Philadelphia Weekly

Sarah Gamble recently received one of the coveted Pew Fellowships. But before that, her year was a mess. Her house was struck by lightning and vandalized. She lost her job. And she got sick and wound up in the hospital. 


In her show Unemployment Paintings at Bambi Gallery, Gamble displays the fruits of her turbulent year in a handful of new work. One standout piece is an untitled painting of a dark and quirky castlelike house bleeding from one side while a rainbow sits on its other shoulder. Gamble paints from imagination and her colorful, heavily worked paintings on panel and canvas evoke a storybook world of children subject to stormy nights and the whims of fate.


Andrew Prayzner’s mule paintings and William Crump’s delicate, nostalgic drawings of early American mountain folk are nicely paired at Tiger Strikes 
Asteroid in a show channeling the opening of the West and the closing of the borders. 


Prayzner’s mules are young drug traffickers pictured postarrest in their underwear with drugs taped to their bodies and their faces pixillated to protect their identities. Despite the fact that the documentary-style paintings are based on 1980s-era photos, the issue of border-jumping is still a hot topic. 


The small gallery’s show features six works by each artist. Crump’s wispy drawings hold their own against the colorful aggressive paintings by virtue of an attention to detail that draws you in for a close look.


Dave Dunn’s video installation at Copy Gallery promises icons of summer—the beach, the athlete’s victory lap and angry dogs—all running on continuous loops on three or more video monitors in the gallery’s tiny space. Along with this work-in-progress with all new videos, Dunn says there may be a live performance involving bowls of cereal. 


Dunn often takes small moments and repeats them in his work to create a mesmerizing stream of images, and he’s always up to something new. Expect great visuals in a thought-provoking exhibition.


If you enjoyed the Institute for Contemporary Art’s all-clay Dirt on Delight , try the national juried student roundup of clay sculpture and functional objects at the Clay Studio. 


Jacob Foran’s Eddie , a mastiff with a hangdog look balancing on his front legs caught in a trough of what looks like concrete, is a doggy descendant of West Coast master Robert Arneson’s mocking clay self-portraits. 


At the other end of the spectrum in this 30-artist show, Andrea Marquis’ Ornament is a bauble of beauty for your delectation. ■

For more on the Philadelphia art scene go to theartblog.org


“ Unemployment Paintings ” by Sarah Gamble: Fri., July 3, 6-10pm. Through July 26. Bambi Gallery, 1001 N. Second St. bambiproject.com


“ Manifest Destination ” by Andrew Prayzner and William Crump: Fri., July 3, 6-10pm. Through July 31. Tiger Strikes Asteroid, 319A N. 11th St., fourth fl. tigerstrikesasteroid.com


“ Summertime Sunrise Fun Club ” by Dave Dunn: Fri., July 3, 6-10pm. Through July 31. Copy Gallery, 319A N. 11th St., third fl. copygallery.org


“ Sixth Annual Marge Brown Kalodner Graduate Student 
Exhibition ”: Fri., July 3, 5-9pm. Through Aug. 2. Clay Studio, 139 N. Second St. theclaystudio.org