Focus on Galleries

David J. Kennedy at Arthur Ross Gallery. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, at 13th and Locust Streets, has the largest holdings of watercolors by David J. Kennedy but rarely has had the opportunity to exhibit them. Now, some of his fetching views of the city, loaned by the society to the University of Pennsylvania's Arthur Ross Gallery, are the stars of "West Philadelphia: Building a Community." Kennedy, a Scot, was a railroad clerk who taught himself to paint and went on to capture most of Philadelphia on paper. The English artist William Birch already had depicted views of Philadelphia in his popular prints, but did not take nearly as exhaustive an approach as Kennedy, who seemed possessed by his adopted city. It's fair to say he did for Philadelphia what the photographers Eugene Atget and Berenice Abbott did for Paris and New York, but earlier. (Through Oct. 11; 215-898-2083 or www.upenn.edu/ARG.)

Locks Gallery. Locks opens its fall season with a memorial exhibition for Philadelphia artist Thomas Chimes, who died on April 20, 2008, his 88th birthday. Chimes, whose mysterious paintings celebrated his heroes Marcel Duchamp, Thomas Eakins, and Alfred Jarry, among others, and whose career was the subject of a 2007 retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, will be represented by landscape and crucifixion paintings made between 1958 and 1965. The show's catalogue will include the artist's poems from that period, never previously published. (Through Oct. 16; 215-629-1000 or www.locksgallery.com.)

Vox Populi. Its September show contains intriguing offerings, including the video Walking After Acconci (Redirected Approaches), by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, who began collaborating as students at Goldsmiths, University of London, and are known for their reenactments of art-historical events. Their appreciation of performance artist Vito Acconci's 1973 filmed performance of himself walking a hall in imaginary conversation with an ex-lover takes on the style of a contemporary music video. (Through Sept. 27; 215-238-1236 or www.voxpopuligallery.org.)

The Print Center. The current "Streets of Philadelphia: Photography 1970–1985," demonstrates how compelling the cityscape was in the funky days of downturn and disco, as seen by Ray K. Metzker, David Graham, Nancy Hellebrand, Stephen Shore, Paul Cava, Harvey Finkle, George Krause, and others. (Through Nov. 10, 215-735-6090 or www.printcenter.org.)