Contact: Warren Angle Exhibitions Manager 215.922.3456, ext. 318 wangle@fleisher.org

Fleisher Art Memorial 719 Catharine Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 www.fleisher.org

FLEISHER ART MEMORIAL FEATURES ARTISTS TETSUGO HYAKUTAKE, SCOTT KIP, and BRENNA K. MURPHY in CHALLENGE 3,
MAY 1st — JUNE 25th, 2010

[Philadelphia PA] – The Fleisher Art Memorial presents the final exhibition in the 32nd season of the Wind Challenge Exhibitions — the Delaware Valley's premier juried artist exhibition program. This season's nine Challenge artists were selected from a field nearly 300 applicants to exhibit in one of three three-person exhibitions. Challenge 3 features photographs by Tetsugo Hyakutake, sculpture by Scott Kip, and mixed media photographs by Brenna K. Murphy. The thread that runs through the three exhibitions is a sense of place and each artist's personal connections to sites.

Challenge 3 opens on Saturday, May 1st with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 PM, and continues through June 25th. Both the exhibition and the opening reception are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM (Monday through Thursday), 9:00 AM — 5:00 PM (Friday), and 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM (Saturday). On Saturday, May 15th from 1:30 to 2:30 PM, the artists will participate in a Challenge “TalkAbout” — an open dialogue with students and the public. Admission is free.

Born and raised in Japan, Tetsugo Hyakutake remembers hating the ubiquitous factories that created so much pollution. Now an adult, he cannot help but to be mesmerized by their mythological structures and colored lighting. By recording reality through photography, with minor aesthetic adjustments, Hyakutake confronts his complicated relationship with modern industrial Japan. He intends his work to serve as a tribute to those who made it possible for Japan to thrive as a nation, as well as to create open dialogue on all the contradictory “truths” it created through its' industrialization. Mr. Hyakutake received his B.F.A from the University of the Arts and his M.F.A from the University of Pennsylvania.

The light that hangs above each of the carefully constructed wooden structures of Scott Kip's objects may be just as important — if not more than — the structures themselves. Each structure is designed to accommodate paths of light, both from above and through the possible sightlines of the viewer. Kip looks past the physical nature of the pieces to direct our attention to the transience of light. His focus is on such ephemeral matters as how perspective changes understanding, the relationship between objects, and the idea of life as a place in space. Mr. Kip attended The University of the Arts as a crafts major with a focus on woodworking.

For most of us, the idea of home brings to mind the familiar house of our childhood, in a neighborhood where we knew all the street names. For artist Brenna K. Murphy, who moved eight times to six different states by the age of eighteen, home has been more of an abstract idea. In response to her nomadic upbringing, her ever-present body became her surrogate home, and hair has now become her material of choice. By stitching directly into photographs of empty houses, Murphy continues to poke and prod her definition of home against its conventional meaning. Ms. Murphy received her B.F.A. from the University of North Carolina.

Fleisher's programs are supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Wallace Foundation, the William Penn Foundation, local foundation and corporate grants, and generous contributions from more than 2,000 student members and friends.

Fleisher is a source of inspiration, creativity, and community. Every year, more than 17,000 people experience the transformative power of art by participating in our studio classes, exhibitions, and community-based programming. We are a nonprofit organization committed to advancing the vision of our founder, Samuel S. Fleisher, who believed that art is one of society's greatest assets and equalizers, and from the doorway of his Graphic Sketch Club, “invited the world to come and learn art.” Through all of our work, we strive to make art accessible to everyone regardless of economic means, background, or artistic experience. We operate one of the nation's first community-based arts centers, providing free and low-cost studio art classes along with opportunities for beginning and seasoned artists to exhibit their work in a professional gallery setting. To further enhance our mission, Fleisher's arts education programming reaches deeply into local schools and community centers, and has brought us national recognition and powerful opportunities to advocate for and shape arts education initiatives throughout the region and country.

Visit www.fleisher.org to learn more.