Temple Contemporary

Guess who was quoted in today’s issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer? 📰🖼️

Swipe to see snippets of the colorful profile of Anna Tsouhlarakis and our director Matthew JM Kenyatta who curated her exhibition in the Sept 23 issue. Generously entitled by arts and culture writer Amy Rosenberg, “Meet the artist who makes art out of Ikea material board, steer horn, curtain rod, a toy velociraptor, and more”. The full article is in our bio.

We also appreciate the shoutout to see DREAM DIFFERENT: A Wonder Rebellion on your way to her show!

Images courtesy of Amara Johnson for Tyler School of Art and Arch.

Tonight! With beloved Blinky on display, we are officially set to welcome back, Anna Tsouhlarakis Anna Tsouhlarakis, our second annual Edgar Heap of Birds Artist-in-Residence.

We will not only hear about what led to the exhibition on view INDIGENOUS IRREGULARITIES in our gallery, but offer the public ample opportunity to ask her questions and exchange views over a reception.

📣PSA: This morning, we learned that we sold out of the first round of tickets 🎫 but you may join the waitlist for the reception. See you at 4:30pm!

In two days! Come witness the artist Anna Tsouhlarakis herself discussing INDIGENOUS IRREGULARITIES. The talk starts at 4:30pm and reception begins from 5:45pm to 7pm.

📸 Tomie Wilson

In one week! ⏱️ On Sept 17 at 4:30, the artist Anna Tsouhlarakis herself will deliver a talk from her acclaimed body of work with us INDIGENOUS IRREGULARITIES. Afterwards, we will host a reception at the gallery to celebrate the evolution of her practice as our second annual Edgar Heap of Birds Family Artist-in-Residence at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture!

Have you RSVP’d? Do so today at link in bio. Tickets and space is limited and additional information is being sent to registered attendees today 🤍🩶🖤

📸 Tomie Wilson for Temple Contemporary

Starting this afternoon, Temple University will be closed in recognition of Labor Day. That includes tomorrow Saturday for Temple Contemporary. We look forward to welcoming you back after the holiday on Tuesday September 8.

In the meantime, we hope you find time to rest, wonder, and dream differently than you did before 💭💤💫

📸 Tomie Wilson

A few opening day views from the dreamworld where play, rest, and recovery become Philly inspired forms of wonder rebellion.

DREAM DIFFERENT: A Wonder Rebellion is on view until December 5.

📸 Tomie Wilson

💭 What can a city built from bottle caps and pipe cleaners teach us about the block we actually live on? This architect-artist/planner duo has a method to share with you.

James Rojas is an urban planner, artist, and community activist whose interactive model-building workshops — over 400 of them, across the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Europe, and South America — have made him one of the few nationally recognized planners examining Latino cultural influence on urban design. Founder of the Latino Urban Forum, he’s lectured at MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, and Cornell, with installations at MOCA Los Angeles, the ICA Boston, and the Venice Biennale. Most recently, he was a TEDx speaker for LEGO foundation in 2026. John Kamp is an urban and landscape designer with twenty years translating community engagement into actionable design through Prairieform and their method called Place It!

Together, Rojas and Kamp co-authored Dream, Play, Build (Island Press, 2022) based off their practice PLACE IT! which began in 2007. In Dream Different exhibition, they invite you to build your own city, one found object at a time.

Come see and engage with the Philly of your dreams, starting on August 25! Link in bio.

What if a painting isn’t an escape from the world, but a doorway back outside? This artist’s landscapes are portals that ask you to not only go touch grass but invent a mythology while you’re at it.

Nick Autiello is a painter whose surreal landscapes form an ongoing body of work he calls Anthrocadia — an inquiry into humanity’s contradictory relationship with the natural world and our recurring longing for lost Arcadias. His paintings act as windows onto these landscapes, echoing a very present-day ache: the need to step outside and touch grass. Drawing on Nicolas Poussin’s patient compositions and the metaphysical painters of the early twentieth century, Autiello — who built his studio practice after a prior career in environmental advocacy and climate finance — makes the case that the sustained attention oil painting demands is newly urgent in an era of fragmented focus. He lives and works in Providence, Rhode Island.

Come dream with his works starting August 25! RSVP in our bio. 🖼️

Find the wonder right in your own backyard. In only 4 days, you can come see DREAM DIFFERENT!

Image: John Kamp and James Rojas, “5 Models Afloat,” Place It, Los Angeles River Canoga Park, 2007.

💈What happens when a hair accessory becomes a cultural flashpoint — and history becomes a gift shop? How might hair channel our most cherished memories and be a sacred medium for appreciating the present moment? 🪮➰

Magnus Juliano (he/him) is a multidisciplinary artist and creative director working across photography, mixed media, fashion design, and installation. In 2019, his Louis Vuitton hair accessory concept went viral, earning coverage in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. In 2022, his installation A Journey to Motherland: Black Panther Gift Shop — spanning graphic design, sculpture, animation, painting, and interactive digital components — was featured in a Cincinnati Art Museum exhibition honoring Black and Brown creatives, garnering national attention. His work sits at the intersection of race, culture, identity, and history, always pushing toward the next paradigm-shifting conversation.

Come see his answer to these questions in DREAM DIFFERENT: A Wonder Rebellion building from these prior works. 🟩🟦🟥🟨