Arden Bendler Browning "Pattern Language" in artblog's First Friday rundown

In case you missed Libby Rosof's rundown of October's First Friday on artblog, the current gallery show at AHN|VHS, "Pattern Language" by Arden Bendler Browning got a great mention!
The new shows at our neighbors The Fabric Workshop, Vox Populi and Tiger Strikes Asteroid were major hits too.

read all about it here: First Friday layer cake-pix galore



The story is complete with this photo by Libby of one of Arden's drawings.

Contribute to Bookish Project

Bookish is a neat little zine project in the works right now. Copying the format of those funny little Scholastic book catalogs some of us remember from our little-kid days, it'll be a "catalog" of the books everyone in the Philly arts scene is reading now. Submissions are open, and you can submit your entry here: http://bookishproject.com/

According to the website:
"Bookish is a project that documents the literary works being read by those creating, curating and looking at art in Philadelphia... As a catalogue of the readings on your bedside table, Bookish aims to help spark conversation and cross-pollination of literature influencing the community."



Remember, knowledge is totally power.

But really, can I just ask why children are reading "Rock Star Santa"?

Arden Bendler Browning "Pattern Language", Opening Friday October 2nd 6-10pm

AHN|VHS is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new large-scale works by Arden Bendler Browning. The Philadelphia based artist takes her influence from the city's “dichotomous landscape”. Interweaving imagery of architectural decay and rampant flora, her dynamic compositions emulate the violence and euphoria embedded in the city itself. Bold colors and sharp gestural lines whirl together creating a delicate balance of utter chaos and control. Incorporating the physical elements of construction / destruction sites, these epic works are painted and drawn on Tyvek.
Reflecting on the timeless tensions between the built environment and the natural world, these works depict the point of climax in the battle between the two; snapshots of the decisive moment in the most profound conflict, where every line between destruction and creation is blurred.
Bendler Browning says she is attracted to cities for their “density, activity, variety, their layered contradictions... the opposite of the picturesque landscape.” Taking inspiration from her immediate urban environment, Bendler Browning spends much of her time taking countless snapshots of the city, capturing the myriad “visual hypocrisies” discovered along these daily explorations. “A silhouette of a blue tarp can become a vibrant colored square rather than mundane construction material; highlighted chips of wall paint from an upturned building add energy rather than depicting gloom.” There is no assigned protagonist or villain here. By highlighting the contradictions inherent in the urban landscape these works evoke the grace and vulgarity of all things contained therein; man-made or organic, both forces hold the potential for good and evil, and both are simultaneously neither/nor. Bendler Browning's images are a lens through which we may watch this puzzle unfold.

Arden Bendler Browning received her MFA from the Tyler School School of Art in 2003. Her work was featured in the 2009 edition of New American Paintings. Recent solo exhibitions include “Solo Series 2009” at the Abington Art Center in Jenkintown, PA, curated by Sue Spaid, and “Urban Reef” at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia, curated by Sean Stoops. Her work has also been included in exhibitions at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, and Fleisher Ollman Gallery.


Inquiries to info@ahnvhs.com. More information and images at www.ahnvhs.com

New Asshole featured in Philadelphia Weekly!

Read the full article and interview of Manya Scheps, editor of New Asshole Magazine here

Studio Visit: Arden Bendler Browning

Arden Bendler Browning, painter extraordinaire and mother of two will be exhibiting her work this coming October at AHN|VHS (stay tuned!) Last week, she was kind enough to open her studio doors at the Crane Arts Building in Fishtown to show us a glimpse of her paintings beyond the flat file.

We Do It for Love: Philadelphia arts scene in the NY Times

"Art to Make you Laugh (and cry)" in the New York Times Thursday August 27th, by Randy Kennedy.

In case you missed it, there was a great article last week in the Times on our city's beloved Flux Space, PIFAS, Fabric Workshop & Museum, and a smattering of other fine Philly institutions.

As the article says "There is a particularly Philadelphian brand of hardy, low-budget, do-it-yourself, do-it-for-love creativeness evident in art and art spaces across the city." It's true.

And we're extra thrilled to see the mention of FLUX Space's current show by AHN|VHS artist Tory Franklin, up till Sept. 13th!

PIFAS has recently renovated their gallery space and have some great shows coming up. Last month's show, curated by another AHN|VHS artist Hilary Price, featured stunning altered comic book works by Paul DeMuro.

(p.s. to the Times, next visit come to the 319 N. 11th St. hive... just saying)

On Place at AHN|VHS, Opening: Friday, September 4th, 6-10pm

On Place
Alexis Granwell, Karsten Grumstrup, Heidi Neilson
September 4 - September 27, 2009
Opening: Friday September 4th, 6-10pm

AHN|VHS presents a group exhibition of works on paper from flat file artists Alexis Granwell, Karsten Grumstrup and Heidi Neilson.

On Place features works that depict the experience of place via non-literal visual memory. Mapping by memory appears in these works as a navigational tool. Notions of the sublime are present as well, as they all confront the fine line dividing the magnificent and the mundane; the crux of the horizon.

