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We’re not posting on this blog anymore… Instead, Tyler has a new, improved blog on the new website.  For information about what’s going on at Tyler please visit http://tyler.temple.edu/blog

Photo by Sam Fritch

Costumes and Prints Bring “CandyCoated Wonderland” to Life

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“CandyCoated Wonderland” is a whimsical installation of costumes and prints straight from the imagination of Philadelphia-based artist Candy Coated (’97 MFA Ceramics), formerly Candy Depew.

Candy was invited by the Philadelphia Museum of Art two and a half years ago to begin a project reinterpreting children’s dress costumes from the Museum’s collection.

“I was honored to be asked because I just couldn’t believe that they would let me do whatever I wanted to highlight the costumes and integrate them in, and I was able to make a contemporary, yet historical period style room which is a wonderland,” Candy said.

The colorful installation blends Candy Coated’s silk-screened fabrics and wall decals with costumes that range from a Peter Pan costume flying from the ceiling to nurse costumes on children’s figures surrounded in a room of cats printed on pillows

“The most awesome part was being able to do the huge ink drawing on the wall because the walls are fresh and beautiful and new, and to be able to do a large drawing like that, directly on the wall, was pretty awesome,” Candy said. “Also, being able to have it in the parkway in one of the museum’s buildings is an honor, too, because I actually starting out working there in installation. So for me to actually have my own installation about ten years later is quite a nice thing.”

As a student at Tyler, Candy valued the people that she got to work with, both the classmates that would later become her colleagues and her professors.

“My teacher, Nick Kripal, brought me to Philadelphia. I’d like to thank him because the interview I had with him for grad school went so nicely and he was such a cool, intelligent person. A true teacher personality is what attracted me the most coming to [Tyler], so I thank him for bringing me to Philly,” Candy said.

Staying in Philadelphia after graduating and having the reputation from attending Tyler really helped Candy become the artist and cultural entrepreneur that she is today.

In addition to having her work displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Candy hosts exhibitions and films screenings from internationally based artists and designers at her studio, CandyCoated Center.

“I just love having my own studio, I just always have made that a priority and sometimes I wouldn’t necessarily have a place to live, but I would have a studio. So I’d house sit or go to residencies and things like that, and part of your residency deal is that they always give you a studio and a place to stay. So I am never without a studio,” Candy said.

Coming up, Candy will be working with the Spirit Tour for Design Philadelphia, designing wallpaper, doing silk-screen demos at the Art Market at Tyler, and working with Little Baby’s Ice Cream to develop an ice cream flavor.

“CandyCoated Wonderland” can be viewed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Perelman Building in the Joan Spain Studio until November 17.

For more information about “CandyCoated Wonderland,” visit http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/785.html

To learn more about Candy and her upcoming projects, visit http://www.candycoated.org/

Jordan Baseman’s Work in Sculpture Leads to Appointment at the Royal College of Art

Jordan Baseman (BFA ’83) decided to attended Tyler because of its welcoming atmosphere and great reputation. As a student, he was very interested in working with jewelry and metals to make sculptures.

“When I went to Tyler, I really felt like an artist,” Baseman said. “My mind was opened to many ways of thinking and working and I experienced many ideas that I would never have otherwise encountered. This helped me to ask questions and to become critical and more conceptual as an artist. I made some great friends, too.”

After graduating from Tyler, Baseman traveled to London to pursue his Master’s Degree at Goldsmiths College, University of London.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time, and Goldsmiths is a very challenging environment – I learned a lot. And London is a fantastic city, an amazing place to live,” Baseman said.

Since then, Baseman has held multiple residencies and has been commissioned for many projects in collaboration with public institutions. His work in both sculpture and film have also been exhibited and screened in galleries and at film festivals in Australia, the United States, Austria, Germany, Japan, Portugal, France, and Italy.

“I have been fortunate to be invited [to display work in so many countries] and I have also been lucky to travel to many places,” Baseman said. “It seems natural to me as an artist to want to present my work in many different places and situations.”

This passion for sculpture and art eventually lead Baseman to be appointed as Head of Sculpture at the Royal College of Art in London. After being approached by a recruiter, Baseman applied for the position.

