Members in "Philadelphia Painters" Exhibition

Current and past members Paul Behnke, Nic Coviello, James Erikson, Jon Manteau and Vincent Romaniello will exhibit their work in a show featuring 23 artists from the Philadelphia at
The Painting Center in NYC. Opening reception is Thursday, July 8, 6-8pm at 547 West 27th Street, Suite 500, NY, NY.

Painting by Nic Coviello.

Member Paul Behnke to speak at A-Lab, NY

A-Lab Forum REPETITION

QMAD,Queens Media Arts Development,  presents a series of monthly discussions designed as an opportunity for artists, working in various media, to present their previous works or works in progress, share their visions and ideas in relation to selected topics and concepts in the field of art production, collaboration, and critical thinking. 

Philadelphia area artist Paul Behnke (image) will join Megan Bisbee-Durlam, Helen Dennis, Oasa Du Verney and Kathleen Mallaney for the second part of this series.

Saturday, May 15th, 2010, 2 - 4 PM

Crossing Art Gallery

136-17 39th Avenue at Main Street

Flushing, Queens-New York

www.qmad.org/alabforum

Member, Don Kaiser @ Cerulean Arts

CAUTION: ART IN HERE
A Group Exhibit by PMA Art Handlers
Curated by Hiro Sakaguchi

May 12 - June 18, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, May 14, 5-9pm

Artists: Nick Balko, Luke Barley, Sam Faix, Eric Griffin, Chris Havlish, Austin Heitzman, Michael Holland, Don Kaiser, Sebastien Leclercq, Patrick OLoughlin, Hiro Sakaguchi, James Strauss, Michael Studebaker, Justin Webb

Cerulean Arts
1355 Ridge Avenue 
Philadelphia, PA 19123

Image by Don Kaiser

Member, Michael Young in Art of the State

Michael Young, Flex, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40"


Art of the State: Pennsylvania 2010
June 26 - September 12, 2010
Opening reception on Saturday, June 26th, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
State Museum of Pennsylvania
300 North Street, Harrisburg, PA 17120

Nic Coviello @ Penn Charter

Impressions: Exploring Printmaking in the 21st Century: March 12-21, 2010, William Penn Charter School, Biennial Gallery, Main Building, 3000 West School House Lane, Philadelphia, Pa. 19144. March 12 reception, 7 to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, March 13 and 14, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Monday through Friday, March 15 to 19, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday, March 20, 1 to 8:30 p.m.; and Sunday, March 21, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Artists: Daniel Miller, Frank Hyder, Ava Blitz, Elaine Erne, Lesley Mitchell, Meri Adelman, Jennifer Baker, Cynthia Back, Eric McDade, Dan Heyman, Bill Scott, Matt Neff, Nic Coviello (see above), Marisha Simons, Lynn Costomis, Neila Kun, Diane Pieri, Hiro Sakaguchi, Chris Hartshorne, Wendy Kerschner, Anne Johnson, Madeline Adams, Katie Baldwin, Amze Emmons, Neysa Grassi and Beans-N-Screens.

Above, two images from Nic Coviello.
Through the Spruce, acrylic on aluminum mounted on panel 24 x 28"
Morris Spruce, acrylic on aluminum mounted on panel 24 x 28"

Member Vincent Romaniello @ Brucennial

Sage members Vince Romaniello and Paul Behnke attended the opening of the Brucennial in NY. The image above is of Vince' piece that's in the exhibition. The show will be up until April 12, 2010 at 350 West Broadway. Paul took this photograph and there are more on Romanblog.

New Work from Bob Barbera

Nic Coviello portfolio

A series of prints on aluminum will make up Nic Coviello's part of a portfolio projects at Nexus/Foundation for Today's Art.

New work from Paul Behnke

Untitled, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 inches.

Romaniello @ Maloney Art Gallery

"New Classicism" at the College of Saint Elizabeth's, Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery in Morristown, NJ.

January 15 through March 5th. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 1 to 7 p.m., Friday, Saturday and Monday, 1 to 5 p.m.

Harold Venable @ Woodmere Museum

Above, new work by Harold Venable. Borogove, 2009, acrylic, 36x36". Harold Venable will be participating in this year's Contemporary Voices exhibit at the Woodmere Museum.

BRING YOUR OWN ART

From the X-Initiative Press Release

UPCOMING CLOSING EVENT – BRING YOUR OWN ART – FEBRUARY 3rd:
Please save the date for our closing event celebrating the end of X Initiative: Join us on FEBRUARY 3rd for BRING YOUR OWN ART, a 24-hour event inspired by Walter Hopps’s Thirty-Six Hours, an event that the legendary curator organized in the Museum of Temporary Art in Washington, DC in 1978, where Hopps installed anything that anybody brought to the museum. Artists, galleries, curators, collectors and enthusiasts are invited to site and install art at X Initiative, which will be open for viewers and participants for 24 consecutive hours. BRING YOUR OWN ART is a temporary occupation which mirrors X’s activity for the last twelve months. A gathering for the closing of X initiative, BYOA offers a DIY platform where any kind of art can be exhibited at this historic site. X Initiative will collaborate with Adam Simon of Fine Art Adoption Network (FAAN) for this event. FAAN is an online network ( http://www.fineartadoption.net ) that uses a gift economy to connect artists and potential collectors (adopters). Details to follow.

