Everything Is Illuminated

Warren Muller knows how to brighten up a room.

by Deni Kasrel

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Published: Jun 11, 2008

Michael T. Regan LET IT SHINE: Bahdeebahdu gallery's reopening will shed light on Muller's unconventional fixtures. (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

"I'm redefining what a lighting fixture can be," declares Warren Muller.

But "fixture" seems too prosaic a word to describe Muller's creations, fanciful entanglements of found objects of almost any kind, including wheels, wagons, farm implements, beer bottles, antique plates, porcelain animals — even a Mini Cooper.

Much of Muller's work is done for private commissions; still, his seemingly incongruous items assembled into fully functioning light sculptures are on public display in places like the Painted Bride, Supper restaurant and the lobby of the Philadelphia Building at Juniper and Walnut. A sizable selection of Muller's output had been at his bahdeebahdu gallery on Third and Cherry streets, which closed in February after a fire. But the gallery was slated to move in any event, to new digs in an industrial section of South Kensington, where Muller will host a preview party this weekend.

The location is a substantial shift from bustling Old City. Muller, who co-owns bahdeebahdu with his life and business partner, interior designer RJ Thornburg, admits the two are "taking a risk ... the buildings up here are so forbidding." But real estate prices in the artist-friendly area are such that the pair could afford to buy, rather than rent, their new 4,000-square-foot structure. The fully renovated space has a center ceiling section that's 28 feet high, reinforced by steel I-beams — all the better to support Muller's latest trend in art-making. "The idea of making monumental pieces seems to be coming into view," he says. That jag started with the Mini Cooper piece, which was displayed at the 2006 Philadelphia Home Furnishings Show.

Unlike the Mini Cooper, provided by a car importer pal, much of the stuff that makes up Muller's work comes from flea market excursions, where anything is up for grabs. "It's hard to find a rationale in the editing," says Thornburg. "He'll pick up something and I'm like, 'I'm not getting it.' But he will bring it back and inevitably it will make its way into something."

Adds Muller, "It's like when you meet a person — you don't necessarily know why you like them, but you just do. Somehow you get engaged. ... I have that kind of rapport with things in the world."

Muller's view of the world and elements of his life — such as his background as a filmmaker and dancer — all feed into his process.

Lis Kalogris, a longtime client of Muller, sees the congruity between the artist and his art. "There's a fluidity and a feeling of movement in his work, and that connects to his dance background," she says. "All the pieces have balance, but they are not necessarily geometric." Kalogris is so fond of Muller's work that she is financing a book about him, slated to come out later this year. Her house holds several of his lights, including one in her kitchen, where bulbs are routed through a whisk, colander, giant caviar tin, pitcher and bread basket, among other objects. "It's funky and whimsical," she says of the work. Kalogris' sentiments on Muller's complex creations are succinct: "They make me smile."

There's definitely a humorous and sometimes outright ridiculous element to some of Muller's pieces. Even so, he assures, "It's not like I'm trying to be funny. I think it's just my take on the world, I guess it just comes out. Some people say what I do is sort of mischievous. I like to have fun with what I'm engaged in."

He notes that people are sometimes philosophical about what he does, finding allegories and intellectual nods within his pieces. But the artist defers from any high-mindedness. "You know what? Most of what I do is very playful. I don't have any grand ideas about what I do. It's like improvisation. I just start and things kind of build on their own. There's no political statement or symbol. Sometimes I think I should have that, but I don't. It's art for art's sake."

(d_kasrel@citypaper.net)

Pre-opening party featuring food and live music, Sat., June 14, 6-9 p.m., bahdeebahdu gallery, 1522 N. American St., 215-627-5002, bahdeebahdu.com.

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