Category Archives: Art in Philadelphia

Art in Philadelphia

Paths

Deirdre Murphy – Migratory Paths at URBN at the Navy Yard

Deirdre Murphy – Migratory Paths at URBN

Written and photographed by Laura Storck

The concept of the symbiotic relationship between art and science is nothing new – many would affirm that it has been in existence since the dawn of time. Many artists and scientists (perhaps one in the same?) have studied the relationships and potential intersections of these phenomena (DaVinci, Seurat, and Hershel, to name a few).

Deirdre Murphy – Migratory Paths at URBN at the Navy Yard

The brain ambidexterity that informs the esoteric outlook of those fortunate enough to possess those qualities still pervades. Deirdre Murphy is a contemporary artist whose work is influenced by the connections between art and science, as can be seen by one of her current exhibitions, “Migratory Paths”, is currently on view at URBN at the Navy Yard. This series explores the migratory flight patterns of birds and how they may be affected by climate change. Her abstract works are extremely eye-catching, attractive, and thought-provoking her with use of bright colors, geometric shapes, and repetition.

Deirdre Murphy, The Boundless (2012)_silkscreen and mixed media on paper, at URBN at the Navy Yard

Deirdre Murphy, Synchronized Formation (2012), silkscreen and mixed media on paper, at URBN at the Navy Yard

According to a recent interview with PennDesign about a summer residency a Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Ms. Murphy explained that:

“The collective intelligence of flocking birds and the unpredictable patters have been a source of inspiration to me. I wanted to work directly with the Hawk Mountain Scientists and ask the how global warming has changed the raptors migratory flight patterns and then to see how I might translate that information into paintings.”

Deirdre Murphy, Sentinel II (2008), oil on canvas, at URBN at the Navy Yard

Deirdre Murphy, Flamingo, 2008, oil on canvas, at URBN at the Navy Yard

In case you weren’t aware, I should mention that I’m an artist and scientist myself. I have a great fondness for the use of bold pigments, as well as a natural affinity towards the cleanliness and mechanics of simple lines and angular structures. This sensibility applies not only in my personal design preferences and photographic compositions, but in life itself.

Nocturnal Migration (2010), silkscreen on paper, Deirdre Murphy, at URBN at the Navy Yard

Deirdre Murphy, Libra (2015), gouache on paper

Pigeon Flight (2009), oil on canvas, Deirdre Murphy at URBN at the Navy Yard

I engaged with this beautifully celestial and otherworldly exhibit on it’s opening day, and after some pondering, I concluded that “Migratory Paths” not only applies to migratory patterns of birds, but to all lifeforms. To my chagrin, I had received a polite yet disappointing email that day that I did not land a coveted job that I desperately wanted, also located at the Navy Yard, and was feeling quite crestfallen. On that bright and warm afternoon, Ms. Murphy’s art spoke to my resilient self in URBN’s sleek headquarters, and expressed to me that nature endures, perseveres, and maneuvers along it’s own migratory path, and we must follow our instincts to find our way.

Deirdre Murphy at URBN at the Navy Yard

I highly recommend everyone to take a flight of fancy to URBN to see this exhibit in this amazing and ethereal space. Enjoy a light lunch at Shop 543 or a warm cup of java at Jharoka while taking a gander at the Ms. Murphy’s artwork with the zen feeling of the nearby koi pond just a few steps away. “Migratory Paths” are works on paper that span from 2010-2015 and will be on display at URBN until December 7, 2015.

Deirdre Murphy, Dome of the Sky (2010), silkscreen on paper, at URBN at the Navy Yard

Written and photographed by Laura Storck

Laura Storck Photography ARTIST. SCIENTIST. PHOTOGRAPHER. ROCK STAR.: https://laurastorck.wordpress.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/laurastorck/

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Twitter: @Laura_Storck

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#PIFA2016

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KIMMEL CENTER ANNOUNCES DETAILS OF

PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

APRIL 8 – 23, 2016

World-Class Festival Showcases Groundbreaking Work from

International Artists and Local Partners for a Curated Exploration of the

Performing and Visual Arts

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts announces the return of the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA), taking place across the venues of the Kimmel Center’s campus, as well as select locations throughout the city, from April 8 through April 23, 2016. A 15-day celebration of art and community, PIFA showcases innovation and a breadth of local and international performances and installations, all curated by The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. With more than 60 events across genres and art forms, PIFA is bookended by the Article 13 – a grand-scale fire and sand installation that tells the story of immigrants around the world – which serves as the grand opening of the Festival and culminates with the celebrated PIFA Street Fair.

