In the transitional time where commercial gallery spaces are changing in Philadelphia, InLiquid continues to redefine the gallery experience. With the support of Aimco, after much preparation, renovation, and curatorial strategy, InLiquid and Park Towne Place have expanded their gallery space by one more tower. In addition, two major pieces have been added to Park Towne’s permanent collection: the outdoor interactive sculpture Honey Locust by EKE and in the East tower Invisible Cities: The Benjamin Franklin Parkway Series by Maria Schneider.
In the newly open-to-the-public North tower, Configuration: Nicholas Kripal kicks off the rotational exhibition space on its first floor. Kripal, who passed away in September 2016, was a central figure in the creative community in Philadelphia: a respected educator, influential to countless students as a ceramics professor and chair of the Crafts Department at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, and head of the department’s Ceramics Program. As an artist, he was known for his deeply researched, site-specific art installations and elaborately constructed ceramic sculptures inspired by tools and objects from everyday life, such as hand tools and baking molds. Configuration celebrates Kripal’s work, life, and contributions to the arts and culture community. His exhibition will be up until April 2018.
Still serving as the central gallery space for InLiquid Art at Park Towne Place is the South Tower. Part of the Parkway 100’s Connections, InLiquid presents Architectonic Shift: an exhibition of four distinct artists telling the story of changing landscapes and cityscapes through art objects, actions, drawings, and installation, much like the evolution of The Ben Franklin Parkway. The artists Colleen Keefe, Kristin Schattenfield-Rein, Linda Brenner, and Margery Amdur together incorporate objects and imagery that are tied to a previous history, through recontextualization and iteration.
While the two in-tandem exhibitions run with the newly added gems to Park Towne Place’s story, a new chapter filled with publicly accessed art, culture, and an open door for the community, begins for Philadelphia. We look forward to what this brightly lit path should bring.
