Contribute to Our 2024 Annual Fund - Support Artist-Led Programs and Initiatives in Philadelphia! 
ExhibitionsPrevious Exhibitions
Just In Time: 30 Years of Collective Practice
30th Anniversary Exhibition and Programming
On View April 26, 2019 - June 23, 2019

Just In Time: 30 Years of Collective Practice

Closing Reception: Artist Talk + Catalogue Release: Sunday, June 23, 2019 | 3-6pm
On View: Friday, April 26, 2019 – Sunday, June 23, 2019
download press-release

Jump To: Introduction / Artist List / About the Exhibition / Programs / Calendar / Credits

INTRODUCTION: CELEBRATING 30 YEARS

Vox Populi commemorates three decades of artistic experimentation, community, and change through a new group exhibition and myriad public programs, featuring an intergenerational selection of current and former members of the art collective. Grasping 30 years of practice, Vox Populi celebrates its anniversary with the special exhibition Just In Time: 30 Years of Collective Practice and related performances, workshops, conversations and a forthcoming publication. The exhibition and programs reiterate Vox Populi’s collective spirit while honoring its inception in 1988 as a grassroots organization for emerging artists in Philadelphia.

For Just in Time, Vox Populi has refreshed its walls, cleaned its floors and installed six new projects in its galleries. Chosen from an open call issued to the collective’s current and former members, and selected by guest jurors Jacque Liu (artist and Vox alum) and Li Sumpter (artist), Vox Populi has commissioned six collaborative projects that are each inspired by the creative and synergistic effects of intergenerationality. The exhibition reflects on the organization’s past, present and future, and brings the collective’s enduring cultural principles into focus.

Just In Time celebrates the present moment: creating a flexible space that allows for unlikely artistic collaboration, development and innovation alike. The exhibition equally recognizes the organization’s past: cherishing past accomplishments and highlighting various voices from its ever-revolving membership. Lastly, it probes the future of collectivity: welcoming a dynamic model of dialogue and impulses beyond organizational boundaries into the larger ecosystem of contemporary art.

Jump To: Introduction / Artist List / About the Exhibition / Programs / Calendar / Credits

 

FEATURING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM

Jump To: Introduction / Artist List / About the Exhibition / Programs / Calendar / Credits

 

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Based on aesthetic affinities, thematic similarities and structural resemblances, the commissioned projects within Just in Time: 30 Years of Collective Practice and related programs underscore the value and power of collective practice as much as they emphasize the necessity of experimentation for creative growth and development.

Gallery One: Examining the social dynamics and various representations of collectives, Vox Populi alumna Nadia Hironaka & Matthew Suib, Mark Stockton and Kelsey Halliday Johnson present Some of its Parts, an immersive-installation that combines appropriated imagery, collage-oriented video and original text-work. Creating an index of collectivism through the lenses of activism, arts, politics, and athletics, the project explores ideals, paradigms and conventions of group identity while drawing upon elements of each artist’s personal practice.
Some of its Parts: Additional Info + Artist Bios.

Gallery Two: Former member Laura Heyman and current member Luxin Zhang present 2 Rivers + 30 Years, a three-channel video questioning multiple privileged positions within art and real-world hierarchies; teacher/student, elder/youth, citizen/emigrant and Eastern/Western world views. Extending the subject of collaboration and struggle across three screens, Zhang takes singing lessons from her mother, while Heyman attempts to translate the information she’s received from Zhang into lessons for her son.
2 Rivers + 30 Years: Additional Info + Artist Bios.

Gallery Three: Vox alumna James Johnson and Erin Murray turn their attentions to the idiosyncrasies, memories and embedded histories of Vox Populi’s venue for their collaborative project To Let. Including mixed-media objects and works-on-paper, of their collaboration the artists write; “This year, as Vox turns 30, there is much ado about Philadelphia’s art spaces and their home bases, or lack thereof. We know that Vox has survived three moves and will likely survive more, and that Vox transcends its address. However, as home to Vox for its current and longest stretch, and to several other simpatico spaces, 319 N 11th has no doubt moved into a territory of iconic repute likely to outlast its tenancy, and as such seems worthy of our attention here.”
To Let: Additional Info + Artist Bios.

