Past Exhibits

Conflation

• What: Conflation: Mark Campbell & Blaise Tobia
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Hall (3215 Market St.)
• When: May 16 to June 3, 2011
• Opening Reception: May 18, 5:30 - 8:00 p.m.
• Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More Information: 215-895-1029 or visit http://www.drexel.edu/westphal

Conflation, an exhibition by Mark Campbell and Blaise Tobia, will be presented at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery of Drexel University, from May 16 through June 3, 2011. A reception will be held on Wednesday, May 18, from 5:30-8:00 PM.

In the main space will be "Conflation: Living Above The Store," a multi-media installation by Mark Campbell developed in collaboration with Peter Rose and Anthony Angelicola and supported in part by an Interdisciplinary Grant from the University of the Arts. It centers on a large "architectural model" of an invented suburban environment, illuminated by a 30-minute video loop with accompanying sound. The organizational imperative behind the work is a reimagining of the "separation of function" mandate, typical of most suburban communities.

In the second space will be "Conflation: Virtual Presence" a series of works by Blaise Tobia utilizing web sources, video, and sequential photography. Global and local webcams, a proposal for a "24-hour Rocky Cam," surveillance images from London (the most camera-watched city in the world) and other source materials will be presented in paired-image format.

The suburbs and ubiquitous surveillance may be two of the most problematic legacies of the 20th Century. Each represents an aspect of human desire taken to an absurd and unhealthy extreme, supported in large part by technological advances. In the work by Campbell/Rose/Angelicola, the artificially separated functions of the suburban environment are conflated (brought together). The resulting "urban field" is then dramatically activated by light/image projections and sound, referring expressively/symbolically to the dynamic, chaotic energies of high density, integrated life. In the works by Tobia, the unhealthy conflations (confusions) of real and virtual, accessible and inaccessible, innocuous and sinister, are the underlying content.

Westphal College-Wide Faculty Exhibition

A major exhibition featuring the diverse work of the current faculty of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Art & Design at Drexel University will take place at the Gallery at 3401 (3401 Filbert St.), the future site of Drexel University's URBN Center gallery space. An opening reception will be held, Wednesday, April 20 from 6-9 p.m. in the gallery.

Taking over 10, 000 square feet of raw exhibition space, the multi-media exhibition will showcase over sixty artists and 120 different works of art. Faculty from every department in the college will be represented, including programs from: Architecture, Art & Art History, Photo, Graphic Design, Digital Media, Entertainment Arts & Management, Fashion, Theatre and Performing Arts, Cinema &Television, Product Design and Dance.

In addition to painting, sculpture and site specific installations, the exhibition will include digital projects, applied design arts, architectural plans, fashion and performance. The Westphal College faculty have worked at the top of their fields, won Emmy Awards, designed for top fashion houses, exhibited in renowned museums internationally, and served as leaders of major cultural organizations and media companies. They bring real life know-how to the classrooms where they teach the next generation of artists, designers, creators and planners.

EVENT FACTS:

Artists/Designers/Architects included:

David Ade, Sherman Aronson, Theo. A. Artz, Victoria Barnes, Jen Blazina, Edwin Bronstein, Eleanor Bystrom, Pam Cardwell, Nick Cassway, Renee Chase, Sylvia S. Clark, Jack Cligget, Jon Coddington, Meghan Cox, Julia Cybularz, David John Dinan, Anda Dubinskis, Eugenia Victoria Ellis, John Formicola, Michael Froio, Maddy Gold, Cynthia Golembuski, Lisa Hayes, Gerard Hooper, Lydia Hunn, Liz Goldberg Johnson, Timothy Kearney, Nicole Koltick, John Langdon, Jacob Lunderby, Dave Maurillio, Keith Newhouse, Diana Nicholas, Michelle Oosterbaan, Alex Paik, Dino Pelliccia, Bruce Pollock, Mircea Popescu, Amy Rees, Stuart Rome, Paul Runyon, Rashidah A. Salam, Anne Schaefer, Paul Schultz, Dustin Sparks, Sarah Steinwachs, Mark Stockton, Cindy Stockton Moore, Karen Stone, Blaise Tobia, Nancy Rogo Trainer, Ada Tremonte, Simon J. Tickell, Amanda Tinker, Camille Ward, Steven Earl Weber, Joshua Weiss, Susan White, Dennis Will, Mark Willie, Shushi Yoshinaga, Michael Roger Ytterberg and Diane Zatz

Brave New World: Fashion and Freedom 1911-1919

April 7th through May 7th, 2011

Curator: Clare Sauro

• What: Brave New World: Fashion and Freedom, 1911-1919 and Rebecca Jumper Matheson
• Lecture, "Beyond Romanticism: The Art, Commerce, and Modernity of Lucile"
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Hall (3215 Market St.)
• When: April 7 - May 7, Lecture April 14; 7 p.m.
• Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More Information: 215-895-1029

The 1910s was a time of unparalleled inspiration, excitement and creativity in the arts and fashion. In this decade, the muted colors and the hourglass silhouettes of the late nineteenth century were abandoned in favor of short skirts, bright "fauvist" colors and a slim uncorseted body. Practicality was a key factor in the adoption of sensible shirtwaists and walking suits by many women, the bright colors and orientalist silhouettes were largely dictated by Paris couturiers. While Paul Poiret is chiefly remembered as the innovator of these outre styles (such as the hobble skirt) others such as Jacques Doucet, Lucile (Lady Duff Gordon) and the Callot Soeurs also made significant contributions.

