CONTEMPORARY RUIN  future visions Opening Reception

Please join us for the opening reception of CONTEMPORARY RUIN  future visions, Friday, April 25th, 2025 from 5 - 7pm. Curated by Philadelphia artist Nancy Agati, the exhibition features local artists, designers, and Drexel University students examining present ruin and sustainable, future alternatives through multimedia artwork.

Artists will be on-site to discuss their work along with light food and fare.


Featured Artists: Michelle Marcuse, Tim Portlock, Yannick Lowery, Mia Fabrizio, Emily Erb, Terri Saulin, Sophie C. White, Julia Way, Joseph E.B. Elliott, Jennifer Johnson, Kelsey Skaroff, Daniel Van Dyk, Refugia Design, and a landmark work from the Harrison Studio, courtesy of The Helen and Newton Harrison Family Trust.

Additional projects: Drexel University Master of Science in Interior Design students

About the Exhibition: The Pearlstein Gallery is pleased to announce CONTEMPORARY RUIN  future visions, the spring exhibition of 2025 that was selected by our Gallery Advisory Committee from our 2024-2025 Open Call for Proposals. The exhibition, curated by Philadelphia artist Nancy Agati, features local artists, designers, and Drexel University students whose works examine the pervasive presence of ruin alongside strategies for mitigation and resilience in urban contexts.

The remains of ancient ruins, often romanticized vestiges of the past, require a vivid imagination to fill in what was once there. But what happens when ruin is being experienced daily in the present? Do artists have the capacity, perseverance, and perspective to confront these realities or to re-imagine our world made anew?

The show highlights ruin, not as a relic of the past but as a present-day reality, in which artists respond to Philadelphia’s forgotten spaces and abandoned neighborhoods, climate change hazards, and unchecked over-development. Extending beyond our city borders, themes explore a potential future in ruin, questioning contemporary definitions of progress, technological advancements, and capitalist pursuits.

CONTEMPORARY RUIN  future visions presents visual evidence of ruin with speculative designs that suggest sustainable alternatives. By addressing this reality, the exhibition invites viewers to reconsider and work to redesign the future of our built public and community spaces.