Dick Torchia is correct when, in his written preface about Treasure Island, he suggests that, "The recent art history of Philadelphia remains largely uncharted." Some might say that there is a good reason for that, but the show itself proves them wrong. Torchia uses the turn of the century buzz as an invitation to take pause and carefully reflect on some of the art that escaped scrutiny the first time around. This is not the norm in the art world or our novelty fixated culture generally.

The show is to be commended for being both comprehensible and handsome. Capturing a diversity in these so-called Philadelphia artists, Torchia pushes several notions coherently. Without getting into the intricacies of curatorial function, the exhibition shows great intellectual rigor. Fortunately, this calculating approach is countered well by the warmth and playfulness in most of the work.

The title of the show helps entice one into the work very nicely. Jane Irish’s lush paintings of an imagined rococo "edge city" seem to illustrate the fact. The notion of rediscovering something from the recent past is interesting though extraneous to viewing the work. What comes across is a contemporary quality. The paintings of Irish and Brown do have a similar 80’s feel and they share an aura of childhood with the other work. Wagner’s science guy fascination with ordinary objects, broom handles and rulers chopped and measured, is just plain fun. Similarly, Hussey works in a more nostalgic vein, mildly surreal, like Joseph Cornell, for whom Hussey was an assistant in the 60’s.

Torchia said that he chose a caliber of work that would fit in with the character of Locks (which has to be the nicest private gallery in the city). He has accomplished this. The work relates thematically, although the painting and non-painting come from very different places. Ignoring the contemporary mania for the new, Torchia has focused on mid-career artists, and showing work in this context makes way for a reevaluating of how we perceive the past, near and far. This is topical for Philadelphia, a city good at hiding art. Underlying all this, the show makes a case for support of artists at all stages of their careers. Seeing some of this successful "older" work I am left wanting to see what these artists do now.

Treasure Island is second in the series "Curators Focus". Doug Schaller of Locks Gallery said they chose to use outside curators because they could do a better job ferreting out new and emerging artists. Lea Douglas curated first show last year and Patrick Murphy is curating the next. Providing the venue for this series of exhibitions is a practical and worthy notion. Stay tuned.

JR