In this third installment of PIFA, the curatorial vision illustrates the concept “We Are What We Make.” The Festival will explore how our humanity is shaped, changed, inspired, and challenged by the world we create, all displayed through a variety of performing and visual arts. A massive installation by Mimi Lien – recipient of a 2015 MacArthur Genius Award – will consume the lobby of The Kimmel Center, bringing this vision to life and will be on display throughout the Festival.

“We are thrilled to once again produce PIFA, the perfect manifestation of The Kimmel Center’s mission to introduce broad and diverse audiences to world-class, ground-breaking programming,” said Kimmel Center President and CEO, Anne Ewers. “To see our local arts organizations coming together in collaboration with one another, as well as with the renowned international artists joining us from around the world, is sure to be an extraordinary experience for the hundreds of thousands touched by PIFA.”

In addition to the featured international artists, local partners have joined forces with The Kimmel Center to present new works during this year’s Festival, further solidifying Philadelphia’s position as a pioneering force in the performing arts landscape. Local partners include The Barnes Foundation, The Clay Studio, The Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Curtis Institute of Music, Jazz Bridge, Mural Arts Program, and PHILADANCO (The Philadelphia Dance Company). More local partners will be announced at a later date.

“‘We Are What We Make’ is the unifying thread and audiences will see it represented in countless ways through the art they’ll experience this year,” said Kimmel Center Artistic Director Jay Wahl. “The works were meant to challenge not only the artists but those who appreciate art to look deeper and get something unique from this experience, which will last long after the Festival is over.”

Tickets

Multi-event ticket packages are available now and include the PIFA Sampler Pass (three shows), PIFA Immersion Pass (five shows), or the PIFA All-Access Pass; all come with a wide range of added benefits including access to exclusive events. Single tickets for PIFA events will go on sale to the public beginning December 7, 2015. Tickets can be purchased by visiting kimmelcenter.org or calling 215-893-1999.

Full event details can be found below and a calendar of events is available at www.kimmelcenter.org/PIFA.

Thank you to Laura Krebs Miller for the content of this post.

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Duet

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Counterpoint: A Visual Duet, Susan Richards and Melvin Chappell, Center on the Hill, The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill

Melvin A. Chappell, Photographer and Susan Richards, Mixed Media at Center on the Hill, The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA, 19118 215-843-5018 or 215-247-885

November 6th through November 29th. Artist Reception: Friday, November 6th, 5:00 – 7:00pm

Photographer, Melvin A. Chappell has had a long-time passion for photographing the Wissahickon Valley in its natural beauty throughout the seasons. The reception will include a booking signing of his newly released book on the Valley.

Susan Richards, a mixed-media artist, will be exhibiting a new body of work that incorporates collage, monoprints, found objects, and water color in unexpected juxtapositions. Richards is a member of the Philadelphia Dumper Divers.

Both are members of Da Vinci Art Alliance.

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Deirdre Murphy

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Deirdre Murphy, Winds of Change, 36″ x 48”, oil on canvas, 2015

Deirdre Murphy

Dual Solo Shows in November in Philadelphia

Winds of Change

November 4 – 28th, 2015

Opening Reception: Friday, November 6, 5-7pm.Gross McCleaf Gallery, 127 South 16th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Migratory Paths

November 3 – December 5, 2015, URBN Gallery 534 @ the Naval Yard

Gross McCleaf Gallery is pleased to present Winds of Change, an exhibition of new work by Deirdre Murphy. This is Murphy’s first solo show with Gross McCleaf. Concurrently, Migratory Paths is on view at URBN Gallery 534 with works on paper that span from 2010-2015 that detail the research and growth of her pursuit in the intersection of art and science. Murphy brings the concept of nature paintings into the 21st century transforming ostensibly traditional subject matter into an exploration of time and space. In the exhibition catalog, Margaret Winslow, Associate Curator for Contemporary Art, Delaware Art Museum shares her thoughts on Murphy’s recent paintings:

“Deirdre Murphy is a keen observer of the relationships between the micro and the macro, those points in space that align travel routes to constellations and flight trajectories to wind currents. She approaches this interest with the attentiveness of a scientist, observing, researching, and tracking changes. The shifts that occur—the effects of global warming on raptor migration—are noted but not critiqued, and similarly the industrial patterning created across a morning sky is handled with care and precision devoid of appraisal. Murphy’s paintings link nature’s aesthetics in a manner similar to how a social graph makes users aware of their interconnectedness; the formal similarities are emphasized for the viewer’s contemplation.