This exhibition will focus on the tumultuous years 1911-1919; a period when the interplay between the fine arts and fashion was particularly strong. Approximately a dozen garments with appropriate accessories will be on display. These will include examples of French couture and garments produced in Philadelphia.

'Evening shoe', Hook, Knowles & Co. Ltd., Circa 1918, England.

The Drexel Historic Costume Collection, Gift of Mrs. Upton Sullivan

Lace bodice with brocade tango skirt and purple lame sash

Ecru coat with tassels over striped day dress

Black taffeta and silver lace evening dress

Nuno Circle

Japanese textile artist, Reiko Sudo, will introduce her textile designs in her exhibition entitled Nuno Circle at the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design's Leonard Pearlstein Gallery. Reiko Sudo is the co-founder and head of the Nuno Corporation and Eminent Professor at Tokyo's Zokei University. She is a revolutionary innovator in the field of textiles and textile art. The textiles created by Reiko Sudo and her colleagues at the Nuno Corporation reflect state of the art technology and neo-futurist style while utilizing traditional Japanese techniques of textile dyeing and weaving from regions across Japan. Reiko Sudo is a visiting artist to Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University through the Rankin Scholar-in-Residence program.

The opening reception will be held on Tuesday, February 15th at 6 p.m. in Chapman Court in Nesbitt Hall. The month long exhibition at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, located in Nesbitt Hall (3215 Market St.) begins Monday, February 14th and ends Friday, March 11th.

What Reiko offers through her textiles is more than a visual and tactile experience; it is an intense connection of the melding of innovation and tradition, a link between ancient craft and modern art. Reiko's work reflects the aesthetic of three-dimensional textile art, which is a characteristic unique to works by Japanese artists. Dyeing and weaving techniques that are unique to Japan is the centerpiece for Nuno's textiles including textiles that focus on the global issue of sustainability. With mountains of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) in Japan and throughout the world, recycling is a constant issue. Reiko's textiles made from PET bottle fiber and other recycled fibers are both beautiful and unsurpassed for function. Reiko's work is a harmonious combination of technology and traditional culture. Reiko Sudo is a revolutionary leader and designer in the textile world.

• Reiko Sudo: Nuno Circle
• Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Hall (3215 Market Street)
• Exhibit runs February 14th - March 11th, 2011
• Monday - Friday, 11 am - 5 pm
• Opening Reception: Tuesday, February 15th 6 pm - 8 pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• For more information on the exhibit: 215.895.2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

Alexandra's Forgiveness

Glasshouse (Lital Dotan & Eyal Perry)

January 12th through February 5th, 2011

Curator: Sarah Steinwachs

Lital Dotan & Eyal Perry are an Israeli couple working in collaboration since 2001, more recently turning their home in Tel Aviv into one dynamic installation with multiple works spread throughout the house. Their diverse range of works use a wide variety of mediums such as video, performance, photography and installation. As Israeli artists, their reality of life influences their work constantly, highlighting issues of emotional & social structures and intimacy & boundaries.

Alongside the philosophical and sociological aspects of their works, Lital Dotan & Eyal Perry always try to challenge the mediums they use, whether it involves cutting edge or low technology, aiming to explore new approaches to video installations, photography and performance.

**Lital Dotan and Eyal Perry's performance that was scheduled to take place this afternoon from 3 - 5 pm in the gallery is cancelled. Their performance tomorrow, Friday the 14th of January from 3 - 5 pm, will take place as scheduled.**

'U Asked Me To Dance' in 'Nest' Video Installation and Performance 2001

• What: Alexandra's Forgiveness
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Hall (3215 Market Street)
• When: Exhibit run January 12 - February 5, 2011
• Hours: Monday - Friday, 11 am - 5 pm
• Opening Reception: Wednesday, January 12, 6 pm - 8 pm
• Opening Night Performance: "Our Bed" Wednesday, January 12, 5 pm - 6 pm, Leonard Pearlstein Gallery
• Performances: Thursday, January 13th & Friday, January 14th, 3 pm - 5 pm, Leonard Pearlstein Gallery
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• For more information on the exhibit: 215.895.2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

KUBO SHU Kirié: PAPER JAPONISM

Japanese paper artist Kubo Shu will introduce his traditional Japanese medium "Kami" (paper) through the masterful and creative image making technique of "Kirié" (paper cutting) during a weeklong residence that will kick off Paper Japonsim. Mr. Kubo's work includes an impressive number of cut paper reliefs using traditional Japanese rice paper mixed with non-traditional materials.

Kubo's visit coincides with the 150th anniversary of the first Japanese delegation visit to the United States and the exhibit will celebrate "Bunkanohi," Culture Day in Japan. The Japan Foundation has provided support for the visit of Shu and his workshop and lecture activities. The 150th anniversary is being celebrated across the country in the cities where this delegation visited, including Philadelphia. Kubo's unique and creative approach to image-making deals with materials, construction, and angles and light. Participants and students will experience paper in innovative ways and will discover how to incorporate these techniques into their own design processes.

