A bevy of venues for Philagrafika

Move over, Biennale. Philadelphia's much anticipated Philagrafika 2010, an international fest of contemporary printmaking, makes its formal debut this week, offering the works of hundreds of artists at scores of venues through April 11. Its core exhibition, "The Graphic Unconcious," will be divided among galleries at Moore College of Art & Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Print Center, and Temple's Tyler School of Art.

Another of the festival's larger shows, "Out of Print," pairs five artists with five city historic institutions, ranging from the American Philosophical Society Museum to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Last but far from least are the Independent Projects, organized by an additional 75 cultural institutions. The festival Web site, www.philagrafika2010.org, will help you navigate this multi-tentacled event.

Otherwise, the spring season seems to mark a full-fledged return of the solo show, which fell by the wayside during the nail-biting months of the Great Recession. Below, a sampling of things to come.

- Edith Newhall
Inquirer gallery critic
Betty Woodman As one of the four artists in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's exhibition "Interactions in Clay: Contemporary Explorations of the Collections," the ceramist will interpret the architecture of Robert Adam through the 18th-century decor of the drawing room of his celebrated Lansdowne House in canvas and clay "paintings." March 31-July 11 (215-763-8100 or www.philamuseum.org.). At Locks Gallery, Woodman will display her colorful architectural "rooms" and new ceramic vases atop painted wood bases. March 23-April 24 (215-629-1000 or www.locksgallery.com.).

Toshio Shibata This landscape photographer is well-known for his images of nature running up against man-made structures, such as rivers vs dams. Gallery 339 will show Shibata's lesser-known early work from the 1980s, black-and-white nocturnal images of expressways and their attendant architecture - tunnels, toll booths, convenience stores. Shot in various parts of his native Japan, they look surprisingly similar to our own divided highways. April 16-June 5 (215-731-1530 or www.gallery 339.com.).

Max Cole April brings the first-ever Philadelphia show for Ruby, N.Y., painter Cole, who is in the fabled Panza Collection, and whose minimal abstract paintings of silvery horizontal bands aren't quite what they appear to be - they're actually accumulations of small vertical lines. She's at Larry Becker Contemporary Art, of course. April 17-May 29 (215-925-5389 or www.artnet.com/lbecker.html.).

Jennifer Levonian A veteran of group shows at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, animation filmmaker Levonian is at last getting her close-up (she'll share the space with Anthony Campuzano, whose new work includes a depiction of a disassembled coloring book in pursuit of abstraction). Levonian will show two new animations, one of which - with the working title Buffalo Milk Yoghurt - features original music by Corey Fogel and tells the tale of a man who has a nervous breakdown in a gourmet supermarket. May 6-25 (215-545-7562 or www.fleisher-ollmangallery.com.). Levonian's Take Your Picture With a Puma will be included in a Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition, "Live Cinema/Histories in Motion," which runs April 30-July 25.

Rob Matthews Gallery Joe gets back into solo mode with a new series of drawings by Matthews, said to be loosely inspired by a late night/early morning bat-hunting adventure the artist was treated to by his cousins. They sound like mine. May 7–June 26 (215-592-7752 or www.galleryjoe.com.).