First Friday Focus

Lori Hill's First Friday Hit List

by Lori Hill

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Published: Jul 1, 2008

Art in City Hall

Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe, by David Coyle, oil on canvas, 2006 (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION

When the slimy humidity and the not-so-aromatic smells of the city have boiled your brain cells to their lowest count, sometimes you just need to look at something pretty. Perhaps that's the idea behind Art in City Hall's "Likeable Art" exhibition. You, or presumably, someone, is meant to just like it. Not think about it, not compare it to the show you saw at Pageant last month, not do anything but enjoy it. In no uncertain terms, the organizers are presenting the works as ones that "reflect themes that are popular and accessible ... that's tasteful, that has agreeable subject matter, that's noncontroversial or in-your-face." Playing it safe this time? Maybe, but take a close look at Holly Smith's witty wood construction "Son-in-Law of Cerberus" or Alice Dustin's portraits of carousel animals or Katie Graeur's epic painting of a very stylish chair — or for that matter, any of the 43 local artists whose work reflects what may be their own aesthetic preferences or what they perceive to be yours. As some might say is always the case, no thinking required but it's always welcome. Through Sept. 26, City Hall, second and fourth floors, NE corner, 215-686-9912.

If M. Night didn't satisfy your disaster-prophecy cravings, try Vox's "Bellwether" show, a visiting exhibition from ThreeWalls, an art organization based in Chicago. Last month, Vox artists exhibited a show called "Merge or Fade" at ThreeWalls, and now they're returning the favor. The works, all meant to invoke a harbinger of things to come, address everything from cultural to environmental to artistic decline. Playing off viewers' — and maybe their own — anxiety, these artists depict a world with an uncertain future. Josh Mannis presents a video called Downward Dog that appears to be less about yoga and more about one man's need to wear a dog mask. Jenny Walters' Virginity Pledge, a photo of delicate flowers, brings to mind all manner of corsages and dances and whatever sorts of odd oaths teenage girls are taking these days. David Coyle's oil portrait of Edgar Allan Poe portrays the author as the dark soul he was through thick, tortured brushstrokes of browns and blacks. Opening Sat., July 5, 6-11 p.m.; runs through July 27, 319 N. 11th St., third floor, 215-238-1236.

Through a series of moving photos, Daesha Devón Harris documents the changing face of her native Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in the show "Until I Reach My Home" at Yo Darkroom. Famous for its artists' colony and racetrack, the city is an amalgam of the rich, the tourists, and the poor and working-class — the latter two whom appear to be pushed out by the needs of the former two. Harris focuses on the African-American adolescent community as the unwitting victims of this gentrification, and pairs their portraits with images of new construction, sale signs on houses and abandoned rooms. The photos are tagged with poetic captions reflecting the emotional tumult of the teens: "I've got a home in that rock you don't see"; "I wonder what I have done, that makes this race so hard to run." Harris' work is worth attention, for its efforts to draw notice to an often-overlooked result of "urban development," but also for its easy melding of art and documentary. Through Aug. 24, 113 N. 23rd St., 215-789-9032.

Always by Design Gallery's show "Rock, Paper, Scissors" features all three (marble sculpture, drawings and paper cuttings), and continues through July 12. 265 S. 10th St., 215-627-6250. ... In his Print Center show "The Triumph of Democracy: Inside the Studio," Benjamin Edwards explores the idea of utopia unbridled, cityscapes teeming with signage, office buildings and fast food chains. Edwards breaks down the urban architecture to its smaller bits as well, through studies that reveal his process. His Web site (benjaminedwards.net) also allows a closer look at the city and a little digital manipulation of the image. Through Aug. 2, 1614 Latimer St., 215-735-6090. ... If you're headed to the beach, swing by Cape May for a look at PAFA grad Sean Taylor's work. Soma NewArt Gallery is showing "Hot Fun," a collection of paintings that riff on 1950s cultural attitudes and imagery about the "American Dream," with a dash of Jersey summer madness thrown in for good measure. Through July 27, 31 Perry St., Cape May, N.J., 609-898-7488.

(l_hill@citypaper.net)

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