ICA opens with focus on Phila. artists

The first exhibit to be shown at the Institute of Contemporary Art's new home at 36th and Sansom streets focuses on a subject very close to home -- every work displayed in the show was done by Philadelphia artists. The new exhibit, "Artists Choose Artists," tries to emphasize the diversity and quality of Philadelphia's own artists, and to make people more aware of the visual artists around the city. The works in the exhibit cover a huge range of disciplines and styles of work, including painting, sculpture, photography, video and performance. And the media used in the exhibit are as diverse as the disciplines. Materials range from the conservative oil on canvas, pastel on paper, and photography to the not-so-usual maple trees, rocks, fishhooks, video installations, thermal color prints, interactive videodisc-computer installations, and a Macintosh computer on a stroller with a synthesized voice to go with it. The artwork comes in a wide variety of scales, ranging from a small four by three by three inch sculpture to the huge five by seven foot construction banner that can be seen outside the building. The themes of the art also differ. South African apartheid is portrayed in Allan Edmund's Not Behind Bars, while other artists touch on the subjects of drugs and freedom of expression. The exhibit's name, "Artists Choose Artists," comes from the fact that 25 Philadelphia artists were initially selected to participate in the exhibit, and then each of those artists invited another artist. Admission to the exhibit is free to University students, and it will remain open through Sunday, March 3.

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