The Black Vulture Gallery in Fishtown is a three-in-one location that offers up all sorts of fare. It operates variously as a tattoo and piercing shop, an art gallery and a music venue. On First Friday, the gallery had an opening for three artists: Donnie Green, Eric Richardson and Sean Madden, with music by Decap Attak.

Upon entering Black Vulture during its opening on Friday, one of the first things to notice (aside from the packed crowd of people and the chugging metal riffs, perhaps) is that the place is absolutely brimming with art. As opposed to the white-walled, sparsely decorated galleries that stereotypically represent First Friday events, Black Vulture has paintings and objects filling almost every nook and cranny. The maddening amount of work is a good indicator of the mood and style of almost everything in the place. Be warned: this stuff is not for the faint of heart.

Eric Richardson, "Fertilization," acrylic on wood, 16 by 20 inches.

You won’t be finding any still lifes here, unless they’re of the bone variety. Of the work on display, some is gory, some is humorous, some is dark and some is wildly surreal. Richardson’s paintings are full of trippy textures and strange creatures. His images range from cow skulls and fetuses to toothed flowers and birds. In “Fertilization,” he draws on the comparisons between a hummingbird pollinating a flower and the conception of an embryo. In the background are the ubiquitous empty-eyed, blob-like characters that make an appearance in many of his paintings. They hold up the bright green fetus in front of a spiral of wispy clouds. The representation of the biological here is both astounding and twisted, posing questions about our role in the universe and the life cycles around us.

Sean Madden, "FishLincoln," acrylic on masonite, 16 by 20 inches.

Madden displays paintings from the overtly sexual to the amusing and absurd: images of pickles and cartoony representations. One image depicts a girl licking a frog on a stick, and the neon-colored abstractions in the back are indicative of the name “Trippin’ Balls.” “FishLincoln” is a hatless, underwater Abraham Lincoln with the face of a fish, which is just unexpected and quirky enough to be entertaining. Green uses a lot of pop-cultural juxtapositions in fun and offensive ways. He also concocts some more layered, psychedelic-inspired images, like “Donnie’s Inferno,” which is full of spears, fire, hands, toilet paper and flying monkeys.

Donnie Green, "Donnie's Inferno," oil and egg tempera on canvas, 24 by 30 inches.

Decap Attak also played a set of grinding metal to keep things loud and energetic. For a show like this, fast drums and guitar licks are almost necessary, and some faces were definitely melted in the process. The thrashing music in the intimately small crowd at Black Vulture is definitely the ideal way to hear local metal on a Friday night, not to mention check out some wild art as well.

The Black Vulture Gallery is located at 208 E. Girard Ave. in Fishtown; 215-423-3666.

By: Craig Peterson, Director, Live Arts Brewery and Philly Fringe Festival

The Live Arts Brewery program is rounding the halfway mark of its third year and we show no signs of slowing down.  When Live Arts began the LAB program in 2009 we had no idea how many lessons were in store for us.  In general, artists have guided the way and the building blocks of our programming were constructed in response to the needs revealed along the journey.

A few weeks ago the LAB had the first Scratch Night with artists Lee Ann Etzold, Jeffrey Stanley and 2012 Fellow, Justin Jain.  Scratch Night is an evolution of our programmatic thinking about engaging audiences in the creative processes of artists.  Work-in-progress showings are common.  It’s a term we often hear and its one that, quite frankly, often induces yawning.  What IS work-in-progress?  The idea of Scratch Night celebrates the notion that artists and audiences need each other in ways that go beyond the obvious.

Visiting artist Luciana Achugar will perform at Scratch Night Feb 9.

Part of my job as LAB Director is to mess with artists and their processes, to challenge their notions about the way they engage with making their work.  I do this in a variety of ways but central to almost all of it is utilizing the outside eye.  I firmly believe that artists must open up their creative process in an effort to view their work-making from new and varied perspectives.  It is quite easy for artists get lost in the studio bubble.  They build ideas, and build upon those ideas and, to them; it is all coming together and making perfect sense.  But then their show opens and suddenly, all those ideas that they thought would work perfectly just don’t seem to register in the intended ways.  Those funny jokes?  Not so funny.  The provocative content?  Meh.  By getting live performance in front of an audience at an earlier stage, artists have the opportunity to see what’s working and what’s not.  Just being in the room with an audience changes the tenor of the work and it allows artists to feel the work in ways that can’t happen in the solitary confines of the studio setting.

