239 Chestnut Street, ?2nd Floor Unit B RSVP @ philly.thedrinknation.com 5-9 pm 21+ FREE Getting there: Take the Market Frankford line to 2nd Street.
Start off your weekend the right way and make Drink Philly one of your definite stops on your First Friday tour. These beer connoisseurs will be offering free beer, Milkboy food samples, and jazz band melodies. Further enticement comes in the form of eye-catching art by featured local artists. Philadelphians looking at Britt Miller’s work will instantly recognize familiar sights such as the city skyline and the LOVE sculpture reinterpreted through her brightly colored vision. For a more microscopic view, take in Angela McQuillan’s showcase of complex and dazzling cellular structures created through mixed media and an occasional dash of glitter.
2. The North Bowl 909 North 2nd Street 9-11 pm FREE Getting there: Take the Market Frankford line to 2nd Street.
If you’re searching for a later night version of First Friday and more opportunities to munch on complimentary snacks, then head over to North Bowl bar, which will be hosting an exhibit intriguingly named “10,000 Maniacs, 8 Million Stories.” What do we remember from our daily lives? And how do we filter through all our experiences to figure out what’s important? The show revolves around such questions and the theme of quotidian conversations and interactions as important parts of our lives. Mix with some maniacs and enjoy works of urban storytelling by artists Steven Speir and Bradford Haubrich.
3. Souvenirs Locks Gallery 600 Washington Square South 5:30-7:30 pm FREE Getting there: Take the Market Frankford line to 8th Street.
For a more traditional First Friday gallery viewing, check out Locks Gallery’s opening reception for “Souvenirs.” No, it won’t be those kitsch Eiffel Tower key-chains on display, but you will see subtly beautiful contemporary artworks such as those by Hilary
Berseth whose inorganically created metal objects nevertheless evoke the natural world. If you’re a fan of Jackson Pollock, you might enjoy Pat Steir’s waterfalls and rivulets of dripping paint. Among the various artworks that compose this exhibition, nature seems to be the common motif, sometimes starkly portrayed and at other times abstractly referenced.
4. First Light Last Light Vox Populi 319 North 11th Street, 3rd Floor 6-11 pm FREE Getting there: Take the Market Frankford Line to 11th Street.
Last but not certainly not least, if you’re in the mood for something cutting-edge, don’t miss the opening night performance of “First Light Last Light,” part of the Tropiclipse exhibit at Vox Populi. Artists Jeffrey Kurosaki and Tara Pelletier will mix real time action and video and do some rather interesting things to a tree to produce what they call sculpture-landscapes. If you want something more concrete though, another exhibition that will be opening on February 1 is Lily Cox-Richard’s series of sculptures that reinterpret the neoclassical work of Hiram Powers. Four shows will be opening simultaneously so rest assured that you will have much to contemplate at Vox Populi.
