WORTH REPEATING: Diane Arbus (1923-1971)

“I want to photograph the considerable ceremonies of our present because we tend while living here and now to perceive only what is random and barren and formless about it. While we regret that the present is not like the past and despair of its ever becoming the future, its innumerable, inscrutable habits lie in wait for their meaning. These are our symptoms and our monuments. I want simply to save them, for what is ceremonious and curious and commonplace will be legendary.” — Diane Arbus, American Photographer

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ARTSY: The End Of The Innocents

In her recent work Audrey Kawasaki continues to captivate her viewers with voyeuristic images of young women caught in seemingly very private moments. She explores (and challenges) the innocence of her subjects by placing them in suggestive environments and provocative poses. At first glance they seem harmless and innocent but upon further investigation they can also appear to be mischievous and naughty. These stylized figures often seduce viewers with their “melancholy” expressions and “bedroom eyes.” This mixed with Kawasaki’s soft and subtle style creates a tension in her work and makes her paintings irresistible to anyone who encounters them. Audrey […]

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King Britt, Need New Body Dude Score Pew Grants

Ki CUT CHEMIST: King Britt spins the crowd before Obama’s arrival at the Electric Factory, last month. Twelve fellows were awarded $50,000 each to spend any way they wish. The Pew program, in its 16th year, aims to identify Philadelphia-area artists at critical career junctures and give them the freedom to advance their artistic ambitions. “One of the things [recipients] say to us is that now when people ask them what they do, they say first and foremost, ‘I am an artist.’ There is something about the validation that these grants bring,” program director Melissa Franklin says. Validation, yes, and […]

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THE EARLY WORD: Goldberg’s Rubes

[Photo by STEVE DUFALA] Originally presented as a workshop performance at the 2002 Philly Fringe, machines, machines, machines, machines, machines, machines, machines was a runaway hit with standing-room only houses and an extended run. Newly reimagined and performed by original co-creators Gabriel Quinn Bauriedel and Geoff Sobelle, of Pig Iron Theatre Company, with rainpan 43 co-founder Trey Lyford, the play is a physical and comic send-up of America’s obsession with technology and security. Through a unique blend of clowning and engineering, machines, machines, machines, machines, machines, machines, machines reveals the claustrophobic bunker of three paranoid brothers so fixated on protecting […]

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ARTSY: THE PARIS HILTON AUTOPSY

EDITOR’S NOTE: When we heard the news that Paris is ‘dead’ and the autopsy is open to the public, we put our best Girl Friday on the first Chinatown bus up to New York to get the 411. Phawker Assistant Editor (and newly minted Temple University graduate!) Eva Liao just got back from Williamsburg where she shot the ‘corpse’ and did a video interview with the artist, Daniel Edwards, and got the lowdown on how the Paris Hilton Autopsy is intended to serve as a cautionary tale for young girls that emulate the fun-loving heiress. Sure, that bus ticket set […]

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