At The Warhol: Genesis P-Orridge, Caldwell Linker, Nick Bubash

A triple header of compelling exhibitions by contemporary artists has just opened at the The Andy Warhol Museum. On view through September 15th are: Genesis Breyer P-Orridge: S/HE IS HER/E; Caldwell Linker: All Through the Night; and Nick Bubash: The Patron Saint of White Guys That Went Tribal and Other Works.

Fans of the pivotal 1980s and 1990s English art and music collective Psychic TV will not want to miss seeing the first solo museum exhibition by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. A comprehensive showcase of the artist's creative practice, the first-of-its-kind exhibition features 100 works by P-Orridge, spanning the mid-1970s to the present. The expansive selection embodies the artist's pioneering exploration of identity, creative expression, reinvention, performative art, and societal roles via a prolific career that dates to the late-1960s. Born in 1950, the English singer-songwriter, musician, poet, writer, and performance artist founded the COUM Transmissions artistic collective, fronted the pioneering industrial band Throbbing Gristle and formed the experimental music band Psychic TV.

S/HE IS HER/E features the Pandrogyne project, a complex group of collaborative artworks by P-Orridge and h/er wife Lady Jaye, who passed away in 2007. The provocative work explores how the couple attempted to merge their lives, bodies and psyches via plastic surgery, hormone therapy, cross-dressing, and altered behaviour. In doing so, they sought an open-ended approach to identity and challenged socially imposed norms regarding personal identity and relationships.

Don't miss the rare chance to see Psychic TV/PTV3 perform on August 16th, at the New Hazlett Theater, in conjunction with the exhibition. For this special performance, the band will feature: P- Orridge (vocals, violin); Edley ODowd (drums, samples); Alice Genese (bass); Jeff Berner (guitar); and Jess Stewart (keyboards). Live projections by Jeanne Angel and Sam Zimmerman will accompany the concert.

Also on view through Sept. 15th is an exhibition of Caldwell Linker's photographs documenting Pittsburgh’s vibrant LGBQT communities. Featuring images created since Linker's relocation to Pittsburgh in 2007, All Through the Night form a celebratory firsthand portrait of local drag queen performances, house parties and porch gatherings representing a diverse collection of people, locations and feelings, as well as an authentic sense of place and personality.

The Warhol's third new exhibition is Nick Bubash's The Patron Saint of White Guys That Went Tribal and Other Works, which features a new group of found object sculptures. A nationally recognized tattoo artist and owner of McKees Rocks-based Route 60 Tattoo, Bubash embraces a wide range of media and styles--from naturalistic figure studies to fantastical motifs. Since 1989, he has exhibited works across the US, many which convey a sardonic sense of humor and a playful irreverent approach to his subjects and themes.

First Editions: Bespoke Poetry for Pittsburgh

Artists are regularly commissioned to create portraits, caricatures and public art, but have you ever heard of an artist being commissioned to create poetry?

Pittsburgh-based multimedia artist Alexi Morrissey is ready to do just that. His latest ambitious art project, called First Editons: Bespoke Poetry for Pittsburgh, invites the public to join him in the act of creative writing, breaking down traditional barriers that typically exist between artist and patron. Setting up shop at Downtown-based Bricolage Production Company--amongst his collection of vintage typewriters--Morrissey is currently composing original poems for anyone who is inspired to participate.

Want to tell your story? Looking for a creative way to express your feelings and thoughts to that special someone? Need an original work of literary art to display in your new digs? Have a personal motto that needs a dose of clever wordplay? Step up to Morrissey's typewriter and brain, and let him craft immortal words based on your own ideas.

Simply walk in off the street, commission a contemporary work of art, assist in its making, and take it home--all in matter of 20 minutes, the time its takes for a coffee break. What's required to commission a poem? Three simple things: interest in yourself, time and $20. During the sessions, Morrissey will chat with poem patrons about anything and everything that may significant to the co-creator, and about specific ideas and content to be translated into verse. After completing a one-on-one session with Morrissey, patrons will be presented with their individualized poem typed on cloth as a "unique and lasting physical artifact of their interaction."

Equal parts public art, performative happening and collaborative soul searching, Morrissey describes First Editions as "an Epic Poem, broken up into small pieces, and scattered across the city. It is a documentary record of a conversation between the artist and the patron commissioning the work." Based in Pittsburgh, Morrissey has exhibited work nationally and internationally, and has implemented projects with individuals, collectives, institutions, and governments, including interactive performance projects with youth prisoners. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon's MFA studio art program, Morrissey was born in San Jose, CA and raised in New England.?

Sessions run Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. through the summer. A special evening session will be offered on July 12th, from 6 to 9 p.m. during the Downtown Gallery Crawl.

Cave Canem Poets at City of Asylum/Pittsburgh

Music and poetry will converge in the Mexican War Street on Thursday, June 20th. Fresh off the heels of receiving a highly prestigous ArtPlace America grant, Northside-based City of Asylum/Pittsburgh is hosting a free reading by poets from Cave Canem, which works to support the artistic and professional growth of African American poets.