Other closing event dates:
1/9-Sharon Hayes
1/14-Jeanine Oleson with Juliana Snapper
1/14-Leah Gilliam
1/22-Lucien Castaing-Taylor
1/28-Wu Ingrid Tsang, Zackary Drucker & Mariana Marroquin
1/28-Dean Spade and Craig Willse

X INITIATIVE
548 West 22nd Street
New York NY 10011
917.697.4886
http://www.x-initiative.org

Free and open to the public
Wednesday - Saturday, 11 – 6

Happy 2010 from Sage Projects!

Photo is from the opening reception of Dragnet. Photographer Johnathan Zeller took all of the images and made the photo collage. Thank you to all of those who made 2009 such an interesting year!

Photographers Seek a Lift With a Pop-Up Gallery

The headline is from a New York Times article on another collective that is using a storefront as a pop-up gallery, this time in Chicago.

"Made up of 30 local shooters, the collective grew from an informal club whose five members met monthly in local diners to lament the state of their craft."

“Ours is a dying trade as digital and video take over,” says Paul Natkin, who spent nearly three decades photographing Chicago’s music scene. Mr. Natkin said he believed that the collective would help keep photography in the public eye through further exhibits, salons and lectures. –Lori Rotneberk

read on 

Art in Storefronts initiative in San Francisco

The New York Times has covered the idea of artists using storefronts throughout the year. Here is a recent article.

An excerpt from the piece,

"No one likes empty storefronts; they make streets look like gap-toothed smiles. Now that San Francisco’s business districts are feeling the economic pinch, city officials, like dentists, have been scouting for ways to fix the cavities. Whether business picks up next year remains to be seen, but in the meantime, civic leaders and neighborhood associations have turned to artists for a temporary solution." –Chloe Veltman

read on

In New Jersey, jobless put on a show to fight hunger

From allagesmovementproject.org

In Wayne, New Jersey, young artists discouraged by the crummy job market have kept their spirits up by returning to their hometown and reviving the Wayne Firehouse, an inspirational all-ages venue of their youth. Working in partnership with local high school bands, they're using their efforts this time to help feed the hungry, calling the initiative "The Pantry Party"

"Depending on the success of the show, they hope to continue the Pantry Party as an ongoing series at the firehouse. The motivation is, in part, nostalgia: to bring back a simpler time (the early 2000s), when they saw shows for the first time at local venues like the firehouse and the Knights of Columbus Hall. Bands that eventually exploded into the mainstream like Jimmy Eat World, Alkaline Trio and The Get Up Kids made pit stops at the firehouse. “It was a gateway for music in my life,” Lacherza said." read on

Art in Storefronts: San Francisco

A excerpt from a piece on the DailyServing blogsite.

Art in Storefronts is a pilot program initiated by the office of Mayor Gavin Newsom and implemented by the San Francisco Arts Commission and Triple Base Gallery to reclaim abandoned storefront spaces in the San Francisco neighborhoods of Mission, Bayview, Market and Tenderloin. Rounding up participating artists by sending out a call for proposals, those selected were then assigned an address where they were allowed to create large-scale installations implementing a variety of mediums. read on

Member Jon Manteau, Educator

This time of year is when students get to show the work they've been doing this semester. The image above is work from a class that Sage member, Jon Manteau teaches. He also designed and built the installation aspect of the show and hung the student's work.

Introduction to Visual Language/Drawing I
Art/Art Education Department/Tyler
Fall 2009
Prof. J Manteau

An excerpt from the course description:

The class is based upon a traditional, observation based approach to drawing. Our primary subject/source is the human figure (nude models). Still life and landscape are also considered. Development of gestalt (implied shape/closure), space, figure-ground and perspective are active components in this course. Materials are of a time honored nature. Mainly, monochromatic "dry mediums", charcoal, conte crayon, chalk, etc. This course is taught at an introductory level and is predominantly technique driven.

This presentation is meant to be seen as a cohabitation of sorts. These drawings, while based upon traditional approaches were made in a Post-Modern environment. We are part and parcel with the age that we live in, even if we attempt to "affect" the look and feel of the past.

What we gain from the lessons of antiquity, colliding with the pastiche of "the here and now".

Bob Barbera Virtual Show

Before we received notice that our lease us up on South Street, member Bob Barbera was working away painting and planning for his upcoming exhibition. We have other plans in the works but for now here are a few of Bob's new paintings. All works are made using spray paint and acrylic on canvas. Click on the images to enlarge the work.