The opening reception and artist's lecture will be held on Wednesday, November 3rd at 6 p.m. in Stein Auditorium in Nesbitt Hall, followed by a Japanese reception in Chapman Court. The month-long exhibition at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, located in Nesbitt Hall (3215 Market St.) begins Monday, November 1 and ends Friday, December 3rd. Kubo will also hold a two-day workshop featuring his techniques and process in "Kirie." The workshop is free for anyone to observe, and will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, October 29 & 30. The workshop will take place in the first floor lobby of the Drexel Recreation Center (3301 Market Street).

DETAILS:

• What: KUBO SHU Kirié: PAPER JAPONISM
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Hall (3215 Market Street)
• When: Exhibit runs November 1 - December 3
• Hours: Monday - Friday, 11 am - 5 pm
• Opening Reception and Artist's Talk: Wednesday, November 3rd, 6 pm - 8 pm, Stein Auditorium (Nesbitt Hall)
• Workshop: Friday & Saturday, October 29 - 30, 10 am - 3 pm, 1fl lobby at Drexel Recreation Center (3301 Market Street)
• Cost: All events are FREE and open to the public
• More information on the exhibit and events: 215.895.2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

Annual Architecture Student Exhibition

The Annual Architecture Student Exhibition will be on display in the Pearlstein Gallery from September 20 through October 22. The show will feature drawings, models, and digital images from 2010 architecture graduate thesis projects. The projects on exhibit represent the medal winners and the finalists for the Michael Pearson Thesis Prize. Architecture students complete their studio sequence by undertaking a year long independent comprehensive thesis project on a design challenge of their choice.

DETAILS:

• What: Annual Architecture Student Exhibition
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs September 20 - October 22, 2010
• Hours: Monday-Friday, 11am-5pm
• Opening reception: Wednesday, September 29th, 5-7pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More information on the exhibit: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

Putting-Out! Practices in Cottage Industry and Urban Guilding

An installation featuring artist Candy Depew

Putting-Out! Practices in Cottage Industry and Urban Guilding, a mixed media installation by the Philadelphia based artist Candy Depew, will be featured at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery from August 2nd to September 10th, 2010. This unique exhibition focuses on the home studio as one of the earliest entrepreneurial acts empowering women and youth dating back to the 19th century. Silk-screen textiles, prints, and decorative home goods are the products of these cottage-style home studios. This functional installation features a painted wall mural of a "cottage-like" architectural form, layered prints, delicate framed paper collages, and paintings and will be outfitted with a functional silk-screen printing set-up, easily duplicated in any home.

Putting-Out! Practices in Cottage Industry and Urban Guilding will open to the public Monday, August 2nd, 2010 at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Hall (3215 Market St.). An opening reception will be held at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Wednesday, August 4th from 5-8pm featuring an Artist talk and demonstration at 6:30pm. Guests will be invited to create and print their own designs following the demonstration. Supplies will be provided but feel free to bring your own tee shirt to print on! Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 11am to 5pm with extended hours every second Friday each month until 8pm.

Putting-Out! was inspired by the results of Depew’s personal experiences gleaned from her more than 12 years as a Teaching Artist working with hundreds of high school youth throughout Philadelphia and her unique intimate on-going educational project, "the Studio School of Decorative Art & Design". Her work as an Artist-in-Residence at industrial factories in the Midwest as well as at specialized art/design production studios in the Netherlands and London provided her with sustained appreciation for the aesthetics of handmade art, the environments created by and around production, and the important role that a maker holds in contemporary society. As a Doctoral Candidate of The London Consortium at the Tate Modern, Candy Depew was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Pew Fellowship in the Arts GAP Grant (2004 & 2008), International Studio and Curatorial Program Residency sponsored by the National Endowment of the Arts, Cheim-Read, Joan Mitchell Foundation, and Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation (2007), and many more.

Putting-Out! featured in The Triangle

Putting-Out! featured on The Leeway Foundation

Putting-Out! on Post-Nonprofalyptic

DETAILS:

• What: Putting-Out! Practices in Cottage Industry and Urban Guilding
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs August 2nd until September 10th, 2010
• Hours: Monday-Friday, 11am-5pm
• Opening reception: August 4th from 5-8pm. An Artist talk and demonstration will begin at 6:30pm.
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More information on the exhibit: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

NI UNA MAS (Not One More): The Juarez Murders

Gender violence is the subject of a powerful new art exhibition NI UNA MAS (Not One More): The Juarez Murders opening at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery at Drexel University May 15, 2010. Focusing on the ongoing tragic rape and murder of young women and girls in the Mexican border town of Juarez, this exhibition will draw attention to the ever-increasing chaos and violence along our border with Mexico, and engender political discussion on how to take immediate and concrete action to protect the girls. More than 700 women, many poor factory workers, some as young as 12 years old, have been abducted and brutally killed since 1993. In Ni Una Mas, notable international artists will bear witness to the many faces of this tragedy to give a voice to the voiceless and to connect the issue of gender violence to its dark social, political and psychological roots.

