Alden Cole with his Aldenized art chair @ Outsider Folk Art Gallery @ Goggleworks.
Ostensibly, the star of the show is self-taught artist Harriet Wiseman with her Modigliani-esque paintings of ladies and mise en seine on wood, palettes and ledger covers. Wiseman told DoNshe had never heard of Modigliani until people started telling her about the resemblence to the master and others like Chagall and Kokoschka – nice company to keep! She began studying art books in the library and soon understood the references; Wiseman is extremely prolific and has truly established a unique style all her own.
Oil painting by Harriet Wiseman @ Outsider Folk Art Gallery.
Wild Palms II, paint on cardboard, Jim Bloom @ Outsider Art Gallery.
Owner, George Viener, is an extensive self-taught art collector and expert in contemporary folk and outsider art; at one time he held 250 of Blooms paintings. Curator Emily Christenson toldDoN that Jon Clark of Home and Planet in Bethlehem cherry-picked the most angst-ridden pieces for the superb show held earlier this year in his gallery.
Alden Cole‘s dumpster-diver art perfectly suits the space, it wasn’t long before someone took the painted, re-upholstered chair off it’s pedestal to take a load off and it seemed as if everyone took a turn sitting on the art-chair. Alden’s fantastical luminaries softly glowed around the room, it was super-fun to watch the patrons with dropped jaws staring at the hypnotically changing lights.
The Goggle Works in Reading is a wonderful art space with five floors of studios and galleries as well as a recently installed LED light show in the windows of the old brick facade brightening the downtown scene with art and innovation. DoN and friends are planning a trip back to Reading to view more, more, more…
Alden Cole will be participating in the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours as well as an up-coming show at Smile Gallery, make sure you visit his gallery/studio in South Philly the second weekend in October.
Panoramic shot of Outsider Folk Arts Gallery in Reading, PA.