July art is a “time capsule of medieval Pittsburgh”

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Each month NEXTpittsburgh features new openings and special art events in our series, NEXT in the Gallery. Keep us posted on what’s new in your neighborhood; email me at lemccullough@mac.com.

Here is a glimpse of what’s opening in July: a time capsule of medieval Pittsburgh, tributes to classic hi-NRG disco, a throwback LAN party, plus several group shows and open studio events.

“Medieval Pittsburgh: Paintings & Mixed Media by Nathan Van Patter” on view July 4-25; opening reception July 4, 5:30-9:30 p.m.; closing reception July 25, 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Picture today’s Pittsburgh as a tumultuous, dragon-laden Game of Thrones tapestry — Andrew Carnegie-era industrialists portrayed as Plantagenet kings, Steeler footballers as virtuous battlefield knights, health care operators as characters in a Hieronymus Bosch-like morality play inhabiting an exotic Isle of Three Rivers mappa mundi.

Nathan Van Patter’s show at Irma Freeman Center for Imagination interprets the Steel City’s modern myths in a striking, sometimes unsettling new light. Says Van Patter, “My idea of inscribing a sacred order into the modern world is both absurd and worth attempting. The sense of cosmic story in which medieval societies lived is hard to inhabit now without a sense of irony. These paintings come from the detente in my mind between hope and exhaustion.”

The result is a captivating realm where there is a dazzlement of knights and castles, sea monsters and angels, Sir Andrew McCutchen at joust, Three Wise Men on motorcycles and an SUV crossing the Mon moat over a rush-hour Fort Pitt drawbridge.

“Mill View” by Jake McCauley; “The Empty Bed” by Nancy Howarth (Spinning Plate Gallery). Photos courtesy of Jake McCauley and Nancy Howarth.

“Five on Five: New Work from Five Pittsburgh Artists” on view July 5-July 30; opening reception July 5, 5-9 p.m.; closing reception July 30, 1-4 p.m.

Spinning Plate Gallery’s monthly shows offer an intriguing glimpse into Pittsburgh’s eclectic, ever-evolving visual arts scene, from Urban Sketchers to Ukrainian painter/photographer Viktor Frazé-Frazenko whose current June show segues into July’s “Five on Five” exhibit featuring new work from painters Nancy Howarth, Jake McCauley, Mark Panza, Barbara Shema and Bob Ziller.

“Hi-NRG (Variable B-2)” by Ben Schonberger (707 Penn Gallery). Photo courtesy 707 Penn Gallery.

“Ben Schonberger: Hi-NRG” on view July 25-Nov. 2; opening reception July 25, 5:30-10 p.m.

Pittsburgh-based, internationally exhibited Ben Schonberger pursues a multidisciplinary approach examining complexities of identity, power and the archive spanning intersections of personal and collective histories. “Hi-NRG” draws from gay underground visual culture and the innovative sonic legacy of electronic music composer Patrick Cowley, whose early 1980s recordings helped define hi-NRG disco style.

“Bear Excavation” by Ashley Andrykovitch (UnSmoke Systems Artspace). Photo courtesy of Ashley Andrykovitch.

“LAN Party: Ashley Andrykovitch” on view July 1 through Aug. 31; closing reception Aug. 23, 6-9 p.m.

Not to be confused with the traditional “lawn party” (a popular subject for generations of Impressionist and early modernist painters) the LAN party flourished in the 1990s as a BYOC (bring-your-own-computer) social gathering of recreational gamers using a local area network (LAN) to play multi-participant video games.

“LAN Party” presents new work by Ashley Andrykovitch, senior director and curator of education at Fallingwater, and an active painter, writer, performance artist and producer of the “Art Chat” podcast covering astrophysics, creativity, Kecksburg UFO Festival, downtown Pittsburgh murals, frottage rubbing and other Pittsburgh artists.

“Portrait of Rosetta Tharpe” by Sam Thorp; “Mixed Media Collage” by Sarah Simmons (Ketchup City Creative). Photos courtesy of Sam Thorp, Sarah Simmons.
“Dogs Playing” by Gary Marecic; “Swinburne, Pons & Calfo’s Overflow” by Eric Stevens. Photos courtesy of Gary Marecic, by Eric Stevens.

“Art for ACLU” on view July 12, 6-9 p.m.; July 13, 2-5 p.m.

“Lawn Fidelities: Gary Marecic & Eric Stevens” on view July 24-Aug. 5; opening reception July 24, 7-10 p.m.; closing reception Aug. 5, 6-9 p.m.

The Art for ACLU exhibit promoting themes of social justice showcases more than 50 works priced under $100, with all proceeds benefiting American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. Artists working in a veritable potpourri of paintings, drawings, prints, mosaic, mixed media, fiber art, T-shirts, jewelry, small sculpture and puppets include Hillary Bogdan, Kelley Clayton, Julie Devine, James Ebbert, Kirsten Ervin, Fran Flaherty, Jen Haefeli, Joann Keilar, Laverne Kemp, Karen Krieger, Emily Krill, Karie Luidens, Teresa Martuccio, Penny Mateer, Mary Navarro, Lisa Parker, Rob Press, M. J. Schandelmeier, Laura Stuart, Erica Tamburo, Parvaneh Torkamani, Sam Thorp and Bob Ziller.

“Lawn Fidelities” presents new work by Gary Marecic and Eric Stevens in painting, drawing and 35mm and 110 film photography plus a collaborative video installation featuring an original score by Stevens, Gina Gory synth player Dylan Cooper and WXCS radio DJ Ryan Emmett.

Check these art happenings, too:

• July 4, 6-10 p.m. Pittsburgh’s longest-running visual art stroll, Unblurred: First Fridays on Penn Avenue, celebrates Independence Day 2025 with an evening of art gallery openings, live performances, sidewalk markets and innumerable food and beverage offerings along the 4800–5500 blocks of Penn Avenue in Bloomfield/Garfield.

Best in Show at Three Rivers Arts Festival Juried Visual Art Exhibition: “A Place for Us” by Rell Rushin (SPACE Gallery). Photo courtesy SPACE Gallery.

• July 25, 5:30-10 p.m. The Summer’s first Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District spotlights winners of the Juried Visual Art Exhibition at last month’s Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival — Rell Rushin (Best in Show), Ashanté Josey (People’s Choice), Naomi Lees-Maiberg, Stefanie Zito and Ishara Henry (Juror’s Choice). The exhibit runs through Aug. 3 at SPACE Gallery, 812 Liberty Ave., and features 29 Pittsburgh artists reflecting on the spirit, resilience and diversity of the region.