More than sixty works by twenty international artists, including Kiki Smith, Nancy Spero, Tim Rollins & KOS and Irish activist painter, Brian Maguire will be presented. In Ni Una Mas, notable international artists will bear witness to the many faces and facets of this tragedy in order to give voice to the voiceless and to connect the issue of gender violence to its dark social, political and psychological roots. The reception and exhibition are at Drexel’s newly acquired site for the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, 3401 Filbert Street, part of the URBN Center at 3501 Market Street, Philadelphia.

The exhibition will open on Drexel’s campus on the afternoon of May 15 with ARTMARCH for Juarez, a massive demonstration/performance art piece that will involve hundreds of student participants and members of the community.

For continuous updates and more on Ni Una Mas, check out: www.drexel.edu/juarez

Ni Una Mas featured in The Triangle

Ni Una Mas featured in Campus Philly

DETAILS:

• What: Ni Una Mas (Not One More): The Juarez Murders
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, 3401 Filbert Street, Philadelphia
• When: Exhibit runs May 15th through July 16th 2010
• Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10am - 6pm
• Opening reception: May 15th 2010 from 5-7pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More information on the exhibit: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

40 Years of Friday

On Groundhog Day 2010, Friday Architects/Planners turned 40. With six more weeks of winter assured, founding principals Arlene and Don Matzkin, along with their compadres, Frank Mallas and Tony Bracali are bracing for 40 more years of service and creativity. This exhibition celebrates the history and looks to the promise of the future of the firm.

Founding Principal Don Matzkin and fellow Friday Principal Arlene Matzkin have enjoyed a relationship with Drexel that extends nearly as long as the firm. Both have served as guest studio critics and thesis advisers during that period. Friday Principal Tony Bracali joined the firm in 2007 and is a product of the Drexel 2+4 program, maintains an active role as a guest instructor. Many of the Friday staff are graduates of the Drexel Architecture program. We're proud of our long connection to Drexel and can think of no better venue to mark this achievement.

DETAILS:

• What: 40 Years of Friday
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs June 21st through July 23rd 2010
• Hours: Monday-Friday, 12pm - 5pm
• Opening reception: June 22nd 2010 from 5 - 7pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More information on the exhibit: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

Photography Senior Show

DETAILS:

• What: Photography Senior Show
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs June 2nd through June 11th 2010
• Hours: Monday-Friday, 11am - 5pm
• Opening reception: June 11th 2010 from 5 - 7pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More information on the exhibit: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

O Zhang: The World is Yours/Ours

An exhibition of photographs by the New York based artist O Zhang will be featured at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery from March 29th to May 21st 2010. O Zhang’s recent photographic work makes use of what we might find familiar both in what seem like journalistic forms and those derived from advertising or other media-driven content. Zhang employs such formats as a means of entry into less familiar and less inviting notions of social-economic imbalance both in her home country and abroad and in doing so often illustrates how illusive these things can seem from different cultural vantages. The images often counter their meanings in their lush color and elegant compositions drawing the viewer in only to reveal the hidden underpinnings of their reality.

O Zhang was the recipient of The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Artist Fellowship (NY), Wilson Centre for Photography fellowship and Fuji Film Student Awards (London), winner of RCA Photography Graduate Award (London), and nominated/short listed for numerous awards including Chinese Contemporary Art Awards (Beijing), Beck's Future Award (London), Creative Capital Awards and The Louis Comfort Tiffany Biennial Award (NY).

O Zhang: The World is Yours/Ours featured on The Artblog

DETAILS:

• What: O Zhang: The World is Yours/Ours
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs March 29th through May 21st 2010
• Hours: Monday ­ Friday 11am - 5pm
• Open Late: Second Fridays of each month 11am - 8pm
• Opening reception: April 7th 2010 from 5 to 7pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More information: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

IPCNY New Prints 2009/ Autumn

As part of Philagrafika 2010, celebrating the role of print in contemporary artistic practice, The Leonard Pearlstein is proud to exhibit: International Print Center of New York: New Prints 2009/ Autumn.

Philagrafika 2010 is an international festival that celebrates the role of print as a vital force in contemporary art, running from January 29 through April 11, 2010 throughout the city of Philadelphia. Set to be one of the largest arts events in the United States, Philagrafika 2010 will showcase the work of more than 300 artists and will unite 88 Philadelphia area art institutions in the inaugural presentation of what will become a recurring event, anticipated to repeat every three years. Curated by Artistic Director José Roca, Philagrafika 2010 will offer regional, national, and international audiences the opportunity to see contemporary art that references printmaking in dynamic, unexpected ways and to experience Philadelphia’s rich cultural life in the process. The festival was initiated by the Philagrafika organization, formerly known as the Philadelphia Print Collaborative. Philagrafika builds upon the region's rich printmaking history and abundant artistic resources to enhance Philadelphia’s presence as an international center for innovative printmaking. Philagrafika 2010 is the result of more than five years of planning, culminating in a citywide collective effort, which appropriately reflects the collaborative nature of printmaking itself. The festival is divided into three components: a core curated exhibition titled The Graphic Unconscious, Out of Print, and Independent Projects. For more information, visit www.philagrafika2010.org.

Click here for a curatorial essay by Richard Dupont that accompanies this exhibition.

