Summer 2012 Exhibitions
Second Floor Galleries:
Shiny Monsters:
An Installation by Adam Wallacavage
May 17 through August 19, 2012
First Floor Galleries:
Flat Out:
Screen Print Installation by Eva Wylie
May 17 through August 5, 2012
Periphery:
Multimedia Works by Michael Fujita
May 17 through August 5, 2012
Public Opening and Reception:
Thursday, May 17 at 6:00 PM
Shiny Monsters: An Installation by Adam Wallacavage
 Inspired by the Gothic interiors of now-closed Catholic churches he visited throughout Philadelphia, Adam Wallacavage channeled his fascination with chandeliers by creating Jules Verne-inspired lighting for the dining room in his Victorian brownstone. To construct these octopus sculptures, Wallacavage taught himself the traditional techniques of ornamental plastering, which includes large-cast plaster work and hand-sculpted pieces from epoxy-clay. Those initial sculptures inspired Wallacavage to continue to experiment in form, color, and technique, even developing his own unique glazes and application technique to give his pieces a unique vibrant shimmer. More recently, Wallacavage has added his love of kitsch to his sculptures. Casts of cartoon bunnies and elephants, Hello Kitty heads, and vintage toys are incorporated into his pieces, which are then covered in bright glazes in shades such as bubble-gum pink and mint green. The resulting sculptures reflect his varied aesthetic interests, ranging from 16th Century Baroque opulence to 1940s Americana. For his first solo exhibition in Philadelphia, Wallacavage will take inspiration from his lavishly decorated home by presenting several new chandeliers within each gallery.
Wallacavage received a BFA in Photography at University of the Arts. He has shown his chandeliers and other sculptural work both nationally and internationally, and is represented by Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York. He has had exhibitions at Parlor Gallery Asbury Park, NJ (2011); The Shop. New Orleans, LA (2011); Corey Helford Gallery, Culver City, CA (2011); La Gaîté lyrique, Paris, France (2011); Choque Cultural Gallery, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2011); Bristol City Museum of Art in Bristol, UK (2010); Scion Installation Space, Culver City, CA (2011); and Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA (2008). Co-founder of the artist collective Space 1026, Adam Wallacavage is also an accomplished photographer, documenting artists, musicians, and skateboarders. His first book, Monster Size Monsters, was released in 2006 through Gingko Press.
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Flat Out: Screen Print Installation by Eva Wylie
 As a printmaker and installation artist, Eva Wylie’s installations both preserve and expand traditional printmaking and découpage techniques. Using a four-color separation silkscreen process, her work examines photographic duplication, an intrinsic element of contemporary pop culture, while reflecting upon craft-based traditions of the 19th century. Culling her imagery from the internet as well as other graphic sources such as magazines or product designs, Wylie displaces the content of these images from their origin and creates new forms that play with the concepts of ornament, composition, and spatial illusion. The meaning of the original image is stripped of its significance and given over to a structure that becomes decorative. In some, flat screen prints are molded into elegant amorphous patterns resembling a patchwork quilt, while other works screen printed directly onto the wall are rendered as a three-dimensional object.
More specifically, the prints are reminiscent of the Victorian craft of découpage, in which women used “scraps” or prints purchased or cut from periodicals to ornamental screens, worktables, or small rooms. Her installations embody the technical mastery of the complex processes of screen printing and the traditions of Victorian craft, and
showcase Wylie’s ability to use these techniques in innovative ways to create large-scale installations that are beyond these established methods and materials.
Eva Wylie received her MFA in Printmaking from Tyler School of Art in 2003 and received Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant in 2006.
Wylie’s work has already been professionally recognized by many prominent institutions in the region. In addition to several solo shows at Vox, she has exhibited at University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN (2009); Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA (2007); Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA (2006) and Philadelphia International Airport (2006). Wylie has had residencies at University of Tennessee Knoxville, (2011), and Graff Ateliers Montreal, Canada (2009); and was a fellow at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine (2005). Wylie was an Assistant Professor at Tyler School of Art and now teaches at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.
Periphery: Multimedia Works by Michael Fujita
 For Michael Fujita, Philadelphia is the largest and most urban environment that he has lived in, and through his sculptural work, he explores memories of actual architectural sites and details scattered
throughout the city. As the artist states, “the memory of a staircase exposed now by the void where another once stood, the custom bricks of varying size used for building and paving, and the patterns
made through their various combinations, all serve as launching points.” His floor, and pedestal pieces demonstrate his "kiln casting" technique, a process by which he layers hundreds of varied parts and
glaze materials within the confines of a mold that is capable of being fired. After the firing, the mold is broken away, revealing singular elements fused together to create a unique whole. Most recently,
Fujita has also focused on creating forms from wood, using the same process of layering smaller singular forms to create larger pieces. In addition to his new ceramic work, Fujita will be using this process to create a life-sized tree made of wood that is completely built within the gallery. Conceptually, it is the time, labor, craft, and material choice that add complex layers of meaning to capture the mood and sensibility of his surroundings, often combining beauty of nature with the built environment.
Fujita received his MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. Before being awarded the Evelyn Shapiro Foundation Fellowship from the Clay Studio in Philadelphia (2009), he spent time working and teaching in Portland, Oregon. As an emerging artist, he has been included in group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the country, including Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY (2011); Project Space, Phoenix Convention Center, NCECA, Phoenix, AZ (2009); Archer Gallery, Clark College, WA (2008); Richard Carter Studio, Forestville, CA (2008); the Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA (2005 and 2006); Alfred University, Alfred, NY (2006); Dolphin Gallery,
Kansas City, MO (2006); and Centerspace Gallery, NCECA, Portland, OR (2005). Prior to moving to Philadelphia, he was an instructor of Advanced Ceramics at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts in Portland. In addition to his residency at the Clay Studio, he was a resident at Red Star Studios in Kansas City, MO, and at Pope Valley Pottery in Pope Valley, CA.
Images:
Adam Wallacavage, "Pink Paris Chandelier" 2012,
Epoxy clay, resin, Spray paint, lamp parts.
32D x 32H inches
Eva Wylie, Flat Out (Detail), 2011. Silkscreen on the wall, silkscreen and spray paint on wood. Courtesy of the artist
Micheal Fujita, Pane (Detail), 2012. Multimedia. Courtesy of the
artist. Photo: Alan Weiner.
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