Say goodbye!

It's been a sweet ride, folks! Lauren and I want to thank everyone who's been able to attend any of our past shows, all the participating artists and of course, those who have given us lots of love and support during our short-lived run.

Come out this Saturday - there will be beer and a cake!

Chris Kline, "There they are", Opening Friday, January 8th, 6-10pm

Chris Kline
There they are
January 8, 2010 - January 30, 2010
Opening: Friday January 8th, 6-10pm

AHN|VHS is pleased to present “There they are”, an exhibition of new drawings by Philadelphia artist Chris Kline. The artist's comic abstractions feature neon hued characters who take influence from and incorporate elements of a wide range of sources from vintage cartoons and cubist abstraction, to science fiction, and mythology and mysticism. The work is often humorous with a clear penchant for the absurd, a style and sensibility that stems from the artist's interest in comic illustration. He is also known as a highly skilled silk screen printmaker with a strong and radical grasp of color and nuance. Kline has produced many zines as well, often in collaboration with other artists.

Chris Kline is a current member of Space 1026 in Philadelphia. Past exhibitions include “Paper Crystalz” with Jason Hsu at Pagent Soloveev, Philadelphia, PA, 2009, and “Total Totem” with Greg Pizzoli at Padlock Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2008. Past group exhibitions include “Cave Mind” curated by Jesjit Gill at 107 Shaw, Toronto, Ontario, 2009; “Monsters Show” 3 and 4, at Domy Austin and Houston, TX in 2008 and 2009; “Paper Jam” curated by Anthony Dihle at Civilian Art Projects in Washington, DC, 2009; and inclusion in three exhibitions at Giant Robot in New York and San Francisco from 2008-2009.

This will be the final exhibition at AHN|VHS gallery. As we leave AHN|VHS we are pleased to be moving towards new projects which will be announced in the near future. There will be a gallery closing event on January 30th which will be open to the public. We would like to thank everyone for their support during the gallery's run.

Aggregates, Absurd Infinities and Absent Mindedness at AHN|VHS this Friday, December 4th, 6-10pm

Travis LeRoy Southworth

Aggregates, Absurd Infinities and Absent Mindendness
December 4, 2009 - January 3, 2010
Opening: Friday December 4th, 6-10pm

AHN|VHS is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by Travis LeRoy Southworth. Conceptually driven and made from familiar materials, these works, according to Southworth, begin with an interest in "conventional representation" and "move beyond it...to exist in a new geography, one that redefines the distance between ritual and routine, original source and final work."

The exhibition is composed of three bodies of work. A sculpture series created using paper from books and magazines to create spit wads includes "After Boredom: A Literal History of a State of Mind" and then chewed and spat against the cover of it creating a stalactite-like mound. Southworth says of the work "using paper from books and magazines to create spit wads these sculptures engage aspects of boredom related to loss of oneself. I feel art like boredom pulls things out of their usual contexts and can open up different configuration of things, and therefore also a new meaning."

"Aggregates", and "Similar Seemingly Absurd Infinities", are drawings that are collections of fragments and stray marks that are taken from, but show little reference to, original photographs. As elements of these photographs are systematically selected and reconfigured or re-presented, the resulting compositions suggest a nebula or celestial body, "revealing connections between our own physical markings and those of the cosmos." Pointing to his interest in both the absurdity and truth of cosmic connections, the title of "Similar Seemingly Absurd Infinities" is a reference to a section in Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" which describes the problems of absurd infinities that arise in the combing of theories.

Travis LeRoy Southworth received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Southworth's work is in the Drawings Center Viewing Program and he recently finished the Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) 29 program, which concluded with a group exhibition at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. He has been included in a number of group exhibitions including New American Talent 24, Arthouse at the Jones Center in Austin, TX; the Chicago Cultural Center; SCOPE Art Fair in Miami and the center for Curatorial Studies at the Hessel Museum of Art, NY. This upcoming January he will be presenting a window installation at Mixed Greens Gallery in NYC. Southworth lives and works in New York City.

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

Country Instrument at AHN|VHS, Opening Friday, November 6th, 6-10pm

Country Instrument
November 6 - 28, 2009
Opening: Friday, November 6th, 6 - 10pm


AHN|VHS presents new sculpture and works on paper by Eric Veit. This body of work features readymade materials and studio ephemera repositioned and reconsidered outside of their intended states and uses. Placed within the gallery these objects are imbued with a new aura and alternate function. At the center of Veit's installation is his "Country Instrument", a homemade instrument composed of bottle caps which cover a large stick. "The country instrument (is) the object that you just give to the most unskilled person in a group of musicians." Says Veit, "The instrument is an object of very minimal means and serves as a record.."


Eric Veit lives and works in Philadelphia. His work was most recently included in Vox V at Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA. He has also exhibited at Gallery TK in Northhampton, MA, The Harold Johnson Gallery at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, and at The Norfolk Gallery at Yale University, Norfolk, CT. Veit received his BA from Hampshire College in 2008, and attended Yale Summer School of Music and Art in 2007. He was awarded the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship from Yale University in 2007.

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

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)