DETAILS:

• What: IPCNY New Prints 2009/ Autumn
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs January 11th through March 13th 2010
• Hours: Monday ­ Friday 11am - 5pm
• Open Late: Second Fridays of each month 11am - 8pm
• Opening reception: January 27th from 5-7pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More information: 215-895-2548

Mel Leipzig: Life Observed

In celebration of Mel¹s work and passion for theatre we will present The Philadelphia Artists Collective in a reading of Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, translated by Rolf Fjelde followed by a discussion led by Mr. Leipzig. The reading will feature Barrymore award winning actor Greg Wood and be directed by Drexel Theater Adjunct Damon Bonetti. The reading and discussion will take place in Chapman Court from 12:00 ­ 3:00 pm on Wednesday, December 2nd.

Following the reading, there will a presentation of his work at 5:30pm in the Stein Auditorium, Nesbitt Building followed by the Opening Reception at 6pm in Chapman Court. All FREE and open to the public.

During the week of December 14th through December 18th 2009 the gallery will be open by appointment only. To make an appointment, please call 215-895-2548 or email the gallery at gallery@drexel.edu at least 24 hours in advance. Thank you for your patience!

DETAILS:

• What: Mel Leipzig: Life Observed
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs November 23rd through December 18th 2009
• Monday ­ Friday 11am - 5pm
• Open Late: Second Fridays of each month 11am - 8pm
• Opening reception December 2nd from 6:00 to 8:00pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More information: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

Arts of Fashion

DETAILS:

DETAILS:

• What: Arts of Fashion
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs October 24th ­ November 20th
• Monday ­ Friday 11am ­ 5pm
• Opening Reception: October 24th 6-8pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public

Embracing the Uncarved Wood

The Pearlstein Gallery of Drexel University with support from The Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin & Marshall presents Embracing the Uncarved Wood, Sculpture Reliefs from Shandong, China.

Curator Statement for Embracing the Uncarved Wood

Curators:

• Christopher Zhu, Art Critic
• Richard K. Kent, Professor, Art & Art History, F&M
• With Special thanks to Claire Giblin

DETAILS:

• What: Embracing the Uncarved Wood
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs September 21 - October 21, 2009
• Monday ­ Friday 11am - 5pm
• Opening reception: October 1st 5-7pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public

A gallery talk by Richard Kent & Virginia Maksymowicz will be given at 6:00 during the reception.

Semiopticon

Semiopticon review and images featured on Phrequency.com

The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University is pleased to present an installation by Thomas Buildmore and Morgan Thomas. The installation will be open to the public from August 10th to September 11th. Gallery hours for the exhibition are Monday through Friday, 11am to 5pm. The gallery will host an opening reception for SEMIOPTICON August 12th at 6pm to 8pm. The gallery is pleased to feature Triumph Brewing Company at the reception. Admission is free and open to the public.

The SEMIOPTICON installation aims to explore the use of semiotic symbols seen throughout historic and contemporary art, and recognizable to our audience, to transform the gallery into a sacred and worshipped space. In the same way the Capuchin monks decorated their walls with skulls, the elaborate paintings of the Sistine Chapel, and the illustrated scenes of future hunts by cavemen, the paintings on each gallery wall strive to reflect on this innate drive in human nature to communicate through decoration.

Additionally, not unlike street art/graffiti or Buddhist sand paintings, the impermanence of the painting installation intensifies the connections and identifications visitors will perceive. Much like any painting installation, the ephemeral nature of the paintings, whether in a gallery or on the street, transcends the place into a worshipped space that will invoke a sense of loss at its removal. Buildmore and Thomas purposely reduce the installation to simple black and white so visitors can closely examine the significance, style, and beauty of each design and iconography. By treating the gallery as hallowed ground, even through the installation process, Buildmore and Thomas challenge their viewers to see the gallery as a contemporary sacred and spiritually invigorating place.

SEMIOPTICON in the Philadelphia City Paper.

DETAILS:

• EVENT DETAILS:
• What: Semiopticon
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs August 10th - September 11th
• Monday ­ Friday 11am ­ 5pm
• Reception August 12th 6pm - 8pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More information: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

Buildmore and Overkill Studio at work at Proletariat in Boston.

Structure, Purpose, Beauty: 20 Years

Voith & Mactavish Architects, LLP
20th Anniversary Exhibit
Structure, Purpose, Beauty: 20 Years

For twenty years, the Center City Philadelphia architecture firm of Voith & Mactavish Architects, LLP has been achieving the art of innovation within the context of tradition. The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery is pleased to host an exhibition of VMA¹s work, showcasing the firm¹s wide range of projects, including educational facilities, performing arts venues, religious buildings, private homes, and historic preservation projects. The variety of work is united in its response to the project¹s context, a commitment to process, sustainability, and stewardship of the environment, and a focus on craftsmanship and beauty that too often is missing from architecture of today.