For audiences, Scratch Night is an opportunity to experience art in a raw but vital state and audiences have the opportunity to learn more about the artistic process.  However, we turn the Q and A on its head and instead of audiences asking artists questions, I ask the artists to interrogate their viewers.  I first ask artists to seriously consider why they want to show their work at this particular stage in its development and then, together, we formulate some specific questions that they hope to reveal or understand by using the many sets of fresh eyes on the work.  This way, audiences become a part of the making process instead of being passive viewers.

At the last Scratch Night Lee Ann Etzold got the audience out of their seats to help her enact a stage fight and asked them to film her with cell phones so she could develop a stunt reel for a character she is developing.  In addition to experimenting with audience participation, she wanted to know if the audience ever felt like they were, at any point, in real danger.  Jeffrey Stanley is currently reworking a piece that was originally performed in a small space to see if it can translate to a more typical proscenium stage.  During his piece he wandered out into the audience in an effort to create intimacy despite the formal theatrical setting.  Did the audience feel the connection as he intended?  Justin Jain showed a series of scenes about growing up gay.  He wanted to find ways to make viewers uncomfortable and feel challenged by the subject matter but he wasn’t sure how until he could test an audience’s reaction.

These are just a few ways that we are trying to challenge artists to make their best work and to inspire audiences to get involved in the actual creative process.  Of course, it’s very important to mindful of the risks involved.  It takes great courage for an artist to willingly burst their own bubble when work is in such an evolutionary state.  And audiences need to understand that not all experiments yield success.  But there is no better way to try out an idea than to step out of our comfort zones and begin asking questions, to burst one’s own bubble.  At Scratch Night we ask everyone to be a bit more daring and a lot more involved.

Next up for Scratch Night on February 9: Visiting artists Luciana Achugar, Jesse Zaritt vs. Jumatatu Poe, Devynn Emory, and current LAB Fellow, Brian Osborne.  To learn more visit the Live Arts website.

And remember, we always serve free beer and snacks!  All we ask for in return is YOUR opinion.

Rebekah Templeton Contemporary Art is currently showing the exhibition “Becoming Something Else.” The work in the show comes from four different artists — Anita Allyn, Micah Danges, Todd Keyser, and Leigh Van Duzer — and all of it is in some way a reworking of photography as a medium.

Anita Allyn, "+-,"digital archival print on photo tex, balloons, string, 2011. Photo courtesy the gallery

Allyn’s piece in the show consists of a dual image in “+-.” The image pictures a large-printed photo of multicolored balloons. Below the print hangs a mirror image of the balloons in a dark bronze/black color. The major difference between the two images is that one is not a depiction; the hanging balloons are actually real, inflated objects. Like much of the work in the show, this piece very directly challenges photographs as objects aside from their representational quality.

Leigh Van Duzer, "Metaplasia,"archival pigment print, 2011. Photo courtesy the gallery

The work by Van Duzer is also quite object-like. “Metaplasia” is a manipulated photo of wooden structural supports, which is abstracted via mirroring and symmetry. Initially the underside of a pavilion roof or some similar construction, Van Duzer then takes to the newly arranged geometric patterns and cuts out negative space. The image is hung in such a way that it bends toward the viewer, and both cutouts and curvature lend to its three-dimensional nature. The starting image’s lattice of wooden beams is reflected in the cut slivers of paper. This serves to reintroduce three dimensions into a structure that formerly had its depth removed by the photographic process.

Micah Danges, "Upper Rim," photograph, acrylic, enamel paint, aluminum, 2012. Photo courtesy the gallery

Acting somewhat as inversions of one another’s process, Danges and Keyser both alter the surface of photos but in two opposite ways: addition and subtraction (in a way, a nod to the title of Allyn’s piece). Danges slices out parts of photos and leaves flat colors in place of the removed sections. In these instances, one shows a photo with only a thin, red wave cut out from its center. The other desaturated photo mimics the hill in the background with a black bell-curve-like shape. Simultaneously negative space and the focus of the piece, the missing section, unlike those in Van Duzer’s work, is not really a gap in the picture but a heavily weighted visual form in and of itself.

Todd Keyser, "Cave Painting B,"acrylic on digital print, 2010. Photo courtesy the gallery

Keyser’s process is additive in that paint is applied to photographs, but the covered areas also reveal that adding layers can also be subtractive. Once areas are blocked from sight, they indeed become something else, and the exposed sections of photo now exist in relation to the new sections and not whatever lies beneath the paint. The dichotomy of the positive and negative, additive and subtractive, is also very telling of the show as a whole.

