Foreword by William R. Valerio

FOREWORD

Above, left to right: Spot: iOS mobile application, 2015, by David Wiesner (Courtesy of the artist); The End of the World Monday Morning, 2016, by Abraham Murley (Courtesy of John and Ashley McGinnis)

Woodmere’s Annual, now in its 79th iteration, is especially thought-provoking this year. As always with the Annual, the assembly of work by 48 artists stands on its feet as a statement about the art being made in Philadelphia in the present moment. Yet, this particular exhibition was intended to take place a year ago, and like many other projects, was placed on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The selection of works had been made, but the implementation of the show as imagined and planned by our juror, David Wiesner, changed in profound ways. Since last March, our biological vulnerability became viscerally apparent, and countless violent tragedies forced a new urgency to address a lack of racial equity in our social contract. With regard to the Annual exhibition, it is uncanny to pick up the threads of ideas that had been formed a year ago and realize how much our thoughts have changed. Now, looking at the same works of art, themes of fear and isolation pervade. The relationship of the individual to society seems a constant concern. And finally, strange juxtapositions of forms and haunting narratives seem to portend a world on the brink. A painting that seems to have foreseen such changes is Chenlin Cai’s Identity & Masks. An artist drawing from international life experiences, he knew that masks would soon become a presence in our lives.

Robobaby, 2020, by David Wiesner (Courtesy of the artist)

Woodmere is deeply honored to collaborate with David, one of the great narrative artists of our times, whose own work tests the boundaries of illustration and fine art. David’s interest in storytelling as an underlying driver of human interaction serves as a central idea in his call to artists and a subsequent theme in the works selected. The nature of art as a storyline that accompanies life is especially relevant in Philadelphia, a city in which illustration plays a major role in visual culture, going back to the years of Ben Franklin’s famous printing press and permeating the arts through the advent of Curtis Publishing and so much else. Thank you, David, for orchestrating a fascinating exhibition of works that simultaneously speak to our unusual present moment and hearken back to our city’s longstanding cultural history. Woodmere cannot organize any exhibition without the generosity of our funders. We thank Jeanne Rudy and Victor Keene, and the Drumcliff Foundation, who for many years have made the Woodmere Annual possible. On behalf of Woodmere’s entire community, thank you again, David, for sharing and exploring your interests with us and for becoming a member of the Woodmere family.

WILLIAM R. VALERIO, PHD The Patricia Van Burgh Allison Director and CEO