Last Dance at 333 South

Here are some photos to commemorate the last reception Sage will be having at 333 South Street. Heather Raquel Phillip's and Deborah Raven's shows brought out a large crowd and we were all entertained with rumba drum music by Little Afrika Rumba (see the video below). The show is up for the weekend so don't miss your last chance to see some great work. Scroll down for details.

This doesn't mean that Sage Projects is going to disappear, instead we will be reappearing in a new location. Visit this site for details as they unfold.

Thank you to the thousands of visitors and all of the artists who participated during the eight months on South Street!

NYT: Galleries have sprung up throughout the country...

A quote from a recent article in the New York Times says "Galleries have sprung up throughout the country, and particularly in London, in spots as varied as shopping mall outlets, a scooter showroom and a video store."

Another story just published again in the New York Times starts with the headline "Luring Artists to Lend Life to Empty Storefronts". Here is an excerpt from the same story.

As the recession drags on and storefronts across New York remain empty, commercial landlords are turning to an unlikely new class of tenants: artists, who in flusher times tend to get pushed out rather than lured in. And the price of entry is not deep pockets, but vivid imaginations and splashy exhibits — anything to lend the darkened buildings a sense of life.

On terms that are cut-rate and usually temporary — a few weeks or months — the artist gets a gallery or studio, and the landlord gets a vibrant attraction that may deter crime and draw the next wave of paying tenants.

“Any sort of activity is better than no activity,” said Jed Walentas, a Brooklyn developer whose company, Two Trees Management, routinely lends space in Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn for art projects. “As long as it’s short enough and it’s flexible, then there’s no real cost. So the question is who can you find that’s going to make an investment in a space with that level of uncertainty, and often it’s the artist.”read on

The point is that even while the economy improves in some areas, other areas like commercial rental and leasing have yet to feel an upturn. Of course we hope the economy improves for everyone but until it does this is still a great time to bring life to shuttered spaces and give artists an opportunity to bring culture to neighborhoods.

Semblance and Mixed installation

The top two photographs are of work installed in the lower level project space by Deborah Raven.

Below those are some images of how the portraits shot by Heather Raquel Phillips look in the upper level space at Sage Projects. Scroll down for details on the show.

MIXED Bill of Rights - Heather Raquel Phillips

The Mixed Race Bill of Rights shown above (click on the image to enlarge) is displayed on a wall at appoximately 5 x 6 feet so that everyone can get a better sense of this issue. Small tags under each photograph describe the mixture of each subject, for example - 50% Hungarian, 50% Puerto Rican. There are also surveys asking pointed questions of the subjects.

The exhibition runs through Sunday, October 25th with the work of Heather Raquel Phillips on the Upper Level, and Deborah Raven in the Lower Level Project Space. Scroll down for more information on both artist's work.

Good Vibe Opening

Thanks to all the people who came out to enjoy an evening of extraordinary art and music. The video above gives you a taste of the good vibe provided by Little Afrika Rumba. Visit photographer, Heather Raquel Phillips' blog for more video.

As usual we lost count of the visitors to the reception after around 250 people. Besides many of our usual supporters, a lot people from South Street were drawn in by the music downstairs. Upstairs It was fun to see some of the faces of the folks portrayed in Heather's MIXED exhibition standing near their photos. Deborah Raven's images of exotic animals shot in natural history museums provided the perfect backdrop for the musicians.

The show runs through Sunday, October 25th. Come by and see the work Weds-Sun (see the sidebar for our hours).

Q&A: Deborah Raven on Technique

Q. Can you tell us about some of the techniques you're using in the
creation of your work?

A. The images for "Skeletal Remains" were first printed on archival fine art paper. I mounted the images onto board ( lauan) for stability. Then I applied thin layers of encaustic (heated wax) to the images, fusing the wax with a heat gun as I "painted" the layers, adding depth. The wax was slightly tinted with pigment to add rich tonality. The final pieces were put into frames.

All my images in this exhibition were photographed with a special lens, allowing me to have very selective focus. I can vary the amount of "blur" with this lens. When I photograph in the natural history museums, the dioramas are fairly well lit so "lighting" is not really a problem. I never use a flash. When I photograph the skeletons under glass, I get very close to the glass.

I love shooting with this lens because I never want everything in focus. It's how we see. I also like eliminating what I think are unnecessary details ( to the image) and creating a simple elegance instead...a suggestion. For example, I love how abstracted the fish become in the "Liquid Life" series. I mounted the color photographs in this series on Plexiglass which gives an extraordinary luminosity to the pieces.

Phillips/Raven Show Opens Sunday, October 4th

Heather Raquel Phillips: Mixed
Deborah Raven: Semblance
scroll down for more information

October 4 – October 25, 2009
Opening Reception: Sunday, October 11, 6-8pm
Sage Projects 333 South Street, Phila., PA