Photography in the digital age has come a long way since the time of chemicals and darkrooms. “Becoming Something Else” demonstrates how processes evolve and create new meanings on seemingly old forms. By returning to physical photography instead of light from a computer monitor, these artists examine photos in their role as objects aside from their representational content.

Rebekah Templeton Contemporary Art is located at 173 W. Girard Ave.; 267-519-3884.

This past Friday at Red Hook Coffee and Tea was the opening of a show by artist and designer Lauren Ladner. There was also a live performance by blues musician Matthew “Mule” McKinley, for whom she designed the artwork on his just-released album, “Alone on the Orange Floor.”

Lauren Ladner, "Romano Vineyard & Winery Barn Deconstruction."

Ladner’s sampling of work is in a few different mediums and styles — photography, patterned-textures and realistic painting — but much of it pays homage to her home of Southern Maryland. She explains the area as a sort of escape, since these days she resides in Philadelphia. The rural scenes in her photos are a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of city life and remind us that sometimes it’s good to slow it down and reflect a little. Many of her photos are of dilapidated old barns, both interior and exterior. The images depict the large, yet generally simple structures found all across America and how they interact with their environment. While the structures’ hard edges contrast the natural fields and vines nearby, they are worn down and almost softened with age, making them seem more like a part of nature.

Textural studies by Lauren Ladner.

A major element Ladner focuses on is texture, and it is evident throughout the entire show. The eroded wood of barns and the spiky swaths of grass aside, some of her compositions are abstract textures alone. These were created out of photographs taken during camping trips, which were then manipulated with hand-drawn elements. Whether in the bark of living trees or the knots and rusty hinges of old barns, these explorations of rough patterns and substances are a way to connect vicariously to the countryside.

Matthew "Mule" McKinley performing at Red Hook.

McKinley strapped on his guitar — at one point also a banjo — and got the visitors at the show stomping. His bluesy Maryland jams even drew in a couple people from the street to check out the show, and it’s not hard to hear why. It’s almost impossible not to get moving along with his contagious strumming. His deep, dirty vocals often come from covers of old blues tunes from artists like Muddy Waters (whose actual first name was, coincidentally, McKinley). One of Ladner’s paintings depicts McKinley in his element: slapping his standup bass. With the musician standing next to the likeness, the resemblance was uncanny.

If you are itching for a visit to the country, but tied to the city, the show at Red Hook is a great way to whet your appetite. While McKinley might not be playing, his albums are available for purchase (complete with Ladner’s orange-skull design). The structures and textures of Ladner’s work connect us to the roots of rural charm, as well as the crooning blues musicians playing on porches in every corner of the country.

Red Hook Coffee and Tea is located at 765 S. Fourth St.; 215-923-0178.

By Ned Warwick, Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia

It is awfully easy to take for granted the cultural riches that abound in Philadelphia. Vaguely, we assume they have always been here—a natural and inevitable part of our heritage—and that every community is similarly blessed. But listening in for the past six months to what people have to say when they sit on the Philly Theatre Casting Couch, especially from those who have moved here, gives me a whole new appreciation for what we have and how much and how good it all is.

Take for instance, Karen and Ken Womack, who last month took a turn on the Philly Theatre Casting Couch when it appeared at the Granite Run Mall. They are from Philadelphia originally but moved to Texas where they lived for twenty-three years, relocating back here five years ago. They are big theatre goers and in the politest way possible you could almost hear their sighs of relief to be back.

“It’s just been a wonderful reawakening to how cultural the city is, and how much fun it is to be in the midst of artists and to go to the theatre,” said Karen, who urged that everybody needs to get to the theatre at least twice a year, even if it requires a little sacrifice. And then to my point, Ken added: “Once you get exposed, don’t take it for granted. (Theatre) is really great entertainment and sometimes I think people tend to overlook it.”

Karen and Ken Womack shared memories of nights at the theatre with Celebrity Host Betsy Chapman.

Karen and Ken, like others who sat on the couch at the Granite Run Mall, regard theatre as a uniquely transporting art form. “It just comes alive, you cry and get swept along; it’s participatory,” said Karen. “I get transported to a different world. I can forget about the bills and the kids and the car pooling.” And when their son Kevin was old enough, they took him to The Lion King, and together they cried, silently they sang the words and in the process made their son with that first bite a theatre-goer for life.