The artist informs and relocates our appreciation of natural phenomenon through geometric interventions and creates structure from the seeming randomness of nature. Lifelike renderings of birds contrast starkly with the synthetic palette Murphy uses for the ground and the abstract lines and forms that radiate throughout the compositions. She implores the viewer to stop and pay close attention to “a moment between action and stasis….that tenuous point where journeys past shift to trajectories forward.” – Margaret Winslow

Deirdre Murphy, Spring Jewel, 48″ x 36”, oil on canvas, 2015

Deirdre Murphy has received numerous awards and grants, most notably the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts Fellowship and a Leeway Foundation Award. She was recently an artist-in-residence at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary (Kempton, PA), Vermont Studio Center (Jackson, VT), and Pouch Cove Artist Residency (St. Johns, Newfoundland). The artist earned her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000 where she is currently on faculty, and her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute (1991). Murphy has shown internationally in South Korea and Italy; has had six solo exhibitions in Philadelphia; and participated in numerous group exhibitions in New York, Delaware, Minnesota and Oregon. Her work has been exhibited at institutions including the Philadelphia International Airport, the Palm Springs Museum of Art, the Biggs Museum in Delaware, the New Bedford Museum in MA, and the Tacoma Art Museum in Washington. She currently has a long-term installation at the Philadelphia International Airport, titled Sky Paintings, which is on view through 2016 in the hallway that connects terminal C & D.

For more information and images on Murphy’s work go to: www.deirdremurphyart.com.

For further information, please contact Sharon Ewing or Evan Fugazzi at Gross McCleaf Gallery. 127 South 16th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102, 215-665-8138

email.grossmccleaf@gmail.com

For further information on URBN contact: Lauren Addis or Maddie Flanigan at URBN Gallery 534, 5000 Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19112 LAddis@urbn.com MFlanigan@urbn.com

Thank you to Deirdre Murphy for the content of this post.

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Spinning

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Spinning Yarns: Photographic Storytellers featuring Carol Golemboski (left) and Blue Mitchell (right)

Spinning Yarns : Photographic Storytellers

Written and photographed by Laura Storck

To spin a yarn: (idiomatic) To tell or create a story, especially one which is lengthy or far-fetched (Source: wikitionary.org). The twenty-three photographers featured in this show reach outside of the scope of this simple definition. They are masters of their craft as portrayed through the feelings provoked by the stunning narratives that each artist individually conveys to the viewer.

Rachel Girard Reisert, Still series, archival inkjet prints

Spinning Yarns was curated by Anne Leighton Massoni, UArts Photography Program Director, and Libby Rowe, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. After nearly five years as a traveling exhibition, this show is wrapping up and the photographs will be auctioned off to support student scholarships for the UArts Photography program. Eighty-one framed images are available for purchase.

Rachel Girard Reisert, Bee (from Still series), 2007, archival ink jet print

Several of the artists’ stories are personally moving, such as Joy Christiansen Erb’s series Portrait of a Mother, which explores motherhood, family, and illness. Rachel Girard Reisert’s Still series shines a light on a smaller universe that routinely takes shape in the backyard. Anne Massoni’s project, Holding Leighton, explores concepts of memory and evidence of experience and existence. And each amusing image that Andy Bloxham’s Beta series provides a limited glimpse into a larger anecdotal account.

Morgan Konn, Rebecca, Undergraduate Student, Art (from Her House, Her Clothes series), 2006, Lightjet Print

Using photography as their chosen art form, each artist’s narrative simply pulls the spectator in…further…beyond the image, and subsequently plugs both into an engaging dialogue. A new awareness can emerge, as well as a distinctive ending, all depending on the unique experiences and mindset of the viewer — thus the yarn has spun.

Morgan Konn_First Year Law Student (from Her House, Her Clothes series), 2006, Lightjet Print

All images can be seen and starting bids made here: www.paddle8.com/auction/uarts. However, I encourage everyone to see these photographs in person, if possible, on display at UArts’ Hamilton Hall. For me, the experience of tangibly engaging with each of these images in person is ethereal, intense, and penetrating.

Joy Christiansen Erb, Portrait of a Mother Series, 2010, archival pigment prints

The online auction is already taking place through noon on Friday, October 9th, with a live auction and closing reception from 6-8 pm. Auction catalogs can be purchased from Anne Massoni at amassoni@uarts.edu for $15. For more information, please visit: http://www.uarts.edu/spinningyarns.

Grace Weston, Fuji Crystal, Archive C-prints