January 1- 7, 2004

art

First Friday Focus

by Lori Hill

Wexler Gallery

Good things come to those who don't waste. Or something like that. When a container-waste business friend of furniture artist Kalle Fauset's mentioned that his latest job was to haul out beams and timbers from the roof of The Academy of Music and that maybe he should check them out before they went to the incinerator, Fauset called fellow artist Thomas Hucker. ""Should we get them?' Kalle asked me. I said, "We've gotta have them,'" says Hucker, even though he didn't have any idea what they'd do with tons of hundred-year-old oxidized wood. Around the same time, though, gallery owner Lewis Wexler called Hucker about doing a one-man show. Hucker demurred, worried about time and money. Wexler then proposed a two-person show. Hucker said he'd think about it, hung up the phone and saw Fauset, with whom he shares a Hoboken, N.J., studio, standing with piles of the Academy's lumber and said, "Kalle, we have to do this, have a two-person show and make everything from this." And so "Academy Timbers" was born. "It has the pedigree of the building," says Hucker of the wood, which he and Fauset cut apart and kept in sequence to the roof's structure. "Kalle ingeniously documented where it came from," says Hucker. "So we can tell a client exactly where the wood came from for their piece, where in the Academy building [it was located]."

The majority of the beams were 20 feet long and white pine, which Hucker describes as "kind of a country wood, full of knots and checks" -- normally a detriment to the work of furniture makers, but here it only benefited the work. In fact, much about the quality of the wood seems difficult: "It's very unusual, very dry, flaky, dents easily," says Hucker. "It's soft in parts, but then the knots are hard. It's full of old nails that need to be dug out. But the quality of the patina of the wood is phenomenal. It's extremely stable to work with." From this, the two nationally known craftsmen created lamps, dining tables, mirrors, blanket chests, even cabinetry. "I think it's interesting because most furniture gallery shows are very polished and expensive. I don't think there's ever been a gallery show where the pieces are made of cracked and knotty pine," he says, laughing. The variety of designs in the show are surprising. "You'll see some pieces that look like barn siding next to huge masses of timber next to delicate pieces, next to something with a very classical element, like a claw-and-ball foot." Ten percent of the proceeds from the show, which includes about 20 pieces, will be donated to the Academy's Restoration and Preservation Fund, to maintain the 147-year-old "Grand Old Lady of Locust Street."

Reception Fri., Jan. 2, 6-8 p.m. Exhibition runs through Feb. 28 (artist’s talk, Sat., Feb. 7, noon), 201 N. Third St., 215-923-7030.

And Then There's …

The first thing you notice about sculptor Maria Nevelson's work is how much it resembles the work of her grandmother, the great minimalist Louise Nevelson. The second thing you notice is how much it's different. See for yourself as the Philadelphia artist shows her wood sculptures and assemblages at Twenty Two Gallery this month. Reception Fri., Jan. 9, 6-9 p.m. Exhibition through Feb. 12, 236 S. 22nd St., 215-772-1911. … Kyle Margiotta's intimate drawings break out in color at Artists' House this month, as part of a group show with Tony Rosati, Mark H. Brown and Kevin Cummins, among others. Receptions Fri., Jan. 2, 5-8:30 p.m. and Sun., Jan. 4, 1-4 p.m., 57 N. Second St., 215-923-8440. … Continuing at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery is "The New Acropolis," which features work "in the margins of popular art practice," by Kate Abercrombie, William Pym, Mark Munson and others. Through Jan. 24, 1616 Walnut St., suite 100, 215-545-7562. … Also continuing is a show of portraits by young, up-and-coming painter Anthony Palumbo at Ashley Gallery. Through Jan. 25, 718 N. Third St., second floor, 215-627-3590.

-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there