Laureen Griffin and Michael Schwartz

Green Line Cafe

Laureen Griffin--Portraiture Project
Michael Schwartz--Conversations
Through October 2007
Green Line Cafe, 4239 Baltimore Avenue

The Green Line celebrates its involvement with Philadelphia Open Studio Tours and the 40th Street Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program by exhibiting the work of current 40th St AIR resident artists Laureen Griffin and Michael Schwartz.

Griffin's "Portraiture Project" is a collaborative process with the subjects she photographs. She invites the public (mostly gender queer and women) to share personal stories of gender stereotyping and/or to dress in gendered costume and be photographed. The artist and subject work together to conceive of the ideal costume and setting. The resulting photographs are displayed salon-style in the cafe. The Gender Portraiture Project is supported by a grant from the Five County Arts Fund, a Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts program of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Schwartz's paintings on paper and panel are all portraits in one way or another. The selection of work for this show was curated by an artist friend and placed together taking into consideration theme, color, size, location and form. This particular group of work represents a conversation amongst the work, between two friends, and extending to the viewing public.

The 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program awards West Philadelphia artists six months of free studio time in a previously unused space near the corner of 40th and Chestnut Streets. In exchange, the program asks each artist to share his or her talents with the West Philadelphia community. Learn more about the 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program.

Learn more about Green Line's involvement with Philadelphia Open Studio Tours.

Labels: Green Line Cafe, Laureen Griffin, Michael Schwartz, past

10/08/2007