November First Fridays
Opening New Exhibitions by Gina Siepel and Cameron Granger, plus Knew Member Show
7-9pm: Gina Siepel Performs “Cycle of Self-Determination”
7:30pm: Luxin Zhang Performs “One Billion Applause / One Voice, Yi Sheng Yi Sheng”
Join us on Friday, November 2, 2018 from 6-10pm for the opening of three new exhibitions, including solo shows by guest artists Cameron Granger and Gina Siepel (selected from our 2018 Guest Artists and Exhibitions Open Call), as well as the group exhibition Knew Member Show featuring the work of seven Philadelphia artists who joined the Vox Populi artist collective in 2018: Marion Horowitz, Natalie Kuenzi, Kris Rumman, Makeba Rainey, Aaron Terry, Loraine Wible and Luxin Zhang.
The season’s First Fridays Opening Reception on November 2 will feature two performances by featured artists Gina Siepel and Luxin Zhang.
Gina Siepel’s exhibition SELF-MADE proposes a personal, queer investigation into the ideals of American masculinity and self-reliance. Siepel creates multi-part sculptural objects using wood, steel, pedal-power, and other iconic 19th and 20th century materials to connect object making, self-making, and the mythic American “self-made man.” For a durational performance on opening night, Siepel will activate her sculpture entitled Cycle of Self-Determination, a fully-functional sculptural pedal-powered woodworking lathe. Siepel will be fabricating “continuous profile self portraits” over the duration of the performance.
18 hands, held high, found their Grace— but you didn’t hear a sound. is an exhibition of new video-works from award winning filmmaker Cameron Granger. Through lens and text based techniques, and interrogations of Granger’s own relationship to icons like Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen, the exhibition looks at the idea of ‘Grace’ – both what it is, and who receives it.
Occupying Vox Populi’s Lobby, Gallery 1, Gallery 3 and 4th Wall in the Black Box performing arts venue is Knew Member Show, a group exhibition featuring the work of seven Philadelphia artists who all joined the artist collective in 2018: Marion Horowitz, Natalie Kuenzi, Kris Rumman, Makeba Rainey, Aaron Terry, Loraine Wible and Luxin Zhang.
At 7:30pm on opening night, Luxin Zhang will present and perform within her 2-channel video installation One Billion Applause / One Voice, Yi Sheng Yi Sheng. Set to a backdrop of applause sourced from China Central Television’s annual Spring Festival Gala (also known as Chunwan), the interrelation between performer and audience is explored, and Zhang performs both roles in pursuit of the notion of “Harmony.”