“I wrote an application and a statement outlining my beliefs and ideas. I then went on a series of interviews. Three in all. And then they appointed me. It took a while,” Baseman said.

As Head of Sculpture, Baseman looks forward to what he can do to challenge the students.

“I am a filmmaker and [I] also make installations, so I am looking forward to challenging the idea of what sculpture can be while still retaining appreciation for the history of the subject,” Baseman said.

Baseman will officially fill his new position in late November.

To view Jordan Baseman’s films, visit http://www.thelastwalk.co.uk/ and http://www.jordanbaseman.co.uk/

To learn more about Baseman’s career and his new position, visit http://www.artlyst.com/articles/jordan-baseman-appointed-head-of-sculpture-at-the-royal-college-of-art

Tyler Alum Showcased in Crossing the Line Exhibition

Mixed Greens Gallery in New York City hosted “Crossing the Line: Contemporary Drawing and Artistic Process,” a show curated by Dexter Wimberly and Larry Ossei-Mensah that showcased the importance of drawing as a foundation to making art.

Ruby Amanze (Fibers/Photography BFA ’04) is one of the artists featured in this show.

“‘Crossing the Line’ is a small survey of five women who have very different drawing practices. It’s also exciting because none of the artists have  Western cultural background. We’re from Iran, Korea, Nigeria, Haiti/Dominican Republic and Mexico. Drawing has, and always will be universal and I think this exhibition touches on the idea,” Amanze said.

Although Amanze had a British upbringing, she was born in Nigeria. Recently, she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to travel to Nigeria and create a new body of work. Four drawings she created while in Nigeria are featured in the show.

“For me, drawing is very much about process. Sometimes my drawings are very detail-oriented and even obsessive compulsive. I enjoy that way of working, but at the same time I enjoy the freedom of making quicker, smaller drawings that I never intend to show,” Amanze said. “It’s a new, and slightly scary, idea for me to give these drawings their respect, so to speak. They are as much a part of my practice as the more polished ones, and I think the conversation they have alongside each other is an interesting one.”

Amanze admits that drawing is something that truly consumes and fascinates her.

“If I think back I remember that drawing was always my first love as an artist, as perhaps it is for many people. I think along the way, someone decides for us whether or not we ‘can draw,’ and unfortunately that deters some from continuing the practice. Everyone can draw and there are so many different ways to approach it,” Amanze said.

“When I sit down to draw, there are so many components that play a part in what happens on the page. I am open to that and look forward to how my ideas will evolve the more I allow things to happen. I think there is a certain vulnerability to drawing that I appreciate. It often doesn’t have this grand polished veneer…it just is,” Amanze said.

For inspiration, Amanze draws from architecture and remembered spaces, migration, cultural hybridity, textiles, and patterning.

“I’ve also spent time researching various nomadic groups, bridges as a physical and metaphorical symbol of connection, ethnic markings/tattoos or gender politics as they relate to culture. These are just a few things that have inspired me over the years. But I can’t neglect the ever changing influence of time and location as they relate to the above. Just being somewhere, anywhere can play a direct role on one’s vision of the world. The lens through which we process our bodies in space an in relation to others in constantly changing,” Amanze said.

Amanze appreciates that Tyler gave her a formal art education while also encouraging her to experiment and challenge the “rules.”

“Tyler was a nice balance of that. I remember drawing with silver point on gesso, learning Vandyke printing in Photography and weaving on a floor loom…but I also remember having freedom later to disregard all of those things and really begin to discover my own visual language,” Amanze said.

Coming up, Amanze is curating and exhibiting in an exhibition called “Six Draughtsmen” that will open at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts in Brooklyn in October. She is also preparing for a two person exhibition in Lagos, Nigeria with Wura-Natasha Ogunji. Outside of studio practice, Amanze is also teaching.

“Crossing the Line: Contemporary Drawing and Artistic Process” will be at Mixed Greens until August 16.

To learn more about Ruby Amanze and her work, visit http://rubyamanze.com/home

Coffee and Art Come Together at Tyler

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When Kristin Mills and Matthew Craig graduated from Tyler with MFA’s in painting, they were looking for the perfect job. They wanted to work for themselves and still have enough time and energy to work on their creative projects.