DETAILS:

• EVENT DETAILS:
• What: Voith & Mactavish: Structure, Purpose and Beauty: 20 years
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs June 29th to July 24th
• Monday ­ Friday 11am ­ 5pm
• Reception July 17th, 5:00-7:30PM
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More information: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

Andrea Modica Presents New Photography and Original Works

Westphal College Photography Professor Andrea Modica will present photographs from her series Fountain, Colorado, as well as premiere her 11x14 platinum prints, in the Pearlstein Gallery from May 4th through June 5th. After moving to Colorado in the late 1990’s, Andrea Modica became interested in the unique world of the slaughterhouse and the professional and personal lives of those who make the slaughterhouse their livelihood. For nine years, Andrea documented the children of the Baker family who run a slaughterhouse in Fountain, Colorado. Her photographs record her gradual immersion into the Baker family as photos of the exterior of the slaughterhouse give way to private photographs taken in the family’s dimly-lit basement.

Andrea is a Guggenheim fellow and has exhibited her work extensively in the United State and Europe. Her photographs are featured in the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institute, the Museum of Modern Art New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, among others.

DETAILS:

• EVENT DETAILS:
• What: Andrea Modica presents Original and New Photography
• Where: Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Building (3215 Market Sts.)
• When: Exhibit runs May 4 ­ June 5, 2009
• Monday ­ Friday 11am ­ 5pm
• Artist forum and reception, May 14th 5 ­ 8pm
• Cost: FREE and open to the public
• More information: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

Ink Not Ink

Curated by the Shenzhen Art Museum and an expert panel of Chinese critics and curators, including Fan Di¹an, Director of the National Art Museum

of China, Ink not Ink will be the first survey-scale exhibition of contemporary Chinese art ever presented in the Greater Philadelphia region. More than 80 paintings, prints, sculptures, and videos by 40 Chinese artists, including renowned figures such as Wenda Gu, Wei Qinkgju, and Lin Tianmiao, will be presented. The central theme of the exhibit

ion is the critical role that the ancient tradition of ink painting plays in the cultural memory and imagination of many contemporary Chinese artists even as they

respond to China¹s explosive economic growth and rapid globalization. As outside cultural influences become increasingly potent inside China, artists are boldly experimenting with new mediums and technologies on an imposing scale, creating unprecedented admixtures of Western and Eastern imagery. For additional information, please check.

For a panoramic view of Wenda Gu's United Nations, check out Will Brown's photography of the installation.

Ink Not Ink in the press

• The Triangle
• City Paper

DETAILS:
Exhibition Locations:

• Bossone Research Enterprise Center, 3128 Market St.
• Paul Peck Alumni Center, 3142 Market St.
• Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Hall, 3215 Market St.

INK not INK Symposium

• Wednesday, April 1, 3:30-5:00PM
• Bossone Research Enterprise Center, Mitchell Auditorium, 3128 Market St.

Gala Preview & Reception

• Wednesday, April 1, 6-8 PM (Tickets Required)
• Bossone Research Enterprise Center Lobby, 3128 Market St.

• Exhibition open to general public: Thursday, April 2, 10AM-5PM
• More Information: 215-895-2548 or email: ink@drexel.edu

Master Calligrapher

The Pearlstein Gallery is pleased to announce the work of Chukin Takagi, a master calligrapher from Japan and a Graphic Design Rankin Scholar. Chukin’s latest work includes expressive typography and a visual translation of a 7th century Buddhist chanted teaching, Hannyashingyou. In addition to showing her work, Ms. Takagi will lecture and work with students on this ancient art form that once created, cannot be altered.

DETAILS:

• Calligraphy Rankin Exhibit
• Exhibit Dates: February 19 - March 20, 2009
• Opening Reception: Thursday, February 19th, 2009, 6-8pm
• For more information, please contact Elizabeth at 215.895.2548 or email gallery@drexel.edu

View a series of images from the Chukin Takagi exhibit below! [Photos courtesy of Kara Khan]

The Polish Poster Exhibit

Drexel University has recently acquired a remarkable collection of Polish poster art assembled as a lifetime passion by collector Frank Fox. Now, the Westphal College will showcase some of the collection’s finest pieces in the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery along with a screening of filmmakers Andrea Marks and Glenn Holsten’s Freedom on the Fence, their documentary exploring the political, social, and artistic import of poster art in Poland. Marks and Holsten, as Rankin-Scholars-In-Residence, will give a lecture open to the public and also work with Graphic Desigin and Film & Video students.

Selections from the College's Polish poster collection were on display in the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery. In conjunction with the exhibit, filmmakers Andrea Marks and Glenn Holsten were Rankin Scholars-in-Residence and screened their documentary about Polish poster art, Freedom on the Fence.

The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote a rave review of the Polish Poster exhibit. 

View a series of images from the Polish Poster Exhibit below! [Photos courtesy of Kara Khan]

DETAILS:

• Polish Poster Exhibit
• Exhibit Dates: January 7, - February 6, 2009
• Opening Reception: Wednesday, January 14, 2009
• Movie Screening: Thursday, January 15, 2009 6pm
• FREE and open to the public
• For more information, please contact Elizabeth at 215.895.2548 or email gallery@drexel.edu

Pull Up A Chair, Rest Your Feet 

Magnificent shoes by Salvatore Ferragamo, Roger Vivier, Prada and Lacroix will be exhibited alongside breakthrough chair designs including Harry Bertoia’s 1952 asymmetrical chaise lounge for Knoll International, and Bill Stumf and Don Chadwick’s 1994 Areon Chair for Herman Miller, in our unique Rest Your Feet exhibit in the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery from November 3rd through December 12th.

