all. Global success at last. Bowie’s androgyny smashed into the world of suburbia here in the USA and abroad. Queerness was on sale in a record shop near you. Boys dressed in make up and mom’s cast-offs, skinny jeans and experimented with each other leaving lipstick traces. Girls swooned for this Queer Elvis. Adults were dismayed. What was dirty and whispered about in secret was now wrapped up in Japanese Modernist Fashion and Kabuki via the LSD dreams of Timothy Leary, strutting under the spotlights for all the world to see.

Bowie rediscovered Lou Reed, Andy Warhol’s Superstar and leader of the Velvet Underground. The Velvet Underground had inspired Bowie when the Exploding Plastic Inevitable made it to the UK. The psychedelic multimedia show of music, lights and art inspired David Jones. Ever the avid student; he absorbed it and made it his own. His alchemy would extend into the music world and reinvent others as it had himself.

Iggy Pop, the sweaty, muscular singer with a proto-punk band The Stooges, was now clad in tight Lurex pants and had black eyeliner, mascara and lipstick. Bowie took Iggy into the studio and allegedly into his bedroom. Bowie’s aesthetic wiped off onto Lou Reed who now dressed in makeup and leather. Reed had taken a walk onto the Wild Side.

As he retired the glitter and paint in favor of Soul Boy clothes, the label of Queerness became an albatross. While good for breaking through indifference into Rock and Roll, rock was still a boy’s club. Even though some of them adopted Bowie’s fey ways, they were still hetero-normative. Bowie, addicted to cocaine and becoming increasingly paranoid retreated further away from Ziggy Stardust. With slicked back blonde hair, classic 30’s suits and a cigarette, he became the nihilistic Thin White Duke. Then Bowie made the famous Hitler Salute in Victoria Station, casting up shadows of fascism. It was apropos. Fascism had destroyed the Weimar Era Drag for the sturm und drang of masculinity.

David Bowie, Queer Star, Jimmi Schrode

As a chameleon, Bowie further reinvented himself and in the 1980’s had a renaissance into New Wave Music. Still, the shadow of homosexuality clung to him. Disavowing and ignoring it, yet, always present. Some Gay People felt betrayed that their idol who led them out of the closet had returned to the closet. It was a fearsome time when Reagan and Thatcher conservatism and AIDS ravaged Gay Liberation.

David Bowie always endured and was relevant in every decade nonetheless. The 90’s saw collaborations with Trent Reznor and Dr. Dre. In the Aughts; Bowie became the crooner he had been with his smash album Heathen. Then he dropped out of sight after a heart attack only to reemerge in time for his final curtain calls with his albums The Next Day and Blackstar. Blackstar saw the artist use his own impending death to craft his final statement, dying soon after.

David Bowie, Queer Star, Jimmi Schrode

To me and many others; Bowie’s act of Sexual Rebellion had forever changed us, bringing a deeper understanding of gender, sexuality and self-expression. Bowie’s image as Ziggy Stardust remains cemented in our psyche. Often copied and rebranded, a white faced Bowie with a bold red and blue lighting bolt in the center of his face crowned with orange hair is how we remember him most; the Queer Bowie. Our Queer Star.

Written by Jimmi Shrode

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Celebration

Chinese New Year at Delaware Art Museum

Delaware Art Museum Hosts Free Chinese New Year Celebration

WILMINGTON, DE (January, 2016) — The Delaware Art Museum is pleased to welcome the eleventh annual Chinese New Year Celebration on Saturday, February 11 from 11:00am – 3:00 pm. Presented in conjunction with Hanlin Chinese Culture Association, this celebration includes traditional Chinese art activities, artist demonstrations, and a gallery scavenger hunt. Performances include a lion and folk dance and Chinese yo-yo performance by the Chinese American Community Center Folk and Lion Dance Troupes and Yo-Yo Club, and an additional special performance by the popular Chinese acrobat Yang Xiao Di. Artwork created by children from the Chinese School of Delaware to commemorate this holiday will be on view.

There is no Museum admission during Chinese New Year and all galleries will be open throughout the day from 10:00am – 4:00pm.

雄鸡的中国新年度2017年

Schedule of Events

  • 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
    Chinese New Year-inspired art activities
  • 11:30 a.m. – noon:
    Lion Dance and Folk Dance by the Chinese American Community Center Lion and Folk Dance Troupes
  • Noon – 1:00 p.m.
    Chinese dough figuring and Chinese calligraphy
  • 1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
  • Opening Chinese Yo-Yo performance by the Chinese American Community Center Yo-Yo Club followed by a special performance by Chinese acrobat Yang Xiao Di
  • 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
    Chinese dough figuring and Chinese calligraphy

About Hanlin Chinese Culture Association

Founded in 2007, the Hanlin Chinese Culture Association promotes Chinese culture and art to the general public with a variety of educational and entertaining events, such as traditional calligraphy and painting exhibitions, dancing and martial arts performances, and Chinese music and flower arranging demonstrations. Learn more about the Hanlin Association at http://hanlincca.org/.

Partners and Sponsors

This program is presented in conjunction with the Hanlin Chinese Culture Association and supported by the Chinese American Community Center (CACC) and the Chinese School of Delaware. Special performances and demonstrations will be performed by Yang Xiao Di, the CACC Folk and Lion Dance Troupes and Yo-Yo Club. Photographs provided by Bill Tsai. This program is made possible, in part, by grants from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Chinese New Year at Delaware Art Museum

About the Delaware Art Museum

Founded in 1912, The Delaware Art Museum is best known for its large collection of works by Wilmington native Howard Pyle and fellow American illustrators, a major collection of British Pre-Raphaelite art, urban landscapes by John Sloan and his circle, and a survey of American art from early 19th century through the present. Visitors can also enjoy the outdoor Copeland Sculpture Garden and a number of special exhibitions throughout the year.

The Delaware Art Museum is at 2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, DE 19806. OpenWednesday: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Thursday: 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., and FridaySunday:10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Monday and Tuesday: Closed. Admission fees are charged as follows: Adults (19-59) $12, Seniors (60+) $10, Students (with valid ID) $6, Youth (7-18) $6, and Children (6 and under) free. Admission fees are waived Thursdays 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. and Sundays 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. thanks to support from generous individuals. For more information, call 302-571-9590 or 866-232-3714 (toll free), or delart.org.

Twitter: @delartmuseum

Facebook: delawareartmuseum

Instagram: @delartmuseum

Thank you to Jessica Jenkins, Manager of Marketing & Public Relations at The Delaware Art Museum for the content of this post.

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