Award-winning poets Toi Derricotte, Cornelius Eady, Harryette Mullen and Chris Abani will present an electrifying night of poetry and music under City of Asylum's welcoming Monterey Street tent and the June skies. The event will kick off with a performance by saxophonist, composer and rising jazz music star Brandon Lewis at 6:45 p.m. Toi Derricotte will share poems from The Undertaker's Daughter (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), as well as selections from her additional award-winning collections. With collaborative musicians Concetta Abbate (violin) and Charlie Rauh (guitar), Cornelius Eady will perform selections from his two-volume Book of Hooks chapbook-with-CD (Kattywompus Press, 2013).
 
PEN Beyond Margins award-winner Harryette Mullen will share selections from Recyclopedia as well as new poems from her forthcoming Graywolf Press collection. Guest poet and novelist Chris Abani will read from several books of poems, including Sanctificum (Copper Canyon, 2010). Following the reading, books will be available for sale and poets signs works.
 
Look for the City of Asylum tent along the 1400 block of Monterey St., which will be closed to automobile traffic on the day of the event. Free parking wis available in the lot off Brighton Rd. between Sampsonia Way and Jacksonia St. and on the streets surrounding Monterey. RSVP here.

Soul Factory: Motown at the Museum!

This Friday, June 21st, one of the best parties in town will erupt on the longest night of the year. The summer solstice seems the perfect night for the Mattress Factory museum of contemporary art to host its singular Urban Garden Party.

For its latest installment, the Garden Party provides a hint of the museum's fall 2013 exhibition--Detroit: Artists in Residence--with a benefit bash that takes a cue from the legendary groove, glamour and creative vision of soulful Detroit. Garden-goers will travel back to when outfits were flashier, hairstyles were funkier and 45 rpm was the only speed in town. Dubbed Soul Factory: Motown at the Museum, this year's benefit bash also marks the museum's 35th year.

Arrive early and with an appetite to sample the spread, which will feature 40 of Pittsburgh’s top restaurants and caterers, including All in Good Taste Productions, Bar Marco, E2, Fukuda, Legume, Marty's Market, PGH Taco Truck, Tender, Verde, Wigle Whiskey, and more.

In between noshing, explore interactive art, bid on one-of-a-kind works made from hubcaps and enjoy Motown-themed pop-up performances by Kierra Darshell's Divas of Drag, DJ Zimmie, El Monics, The MadHouse, and Zany Umbrella Circus. Don your grooviest 1960s-era threads and head into the Motown photo booth to create a keepsake. Helping to get your groove on will be headlining act, Vancouver-based DJ The Gaff, who brings his  psychedelic soul show to the Northside for just one night.

For the first time in Garden Party history, the Mattress Factory is hosting an official after-party. Following the funk fest, head over to nearby Penn Brewery Make sure to bring your wristband for access to drink discounts.

Just 36 hours later, on Sun., June 23rd, head back to the museum for its annual Community Urban Garden Party, from 1 to 5 p.m. Turn old vinyl record albums into art with Assemble, create work to add to the Museum's upcoming MoTOWN art installation and construct musical instruments from recycled materials for a noise party! On the main stage, enjoy performances by Pittsburgh Heat Hip-Hop Dance Company, theater workshops and performances by The Zany Umbrella Circus, and music by DJ Andrew Edmonds' Vinyl Showcase.

Additional activities will include screen printing with Artist Image Resource (AIR); an interactive animated collage inspired by Smokey Robinson's Motown hit, "Cruisin'" led by the puppeteers from The Schmutz Company; book-related activities led by Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and Reading is FUNdamental; and a screening of Art21: New York Close Up presented by the Allegheny YMCA.

Artist Harvest: CSA Performance Series launch

With a creative twist on the community supported agriculture (CSA) model--which for decades has delivered locally grown produce to neighborhood spots--The New Hazlett Theater recently launched its new CSA Performance Series. On Monday, June 24, the Northside venue invites the public to celebrate the project at its Artist Harvest launch party.

Attendees will a behind-the-scenes glimpse of this one-of-a-kind performance series, meet the artists and shareholders, view a short film about the New Hazlett, and enjoy refreshments. Free and open to the public, the Artist Harvest celebration will also share the latest news on the CSA and how to purchase shares and pick up tickets. The six artists will be on hand to share insights about their creative process and upcoming projects, and the public will learn ways to help local art develop from "seed to stage."

The first crop of six talented local makers were selected from an impressive pool of 60 applications, and they represent a diverse range of practices and backgrounds.Featured CSA artists are: poet and playwright Kelli Stevens Kane; multi-media puppeteers Miniature Curiosa; exploratory dance company Continuum Dance Theater; audio/visual artist Dan Wilcox; musicians Eclectic Laboratory Chamber Orchestra; and dancers Maree ReMalia and merrygogo.

Based on the farm share model--which embodies a buy-direct, buy-local spirit--the unique project aims to support local artists in the creation of new work and forge new relationships with local arts audiences. For $100, each New Hazlett CSA shareholder receives six freshly created productions, presented every other month at the Theater. Productions include everything from dance and music, to theater and performance art. Added bonus? Shareholders have the rare opportunity to interact directly with CSA artists. To date, the pilot project has sold 75 shares, and has received foundation support.