Since it is “412 day,” thought it was as good a time as any for an artnews brief post. Musicians Jeff Betten and RJ Kozain (2020K) just released Side A of their LP Pittsubaagu no Yu, inspired by a Japanese print by Yoshida Hiroshi at the Carnegie Museum of Art depicting Pittsburgh. and it had me thinking about what the city means to me. I love that for Kozain and Betten, the dreamy lights of a grey evening on the river in Yoshida’s paint were what evoked Pittsburgh. It’s a different vision of the city. The tracklist of titles like “These Grey Waters, “The Way I Remember Myself,” and “Small Times” bring to mind some of the harder-to-articulate things I love about Pittsburgh. The image is featured in the header here, and the LP is available on Bandcamp.
For a weekend out next week on 4/19, you can get a double feature of Margaret Kross’s Shadyside gallery ROMANCE showing Rebecca R. Peel and and the Tomayko Foundation debuting a nationally juried exhibition from NAWA (National Association of Women Artists). These two spots are walking distance from each other on Howe Street and Liberty Ave. Tomayko’s event starts at 5:30 and ROMANCE’s starts at 6, and Tomayko’s ends at 8 while ROMANCE’s ends at 8:30, so you have a perfect two show evening. Maybe end the night in Bloomfield and go to Fet Fisk and try that cocktail with Swedish fish in it?
For people in the local publication world, a new place to look–Crusher Deluxe, a music, art, and “unhinged advice” column site headed by Scott MacTaggart just launched. Really fun and well designed site, keep your eyes open for some potential collabs, as well. The more the merrier for Pittsburgh alt publications!
Another good thing to mention–LA-based photographer Elliott Desai has been spending some time in Pittsburgh. Elliott makes art photobooks called Presence Almanac which come out on the full moon and the new moon, and the most recent one (dropped on this week’s new moon) features Pittsburgh galleries. Take a look on their website.
Starting tomorrow 4/13 through 5/4, there is a speaker series featuring local artists at a new experimental gallery in Kittanning. This is a project of art advisor Brian Lang. I will be in attendance tomorrow, and you can reach out to Brian for more information. This is a great opportunity to hear from some professionals about their process and support a new gallery, The Building. If you don’t have any plans on a dreary afternoon tomorrow, come by!
Wanted to give a shoutout to Devan Murphy, writer, artist, and Petrichor contributor based in the city who just released her chapbook I’M NOT I’M NOT I’M NOT A BABY and will be having a reading on 4/27 at Bottom Feeder Books.
Also, for once the Facebook algorithm served me something useful in the form of a Pittsburgh Business Times article on Michael Berger, a collector and aficionado who formerly owned a commercial gallery on Bingham Street. Berger’s newest effort is to create a “Museum of Diversity and Culture” on the South Side. The planned launch date is this fall. This would be pretty huge, and as a South Side resident, I’m invested in this story. More to come if I can cold-call Michael Berger. Anybody know him?
Does anybody know if Di dug up his oil painting? Did it get rained on? He asked for a reminder, so now he’s getting one.
As it gets warmer and more towards the summer, the calendar has been filling up. Reach out to me to list your event or for coverage. That’s it for now.
Send hyper-local gossip, hot takes,
& show listings to petrichorpgh@gmail.com
PETRICHOR 