“During our final semester, Matthew and I often took coffee breaks together. It was nice to get out of the studio/building that way,” Mills said. “Not to bad-mouth any other businesses, but we were honestly frustrated with the lack of good coffee on campus. Matthew would sometimes make the trek over to Mug Shots, but they were situated in an awkward area, and they eventually closed that location.”

With the frustration of trying to find good coffee close to campus and the abundance of food trucks around them, Mills and Craig began to joke about opening up their own coffee truck.

“We were both impressed with the amount of food trucks on campus, let alone the notion of the food truck industry growing nation-wide. Individually, we became fond of Yumtown and though they had something really going on…nearing the end of our semester we joked about starting a coffee truck,” Mills said. “At first it seemed absurd, but the more we thought/talked about it, along with the difficulty in finding a job post graduation, we thought that this could be a smart way to employ ourselves.”

In order to fund their new business venture, Mills and Craig ran a Kickstarter campaign where they proposed their idea: “Cloud Project is two-fold: it is a mobile coffee shop and it is also a conceptual piece. It is about the social role of the artist, as we, the artists in Cloud Project, are inviting visitors to interact with contemporary art is a sociable way.”

“We spent a lot of time researching and talking to other food truck owners. Food trucks are often retrofitted step vans and in order to get a truck fitted and plumbed the way we needed, it would have been very costly,” Mills said.

With the help of ebay, Craig found an espresso trailer called “Love-a-Latte” that was perfect for them.

“This was financially a much better deal for us, the only glitch being that it was out in Washington state,” Mills said. “So we had to drive it across the country. This seems like a fun adventure, and at times it was, but there were many bumps along the way. Eventually it made its way to Philly.”

After going through all the paperwork, fees, and finding a roaster, Cloud Coffee finally opened on January 15. When classes are in session, Cloud goes through about 65 pounds of coffee a week. Their Third-Wave brew comes from ReAnimator, a local roaster.

“Our Salty Artist is a huge hit, and our iced coffee is super popular, we typically cold brew. Our roasters, ReAnimator, are wonderful…their espresso blend makes for an amazing Americano!” Mills said.

Even with a new business, both Mills and Craig find time to create their art. For them, Cloud has become a way that they can better connect with their audience.

“We both actively reserve or create time for ourselves, as starting a business can be all-consuming,” Mills said. “We want to reach an audience in ways that are less expected than inside a gallery setting, and as a form of critique, the Cloud provides that. So there is a duality there.”

In addition to creating time for their own projects, both Mills and Craig will be working as adjunct professors this fall.

“So far, Matthew and I have worked well at figuring things out together. It’s continual problem solving…so I’m confident that we’ll figure this out too. One of the main reasons we started this project/business was so that we could do the things we want to do as artists. We cover each other so that we can do individual projects, residencies, teaching gigs, etc. While we will both be adjunct-teaching at Tyler in the fall, we’ll create a schedule that works for us – and we’ll definitely be hiring,” Mills said.

For more information about Cloud Coffee, visit http://cloudcoffeephilly.com/

Artspace Recognizes Kari Scott in radius250 Exhibition

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Student Life Coordinator and Tyler alum Kari Scott has been awarded fourth place for her piece Shrine to my Scale in the show “radius250”  hosted by artspace.

“radius250 2013” is the fifth installment of artspace’s signature juried exhibition which represents artists that create their work within 250 miles of Richmond, Virginia. The exhibition is biennial at artspace, a non-profit member-run gallery.

127 artists submitted over 450 individual submissions to be juried for the show. Of these submissions, 48 pieces were selected from 36 artists.

“This is a pretty widely-known exhibition in a town I used to live in, so I knew I would run into people I knew if I got in. It’s always nice to go back to a place you left with a triumph,” Scott said. “And Erin M. Riley, a Tyler alum who graduated from my same department the year before me won Best of Show four years ago at the 2009 ‘radius250.’ I knew if I was in this show, I would be in good company.”

Scott submitted three pieces to be judged for the exhibition. Two of the pieces submitted, Shrine to St. Betty and Shrine to my Scale, had to be installed by Scott herself.

