Art Spiel Picks: Philly Exhibitions in May 2025

HIGHLIGHTS
Katie Hudnall: The Longest Distance between Two Points at the Museum for Art in Wood, installation shot, image courtesy of the gallery

I always love that Earth Day is situated right when the city is exploding with new flowers and life. These spring exhibitions show appreciation for our planet by working with found and repurposed materials, honoring their origins while building something new. At the Museum for Art in Wood, Katie Hudnall constructs delightful and “mechanically improbable” animals and curiosity cabinets of found objects in her show, The Longest Distance between Two Points. Drexel University’s Pearlstein Gallery showcases CONTEMPORARY RUIN future visions, a collection of work that meditates on the realities of decay in our cities, offering both a poetic reflection on our everyday lives and practical approaches toward building a more resilient future. South of the city, Lavett Ballard’s solo show at Rowan University, The People Who Could Fly, features striking mixed-media collages that recast stories of African-American folklore and history using layers of imagery.

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Genevieve Gaignard – To Whom It May Concern at Rowan

Featured Project with Mary Salvante

Vanilla Ice, 2016, Edition 3 of 3. Chromogenic print, 24 x 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles

To Whom It May Concern, the current exhibition featuring an installation and collages by Los Angeles based artist Genevieve Gaignard, raises poignant questions related to nostalgic notions of American history and culture. The work ranges from staged photographs, questioning social stigmas and beauty standards, to a room installation made of found furniture and other objects. The artist says the aim is to “beckon viewers to dig into the imperfect relationship between our inner worlds, public lives, and modern events.” Mary Salvante, the director and chief curator of Rowan University Art Gallery sheds some more light on this show. The show runs through October 29, 2022.

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