As part of Rest Your Feet and the Sibby Merkel Brassler Lecture Series, we’re presenting two important guest speakers: Linda O’Keefe, Creative Director of Metropolitan Home, will speak on November 5th at 6 PM, and Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), will talk on November 18th at 6 PM. Dr. Steele has curated over 20 exhibitions including London Fashion which won the first Richard Martin Award from The Costume Society of America. A cocktail reception will precede each lecture at 5 PM in Nesbitt Hall (33rd & Market St.).

Rest Your Feet will include pieces from the Drexel Historic Costume Collection, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Temple University’s Shoe Museum. Faculty and students from the departments of Fashion and Design & Merchandising and Architecture & Interiors organized the exhibit.

Architecture Student Work

Graduating architecture students complete their studio sequence by choosing an independent thesis project on a design challenge. Their impressive drawings, models and digital images, resulting from these year-long projects, are on display at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery through October 24th.  This is your chance to see the finalists in the Izenour and the Stewardson competitions and the medal winners in the Michael Pearson Thesis Prize.  

DETAILS:

• Annual Exhibit of Architecture Student Work
• Now through October 24
• Leonard Pearlstein Gallery (Nesbitt Hall, 33rd & Market St.)
• Gallery Hours, Monday through Thursday 11 AM–7 PM and Friday 11 AM–5 PM
• Free and Open to the Public
• For more information, call 215.895.2409 or email gallery@drexel.edu

EAM Student Curates Pearlstein Exhibit

Entertainment & Arts Management student Tara Caton is curating an exhibition in the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery featuring artists she came to know through her co-op at The Center For Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA). The exhibit, Far Away from the Beginning: A Departure from Childhood Idealism, runs from August 4th through September 5th.

Tara did her co-op at CFEVA, a non-profit arts organization. CFEVA’s mission is to coordinate a regional support system for visual artists; to promote deserving artists and their relationship with the community; and to increase access to visual art for everyone. In addition to the exhibit, students who aspire to be artists can attend an information session on the Career Development Program at CFEVA, given by the program’s director Amie Potsic. Artists selected for the Career Development Program develop their business and marketing skills through a rigorous public exhibition schedule, enhancing their abilities to promote their work. The information session is August 6th at 4:30 PM in the Pearlstein Gallery. An artist talk in the Gallery starts at 5:30 PM with a reception following.

DETAILS:

• Far Away from the Beginning: A Departure from Childhood Idealism
• The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery (Nesbitt Hall, 33rd & Market St.)
• Monday, August 4 through Friday, September 5
• CFEVA Information Session, August 6, 4:30 PM, Leonard Pearlstein Gallery
• Artist Talk, August 6, 5:30 PM, Leonard Pearlstein Gallery
• Opening Reception, August 6, 6-8 PM, Leonard Pearlstein Gallery
• Free and open to the public

BITMAP Exhibit Unravels 8-bit Gaming

There is still time to see BITMAP: as good as new in the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery. The interactive exhibit, on display until July 25th, features old computer monitors and Nintendo and Atari game consoles that have been hacked into for artistic exploration. This unique exhibit offers the opportunity to explore all facets of early video game technology. There are paintings that emulate the technology of the time, game cartridges turned into action figures and several types of altered video game media.  8Bit, a film that describes the history of video games and how their sounds and graphics influenced contemporary culture, kicked off the exhibit. Director Marcin Romocki introduced the film and attended the exhibit’s opening reception. If anything and everything video gaming is your thing, then be sure to see BITMAP.

Photography Senior Show

Photography takes many forms, from portraiture and photojournalism, to the commercial and fine arts. Our 14 graduating Photography seniors have amassed enormous experience and skills, and their talents will be on display at their Senior Show starting on June 13th from 6-9 PM in the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery.

The student work presented at the show spans much of the history of photography in terms of technique from 19th century hand-coated platinum-palladium prints to today’s state of the art digital prints. Sarah Cohen used her mother as the subject of her collection. The images portray the issues of married women in a suburban lifestyle and the idea of yearning for youth. Jamuna Rosner’s work focuses around identity, how others view and define us, and by how we make a living. She photographed an exotic dancer as part of her thesis. Joe Small used a single camera and exposed the film multiple times to make seemingly mundane objects life-like and to transform the dreary nature of the city into the seemingly beautiful nature of still lifes.

Students represented include Stephanie Dore, Jacquelyn Tamny, Joe Small, Trevor Moran, Cara Worcester, Sean Grizzel, Brian Michael Lauer, Catherine Cupo, Sarah Cohen, Kelsey Fain, Jennifer Betser, Jamuna Rosner, Carrie Strine and Maxime Lattoni.

DETAILS:

• Photography Program Senior Show
• June 13 through June 21 with an opening reception on June 13, 6-9 PM
• Leonard Pearlstein Gallery (33rd and Market St.)
• Free and open to the public

Graphic Design Senior Show

Our Graphic Design seniors demonstrate tremendous talent and versatility in creating corporate identities, environmental designs, books and publications, packaging, paper sculptures and motion graphics.  These visual communications will be showcased at their Senior Show on June 10th from 6-9 PM in the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery.