“Shrine to my Scale is a piece that I considered too personal to submit for a long time, but I’ve started to have a better appreciation of it as it relates to the themes I’m interested in. I created it when I was really trying to keep weight off, and I lost the struggle not long after I created it, but health issues have crept up and I’m realizing more and more that it’s a life-long struggle for me, and I need to keep at it,” Scott said.

“As I’ve been actively submitting my work to galleries and shows, I’ve become more and more aware that my work is mostly understood by a narrow audience of middle-aged women, my demographic, who have struggled with their own issues of body image/weight issues/struggle to maintain a healthy diet while busy/attempting to resist both subtle and overt attempts by the food industry to subvert our diets because they make money both by having us eat too much junk food and by dieting,” Scott said.

With these issues in mind, Shrine to my Scale was created on a whim with materials that Scott found sitting around in her studio.

“I use muffin tins because chocolate cupcakes are one of my trigger foods, and I need extra help from the weight goddesses to resist those. And originally, the candles were chocolate scented, but in group shows, like this one, I use unscented candles because I want to be a good artist-neighbor. If it was just a show of my work, though, they would be chocolate scented, because I want viewers to experience some of my struggle,” Scott said.

Both Shrine to my Scale and Shrine to St. Betty were chosen by juror N. Elizabeth Schlatter, deputy director and curator of exhibitions at the University of Richmond Museums, to appear in the show.

“It’s always validating to the struggle to be an artist who’s only able to work in the studio part-time to have your work selected for major shows like this one,” Scott said. “I’ve learned that curators/jurors go into something like these shows and develop a theme–even if it wasn’t stated–and your work might just not fit into that theme for that show, so don’t lose faith.”

The exhibition will be in all galleries of artspace until August 18th. For more details, visit http://artspacegallery.org/

Tyler Alum Takes On Two Year Sculpting Project

Photo Credit: Myers Creative Images.

Tyler alum Albert Paley (BFA ’66, MFA ’69) has prepared 13 sculptures that will be displayed at New York City’s Park Avenue.

As an undergrad, Paley studied sculpture and then went on to do his Master’s work in the metal department. After graduating, he taught in the university system for 25 years and is now a well-known metal sculptor based in Rochester.

Paley was invited to do this project by the Fund for Park Avenue Sculpture Committee almost 2 1/2 years ago. Since then, PBS from New York City has been filming a one hour documentary on the Paley on Park Avenue project which will be broadcast this fall.

“You could either apply or be invited,” Paley said. “I was invited because of the work I do with public sculpture. ”

Paley’s 15 person staff have working on massive sculptures for the show. Several of them are more than 20 feet high and one is 50 feet long.

“Public sculpture, especially large scale sculpture, creates a dialogue between architecture and public display,” Paley said. “Most of the work that I do is large scale.”

The sculptures, installed June 14, will stay up through November 8 between 52nd street and 67th street.

After being a practicing artist for 40 years, Paley no longer worries about how his work will be seen by the audience.

“All the artist can do is deal with the integrity of his or her vision,” Paley said. “People will respond with whatever their own background is.”

Coming up, Paley will be featured in many exhibitions. In September, the Gerald Peters Gallery in New York will be showing Paley’s conceptual drawings and will then publish a major book about the work. Then, in 2014, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. will be hosting a 50 year retrospective of Paley’s work.

To learn more about Albert Paley and his work, visit http://www.albertpaley.com

In Front of Strangers, I Sing Exhibition at Woodmere

“In Front of Strangers, I Sing” exhibition catalogue. Courtesy of Professor Dona Nelson.

The Woodmere Art Museum is hosting the works of 52 artists in the show “In Front of Strangers, I Sing.”

Painters and Tyler School of Art professors Dona Nelson and Rubens Ghenov were among the jurors that helped select the art that would be in the show.

“It’s a juried show rather than a curated show,” Nelson said. “We  received almost 600 applications.”

The contemporary art featured in this show was selected to illustrate the strains of artists in Philadelphia.

“We tried to develop themes like how art appears in photography these days, and also the whole nature of photography because one doesn’t usually question the  actual nature of a photograph,” Nelson said.

Nelson and Ghenov both had their own work included the show, but Nelson believes there are other, more important pieces to see.

“I have one painting and the other artist who juried [Ghenov] has several other paintings, however there is a big wall piece Frank Bramblett did,” Nelson said. “It is really Frank’s piece that dominates the room, not mine or Ruben’s.”