Someone else who has returned to Philadelphia and feels equally strongly about the transporting power of theatre is Mary Ann Baldwin. Sitting on the Philly Theatre Casting Couch, she said that when she goes to the theatre, especially when it is comedy, she enters with a wide smile on her face, ready to immerse herself in the experience. She often goes with her sister and the two of them can’t help but laugh out loud, such that an appreciative warning cry goes up whenever they enter a local theatre—“The Baldwin sisters are in the house.”

That fusion of theatre, performance, and audience is so important to Mary Ann, who happens to be the producing artistic director of the Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company, of Media, that it befuddles her when audiences in movie theatres clap at a blank screen when a movie finishes. For Mary Ann, who returned with her family from living in New York for fifteen years, it is crucial that theatre people be part of a community, a real world, one with which they daily interact. From the soil of everyday life, great theatre sprouts.

By Susan Myers, Project Manager, Fairmount Park Art Association

In preparation for the Knight-funded public art project Open Air by artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, the Art Association’s Project Manger and Development/Communications Manager recently had the opportunity to travel to Montréal and view Lozano-Hemmer’s installation, Articulated Intersect, commissioned as part of the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal’s Triennale Québécoise 2011. The outdoor artwork, like the artist’s proposed Open Air project for Philadelphia, used powerful searchlights to create three-dimensional light sculptures in the night sky, so we were eager to experience the work first-hand. Unique to this installation, however, was the artist’s use of large “joystick-like” control tubes that invited viewer participation by allowing individuals to draw, direct, and control 18 searchlights on scaffolds and on the rooftops of numerous buildings adjacent to the project site. In addition to being at the project site under the canopy of lights, it was also a visually rich experience to see the searchlights moving over the city as we emerged from our hotel and initially walked to the site. We were given a full tour of the installation by the on-site Project Supervisor, including a look at the operational computer control room, and appreciated talking with him about the details of the installation and the day-to–day concerns of maintaining a large public artwork.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, "Articulated Intersect, Relational Architecture 19", 2011. Triennale Québécoise (curator: Marie Fraser), Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Québec, 2011. Photo by James Ewing

Staff also benefited from meetings with Marie Fraser, the curator at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, as well as with the Production Manager for the Articulated Intersect project and the museum’s PR staff person. We came prepared with a long list of questions for them, and they were all very generous with their time and attention. Since Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is based in Montreal, we were treated to a tour of his studio and had the chance to meet a few members of his studio team. It was evident that Lozano-Hemmer has an impressive group of programmers, technicians, and fabricators that are enthusiastic about helping him articulate and realize his artistic vision.

The trip was a great success, and we returned to Philadelphia eager to continue to move our project forward. Currently, Open Air is scheduled to premiere in September of 2012.

• Information and a video of Articulated Intersect can be found on the artist’s website.
• Information on the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal’s Triennale Québécoise 2011 can be found at the museum’s website.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, "Articulated Intersect, Relational Architecture 19", 2011. Triennale Québécoise (curator: Marie Fraser), Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Québec, 2011. Photo by James Ewing

To kick off 2012, Grizzly Grizzly introduces the show “Duett: Alanna Lawley & Matt Giel.” The project, initially proposed and facilitated by art writer Becky Hunter, has two artists working together on a long-distance, collaborative installation in response to a location and to one another. Alanna Lawley is a British, Berlin-based artist, and Matt Giel is an American photographer living and working inPhiladelphia. The name “Duett” is German for duet, a reference to the two-person exhibition.

For roughly six months since the project was conceived, Lawley and Giel have been corresponding via Skype, GChat and e-mail in order to transform the Grizzly Grizzly space. As part of their duet, the two artists begin to get a feel for one another and their styles via e-mail in exchanges that, along with a variety of other materials, appear on a supplemental Tumblr page. While the Tumblr resource is not deemed a necessary component of the show, it is very helpful for purposes of documentation. A timeline of the artists’ thoughts and plans can be traced back chronologically through the blog, which offers insights into social media, information exchange and the creative process in general.

"Duett" installation shot. Left: Alanna Lawley, "Stuck: Zwischen den Wänden". Right: "Atlantic City 11 (300 foot seascape)"Atlantic City 13 (Grizzly Pillar)."

