Renowned dancer and choreographer Bobbi Jene Smith, a master lecturer in the UArts School of Dance, had her work Deo previewed by the Martha Graham Dance Company at the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania this past weekend. The preview was presented as part of the company’s EVE Project, highlighting the work of female choreographers to commemorate the upcoming centennial of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

A collaborative effort with choreographer Maxine Doyle, Deo is a work inspired by the myth of Demeter and Persephone, which speaks to themes of motherhood, separation and longing for reunion. Smith and Doyle created the work with Martha Graham Dance Company in November and December of last year.

This is hardly Smith’s first turn in the spotlight, having been featured in the cover story of last November’s issue of Dance magazine. Before that, she was the subject of the documentary film Bobbi Jene, which chronicled her return to practice in the U.S. after 10 years with Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company. The film swept the documentary category at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, winning Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Cinematography and Best Documentary Editing. Bobbi Jene can be streamed on Amazon Prime and Netflix; the UArts community can also watch it on Kanopy.

Image: Louise Bourgeois, Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature, 1998
Plate 5 from a portfolio of 9 drypoint and aquatint etchings on paper, edition of 28
39 ¼ x 27 ¾ in.; 99,7 x 70,5 cm
Photo: Christopher Burke; © The Easton Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at ARS, NY

Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature celebrates a prime example of Louise Bourgeois’ innovative and groundbreaking work in printmaking. Topiary, originally commissioned to benefit the Whitney Museum of American Art, graces the permanent collections of the Tate Modern, London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, among other institutions.

Comprising a suite of nine copper plate etchings with aquatint and drypoint, Topiary deftly and poignantly embraces narratives and imagery distinctly associated with Bourgeois’ artwork: trees and vegetation as metaphors for the human condition; the implications of an impassioned color palette; and conceptual absence as presented through depictions of amputation and anguish. Topiary is published by Julie Sylvester-Cabot, Whitney Museum of American Art Editions  and printed by Harlan & Weaver Inc., a print publisher and collaborative print-shop that specializes in etching and other forms of intaglio printmaking. Configuration: The Portrayal of Vegetation and Figuration in the Prints of Louise Bourgeois complements the Topiary portfolio exhibit with a selection of etchings from Harlan & Weaver Inc. that share similar narratives surrounding the connection between vegetation and the human condition.

Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature - Louise Bourgeois

Cynthia Nourse Thompson, Curator

Dorrance Hamilton & Arronson Galleries
Hamilton Hall
320 South Broad St
Philadelphia, PA 19102

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Configuration: The Portrayal of Vegetation and Figuration in the Prints of Louise Bourgeois

Cynthia Nourse Thompson, Curator
Lauren McDonald, Co-Curator

President's Office
Hamilton Hall
320 South Broad St
Philadelphia, PA 19102

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Glass artist Sarah Briland has been named the winner of the University of the Arts’ sixth annual Irvin J. Borowsky International Prize in Glass Arts by an international panel of glass experts awarded to. The Borowsky Prize is given each year to an artist whose work is conceptually daring, exemplifies technical skill and innovation, and advances the field of contemporary glass.  The prize carries with it a $5,000 award and a lecture at the University.

Briland received an M.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.F.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. Her work has been exhibited nationally including shows at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, The Reynolds Gallery in Richmond, VA, and UrbanGlass, in Brooklyn, NY. She has taught at Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia State University. In 2014, she was an Emerging Artist-in-Residence at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. Briland lives and works in Richmond, Virginia.

The Irvin Borowsky Prize in Glass Arts is made possible by a substantial gift from the late University of the Arts Trustee Irvin J. Borowsky and his wife, Laurie Wagman, a current trustee. The gift also enabled the University to establish the Irvin Borowsky Center for Glass Arts, expanding the University's Glass facilities and its capacity to promote the study of the historical and contemporary significance of glass art. The Prize is selected annually by an international panel of artists, educators and collectors.

Congratulations go to Laurin Talese '04 (Vocal Performance), who claimed the top spot in the seventh annual Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competitio. In the finals, Talese won the competition with her rendition of the Gershwin classic "Someone to Watch Over Me."

The win carries with it a $5,000 prize and a coveted spot in the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival this August.

Muralist Noségo (aka Yis Goodwin BFA ’08 (Film)) returns to his roots with a show titled Died a Few Times to Live This Once, opening on December 14 at Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Queen Village. Noségo was the first artist to exhibit at Paradigm—founded by alums Jason Chen BFA ’08 (Animation) and Sara McCorriston BFA ’09 (Theater Design & Technology)—when it opened in 2010.

Noségo‘s last show in Philadelphia was three years ago, although his work can be seen on buildings throughout the city—most famously on the wall of Federal Donuts at 701 N. 7th St. Over the past three years, he has exhibited his murals, paintings and sculptures in New England, California and Rome.

December 14 – February 9
12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or by appointment
Paradigm Gallery + Studio, 746 S. 4th St.