The Cyclenauts prepare for Kinetic Sculpture Derby (40th St AIR and Neighborhood Bike Works team up)

Martina Plag's MONSTERS UNDER THE BED opens this Friday at 7pm!!

MONSTERS UNDER THE BED

Opening: this Friday, May 11th, 7-10pm at 4007 Chestnut Street

Additional viewing times: Friday, May 18th and 25th, 3-7pm or by appointment (call 215-429-9939)

Monsters Under the Bed is an instillation of performance-objects, with an uncanny tilt towards the grotesque. The exhibition features a selection of puppets whose designs have been commissioned over the past four years. In May 2008, Martina Plag branched out as a free-lance designer for theater and dance by establishing a puppetry atelier: studium-praxis.

This installation specifically focuses on designs built at Martina's 40th AIR Space studio over the past nine months. Each puppet or set displayed in the exhibition has been designed for a specific performance and to serve a very specific function. Each puppet design is narrative driven. Martina approaches space-making similarly - from a narrative architecture. Martina's set designs serve to support the functions of the play by creating spaces within which to trans- or per-form... and through which storytelling objects such as puppets, masks and specialty props or the scenic elements themselves can be moved.

There are times when Martina approaches the puppet as metaphor, especially when working with non-figurative objects. She mostly limits this approach to every day objects that are minimally worked as a physical material and rather exalted for being mundane.

The objects in Monsters Under the Bed are designed by Martina Plag, some are even made by her, but many many more are made with the help of talented artists, each bringing their own unique approach to puppet making and puppetry. They include: Pam Raines, Stephen C. Layne. Bill Hanson, Deborah Glassberg, Laureen Griffin, Leah Walton, Lorna Howley, Leila Ghaznavi, Cory Palmer, and several interns too.

for more information about Martina Plag, visit: http://www.studium-praxis.org

CLOSING FOR RETROSPECTACULAR!! Thursday, April 26th, 6 pm!!

Thursday, April 26, 2012,
6:00pm until 9:30pm
Please join us!


7 PM a few shoe-box crankie shows by students from West Philly High.

9 PM songs by Beth Nixon and Morgan FP Andrews from puppet shows of old (sloths, mammoths, mice...)

Beth and her Ramshackle Enterprise have been creating puppet and clown shows and facilitating the creation of parades and pageants in Philly and beyond for over a dozen years. This retrospectacular showcases Beth's participation in over a decade of action in the West Philly/ East coast puppet underground. See, read and fondle relics from her first Philly performance at the 2000 post RNC Puppet Uprising to this winter's collaboration with Sarah Lowry in the creation of "Below and Beyond".

Puppets, masks, suitcase theaters, illustrations and cardboard constructions on display. (Almost) everything for sale! If you bought/claimed anything at the opening, please come to the closing to pick it up!

www.ramshackleenterprises.net (Beth)
www.themissoulaoblongata.com (Sarah and Co.)

Now accepting applications for the 2012-2013 residency! Deadline is Monday May 7!

Residency: August 25, 2012 - August 15, 2013

Application Deadline: Monday, May 7, 2012

We'll alert artists (whether they are accepted or not) by June 15, 2012.

If accepted to the program, you will be granted a studio space at either 4007 Chestnut or 4013 Chestnut Street for a period of one year, beginning on August 25, 2012 and ending August 15, 2013. You will be encouraged to use that time to develop your own creative work. In exchange, you will be asked to share your talents with West Philadelphia through a minimum of 40 hours of outreach work over the course of the year. Examples of this include a public installation or a workshop or class. Support will be provided to help you develop this project effectively. In addition, the artists in residence will have opportunities to work together to plan group exhibitions, both of their own work and of their outreach work.  Monthly meetings (or more when necessary) will help facilitate this work as well as create opportunities for artists to share ideas and create a true community. In addition to working with your fellow residents, a student intern and a professional facilitator will help to coordinate efforts, including outreach, gallery activities, publicity, maintenance, etc.   

Please note that our sites are not live-in facilities. The studios are available at all times, but the buildings are shared; you must be considerate of other tenants. The spaces can accommodate a variety of creative activities, including painting, sculpture, installation art, photography, and performance art. Collaborative as well as individual efforts are welcome. Ceilings are high (approximately 12 feet in some areas); rooms range from 100-300 square feet. Some areas have ample natural light, while others have none at all (making them ideal darkrooms). The studios are not furnished. The buildings also have small yards in the rear that may be used for assembling larger works, or as a place to exhibit sculpture. The spaces have ventilation, running water, and 120- volt AC outlets. However, the facilities will not accommodate highly toxic chemicals, welding, or very high-powered electrical equipment. Note also that within the spaces, there is open access to the different work areas; we count on resident artists to show respect for others’ property and privacy.

The 40^th Street Artist-in-Residence program strives to create a community of artists who share their talents with each other and with the surrounding community.  

If you are interested, please email 40th.AIR.app@gmail.com for an application.

Beth Nixon/Ramshackle Enterprises: A RETROSPECTACULAR; Curated by Sarah Lowry! opens Thu. April 5, 6-9pm

UNOCCUPIED reviewed by The Art Blog

UNOCCUPIED has received a nice review from The Art Blog:

At Fortieth Street AIR, which is always engaged with Philadelphia artists, the gallery this month, is graced by work from current resident-artist Michael Konrad. He is continuing his exploration of survival in the decaying urban ecosystem with an installation built around a tent and pennant festoons all made from recycled umbrella canopies. This is where dead umbrellas go to die!

Read the complete article here: West Philadelphia looking is good

The exhibition is on view until March 30 at AIRspace Gallery (4007 Chestnut Street).

Michael Konrad UNOCCUPIED currently at AIRspace

Reign Free, 2012 by Michael Konrad
(tent made from reconstructed umbrella canopies)
click here for additional images of the exhibition

UNOCCUPIED, a solo exhibition of new sculpture, photography and installation is now on view at 40th Street AIRspace through March 30.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the opening! 

If you didn't make it, the gallery hours are every Friday in March from 3-7pm.

Alternatively, you may view the exhibition by appointment (call 917-318-0380).