Gallery Four: In the spirit of intergenerational collaboration and their friendship that began because of a shared appreciation for all things femme, Vox Populi alumna Erica Prince and current member Katie Rauth join forces for Lipstick and Load, an exhibition that celebrates feminine rituals, self love and eccentrically constructed identities. Lipstick and Load is a phrase borrowed from Hollywood. Comparable to “lock and load” montages from action films depicting a man preparing to become a hero, the “lipstick and load” montage depicts women applying makeup, considering themselves in the mirror, and preparing for something consequential.
Lipstick and Load: Additional Info + Artist Bios.

Front Space: Featured in the Front Space is Shadow From a World Apart, an accumulative installation and series of performances curated by current member Jim Strong in collaboration with former members Robert Chaney, Paul Swenbeck and Linda Yun. Emblematic of the multi-disciplinary nature of Vox Populi and its ever-increasing dedication to supporting experimental performance, as well as time-based and community-based practices, Shadow From a World Apart will be home to a number of programs for the extent of Just In Time. See the Just In Time Calendar for performance dates.
Shadow From a World Apart: Additional Info + Artist Bios.

Black Box: On-loop will be This is a Transmission, a single-channel audio installation featuring the voices of trans and non-binary artists from the Vox Populi community that also creates a site for conversation around the metaphysical and spiritual dimensions of non-cis experience. This is a Transmission features current members Levi Bentley, Marie Hinson, Marion Horowitz and Lane Speidel, as well as Vox Populi’s 2019 Black Box Curatorial Fellow Malachi Lily and guest artists Eppchez and Wit López. This is a Transmission is an iteration of a project conceived and originated by former Vox member Catherine ‘Chet’ Pancake with current member Marie Hinson.
This is a Transmission: Additional Info + Artist Bios.

Jump To: Introduction / Artist List / About the Exhibition / Programs / Calendar / Credits

 

PROGRAMS

The exhibition is accompanied by myriad public programs, including workshops, meals and conversations.

Highlights include The Everybody Ekphrastic Audio Tour, a three-part writing and audio workshop facilitated by poet and current Vox member Levi Bentley in collaboration with two former members, art critic and current Vox Populi Board Member Bea Huff Hunter and artist Matt Kalasky. During three consecutive Sundays in May (5th, 12th, 19th), attendees at these workshops will contribute their experiences, words, and voices to the co-creation of a community-generated audio tour of the Just In Time exhibition.
The Everybody Ekphrastic Audio Tour: Program Details + Artist Bios.

For Sound Inside You, current member Lane Speidel and alumna Suzanne L. Seesman (along with Seesman’s baby, Frannie Gene Stout) will hold a workshop on May 11th exploring free play, game structures, intergenerational learning, and sensory exploration using sound, light, fabric, and a variety of other objects, resulting in a presentation that acknowledges the connection between art making and early childhood cognitive development on May 19th.
Sound Inside You: Program Details + Artist Bios.

On June 20th, Seesman and current member Tina Plokarz present A Taste of Sustainability, a public round table and potluck that explores the question: “What is needed to provide a sustainable future in the city of Philadelphia?”
A Taste of Sustainability: Program Details + Artist Bios.

And, during the first weekend of June (the 1st and 2nd), Black Box will host Children of Sirius, a two-day presentation exploring the divinity of black and trans/non-binary lives curated by 2019 Black Box Curatorial Fellow Malachi Lily and featuring many artists and performers from throughout Philadelphia. The presentation is preceded by a Fellowship & Artist Talk on May 23rd.
Children of Sirius: Fellowship/Program Details + Artist Bio.

The exhibition and programs will be documented in a forthcoming publication, featuring an introduction by Executive Director Danny Orendorff, an essay by exhibition jurors Jacque Liu and Li Sumpter in collaboration with Tina Plokarz, as well as testimonials by the exhibiting artists. The publication is designed by current members Levi Bentley and Aaron Terry. A closing reception and catalogue release party will be held at the gallery on Sunday, June 23.

Jump To: Introduction / Artist List / About the Exhibition / Programs / Calendar / Credits

 

PROGRAM CALENDAR

Jump To: Introduction / Artist List / About the Exhibition / Programs / Calendar / Credits

 

CREDITS

Exhibition Manager: Tina Plokarz
Executive Director: Danny Orendorff

Major support for Vox Populi’s 30th Anniversary is kindly provided by the Edna W. Andrade Fund at The Philadelphia Foundation. Additional programming support provided by The Wind Foundation.

Jump To: Introduction / Artist List / About the Exhibition / Programs / Calendar / Credits

Older Newer