Nelson also points out work like Andre Ponticello’s “Widowmaker Purple #1 (Sal’s ’69 GTO)” which reflects a car paint job that his uncle did in the 60’s and was described to Ponticello by his father, and Jamie Felton’s (MFA ’13) painting “The Towel That We Sank On” that really shows how art flows out of an idea or feeling.

“It is an expressive show,” Nelson said. “It’s a difficult show for some people because of how emotional it is in nature.”

The “In Front of Strangers, I Sing” exhibition can be found at the Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Avenue, through September 1.

Tyler Students Curate “Charles Searles: In Motion”

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Tyler’s atrium is currently the backdrop for the “Charles Searles: In Motion” exhibit, a show curated by Tyler students.

The curators included Rachel McCay, Louise Feder, James Short, Nicole Restaino, Will Schwaller, Alicia Bonilla-Puig, Elise Houck, and Alex Cohn.

“It was interesting for me to participate in this project because I have never been a part of curating a small show, let alone a show that would be exhibited in a place like Tyler, with an artist like Charles Searles,” Cohn said. “I’m happy to have it as part of my Tyler experience. Everyone brought something different to the curation.”

Charles Searles (1937-2004) was an African American artist from West Philadelphia. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and then taught at Philadelphia College of Art, now the University of the Arts. The exhibit features Searles’ later sculptures and large-scale paintings.

The show was developed by undergraduate and graduate students who took Professor Susanna Gold’s exhibition studies/curatorial seminar course last fall. As a first year Master’s student in the art history department, this course was very appealing to Bonilla-Puig.

“[Professor Gold] explained that the students in her class would be organizing a show of the work of Charles Searles. As an aspiring museum professional, I knew this would be a great opportunity. I also thought this would be a nice change of pace from a traditional lecture class,” Bonilla-Puig said.

To create a successful exhibit, each student was given a specific role in curating the show.

“I created a 3D model of the Tyler Atrium and the artwork we selected for the show, so that we as a class could move things around virtually rather than actually when installing. It was nice to be able to see the show before it was even installed,” Cohn said.

Being able to participate in the curation of the show was very rewarding for the students involved.

“It was exactly the ‘hands-on’ experience that future curators need so that we can understand all of the facets of exhibition preparation and the range of curatorial responsibilities,” McCay said.

For Bonilla-Puig, the opening of the show was one of her favorite parts of the experience.

“Seeing the project fully realized was amazing and we’ve since received so many positive comments/reviews. In the end, both the show and the catalog came together very well,” Bonilla-Puig said. “I don’t think I could choose a favorite piece. They are all so fun and colorful, which is why I think so many people have said they enjoy seeing our show.”

“Charles Searles: In Motion” can be seen at the Tyler School of Art through June 16. Hours are 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Dana Mulranen Designs Poster to Raise Awareness

A poster, designed by Dana Mulranen (BFA GAID ’13), that raises awareness to the dangers of horse racing is now being displayed on PETA’s website.

“This project was initially an entry for the One Club Young Ones Competition last year. The task was to create a poster campaign for PETA about the horrors of the thoroughbred horseracing industry,” Mulranen said. “In May 2012, I was awarded a Bronze Pencil for my poster series at the awards ceremony in New York City and shortly after, the Senior Vice President of PETA reached out to me and asked if they could use my horseracing poster series for their company.”

PETA currently has the ad posted on their website and plans to use it in print as well. A mobile billboard with the poster was shown at the Kentucky Derby and there will be more printed publications of it before Preakness.

“Overall, I want the message to relay the serious problems caused by the horseracing industry. When I was envisioning the design for these posters, I was thinking of what could grab the viewer’s attention to make them stop and react to the poster and the issue at hand,” Mulranen said. “By isolating just the faces of the horses, I wanted to force the viewer to look at these beautiful animals and feel compassion for them and to take action against these wrongdoings.”

Mulranen’s poster was also a winning entry for the latest issue of Creative Quarterly. Receiving this kind of recognition is very exciting for Mulranen.

“The project was a fresh campaign for PETA and was also good press for myself,” Mulranen said. “Being a young designer, it’s great to get a chance to have my name known and recognized.”