Kyle Cook’s motion graphic ‘Chromesthesia,’ winner of won the 2008 International Applied Arts Magazine’s Student Award Competition, explores color, composition and typography. Daniel Steinberg won 1st Place in the Research Day University Undergraduate Creative Arts/Design category for his senior thesis work ‘You Are Now Here,’ a renewal of Philadelphia’s Metropolitan Transportation System. Jess Hetzel created an identity system and packaging for ‘The Post Restaurant’ and her thesis work will be included in the American Corporate Identity 2008 hard cover book.

Looking for graphic design talent or just interested in great design? This is an opportunity to see the work and meet designers Andrew Wright, Brad Breneisen, Caitlin Anderson, Chris Burton, Chris Ineson, Colleen Duffey, Daniel Steinberg, Doug Sitvarin, Greg Sevcik, Jenna Navitsky, Jess Hetzel, John Villani, Julia Dobbins, Justine Brining, Kyle Cook, Liz Vento, Michele Kopec, Nefeli Stavrinidi, Patsy Walsh, Sarah Thomas, Stephen Nunes, Aaron Radder and Susanne Gillin.

DETAILS:

• Graphic Design Senior Show
• Tuesday, June 10, 6-9 PM
• Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Nesbitt Hall (33rd & Market St.)
• Free and open to the public (includes reception)
• For more information call 215-895-1649

• For more information, call 215.895.5868

Art Icons in the Gallery

Pop, Process Art, Minimalism, Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Dadaism and Photo Realism are all highlighted in our currentexhibition of American Contemporary art icons in the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery. Roy Lichenstein, Chuck Close, Frank Stella, Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly, Ellsworth Kelly, Sol Lewitt, Robert Indiana and Bruce Nauman are represented in Master Prints from the Thomas Segal Gallery on display through June 6th.

DETAILS:

• Master Prints Exhibition: May 14 -June 6
• Pearlstein Gallery, ground floor Nesbitt Hall, (3215 Market St.)
• Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 11 AM-5 PM
• Info: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

Sarah Steinwachs: Building Environments

The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery is proud to announce its upcoming April exhibit, Sarah Steinwachs: Building Environments. In her new body of work, Steinwachs surgically dissects, layers, and paints individual sheets of graph paper, building small-scale environments by superimposing the dissected grids. Steinwachs’ multilayered dioramas reference the density of interior and exterior urban architecture and the infinite grid that overlays our modern landscape.

Influenced by her experience observing and drawing the urban landscape, Building Environments is an extension of a previous body of work consisting of highly rendered pencil drawings of the urban environment. While the urban influence is the same in these new works, the process has dramatically changed from using the additive mark to the absence of mark-subtractive process of cutting away paper with a knife.

Steinwachs’ work is a reflection on the accumulation of intentionally and unintentionally arranged matter in the built environment. The density and scope of this arranged matter is magnificent, from skyscrapers, to sprawling neighborhoods, to the interior view of a row house. Every time there is a scale shift, there are always spaces between other spaces that manage to get filled up with something else. Her work is a constant evaluation of this man-made network and the incomprehensible visual intricacy that it produces.

DETAILS:

• Sarah Steinwachs: Building Environments Exhibition April 2 – May 7, 2008
• Pearlstein Gallery, ground floor Nesbitt Hall, (3215 Market St.)
• Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 11 AM-5 PM

Jeffrey Blondes, Painter and Filmmaker

The Pearlstein Gallery welcomes painter and filmmaker Jeffrey Blondes for an exhibit of his extraordinary pastoral scenes inspired by his home in rural France entitled Periodicity: In the Presence of Nature. Periodicity features the artist's hallmark landscapes, transitional sea paintings, and his most recent Optics Paintings. Blondes' 24-hour and 52-hour films highlight the artist's new focus on bringing his observations and experience as an 'en plein air' painter.

DETAILS:

• Pearlstein Gallery, ground floor Nesbitt Hall, (3215 Market St.)
• Now - March 21
• Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 11 AM-5 PM
• Info: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

• Info: 215-895-2548 or gallery@drexel.edu

Open To Interpretation John Langdon and Eric Zillmer: The Art and Science of the Inkblot

The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery in the Westphal College is proud to announce the upcoming January exhibit, Open To Interpretation, John Langdon and Eric Zillmer: The Art and Science of the Inkblot. An opening reception will be held on Wednesday, January 16, 5:00-7:00 PM in the Lobby of Nesbitt Hall (3125 Market St.). The gallery is open Monday-Friday 11 AM- 5PM, through February 8th.

Original inkblots by artist and designer John Langdon elevate the perceived simplicity of the inkblot from basic monoprint to complex ambigrams. Known for his research in ambigrams, Langdon applies his expertise to create word plays developed using the inkblot technique. Eric Zillmer’s research into the science of inkblot analysis presents the audience with a rare opportunity to see a complete set of clinical Inkblots prints in conjunction with a collection of clinical responses

The Opening Reception on January 16 is Free and Open to public as are all visits to the gallery during open hours. For more information please email: gallery@drexel.edu.