See also: ARTELPHX Seeks New Artists for May 2015 Show
Patricia Sannit's Ceramic Installation at Halt Gallery
Sannit's ceramic installation in "Collected Echoes" is reminiscent of an archaeological dig. It meanders like a river, guiding the viewer through the shipping container as if it is presenting a history. The work speaks of layers in terms of time and landscape and functions as a visual storytelling. Sannit crafts and places these objects carefully, but they feel as if they're artifacts displayed exactly how they were found. "Collected Echoes" will be on view until February 8, 2015. For more information or to make an appointment to view the exhibition, visit Halt Gallery's website.
Rembrandt Quiballo's Romantic Aberration
This month, Capture 12 is presenting Quiballo's "Mass Mediation" series. The works are "an attempt to reconcile" our transition from analog to digital. Quiballo takes various images from the media and transforms them into static images that have a presence. The newly analog images, however, continue to feel as if they're digital. They're trapped in this state of limbo between the real and the virtual. The intimacy of Romantic Aberration is distorted to the point where we can barely even recognize it, becoming a monstrosity. For more information, visit Capture 12's website.
Andrea Sherrill Evans' Firewood
Hot Box Gallery is filled with Firewood, an installation of 50 small watercolors. At first glance, the works could be photographs or scans, but when investigating closer, each work is unique and shows the artist's hand. These watercolors piece together the firewood, making them seem like tree trunks. Evans' work is an attempt to put nature back together, even if it's imperfect. This exhibition will be on view until February 15, 2015. For more information, visit phICA's website.
Mimi Jardine's Sketch Books
A stand-out from Eye Lounge's 15th anniversary group show was Mimi Jardine's Sketch Books. These two books provide a bit of insight on Jardine's process. The books consist of things that the artist finds, from a bag of crushed vanilla wafers to a shattered iPhone screen, and presents them as a catalogue of sorts. Jardine's fascination with the formal elements of these discarded objects raises them up from trash to relic. "Current Members: Current Work" will be on view until February 15, 2015. For more information, visit Eye Lounge's website.
Black-and-White Photography at "1 in 3"
This multi-disciplinary exhibition blends visual art with social justice, pairing photography and video with shocking facts about the issues at hand. This wall filled with black-and-white photographs of participants in the project is its most evocative. Upon entering, the viewer is forced to face those affected by gender-based violence. The issue is not only presented in cold, hard facts, but there's also a human presence that delivers the message with much more weight. "1 in 3" will be on view until February 16, 2015. For more information, visit Treeo House's website.
Barney by Christy Puetz
The beasts that Puetz creates are transformed with craft materials. Instead of being in the wild, they belong in another world that the artist creates. Barney, which could be the name of a pet, is a piece by Puetz that decorates the animal in a matrimonial way with frilly and shiny embellishments. This creature, like the others in the show, is in between hard and soft, or masculine and feminine. It has this male name, but it's so petite and precious. Puetz is reinterpreting the beast and, in a similar way, is rightfully reimagining craft's place in contemporary art. "Delicate Beasts" will be on view until February 14, 2015. For more information, visit Modified Arts' website.
The Paper Knife Pop-Up
The Paper Knife's exhibition at monOrchid's Shade Gallery features work from 13 artists, but these three paintings by Chris Czaja were some of our favorites. Czaja's spin on the mundane results in an oddball pop sensibility that we've never seen before. The paintings are outlandish, but witty and endearing at the same time. They're kind of like visual sour candy. They're colorful and happy, but there's something grotesque about them, too. Good thing we like sour candy. This group exhibition from The Paper Knife will be on view until February 1, 2015. For more information, visit monOrchid's Shade Gallery website.
