September 2- 8, 2004

artpicks

Under the Bridge

art

It wears a perpetual coat of rust and isn't getting any younger, but to architecture enthusiasts everywhere and commuters from New Jersey, the Ben Franklin Bridge will always look beautiful. Photographer James B. Abbott, who took up digs near the bridge when he moved to Philly after art school, thinks it's definitely got the one-up on Walt Whitman and Betsy Ross. "It's an extraordinary part of the city landscape," he says, pointing to the unique blend of old and modern designs. While Abbott has since relocated, his fascination with the bridge's form and history — it had the longest main suspension span of any bridge in 1926! — continues to inform his art. His third body of work done on the bridge, on display at Saint Joseph's University Gallery starting this week, features mostly black-and-white photographs fit together to form large-scale, collage-like diptych and triptych pieces. Some shots were taken outside, some underneath and some — how cool is this — inside the bridge, in areas normally closed off to the public. Abbott's been all over it, through storerooms and passageways you never knew existed. His camera does your dirty work, and chances are, it'll be the closest you ever get to the bridge's private parts.

"Bridge Works: Constructed Photographs of the Ben Franklin Bridge," exhibit through Sept. 30, opening reception Fri., Sept. 10, 6-8 p.m., Saint Joseph's University Gallery, Boland Hall, Lapsley Lane at City Ave., 610-660-1840.

—Tami Fertig