PHILADELPHIA – After a successful opening on January 29, the inaugural year of Philadelphia’s citywide, international print and contemporary art festival Philagrafika 2010(running through April 11, 2010), continues in February with a number of events and programs from each of the festival’s three components: The Graphic Unconscious, Out of Print; and Independent Projects. Many institutions participating in Philagrafika 2010, the largest festival celebrating print as a vital role in contemporary art, saw record attendance during the festival’s opening weekend.

Art critic for The New York Times,Ken Johnson called the work featured in Philagrafika 2010’s core curated exhibition, The Graphic Unconscious, “provocative,” “entertaining,” and “fantastic.” Artnet’s resident senior print specialist Deborah Ripley calls Philagrafika 2010 a, “superb and smart show,” while The Philadelphia Inquirer’s contributing art critic Edward Sozanski says, “Philagrafika 2010 goes beyond [the Philagrafika organization’s previous exhibitions], not only by bringing the world to the city but also by demonstrating that graphic art has gone mainstream.”

The Print Center (The Graphic Unconscious)
1614 Latimer St, Philadelphia
215-735-6090, www.printcenter.org
Saturday, February 20, 2 – 5:30pm
Free
The Print Centerwill host “Open Book,” which will bring together three of the exhibiting collectives, the New York-based Dexter Sinister, Philadelphia’s Space 1026, and Temporary Services of Illinois. Each of the collectives will offer presentations on their publications and how they relate to their artistic practice. The Print Center’s visitors will have the opportunity to meet the artists, purchase books and have them inscribed by the artists. The Print Center is one of five sites — along with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Moore College of Art & Design, and Temple Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Temple University —participating in the festival’s core curated exhibition, The Graphic Unconscious.

Out of Print
Throughout the month of February, Philagrafika 2010’s Out of Print projects will present programs which highlight the works created by five artists, inspired by their hosting institution’s collections. The Out of Print artists and institutions are: Duke Riley at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Lisa Anne Auerbach at the American Philosophical Society (APS) Museum, Cannonball Press at the Independence Seaport Museum and the Cruiser Olympia, Enrique Chagoya at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, and Pablo Helguera at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust St, Philadelphia
215-732-6200, www.hsp.org
Wednesday, February 17, 6pm – “Petty’s Island: The Untold Story”
Wednesday, February 24, 6pm – Out of Print panel discussion
Both events are Free
In conjunction with the exhibit created by contemporary artist Duke Riley and inspired by the history of Petty’s Island, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (1300 Locust St, Philadelphia) will host “Petty’s Island: The Untold Story” on February 17.  The event which will feature the documentary Petty’s Island: A Sacred Part of America’s Story followed by a lecture concerning the island’s long and storied history, from its beginnings as a Native American settlement to its 17th-century use as a slave depot, and as the territory of self-proclaimed King Ralston Laird. The island, located in the Delaware River, also had a reputation as a dangerous place—the site of gambling, duels, and shipwrecks.  

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania will also host a panel discussion on February 24 to discuss Philagrafika 2010’s Out of Print projects and the pairing of historical collections with contemporary artists.  This panel discussion will bring together artists, historians, curators, and community leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities of these innovative collaborations and how each partnership spawned unique and varied works of art. 

