February 12-18, 2004

art

Artsquicks

More stuff going on this week...

Edouard Manet may have forever changed the reclining nude with his then-shocking Olympia, but he liked the marine life, too. In its latest blockbuster, "Manet and the Sea," the Philadelphia Museum of Art floats his Boulogne beach scenes and moonlit waters. Manet's contemporaries are also represented, from Renoir's seascapes to Monet's lighthouses. But go if only to see Whistler's Crepuscule in Flesh Color and Green: Valparaiso, a perfect encapsulation of twilight on some dusky, lonely harbor. Feb. 15-May 31, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Street and the Parkway, 215-684-7860.

Five young Israeli photographers get the Gershman Y's Open Lens Gallery all to themselves this month, showing off their high-tech and digital work from their time at Jerusalem's Hadassah College and beyond. Each photographer spent time in the Israeli army, then took a year just to travel. Whether it's Einat Arif-Galanti's memento mori still lifes or Ilan Spira's quiet portraits, each belies their maker's age. Feb. 15-April 15, 401 S. Broad St., 215-446-3027.

Inspired by an old Noel Coward show, Nicky Silver wrote Free Will and Wanton Lust, a black comedy about "love, lust, sexuality, adultery and family"; it's brought to the stage by Snowday Productions (Fat Men In Skirts, last year's Fringe show Moliére: An Approximate Biography of a Historical Construct). Through Feb. 29, $15 donation, Second Stage at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-563-4330.

Triangle Theater's got another Valentine's-like show, Mixed Signals: Dating, Mating, Ranting and Raving. Gleaned from interviews and her own experiences, New Jersey playwright Dee Freidel wrote Mixed Signals to document the misadventures of singles on the dating scene (you might have seen this called An Ugly Trip during last year's Fringe, where it got its first run). The Valentine's Day show benefits Triangle's free children's theater program and includes hors d'oeuvres and beverages, but the production has one last go on Sunday at 4 p.m. Sat., Feb. 14, 7:30 p.m. hors d'oeuvres, 8 p.m. show, $20, 1220 N. Lawrence St., 215-763-0110.

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