A Closer Look 7

Artists: Phillip Adams, James Johnson, Kocot & Hatton, Lucy Pullen, Linda Yun

Guest Curator: Sheryl Conkelton, Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs, Tyler School of Art, Temple University

“A Closer Look 7” continues an ongoing series initiated in 1995 to present in greater depth the work of selected artists who have previously exhibited in Arcadia University Art Gallery’s juried “Works on Paper” shows. The exhibition features recent work by Phillip Adams, James Johnson, Kocot & Hatton, Lucy Pullen, and Linda Yun, all of whom (with the exception of Pullen) currently live and work in Philadelphia. Artists/Guest Curator biographies.

Curated by Sheryl Conkelton, Director of Exhibitions and Special Programs at Tyler School of Art, the show builds on affinities between the selected bodies of work and projects—some of which have been realized expressly for this occasion. The seventh iteration of the series, this exhibition offers a speculative review of aesthetics that foregrounds perception in a range of material experience. “Each of these artists has developed a conceptual artistic practice that engages the material world and perceptual pleasure,” Conkelton says, “using perception as a means of gesturing towards or modeling conceptual and theoretical spaces.”

Phillip Adams‘ life-size charcoal portraits subtly complicate the viewer’s relationship by replacing her with an imaginary reflected world. James Johnson expresses the ambivalence of the artistic position with a brightly lit but partially obscured construction. Kocot & Hatton present glowing hallucinations that record the moment of waking from sleep. Lucy Pullen‘s sculptures model invisible physics using simple shapes complicated by reflective surfaces. Linda Yun uses patently artificial materials to convey a natural phenomenon, crafting her representation through visual and aural rhythms.

The exhibition will open on Thursday, November 13 at 6:30 p.m. with a panel discussion between the six artists moderated by Sheryl Conkelton in Stiteler Auditorium, Murphy Hall.  A reception will follow immediately in the gallery. Both events are free and open to the public.

Gallery hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Thursdays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, Noon to 4 p.m. and always by appointment.

Phillip Adams (b. 1978) received his B.F.A. from the University of Georgia (Athens) in 2002 and his M.F.A. in painting from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006. In Philadelphia, he has exhibited his work at the Galleries at Moore, Tower Gallery, and the ICA’s Open Video Call (2006). A large graphite drawing by Adams was selected by Connie Butler (Museum of Modern Art) for the 2005 “Works on Paper” exhibition. Adams’ work has also been included in exhibitions at the Whole Gallery (Baltimore), Project 4 (Washington, DC), the Healing Arts Centre (Athens, Georgia), and Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, Texas. His works are included in the permanent collections of the Art Bank, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washing ton DC and the Lydon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia. Adams lives and works in Philadelphia.

James Johnson (born 1976) received his M.F.A. from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2002 and his B.F.A. from Marywood University in 1999. He has exhibited his work at exhibited in Philadelphia at Vox Populi Gallery, Moore College of Art & Design, the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, and the Center for Emerging Visual Artists. His work was selected by Connie Butler for the 2005 “Works on Paper” exhibition at Arcadia and purchased for the school’s permanent collection. Johson has exhibited his work nationally at the University at Buffalo Art Gallery, Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania), the Firehouse Gallery (Burlington, Vermont) and at Publico (Cincinnati, Ohio). He recently completed a residency at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts and received a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship in 2007. Johnson currently lives and works in Philadelphia where he is a member of Vox Populi Gallery and chairs the Photography and Digital Arts major at Moore College of Art and Design. His work can be viewed online here.

Kocot and Hatton have been collaborating since 1979. They have exhibited their works in solo shows at regional venues such as the Levy Gallery at Moore College of Art and Design (1988), the Delaware Center of Contemporary Art (2003), and Tufts University Art Gallery in Medford, Massachusetts (2004). In addition to showing their work in Fukuya Gallery, Hiroshima, Japan and national venues, the have also exhibited their work regionally in group exhibitions regionally at ICA, Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania), and Arcadia University where their works have been featured in five “Works on Paper” exhibitions. Their paintings and drawings are included in the permanent collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Sharjah Arts Museum, United Arabs Emirates, and the Delaware Art Museum. In 1999 they were commissioned by Andy Warhol Museum to create a photography project. They are recipients of fellowships and grants from the Pennsylvania Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Upcoming exhibitions include the Bjorn Ressle Gallery (New York) and Larry Becker Contemporary Art, Philadelphia. The artists live and work in Philadelphia. Their works can also be seen online here.

Listen to Kocot & Hatton discuss their work (2:05)

Lucy Pullen (born 1971) received her B.F.A. from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (Halifax), in 1993 and her M.F.A. from Tyler School of Art, Temple University in 2001. She is currently working toward a Ph.D. in media and communication with the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. In the United States, Pullen has exhibited her work in group exhibitions at the following venues: Platform (Seattle), Murray Guy (New York), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), the Luckman Gallery (University of Southern California), and as well as other venues. In 2001 her work was selected by Thelma Golden, (then curator at the Studio Museum, Harlem) for the gallery’s 2001 “Works on Paper exhibition. In Canada, Pullen has exhibited at Republic Gallery, State, and the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver), Ministry of Casual Living (Victoria), Art Metropole (Toronto), Optica (Montreal), St. Mary’s University Art Gallery, Anna Leonowens, and Eye Level (Halifax). In 2009 she will present a solo exhibition with Lawrence Eng (Vancouver) where she is represented. Pullen currently lives and works in Victoria, B.C. Canada. Her work can also be seen online here.

Linda Yun (born 1976) received her B.S. in Sculpture and Photography from New York University and subsequently attended Tyler School of Art, where she received her M.F.A. in Sculpture in 2001. In addition to her solo Challenge Series exhibition at the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial in 2002, Yun has shown her work in Philadelphia at the Galleries at Moore, the Woodmere Art Museum, the Main Line Center for the Arts, and Vox Populi, where she has been a member since 2004. In addition to participating in Arcadia University Art Gallery’s 2004 exhibition “Open” (part of the ICA’s city-wide “Big Nothing” project), two sculptures of hers were selected by Connie Butler for the 2005 “Works on Paper” exhibition. Yun’s projects has also been included in group exhibitions at Three Walls Gallery (Chicago) and Sara Meltzer Gallery (New York). In 2002, Yun was awarded a Pennsylvania Council of the Arts grant in Sculpture, and in 2006 and 2008 she was a finalist for a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. She currently lives and works in Philadelphia. Works by Yun can be viewed online here.

Sheryl Conkelton is director of Exhibitions and Public Programs at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. She has organized numerous exhibitions, among them Phil Collins: “assume freedom” (2005), “An International Legacy: Selections from the Collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art” (2003), “Uta Barth, In Between Places” (2000), “What It Meant to Be Modern, Seattle Art at Mid Century” (1999), “Coming to Life, the Figure in American Art 1955-1965” (1998), and “Annette Messager” (with Carol Eliel, 1995). Conkelton has published widely, authoring a number of books including Lewis Baltz: Prototypes, Tract Houses and New Industrial Parks near Irvine, California (RAM/Steidl/Whitney Museum of American Art, 2005),Northwest Mythologies, The Interactions of Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan and Guy and Frederick Sommer (Clio Press, 1995), and has contributed to journals, exhibition catalogues and other publications. Conkelton has also held senior curatorial positions at the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She has lectured extensively at museums, universities and cultural institutions in North America, Europe and Japan, and taught at the University of Washington, UCLA, and California State University, Los Angeles. She is the recipient of numerous grants, including awards from the National Endowments for the Arts, the Peter Norton Family Foundation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France.