Rosenbach Museum & Library
2008-2010 Delancey Pl, Philadelphia
215-732-1600, www.rosenbach.org
Thursday, February 18 through Saturday, February 20 – Print Rooms open
Thursday, February 18, 6-7pm – Artist talk with Enrique Chagoya
Friday, February 19, 4-5pm – Lecture, Print Makers as Political Provocateurs
All events are Free
The Rosenbach Museum & Library has transformed a museum room into an intimate space much like a print study room for a three-day program that will include discourse and hands-on creative expression. During the three-day program the print room will feature the original works of 19th Century populist artist George Cruikshank and 21st Century artist Enrique Chagoya, available for study to walk-in visitors. The work presented includes George Cruikshank’s The Head Ache which depicts a weary man, suffering an excruciating headache, surrounded by six demonic figures that are shown using tools and instruments to intensify and worsen the man’s pain. For Chagoya, the plight of the ailing figure was reminiscent of President Barack Obama’s healthcare “headache” which he has depicted in his reinterpretation of the caricature, titled in full The Head Ache, a print after George Cruikshank. In the Rosenbach’s second room, visitors will have the unique opportunity to participate in a hand-coloring workshop and personalize a reproduction of Chagoya’s print. The Rosenbach will also feature an Artist Talk with Enrique Chagoya on February 18 and the lecture Print Makers as Political Provocateurs on February 19, an informal discussion with Robert Brand, CEO of Solutions for Progress, print collector and founder of The Philadelphia Print Collaborative, now known as Philagrafika.

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology
3260 South St, Philadelphia
215-898-4000, www.penn.museum
Sunday, February 28, 2-3:30pm
Free with Museum admission donation ($10 adult; $7 seniors; $6 full time students and youth, 6 to 17)

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology hosts the final February Out of Print event with artist Pablo Helguera’s “What in the World?” live event on February 28.  For this special live event, Helguera, Museum Director Richard Hodges, and a panel of experts, including artist Mark Dion and Philadelphia Museum of Art curatorJoseph Rishel will participate in a program that recreates the spirit of the original “What in the World,” the pioneering television program that was produced in the Penn Museum during the 1950s. During the live event, the panelists will work together to identify the “mystery objects” presented to them, while the audience, provided with written cards with the “answers,” enjoy the show. Helguera’s installation is currently on view at the Museum and brings the spirit of the original program into the information age, incorporating social media tools such as YouTube and iPhone applications. After the live event, Helguera will be available to sign his new book, What in the World, published by Jorge Pinto Books, and guests may visit his What in the World multi-media installation on the third floor.

A series of six videos created for Helguera’s “What in the World?” are available to view on the Penn Museum’s YouTube video channel.

Independent Projects
Philagrafika 2010’sIndependent Projects, which includes nearly 80 additional cultural institutions in the Greater Philadelphia region that have organized exhibitions and events individually, will offer a number of print-related programs in February.  A schedule follows.  For a full list of participating venues and artists, and the full festival schedule, visit www.philagrafika2010.org.

Independent Projects February Schedule
All events are free and open to the public, unless specified.

Thurs. Feb 18; 6–9 pm                           Opening Reception & Fashion Show: Penn Design Alumni 
Bahdeebahdu Gallery
1522 N. American St, Philadelphia; 215-627-5002

Thurs. Feb. 18, 6–8pm                           Nicola López: An Exploration of How Printmaking Fits into our Contemporary Cultural Landscape
Vox Populi
319 North 11th St, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia;  215-238-1236

Friday, Feb 19; 11am                             Gallery Talk with Cindi Ettinger
Main Line Art Center
746 Panmure Road, Haverford; 610-525-0272

Thurs. Feb 25; 12–1pm                          Artist Lecture & Reception for Mary Phelan’s “The Working Process”
Swarthmore College, McCabe Library
500 College Avenue, Swarthmore; 610-690-2056

Thurs. Feb 25; 6–8pm                            Evan Roth: A live streaming presentation from Paris on the overlap of art, graffiti, technology, data visualization, hip hop and free culture
Vox Populi
319 North 11th St, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia;  215-238-1236

Friday, Feb 26; 5-9pm                           Opening Reception for INTERSECTION
Cerulean Arts
1355 Ridge Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19123, (267) 514-8647

                                                                                Sun. Feb 28; 2–4pm                              Opening Reception for Children’s Prints Exhibit
                                                                                Free Library of Philadelphia
                                                                                1901 Vine St, Philadelphia; 215-686-5322                                  

                                                                                Sun. Feb 28; 1–5pm      Closing Reception for “Text/Textile”
                                                                                DaVinci Art Alliance
                                                                                704 Catharine St, Philadelphia; 215-829-0466

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