The Esther M. Klein Art Gallery is pleased to present the 16th exhibition in our Art in Science series. The Art in Science exhibition initiative began in 1977 and presented the work of Aleksandra Kasuba, Les Levine, and Alexander Messinger, artists who experimented with innovative uses of industrial fabrics to make architecture and art. Since this inaugural exhibition, the Esther Klein Gallery has been committed to regularly presenting the work of artists who explore the confluences of art, science, and technology. Because the Klein Gallery is part of the University City Science Center, this mission has remained important throughout the years.

The Electricity exhibition (March 8 - April 12) is a group show of ten artists whose work either explores or depends upon the power of electricity. Typically, Art in Science exhibitions highlight the ways in which science and technology can inspire and inform the arts, and vica versa. The Electricity exhibition will focus on one of the basic requirements of the sciences and, indeed, the arts in this technological age.The theme of the show is particularly germane to our region and our times: electricity was discovered in Philadelphia, the state of Pennsylvania recently passed the Electronic Competition Bill, in the last few years states such as California have met new challenges in the demands for electronic power and other energies, and, most recently, the Enron scandal demonstrates the havoc that out-of-control deregulation of electricity can wreak.

The Electricity show will feature work by ten regional artists: Joseph Hu, the artistic team of Andrew Jeffrey Wright and Clare Rojas, Robin Braun, David Gerbstadt, Jill Galloway, Nick Cassway, Stefan Abrams, Eve Hoyt, and Chris Vecchio. The exhibition will present paintings, video, sculpture, neon, and photography and will be highly varied in terms of style and content. The artists in this exhibition explore the beauty of and dependence upon electricity, either through close scrutiny of electricity and light or through their reliance upon electric power in order to complete their works.

Stefan Abrams recently completed the Certificate program in painting at the Pennsylvania Academy and is currently exploring photography, specifically: how the artist manipulates the photographic image and how the photograph in turn manipulates the viewer. For this exhibition, Stefan will present photographs from his Penal Colony Series in which he projects film stills onto the bodies of his friends and photographs the results.

Robin Braun received her MFA at the University of Iowa and will present several works from a series of Romantic paintings that capture the flash of a single lightening strike that glows though the stormy darkness of her images.

Nick Cassway graduated from Tyler School of Art with a focus on painting but has since turned to printmaking as his primary medium. Nick Cassway's prints for this exhibit explore the ephemerality of news personalities, through the use of non-traditional materials. Cassway will be presenting portraits of the top ENRON CEO's printed using petroleum jelly. The Vaseline stained images serve as a reminder of the lasting impact the Enron scandal will have on our society.

Jill Galloway graduated with an MFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2001 and has recently moved to Philadelphia. Her large-scale, abstract photographs feature light emanating from a television set.

David Gerbstadt is an artist of many medium. Known for leaving his work in various public places around the United States and Mexico. For the electricity exhibition, David has transfered to video a few of his films and slide shows that he has projected at First Friday on buildings and at the Gate to Moon Base Alpha shows.

Joseph Hu received his MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy in 2001. Hu's work often combines painting, projections, and photography as a means to explore and investigate his ethnic heritage. Hu is creating a new video work specifically for the Electricity exhibition.

Eve Hoyt is a neon artist who lives in Glenside. Her sculptures consist of colorful, hand-blown glass tubes into which she inserts neon or an argon gas mixture. Hoyt is keen on presenting ambiguous, abstract forms that allow viewers to interpret and experience the work according to their own sensibilities.

Chris Vecchio has a doctorate in electrical engineering from Drexel University. While in graduate school, he realized that engineering provided as many creative possibilities as it did technological and scientific possibilities. Since then, Chris has made sculptures that are powered by electricity. Each work contains hand-built circuitry and often retro-looking cases. The hand-made quality of his work allows for emotional and physical connections to the technology he employs.

Andrew Jeffrey Wright and Clare Rojas, Andrew Jeffrey Wright received a BFA in Animation from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. His prints and videos have been part of numerous group shows including the 2000 Delaware Art Museum Biennial exhibition and the 1999 ICA exhibition, Sticker Shock. The Manipulators video on view during this exhibit, made in conjunction with Clare Rojas, has won several awards including the Best Animation award from the New York Underground Film Festival and another Best Animation award from the New York Comedy Film festival, both in 2000. Wright is one of the founding members of Space 1026, an art and printmaking cooperative and studio Philadelphia.

Please join the Esther M. Klein Art Gallery for an artists' reception:
Friday, March 8, 5:30 - 7:30 PM. The exhibit continues through April 12.

The Esther M. Klein Art Gallery is located at 3600 Market Street and is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Exhibits are free and wheelchair accessible.

Click on artists' name for more images:


Stefan Abrams, Robin Braun, Nick Cassway, Jill Galloway,
David Gerbstadt, Eve Hoyt, Joseph Hu, Chris Vecchio,
Andrew Jeffrey Wright/Clare Rojas

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