Both artists chose to approach the work through a photographic medium. There is a disconnect in Giel’s seascape between a physical experience — seeing a sunset or staring toward the horizon — and the representation of such an event. The vastness and depth of a magnificent view is shrunken to photo scale, yet stretched out horizontally so far that the 300-foot print stays mostly coiled on a pedestal. This lengthy photo and its unwound section humorously reflect the scope of an actual ocean, while standing only a few inches tall.

Matt Giel, "Atlantic City 11 (300 foot seascape)," unique C-print, 2011.

Lawley’s contribution consists of five floor-to-ceiling columnar prints. The images are appropriated from design and interior decorating magazines and seem amusingly trite in their generic feel. As with much magazine or home décor content, the depictions are highly idealized: sharp angles, clean countertops and perfect lighting. As one draws closer to the images, they are noticeably grainy and pixilated, because they have been blown up from a magazine. This notion that you are essentially standing in an issue of “Better Homes and Gardens” is as vaguely calming as it is starkly surreal. It is somewhat reminiscent of the sterile and unnerving atmosphere of a dentist’s office, but perhaps more accurately — the waiting room.

On the structural pole present in the room, Giel mimics the long photo with a heavily truncated version, which he developed on a similarly sized mock-up. The form of the column is present in the shading of the photo, and the push-pins used to hold it in place are burned into the print as well. The chemical and light-based method is in some ways a response to the primarily digital photography styles prevalent today. Anyone is capable of capturing a snapshot with their cell phone and Giel reacts by repeating the physical photographic procedure ad nauseam. Lawley’s enormous magazine clippings are likewise a mirror for design and media proliferation.

“Duett” takes a look into contemporary culture through the lenses of photography and mass production, as well as information, communication and the Internet. Part ideal and part surreal, it is a parody in some ways, but an examination of process first and foremost. Art making in the age of social media is a vast new territory, but Giel and Lawley make some real progress by exploring collaborative art transatlantic style.

Grizzly Grizzly is located at 319 N. 11th St. on the second floor, room 2D; 2xgrizzly@gmail.com.

By Robin Barnes,  Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe

Headlong Dance Theater will premiere their newest work This Town is a Mystery at the 2012 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival.  But first, they must find four Philadelphia households to participate.  It could be in your home.  You could be the star.

Combining movement, stories, music, and video, Headlong will work with each household to create an extraordinary show, a journey into the world of each home. Audiences will come to the featured home (with a potluck dish to share) and watch a 20-minute show. Afterwards, performers and audience will have dinner together.

Photos courtesy of Headlong Dance Theater.

Why is Headlong daring to do this?  Why will every-day Philadelphians open themselves and their homes for such an event?  Because every household is a universe.  Because the stories, lives, and homes of real Philadelphians are epic and surprising and moving and hilarious. Because being the show is better than watching the show. Because Philadelphia has beautiful mysteries on every block.

To read more (and apply to participate) visit www.thistownisamystery.com.  Please spread the word and forward this email to anyone and everyone. The more the more.

This Town Is a Mystery has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through Dance Advance, The MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, and The Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation.

On Saturday, Jan. 21, The Blockley, near University City, hosted three bands of rather different styles: Impressionist, West Philadelphia Orchestra and The Sun Ra Arkestra. Although their configurations are fairly similar in regards to large bands and horn sections, their varied musical styles are dynamic, danceable and deep in outer space, respectively.

First onto the stage was Impressionist. From watching this group, one wouldn’t guess that it was only their third official show. This nine-piece band has a wide range of instrumentation from ukulele to vocals, guitars, horns and keys. Constructing arrangements for so many musicians can sometimes be daunting, but Impressionist pulled it off with gusto. If this was among their first live shows together, one can only imagine how tight they’ll be after three more. As their name suggests, Impressionist mostly deals with flowing, emotionally charged songs, much like a Monet painting. The songs build and accumulate forward momentum, reach their pinnacle and fade into the gritty vocals of lead singer Kyle Press. When there are lyrics, they are often personal and meditative, but much of the time improvisation is the name of the game.

