Cool & Collected: Matt Singer

Matt Singer
Professions: Writer, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and
volunteer curator, Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art
NEIGHBORHOOD: Graduate Hospital
COLLECTION: Arts and Crafts furniture and pottery, Jonathan Adler pottery, modern Judaica, art by Philadelphia artists

Adorning the sunny Center City townhouse Matt Singer shares with Mark Pozzi, seated, and especially handsome Lhasa apso Oscar, are neon ski caps and a crumbling frieze, Mission chairs and embroidered toile pillows, shelves of playful Jonathan Adler pottery, and walls of edgy sculptures and paintings by very on-their-way Philadelphia artists. “I’ve always had the collecting impulse,” says Singer. “It’s only been a very recent shift in consciousness that makes Mark and me even start to think of the contents of our home as a ‘collection’ … Before, it was simply a matter of wanting to live with things we loved, and finding a way to do it that fit our wallets.”

Cary Leibowitz Ski Caps “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; for me, it happens to encompass a fluorescent ski cap in knit synthetics emblazoned with ‘Shalom Slalom’ by Cary Leibowitz.”

Jim Houser Painting “Jim Houser is associated with Space 1026, a local group of artists that are really committed to making art — great, inspired art — that regular people can afford to buy.”

Vintage Chair “I haunted antiques malls and second-hand stores all over central Pennsylvania, and developed a little collection of Mission furniture. I even found a matching Stickley armchair and rocker — although they were by Charles Stickley, the least known Stickley brother.”

Virgil Marti Frieze “Virgil Marti had an installation in Eastern State Penitentiary in 1995 called ‘For Oscar Wilde.’ He created a dream of an Aesthetic Movement jail cell for Wilde—who spent two years in English prisons for gross indecency—decorated with three William Morris-like wallpaper designs. Virgil took down the installations by cutting its walls — drywall — into two-by-three-foot sections. The panel I have reads, ‘If one tells the truth.’ The full quote is, ‘If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out.’”

Shelley Spector Print “One of the artists I’ve worked with at the PMJA, Shelley Spector, is also a gallerist and curator. Everybody loves Shelley, and she’s had a transforming impact on Philadelphia’s art scene.”

Jonathan Adler Tea Service “Mark bought this really early, we think, handmade and extensive tea service on eBay for under $100.”

Matt Singer
Professions: Writer, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and
volunteer curator, Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art
NEIGHBORHOOD: Graduate Hospital
COLLECTION: Arts and Crafts furniture and pottery, Jonathan Adler pottery, modern Judaica, art by Philadelphia artists

Adorning the sunny Center City townhouse Matt Singer shares with Mark Pozzi, seated, and especially handsome Lhasa apso Oscar, are neon ski caps and a crumbling frieze, Mission chairs and embroidered toile pillows, shelves of playful Jonathan Adler pottery, and walls of edgy sculptures and paintings by very on-their-way Philadelphia artists. “I’ve always had the collecting impulse,” says Singer. “It’s only been a very recent shift in consciousness that makes Mark and me even start to think of the contents of our home as a ‘collection’ … Before, it was simply a matter of wanting to live with things we loved, and finding a way to do it that fit our wallets.”

Cary Leibowitz Ski Caps “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; for me, it happens to encompass a fluorescent ski cap in knit synthetics emblazoned with ‘Shalom Slalom’ by Cary Leibowitz.”

Jim Houser Painting “Jim Houser is associated with Space 1026, a local group of artists that are really committed to making art — great, inspired art — that regular people can afford to buy.”

Vintage Chair “I haunted antiques malls and second-hand stores all over central Pennsylvania, and developed a little collection of Mission furniture. I even found a matching Stickley armchair and rocker — although they were by Charles Stickley, the least known Stickley brother.”

Virgil Marti Frieze “Virgil Marti had an installation in Eastern State Penitentiary in 1995 called ‘For Oscar Wilde.’ He created a dream of an Aesthetic Movement jail cell for Wilde—who spent two years in English prisons for gross indecency—decorated with three William Morris-like wallpaper designs. Virgil took down the installations by cutting its walls — drywall — into two-by-three-foot sections. The panel I have reads, ‘If one tells the truth.’ The full quote is, ‘If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out.’”

Shelley Spector Print “One of the artists I’ve worked with at the PMJA, Shelley Spector, is also a gallerist and curator. Everybody loves Shelley, and she’s had a transforming impact on Philadelphia’s art scene.”

Jonathan Adler Tea Service “Mark bought this really early, we think, handmade and extensive tea service on eBay for under $100.”