Granwell's etchings reference topographical and location maps of the earth and the stars. These sparse and organic abstractions interweave the ephemeral and concrete, never quite identifiable as earth or air, hypothetical or defined.
Grumstrup's series of horizons evoke notions of the sublime with the curious dichotomy of the infinite sky above hard ground. Drawn with ink on book board, the rhythmic mountain-scape flowing across each image hints at the intangible unknown yet their minute size maintains their familiarity.
Neilson's etchings of rooftops as seen from the windows of the N train in Queens, NY, capture these houses from an angle never seen by their inhabitants and viewed only by the artist while in transit, offering both the mystery of what lies below while revealing the unseen aspect of these mundane structures.

Alexis Granwell has exhibited at The Arlington Center for the Arts, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Pentimenti, and the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, among others. She received an MFA from The University of Pennsylvania in 2007.
Karsten Grumstrup is a works on paper and book artist based in Philadelphia and Nevada. He received an MFA from SUNY Stoneybrook in Printmaking.
Heidi Neilson is book artist, printmaker and mixed media artist based in Long Island City, New York. Neilson's work has been exhibited at The Queens Museums, Queens, NY, BravinLee programs, New York, NY, and The Drawing Center, New York, NY, among many others. She is also a founder of the SP Weather Station.

Weekly Forecast: SP Weather Station "Weather Reports" in Philly Weekly

Luke Strosnider "April 2009"

SP Weather Station exhibition "Weather Reports" featured in the new issue of Philly Weekly!

Weather or Not:
A new exhibit at AHN/VHS focuses on meteorological data.


by Roberta Fallon of artblog

"If there’s angst or hysteria about global warming, it’s hidden in the group show “Weather Reports.” Instead of melting ice caps and imperiled polar bears, AHN/VHS’ quiet, small works show—which features drawings, prints, video and mixed media—focuses on the daily weather data recorded at Long Island City’s artist-run SP Weather Station...."

Read on!

Weather Reports installation photos!

We had a blast on Friday at the opening for the SP Weather Station "Weather Reports" show.
Thanks to everyone who came out! and thanks to mama nature for giving us a lovely drizzle-free night (see? maybe all the weather wants is a little attention, and then everything is fine).

Photos are up on the AHN|VHS site here

and the contents of the 2008 portfolio are viewable on the AHN|VHS site here!

and as always, you can read more about the SP Weather Station and all of their events - including guest lectures and other exhibitions - past and present here.

SP Weather Station at AHN|VHS, Opening Friday August 7th 7-10pm

SP Weather Station
Weather Reports
August 7 - 30, 2009
Opening: Friday August 7th, 7-10pm


AHN|VHS presents an exhibition of data interpretive art work for the SP Weather Station, a project of the SP Artist Collective in Long Island City, NY. Co-founded by artists Natalie Campbell and Heidi Neilson in 2007, the SP Weather Station is an interdisciplinary project that collects weather data, and organizes weather-related publications, events, and exhibitions, while maintaining a rooftop weather station.

Over the course of 2008, SPWS invited numerous “Guest Interpreters” to create weather reports using its data. As artist participant and co-founder Heidi Neilson states, the project revealed “the infinite possibilities for the interpretation of data, and some of the problems this presents.” The work produced by these artist interpreters ranges from stark to whimsical to utterly chaotic. Artist Michael Geminder created a minimal four word summary of one month's weather laser cut in cardboard, while Katarina Jerinic created a temporary tattoo for one's index finger which measures the direction of the wind. In a video and live drawing collaboration by Natalie Campbell, Daniel Larson, Heidi Neilson, Jing Yu, and Liz Zanis, the changes in wind direction over the course of a day are read allowed while the artists attempt to collectively illustrate the rapidly shifting patterns.

SPWS has compiled these interpretations into a portfolio which will be on view in the AHN|VHS gallery. Guest Interpreters contributing to the portfolio include Leah Beeferman, Carrie Dashow, Natalie Campbell, Susan G. Campbell, Mike Estabrook, Neil Freeman, Richard Garrison, Michael Geminder, Vandana Jain, Katarina Jerinic, Emily Larned, Daniel Larson, Bridget Lewis, Lize Mogel, Heidi Neilson, Mark Nystrom, Chris Petrone, Sarah Nicole Phillips, Luke Strosnider, Jing Yu and Liz Zanis.

According to SPWS, the “By recording its neighborhood’s environmental conditions, SPWS participates in and adds to some of the many ways people have, throughout history, made their own weather observations. SPWS maintains an interest in new and historical technologies, and in how individuals relate to broader systems and patterns.” And as Neilson says, “...the weather is always around, and all around us; monitoring devices can be as sophisticated or as rudimentary as we need them, in that moment, to be. Anyone can access consistent, scientifically acquired weather data... Taking one’s own weather data implies an interest in the system itself, regardless of its accuracy; it means valuing the system’s internal logic and following its leads."

SP Weather Station has exhibited at The Queens Museum, Eyebeam, and most recently in Ithaca, NY as participants in the “To Let” exhibition series. SP Weather Station is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.

Additional information at www.spweatherstation.net

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About AHN|VHS: Gallery owners Julianne Ahn and Lauren van Haaften-Schick are Philadelphia-based artists and arts professionals. In addition to monthly exhibitions, AHN|VHS features a growing inventory of works on paper and editions in all media in our flat file and on our store shelves. All artwork is available for viewing and for sale in the gallery and at www.ahnvhs.com.