Impressionist performing at The Blockley. Photo by Bud Fulginiti

Up next was the ever raucous West Philadelphia Orchestra. If you haven’t ever seen this eclectic ensemble, you’re really missing out. The West Philly Orchestra is the highly danceable Balkan and Eastern European group that hails from west of the Schuylkill River. With driving drumbeats and a blasting horn section, it is quite difficult not to be swept into the energy and start cutting the rug. They have previously played in a number of different configurations, but their current setup includes a drum set, huge horn section and the sultry vocals of Petia Zamfirova. While they are heavily inspired by European fare, their sound is spiced with their own elements of jazz, punk and blues, among others. Suffice it to say, their sound is highly contagious and always worth another listen (and did I mention dancing?)

A number of members from The Sun Ra Arkestra. Photo by Bud Fulginiti

Last, and certainly not least, was The Sun Ra Arkestra. Having just returned from performing abroad, this show was the Arkestra’s first gig back stateside, and where better than their hometown of Philadelphia? The Arkestra is a noisy jazz collective originally assembled by the late, legendary Sun Ra. They utilize the imagery of ancient Egypt and space travel to tell their stories through singing and spoken word interludes amidst the din of shrieking saxes and trumpet timbre. Their costumes consist of Egyptian headdresses and psychedelic swaths of sequins, making them a visual spectacle almost as much as a musical icon. These elements of performance mixed with wild auditory excursions prove, as the famous song asserts, that in their live shows “Space is the Place.”

From the passionate soundscapes of Impressionist, to the wild Balkan dance party of the West Philadelphia Orchestra and the cosmic disharmonies of The Sun Ra Arkestra, The Blockley hit the spot with a very solid show. Three large and very different ensemble bands in one night proved to be exactly the right combination.

The Blockley is located at 3801 Chestnut St.; 215-222-1234.

Photos courtesy of Bud Fulginiti.

Napoleon is the tiny, but powerful gallery (see also: the Napoleon Complex) located on the second floor of the building housing Knight Arts grantee Vox Populi, Marginal Utility and Grizzly Grizzly, among others. The one-room gallery keeps the shows predictably concise and, as is the case with its current show, this is definitely a benefit of its size and not a hindrance. Instead of cluttering its walls, Napoleon keeps things refreshingly minimal in both the quantity and style of its art on display.

Edward Brady, paint and conical studs on denim vest, spray paint.

On exhibit right now are pieces by two artists: Jake Yeager and Ed Brady. The show appears to be untitled like all of the art, but it is loosely called “.dirtbag.dirtbag.dirtbag” after one of only three words in the show (the other two are “Fake Angst” and all of the text elements come courtesy of Brady). On one wall, written in round, black spray-painted letters are the words “Dirtbag Dirtbag Dirtbag.” It is unclear whether this is the name of the show or whether this is just another element, but it suffices to say that this graffiti could serve both purposes.

Edward Brady, black enamel and acrylic on canvas.

Brady’s works uses almost no color whatsoever; almost everything on his side of the Napoleon space is black and white. One large enamel and acrylic painting is overwhelmingly black with only the slightest hints of bright orange slashes across its surface. The black areas have a fair amount of variance, though, with a smooth, faceted center and a heavily textured border. It appears that the orange lines are some sort of light trying to escape through from the other side.

Edward Brady, black enamel and acrylic on canvas.

“Fake Angst” is stenciled in white on the back of a studded, black denim vest. This garment introduces the only other color in Brady’s part of the show and that is only due to the reflections in the metallic studs (unless you actually consider chrome a color). The vest is clearly a parody of punk, most likely its more recent, 21^st Century-teen-angst manifestations. Brady rounds out the show with a smaller circular canvas which itself holds three circles. Vertical black and white lines run across its surface, and the lines’ inconsistent match-up is the only betrayal of the inner circles. The layout is reminiscent of Mickey Mouse, except less cartoony and more retina-jarring.

Jake Yeager, screenprint on paper.

Yeager’s side of the room is in steep contrast to Brady’s. The wall is covered in paper relief sculptures of bright, neon pyramids. There is one large mass of three-sided pyramids buffered on each side by a diamond-shaped form of four-sided pyramids. On the surfaces of the paper are pixels of darker colors, which add a gradient effect. Optically, the pyramids are fun to look at, and the gradients naturally blend when viewed at a distance. They also act as a mirror and reference the studs of Brady’s punk vest.

Jake Yeager, screenprint on paper.

There is clearly still much to be said about untitled works in a small space, and Yeager and Brady prove this at Napoleon. When content is left to a minimum, the running imagination allows for even more to be said than if everything were laid out literally.

Napoleon is located at 319 N. 11th St., 2L on the second floor; napoleon.philadelphia@gmail.com.