The Philadelphia Art Alliance at University of the Arts is pleased to present an exciting group exhibition comprising works by 30 New York School artists entitled The Searchers. Centered around the associates of Thomas Nozkowski, The Searchers is named after the film classic by John Ford, which was Nozkowski’s favorite. But more than just an homage to their friend, The Searchers is an exhibition that stands on its own, full of important artworks and ideas. The project celebrates every included artist, each of whom searches for their own way into the visual world. Thus, The Searchers is an investigation of cross references and styles much like exhibitions of Tenth Street Painters, artists of Coenties Slip, the Rutgers Group, Cal Arts, or Jefferson Street. As such, it is a kind of snapshot of a cultural period and group interactions.

The artists included in The Searchers are Richard Artschwager, John Duff, Julia Fish, Suzan Frecon, David Goerk, James Hyde, Merlin James, Suzanne Joelson, Jonathan Lasker, Judy Linn, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Robert Mangold, Chris Martin, Kazuko Miyamoto, Catherine Murphy, Diane Neumaier, Thomas Nozkowski, Martin Puryear, Joyce Robins, Harry Roseman, Sherman Sam, Katia Santibiez, Peter Saul, Sally Saul, Arlene Shechet, James Siena, Gary Stephan, Rob Storr, Kunie Sugiura, and Ruth Vollmer. 

Although many of the artists are abstract painters as was Nozkowski, the connections are deeper than style or mediums. Included in this major exhibition are photographers, sculptors, funky artists on the edge of Pop like Peter Saul, dedicated representational artists like Sylvia Mangold, Harry Roseman, or Catherine Murphy, and systemic practitioners such as Kazuko Miyamoto and Ruth Vollmer.

Join the Parrish Art Museum for a conversation with artists Mel Kendrick and Carroll Dunham, in conjunction with the solo exhibition, Mel Kendrick: Seeing Things in Things. Kendrick and Dunham, longtime friends and both former studio assistants to Dorothea Rockburne, will explore their respective careers as artists and approach to artmaking.

Carroll Dunham (b. 1949, New Haven, CT) is a contemporary American painter, whose career has encompassed elements of Abstract Expressionism, Surrealism and Neo-expressionism, moving from abstraction to figuration. Dunham has held global solo exhibitions at Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Millesgården, Stockholm; and Drammens Museum, Drammen, Norway, followed by a mid-career retrospective was held at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York. Dunham’s work is held in numerous esteemed collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, and Whitney Museum of American Art, among others.

The Parrish Art Museum will be holding a conversation with artist Mel Kendrick and Nancy Princenthal, in conjunction with his solo exhibition, Mel Kendrick: Seeing Things in Things, currently on view through February 19, 2023. Princenthal contributed an introductory essay to the fully illustrated catalogue, co-published and distributed by Rizzoli International.

Introduced by Corinne Erni, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and Senior Curator of ArtsReach and Special Projects, the conversation will explore Kendrick’s decades-long career, approach to artmaking, process and material, and the possibilities of sculpture, followed by a short book signing for the exhibition publication.