The Serpentine Gallery hosts a new exhibit named "Some Like It Hot."

A giant lighted cigar sizzles at the center of the gallery.  No, it’s not real but paper mache artist Gina Guenberg comes close – excuse the pun – in creating the illusion that the frayed end of the cigar is actually a long ash tip about to drop to the floor.

Guenberg’s surreal piece – a tribute to George Burns, as it reads on the cigar band – is one of many unusual responses to the gallery’s request to come up a visual interpretation of the phrase “Some Like it Hot.”

There are the requisite figures in bathing suits here, but  nothing like you would expect. The most traditional beach scenes, for instance, are  by Judith Jarvis, and even those reflect the contemporary vibe of the gallery, which owner Sandra Retzlaff, describes as: all that is colorful, off-beat and eclectic.

Visitors get a mini-history lesson in the contemporary artist’s approach to mediums, including a “anything goes” means  of finding different surfaces on which to express their vision. West Chester native Kirsten Fischler is a case in point. A master of surfaces, Fischler has established a successful career with her inventive use of ordinary material including shoe polish and discarded plywood found from construction sites.  

If you don’t believe you can create art with Home Depot discards, you have to see Fischler’s latest “sea foam” series. In one painting on view, she has arranged pieces of wood together, jigsaw-puzzle-like to create a sense of depth in a painted scene of crashing waves. Of course, the material isn’t merely the message: Fischler is also an accomplished painter.

Similar to other gallery colleagues such as Adrian Martinez and Jeff Schaller, Fischler draws from an extensive art history and popular cultural knowledge.  Her interpretation of crashing waves, to give one example, draws on her admiration of the early Japanese woodcut artists.

Other intriguing artists include ceramic artist Carlo Lombardi, who creates blocks of stoneware scenes or “murals”  (here they depict Burlesque figures) and figurative  painter Valetta (she goes by one name) who is one of the few pastel artists I know who creates large-scale works in oil pastel.

Here she brings out the best in her bold colorist tendencies, presenting a giant diptych of couple embracing (a nearby fish tank echoes the water theme)  and a beach scene on the other panel. Her  primitive figures recall Matisse’s cutouts but with a humorous risqué twist: a nude couple lies on a red beach towel, seemingly oblivious to the other beach-goers (and visa versa).  Yes, they definitely like it hot.  
 
Where: Serpentine Gallery, 138 E.Gay Street, West Chester, PA. 19380
Date: July 14th-August 27th

Time: Open 11 to 5 pm. Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday. Open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Open late on First Fridays.

Get out of the heat and enjoy a sizzling show!  This the chance to see how the region’s best artists interpret the phrase “Some Like It Hot.”  
Features: The show includes dozens of pieces in a range of media including etchings, pastels, ceramics, and life-sized paper-mache pieces.  Meet the artists at a special  wine and cheese reception tonight on West Chester’s celebrated First Friday. Wine provided by Galer Winery.

Website:  WWW.SERPENTINEGALLERYWC.COM

Phone: (610) 344-3992

Price: Free