March 3-9, 2005

first friday focus

Locks Gallery

Alice Neel, Red Grooms and Mimi Gross, No. 1 (1967), 60 inches by 42 inches, oil on canvas.

by Lori Hill

Her name should slip off the tongue as easily as Eakins or Sargent in discussions of great American portrait painters. Alice Neel quietly forged a new path into portraiture in the 20th century, painting her community in the neighborhoods of Spanish Harlem and Greenwich Village with piercing insight into character and personality. She depicted her circle of friends and art scenesters (much like Warhol, whom she also painted), but she didn't always exactly flatter the sitter. Crumpled clothing, awkward positions, gangly limbs, open-mouthed stares — Neel didn't care as long she caught a moment in time. Locks Gallery is showing 21 works from 1934 to 1980, a combination of paintings and drawings by the Main Line-born Neel, whose talent was overlooked for much of her lifetime. While Pollock and de Kooning splashed about, Neel stayed the course, painting Red Grooms, Mimi Gross and Michel Auder in sketchy, unfinished collections of brushstrokes. One standout work is a portrait of critic Clement Greenberg's daughter, Sara. She sits perched on the edge of a fuchsia chair, in a dress of nearly the same color. Her elegant, perfect ringlets and lacy collar contrasts with a decidedly inelegant pose: The little girl's dress rides up ever so slightly, exposing knobby, stockinged knees dangling off the cushion. It's a meaningful, recognizable capture of a child's life. The Philadelphia Museum of Art 2000 retrospective reminded us of Neel's importance, and this jewel of a show at Locks won't let us forget it.

Reception Fri., March 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m., exhibit through April 9, 600 Washington Square South, 215-629-1000.

Nexus

It happens to the best of us. But at least Matthew Brownell was ambitious enough to make art about it. Brownell's show at Nexus, "Wish I Wasn't So Lazy," examines in incongruous detail his own inability to get off the couch. Addicted to television, video games and anything else that'll keep him from living his actual life, Brownell decided to mount an exhibit of his ennui in video, photography and transcriptions of television shows. C'mon, let's give him an E for effort. Also check out "Axis of Evil: The Secret History of Sin," a look at the dark side — the war in Iraq, American foreign policy — by nearly 50 artists working in the medium of the postage-stamp sheet.

Reception Fri., March 4, 5-9 p.m., gallery talk with Brownell, Wed., March 16, 7 p.m., exhibit through March 27, 137 N. Second St., 215-629-1103.

Fleisher Art Memorial

Kate Stewart, Ephraim Russell and Julie York are tricksters of their trades. The three Fleisher Challenge artists craft little mysteries out of their materials. Stewart's acrylic paintings, influenced by graphic design, don't always betray what they're depicting: a corner, a baseboard? Faux-functional aluminum sculptures and corrugated cardboard prototypes make Russell a technologically minded deceiver, while York's shiny, clinical, slipcast clay works look like they belong in sterile, sparking-clean environments — kitchens, hospitals, laboratories. For a little escapism, try a show of nonobjective work from local stalwarts Larry Spaid and Rochelle Toner.

Challenge reception Fri., March 18, 5:30-7:30 p.m., gallery discussion Sat., April 2, 1:30 p.m. with artist/teacher Mary Murphy, exhibit runs through April 16; Toner/Spaid reception Sat., March 5, 5:30-7:30 p.m., gallery discussion with artists March 23, 7-8 p.m., exhibit through April 16, 719 Catharine St., 215-922-3456.

And Then There's é

You don't really hear about celebrations of Caesar's back-stabbing demise. The Ides of March Party, to benefit the nonprofit Old City Arts Association, seeks to change that. Mingle with artsy folks at Et Tu, Brute II, the second annual benefit to support the galleries, theaters and cultural institutions in the O.C. Organizers heard Julius loved a good game of chance, so they've arranged with local businesses to provide $5 raffle prizes along with jazz from Laurent Bass.

Tue., March 15, 6-9 p.m., $20 (includes complimentary buffet), Ristorante Panorama at The Penn's View Hotel, 14 N. Front St., RSVP by March 11 at 215-625-9200 or oldcityarts@hotmail.com.

Eamon Ore-Giron's installation at PAFA reminisces about his formative years in Tucson, especially its Native American and Mexican American cultural traditions, truning the Morris Gallery into a big-sky, Western, wood-grained, cactus-filled wonderland.

Reception Fri., March 4, 6-8 p.m., through May 15, Broad and Cherry sts., 215-972-7600.

And the grand prize for Best Pun in an Exhibit Title Ever goes to Da Vinci Art Alliance for their new show, "Sympathy for the Bevel," an exhibition of prints by adult students from Fleisher Art Memorial. Reception Fri., March 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m., through March 31, 704 Catharine St., 215-829-0466.

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