Now showing at the Defiance Gallery, Newtown is an exhibition in tribute to the life of sculptor, Ian McKay (1936-2007). McKay was a prominent influence in Australian sculpture, with a career spanning almost 50 years. He studied at the National Art School, Sydney and later at the St. Martin’s School of Art, London after traveling to Europe in the early1960s. The exhibition, “One Small Step for Mankind,” includes the work of 80 local and international artists creating over 100 6x6x6 inch miniature sculptures. Artists whose works are included within the miniature show include Abby Parkes, Emily Bullock, Keld Moseholm and Michael Le Grand. All works on display are able to be purchased.

Concrete Color is a new body of work by artist and photographer Sarah Charlesworth on view at the Baldwin Gallery in Aspen. Living with artist Joseph Kosuth during a greater part of the 1970’s, Charlesworth has said that what was “gained from this period was a sense of the need for artists to reflect critically on their practice, acknowledging both the internal dialectic of art and the external ground of social and economic conditions” (Find Articles). With Kosuth, Charlesworth founded 7We Fox in 1975 , a magazine devoted to art theory; it only survived three issues. She received her BA from Barnard College and has shown with SITE Santa Fe and Margo Leavin Gallery.

Curated by Thibault Sandret of Glam Trash Pop and hosted by Virginie Sommet‘s Studio/Gallery 173 on Canel Street is the exhibition “Don’t Call It Street Art,” which will be on open to the public beginning this weekend on Dec 15th. The group show celebrates Street Art through photography, painting, collage, graphic design and live body painting. By taking the art out of its urban context and hanging in a gallery the work becomes legalized as well as institutionalized. Sandret hopes that by placing the work in the space of the gallery, people will allow themselves to slow down and take a look in a way that may otherwise not happen when quickly passed on the streets. Artists included in the show include Ogi, COL & Veng, Nathalie Hamelin, Iris Arnaud, Gary St Clare, Hugo Martin, Jake Dobkin and Alexandra Zsigmond.

The exhibition HUG: Recent work by Patricia Piccinini is on view at the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle until January 2008. Continuing her hyper-realistic sculptures of customized life forms, Piccinini examines the relationships between animals, nature, science, and technology. The artist challenges the viewer to embrace the unexpected consequences found in her creations, which examine both physical and ethical responsibility while experimenting with the natural and the artificial. Piccinini received a Bachelors’ of Art from both the Australian National University and the Victorian College of the Arts and has been previously featured on DailyServing.

Opening on Dec 14th at the Jack Hanley Gallery in San Francisco is “Introspective”, featuring the work of London-based artist Gee Vaucher. The gallery will present a collection of works by Vaucher that spans the past forty years. The artist is known for creating controversial work rooted in protest and is an icon among the punk generations. She’s completed work for the punk band Crass and continues to do design work for Babel Labels. Vaucher has also exhibited at 96 Gillespie and Gavin Browns Enterprise.

Artist David Ambrose is showing this month at the Marcia Wood Gallery in Atlanta. Ambrose’s abstract-oil paintings are rooted in the design found in architectural facades, interiors and floor plans. Created on pieces of lace and crocheted material that have been sewn together; the artist then takes the hand-sewn materials and stretches them like a canvas over stretcher bars. Ambrose received his BA from Muhlenberg College and his MFA from the University of Pennsylvania; he has also exhibited with Domo Gallery in Summit, NJ.

On view at the Estel Gallery through Tag Art Gallery in Nashville is work by printmakers Valerie Lueth and Paul Roden, titled Assembling Utopia. Lueth and Roden are a husband and wife team who has started their own socially-responsible, image-based workshop called Tugboat Artist’s Press; with a mission to foster progressive thinking in the arts. Lueth is employed as an educational videogame concept artist and interface designer. She received her BFA from the University of South Dakota. Roden who has moved into creating woodcuts received his BFA from Washington University and his MFA from University of South Dakota. The couple currently resides in Pittsburgh.