This winter, reflect on the past, present and future with these seven can’t-miss exhibits at local galleries.
Explore paintings and sculptures by Michelle Benoit at Pentimenti Gallery
Through 12/17
Michelle Benoit, ReWeave
Pentimenti Gallery, pentimenti.com
In a never-seen-before exhibition, Michelle Benoit reveals her newest sculptures and paintings in ReWeave at the Pentimenti Gallery. In a reflection of her memories and passing time woven with nature, Benoit’s creations use Lucite, a bulletproof material, to create futuristic fantastical totems. One of her pieces, “Valley Weave,” includes green and yellow paint sandwiched between Lucite that, like many of her other sculptures, uses a color composition to make them glow from the inside out.
Damian Stamer’s “New Sharon Church Rd. 101”
Through 12/31
Damian Stamer
Bridgette Mayer Gallery, bridgettemayergallery.com
Origianlly from the South, Durham, North Carolina local Damian Stamer depicts hints of childhood through his pieces withpast explorations of rural landscapes. Step into the artist’s memories with works like “New Sharon Church Rd. 101,” an oil painting of an abandoned barn thst is streaked with hues of blue, green, red and more. The exhibit’s selection of paintings and monotype prints, each colorful and abstract piece, will transport visitors to the South through formal and conceptual approaches.
Donna Usher’s “Spring Contemplation”
Through 12/31
The Language of Color
Stanek Gallery, stanekgallery.com
As the dark, colorless winter trudges on, escape to the Stanek Gallery for a burst of hues from The Language of Color exhibition. Viewers are invited to enter a world of color with pieces like Deborah Fine’s “Heart’s a’ Fire,” where warmth from each crimson streak radiates off the canvas; Donna Usher’s “Life Wreath Gold,” with a hypnotic ring of color pops; and Carson Fox’s “Gumball Archaeology” made of resin decorated with hints of blues and a sea of red.
“Ernst Mirror” by Gregory Nangle
Through 1/31
Retrospective Remix: Looking Back at Twenty Years in Old City
Wexler Gallery, wexlergallery.com
Travel back in time with the newest Wexler Gallery exhibition to reminisce on the gallery’s past moments in Philly. Including special objects, avant-garde furniture and limited-edition pieces, this collection features “The Many Few Project Two” (2016) by Peter Pincus, where columns of the usual neutral-colored porcelain are contrasted with bright layers of color, and many more.
“YUM and Friends Viewing Flowers” by Yusuke Toda
12/10-1/8
Yusuke Toda, A DAY OF YUM
Morton Contemporary Gallery, mortoncontemporary.com
Since training as an assistant to the renowned Takashi Murakami, Japanese contemporary pop artist Yusuke Toda has had sold out exhibitions throughout Asia. Finally, the 31-year-old is debuting his first solo exhibition on United States soil, A DAY OF YUM, at Morton Contemporary Gallery. The artist’s most recent work takes viewers into the world of his central character named YUM who symbolically expresses Toda’s desire for all people to find harmony and peace within themselves. Amidst a backdrop of black and white, the artist takes inspiration from mass culture—cartoons, film and fashion—to colorize YUM’s world and depict the positive, hopeful aspects of life against the black and white immutable properties of a mortal existence.
“How Have you Been? – Introspection” by Kyungmin Park.
1/12-4/16
Figuring Space
The Clay Studio, theclaystudio.org
Explore works from the top clay artists in the United States under one roof at The Clay Studio’s Figuring Space exhibition. With full-size clay sculptures from artists like Sergei Isupov and Jonathan Christensen Caballero, the exhibit highlights issues in American art and culture thanks to Tufts University professor and co-curator Dr. Kelli Morgan’s historical knowledge of the subject.
*Since the publishing of this article, some exhibits have ended. Please still visit the gallery websites for any other upcoming exhibitions.*
Photography by: COURTESY OF BRIDGETTE MAYER GALLERY; JOHN CARLANO; COURTESY OF STANEK GALLERY; COURTESY OF WEXLER GALLERY; YUSUKE TODA; COURTESY OF PENTIMENTI GALLERY
