Naftali and Nest & Branch

introducing...
Naftali Eliot Rosso-Cohen
Born August 30, 2009
He's already 3 months old! Needless to say, this is my main project right now.

Nest and Branch
A gallery exhibition of visual art relating to the mysteries and realities of birds
The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
December 5 2009 - April 3 2010
Opening Reception Saturday December 5th, 5-7 pm
with an artists talk at 6 pm
Facebook event page!

I am curating this exhibition in my position as Art Program Manager at The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education.
The nine artists that I selected use printmaking, drawing, painting, digital media, installation art, and book arts to explore the realities and mysteries of birds. Artists in the exhibition explore themes of migration, flocking, and nesting, as well as presenting imagery relating to endangered and extinct species.

In other news:
One of my recent works from the What Was Our Vision exhibition has been selected for inclusion in the permanent collection of The Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art.
I've been invited to give a talk on my recent work for a course on Sprituality in Art at The Barnes Foundation.
I will be an artist-presenter at Limmud Philly, a weekend of Jewish learning, in March 2010

What Was Our VIsion: Opening Reception July 17

What Was Our Vision: Sixteen Scenes from Wandering in the Desert

July 10 - August 16, 2009

Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art
Congregation Rodeph Shalom, Philadelphia, PA

Artist's Reception: Friday, July 17, 2009
Free and Open to the Public
Sabbath Eve Service with discussion of the exhibition: 6-7 pm
Reception: 7-8 pm

This exhibition will present the entire series of mixed-media works on paper,
as well as a new wall-drawn installation created in the gallery just for this exhibition.

Gallery hours:
Monday-Thursday: 10 am - 4 pm
Friday: 10 am - 2 pm
Sunday: 10 am - Noon
Hours are subject to change, please call 215-627-6747 to confirm

Organized by Matthew F. Singer, Curator, Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art

Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art
Congregation Rodeph Shalom
615 North Broad St ( at Mt Vernon St)
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Entrance and Parking on Mt Vernon St

Sacred Origins - Opening Reception May 31st

Sacred Origins - An Interfaith Art Project for West Philadelphia
Opening Reception: Sunday May 31st 2009, 5-7 pm
With an artist's talk at 6 pm

at The Philadelphia Cathedral
38th and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia

As the culmination of my year-long 2008-09 studio residency at The Philadelphia Cathedral, I will present a permanently installed artwork for the Cathedral. For Sacred Origins, I conducted a series of drawing workshops for people of all faith backgrounds in West Philadelphia.

These workshops were held at The Philadelphia Cathedral, Kol Tzedek- the West Philadelphia Synagogue, and the A-Space, a community organizing space. Participants were invited to make a small drawing symbolic of some aspect of their faith practice or background, with an emphasis on origins – the origins of their faith practice in their own life, or imagery from origin stories from their religion.

I collected over 40 drawings from community members of all faith backgrounds, and created a large-scale ( 5 feet x 5 feet) mixed-media artwork on paper mounted on panel. The artwork incorporates the collected drawings with my own personal imagery and religious images based on myvisual research process. The resulting artwork is dynamic, colorful, and quilt-like, reflecting the diverse and interconnected faith practices of the West Philadelphia community.

The piece will be permanently installed in the Cathedral as part of its permanent art collection, and will be unveiled as part of the annual Philadelphia Cathedral Festival on Sunday May 31^st, 2009.

The artwork may be viewed all day on May 31^st from 11 am to 7 pm, with a special reception from 5-7 pm. I will give a brief artist’s talk on the project at 6 pm. The opening reception event is free and open to the public, and will include refreshments.

This artwork and the Cathedral’s other permanent art installations may also be viewed during the Cathedral’s open hours: Monday-Friday 10am - 2 pm, after Sunday Services, and by appointment.
The Philadelphia Cathedral is located at the corner of 38^th and Chestnut streets in University City in Philadelphia.

March art updates!

Anniversary Art Show at Studio 34
4522 Baltimore Ave, Philadelphia

This Friday, March 27, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m!

We begin our One Year Anniversary weekend with a very special visual art show featuring three friends of Studio 34. At the intersections of art and science, spirit and cognition, each Artist's work investigates the mysterious inner workings of human nature. Zoe Cohen's drawings of our cellular biology ask, "Where does the external become the internal?". Neuroscientist Greg Dunn's Asian-inspired paintings on hanging scrolls and gold leaf explore the beauty of the brain at the microscopic scale of neurons. Saliha Moore's sacred geometry lies somewhere between the organic and the mathematical. Come enjoy refreshments and pick the brains of these perceptive artists!

Artist Speakers at Penn
Tuesday April 14th, 7-9 pm
UPenn's Harrison House, 3910 Irving St, Philadelphia
I will be discussing my studio work, as well as my public participatory projects, including The Listening Station ( above).



Sacred Origins: An Interfaith Art Project for West Philadelphia
Opening Reception, Sunday May 31st, 5-7 pm
With an artist's talk at 6pm
The Philadelphia Cathedral
This is the Opening Reception for the large-scale mixed-media work that I am currently creating,
which incorporates drawings and imagery generated by people of all faith backgrounds from West Philadelphia.

What Was Our Vision: 16 Scenes from Wandering in the Desert
The Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art at Congregation Rodeph Shalom
615 North Broad Street, Philadelphia
Opening Reception, Friday July 17th.
I will be showing the series of 16 small works created in 2008,
which are based on ancient near-eastern art and pre-judaic belief systems.

February and March, into April...

Calling all people of faith in West Philly:
come out and make a drawing this Saturday!

Sacred Origins is my public project/installation piece for the Philadelphia Cathedral.
I am collecting drawings from people of all faith backgrounds ( including you!)
and incorporating them into a large-scale mixed-media work that will be permanently installed
in the main Cathedral space, with an opening celebration in May 2009.
Materials, instructions, and encouragement are provided, no drawing experience is required,
and you can spend just a few minutes making a drawing!

Remaining public drawing sessions for the project:

Saturday February 21 3:30-5:30 pm at the A-Space, 4722 Baltimore Ave
Sunday March 1 1-3 pm at the Philadelphia Cathedral, 38th and Chestnut

Ephemerality at the Schuylkill Center
On view through April 12th
This is an experimental gallery exhibition that I have curated
as Art Program Manager at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education in Roxborough, Philadelphia.
I selected six artists and one artist team to create temporary artworks
with natural materials on the grounds of the Schuylkill Center,
with the guidelines that the artworks created must last no more than 24 hours.
The installations, sculptures, interventions, or events created were documented
by the artists using photography, video, sound, and text.
These documentations of the outdoor ephemeral artwork comprise the gallery exhibition.
Read the article in the Philadelphia City Paper!
Artists:
Nancy Agati
Torkwase Dyson
Jenn Figg & Tatania Ginsberg
Sarah Phillips
Matt Pych
Theresa Rose & 24 Friends
Claudia Sbrissa

Upcoming in April- Save the Date!
I'll be showing some drawings from my Umbilical and Eyes Like Black Cherries series
in a 3- person show of biological/spiritual drawings at Studio 34
Opening reception:
Friday March 29th, 7-9 pm