Philadelphians like myself are breathing a sigh of relief as summer finally releases us from its fiery, humid grasp. Even better, our city’s art scene rings in a bountiful harvest of wonderful shows to see this fall: You can take in masterworks of Black portraiture at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation, contemplate the City of Brotherly Love’s relationship to Appalachia (aka, why we’re a key swing state), or usher in the start of spooky season with Peter Paone’s gloomy etchings — not to mention the paintings made by the goats at the GOAToberFest in Laurel Hill Cemetery. As we prepare for a nail-biting presidential election, the list below offers ideal autumn art haunts to serve as mini-oases this season.
Secrets of the Sun
Twelve Gates Arts, 106 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Through October 26
This group exhibition curated by Sadaf Padder, a former Hyperallergic curatorial fellow, takes inspiration from the Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar’s The Conference of the Birds (1177). Works by Chitra Ganesh, Rani Som, Maede Tafvizi, and Saba Taj explore the Persian epic poem’s meditation on how the soul can achieve enlightenment through the release of worldly vices like greed and anger. A 3D-printed ceramic sculpture by Tafvizi titled “Grief Resonance” (2023–2024) takes center stage, granting us a contemporary look into a Persian weaving tradition known as zilo, a nod to a textile business in Iran run by the artist’s family. The show’s conceptual and narrative works invite visitors to consider how our travels in the physical world impact our ever-changing spirits and souls.
Layers of Liberty: Philadelphia and the Appalachian Environment
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building at 128 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Through November 3
From the vantage point of our city’s concrete landscape, it’s easy to forget that the majority of Pennsylvania is considered a part of Appalachia, which has historically been used and abused for its rich natural resources. As a past seat of industrial power, Philadelphia is a key part of that story: to this day, rural East Kentuckians often refer to slick, out-of-touch exploiters as “Philadelphia lawyers.” Drawing from its expansive archive, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts investigates Appalachia through 56 works by 41 artists including Philip Evergood, Dox Thrash, and Hubert Davis. Exploring this region that is so rarely represented in major institutions, Layers of Liberty charts Philadelphia’s relationship to Appalachian resource extraction and ecology, and how artists over time have represented its evolution.
In Shadows’ Embrace: Prints by Peter Paone
Brandywine Museum of Art, 1 Hoffmans Mill Road, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
Through November 11
The author of surreal and somewhat whimsical dreamscapes, Peter Paone is most widely recognized for his paintings. But his expansive printmaking practice reveals a darker layer of his universe. The Brandywine Museum is currently exhibiting the first show focused on Paone’s etchings since 1967. A brooding four-headed woman, a deathly crosshatched wasteland, and a nightmarish series inspired by Spanish painter Francisco de Goya offer a rare glimpse into the Philadelphia artist’s oeuvre of masterful prints.
To Be Bound By Place & Lore
Pentimenti Gallery, 145 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
October 25–December 20
From Dan Gunn’s vibrant takes on Midwestern quilts to Raúl Romero’s auditory copper experiments vibrating with recordings from Puerto Rico, the five artists in this group show explore the complex beauty of everyday life from neighborhoods across North America. Anne Buckwalter’s paintings of cakes baked by Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors, Isaac Scott’s sculptures based on life in his Black West Philly community, and Soyeon Shin’s dreamy visions of fish gliding across brick walls offer a warm space to consider themes of belonging in both rural and urban homes.
Mickalene Thomas: All About Love
The Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
October 20–January 12, 2025
Collages and photographs bedazzled with rhinestones and glitter comprise Mickalene Thomas’s first internationally touring solo show. These works, alongside videos and a site-specific installation, are resplendent celebrations of Black femininity and sexuality. As the exhibition title referencing bell hooks’s beloved book of the same name suggests, Thomas pays homage to a rich history of Black American artistry, ranging from literature to film and collages like hers. Many of these works are rooted in the artist’s own interpretations of 19th-century French classics, so they are right at home alongside the legendary impressionist collection at the Barnes Foundation.
The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure
Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
November 9–February 9, 2025
Arriving at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for its United States debut from the National Portrait Gallery in London, this major exhibition of contemporary Black figuration has expanded to include over 60 works by 28 Black and African diasporic artists. The show’s title, a reference to a James Baldwin essay, situates works by artists such as Wangechi Mutu, Henry Taylor, and Jordan Casteel within a broader legacy of revolutionary Black thought. Three themes organize the show: psychological reflections on W. E. B. Du Bois’s eponymous theory in “Double Consciousness,” recastings of dominant Western narratives with Black representation in “The Persistence of History,” and a celebration of Black life and love in “Our Aliveness.”
