studioscopic

Philadelphian, Zoe Strauss is a conceptual artist and photographer. She is well known for her striking, honest and often unnerving photographs of America that she describes as “the beauty and struggle of everyday life.” Those photos all being part of an annual installation under an interstate in Philadelphia.

Her career skyrocketed with the inclusion of her work in the 2005 Whitney Biennial and more recently with her second solo exhibit at Bruce Silverstein Gallery in NY and the release of her first book, America through Ammo Books.
This video uses new footage and footage taken during the production of If You Break the Skin You Must Come In, the feature length documentary directed by myself for the Institute of Contemporary Art about Strauss in which she was interviewed by teenagers in the Philadelphia foster care system. The video explores the intent behind Strauss’ annual installation under I95 and her relationship with her subjects.

this version on vimeo here is easier to embed

the Hubert’s Collector on the Diane Art-Bus (18m44s)

dskessler — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:04:31 +0000

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First Person Arts arranges a bus trip from Philadelphia to Phillips auction house in New York City to see a group of never before made public photographs by Diane Arbus. The collector, who discovered the photos among an archive of circus sideshow memorabilia comes along to tell his story, the story of the photographs and of this forgotten sideshow that existed for decades on 42nd street in New York

Mike Stifel ‘making it from here to there’

dskessler — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:07:51 +0000

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Philadelphian sculptor, Mike Stifel on his new show ‘Making it From Here to There’. inspired by the evolution of hand-built technology in the desire to find one’s way in the world.

Sean O’Neil (5m30s)

dskessler — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:06:16 +0000

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O’Neil’s method of creating his works is similar to that of musicians sampling sounds to create their compositions. O’Neil appropriates images, often times using amateur photos or images from instruction manuals as sources. The reproduced image is then washed with new color to create monochrome layers juxtaposed with other images. O’Neil’s method is reflected in the title of his first solo exhibit at K&W, ‘Collect. Consume. Rebuild.’ These colorful and emotional paintings have a storytelling quality that relates a narrative, yet still remain poetic, allowing the viewer to determine their interpretation.
‘Collect. Consume. Rebuild’ opens May 8 at Kelly & Weber Fine Art.

this version here is easier to embed

Rubens Ghenov (7m28s)

dskessler — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:20:36 +0000

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Rubens Ghenov on his folkloric drawings, intertwining symbols from his native Brazil to that of his current residence in the US. Done in charcoal and ink, Ghenovs work develops into narrative as he explores his own faith and connection to spirituality.

this version here is easier to embed