In Philadelphia, public murals are an integral part of the landscape and culture. One such mural is Skin of the Bride (c. 1990-2001) by Isaiah Zagar (Figures 1, 2). Originally a community arts center, the building housing this ceramic-and-tile mosaic was sold in 2017. In 2023, a real estate developer purchased it, and, despite attempts to designate the mural a historically protected site, planned to demolish it to build an apartment complex. The Magic Gardens team, which safeguards Zagar’s works in Philadelphia, began removing certain ceramic tiles from the artwork, including pieces of Mexican folk art, while leaving behind tiles they deemed “not a priority.”
This removal process altered the visual landscape of Skin of the Bride, leaving the remaining work for demolition. The building is currently in stasis, as developers change hands and contracts. This event raises many questions for me, including: How does disassembling a work of art alter its significance and impact on the surrounding space? Who determines which materials are more or less significant to the whole, and to whom? What is at stake for the artwork, the neighborhood, and the city?
This exhibition places fragments of Zagar’s work in dialogue with its whole through a video installation. I also exhibit a multimedia piece which explores my personal experience with how memory becomes tied to place — or “placemaking” — of which public art such as Zagar’s is an integral part of the process in the city of Philadelphia. Through this project, I want people to consider their place-centered nostalgia, and how those feelings and memories have been displaced through space and time.
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