DoNArTNeWs

Carol Prusa draws the pattern on the surface of the dome then highlights with paint, drills holes and installs fiber optics that change pattern.  So spacy!  Prusa spends hours meticulously drawing the hypnotic patterns.  The passage of time and space is inherent to the work on view @ Stedman Gallery on the Rutgers Campus in Camden.

Eric Fauscnacht paints chickens - large scale paintings with exotic fowls portrayed against decorative backdrops.  His painterly style is decorative and accessable yet strange and magestic, portraying the humble creatures with style, wit and precision.  Shawn Murray’s gallery is a perfectly beautiful space which features member artists with one or two person shows in the main room and a terrific group of paintings by the other coalition members in the back space.  Libby Rosoff commented on how many animal paintings she has been seeing in various shows.  DoN has noticed a lot of deer in recent shows; the animal image is primal and deep and must be plucking that nerve string in the group consciousness like a viral meme. 

Eric Fausnacht @ TwentyTwo Gallery.

TwentyTwo Gallery in Center City, Philly. 

 Lauren Sweeney’s delicate watercolors paired with Fauscnacht’s elaborate chicken paintings is fantastical, inspiring and strange, the show makes DoN want to get back into the studio and paint.

TwentyTwo Gallery member artist, Reta Sweeney in the on-going group exhibit @ 236 South 22nd Street.

TwentyTwo Gallery member artist, Edwin Bronstein in the on-going group exhibit @ 236 South 22nd Street. 

Mary Ann Strandell @ Stedman Gallery.  The large scale 3D lenticular print, “Loving Monkey“, 2008, is just fabulous.  Pop and nostalgia blended with painterly and studied drawing is like a psychedelic flash forward - imagine these panels really big and everywhere, the images are never quite repeated drawing the viewer into layers of design, signifiers and simulacra.

Mary Ann Standell, “The Meme Tree“, sumi and gouache drawing with 3D lenticular prints Tiki Town Red, Wander, Making Water, Monkey Orb.  DoN LoVeS MeMeS!!!

 Mmmm…cake. 

Justin Duerr’s self-decorated opening night party cake @ St. Asaph’s Gallery in Bala.

The students of the Rutger’s fine arts department made this cake for the opening reception of “To Be or Not To Be ; The Painter’s Dilemma“, an excellent symposium on contemporary painting held on the Rutger’s Camden campus. 

 David Foss‘ B’Day cupcakes at 333 South Street Gallery.

DoN’s niece, Candice’s nursing school graduation cake.

This cake has reiki on it! 

The future of painting and image-making was the core of two day symposium at Rutgers University Fine Arts. With introductions to more than a dozen amazing painters, fantastically futuristic images, meme trees, 3D linticular prints and vast amounts of computer-based presentations in four information packed presentations.   DoN likes to go someplace cool for his birthday like NYC but Bruce Garrity one of the coordinators reached out to DoN about the symposium; it turns out Camden is pretty damn cool.  Libby Rosoff of artblog (OMFG!! - a blog legend) was the moderator for Friday’s panel, “Painting,  So What?“, Libby & DoN had only met through Facebook and now we actually know each other in real life.  Rosoff lead a strong discussion of the relevance of painting and what constitutes painting in the world today and really kept the discussion and presentations on target.  Each artist did a video presentation and talk about their art and then Libby moderated questions from the audience with the panel offering thoughtful opinions on what constitute art today.  

The symposium was organized by Margery Amdur and Bruce Garrity who authoritatively and wisely organized panel discussions about art and the relevance of image-making in the post-modern age.  The art on view in The Stedman Gallery is post-post modern contemporary with a futurist beam of thought-bubbles enveloping the diverse media on view in the galleries.  The future is here and it’s about “experience design”, from Camden to Outer Space and back, the dual show at Stedman Gallery and Hopkins House is a retrofitted future fantasy.

 Amy S. Kauffman - a UArts Alum, Holla Back, Girl! - makes her mark by folding tootsie roll, gum and candy wrappers in endless numbers of little paper boats or paper chains such as this enormous coil @ Hopkins House Gallery.  

Pam Longobardi mixes objects that have drifted loose from the giant plastic pollution blob floating in the middle of the oceans with images of plastic bits that have been deformed and reshaped by the ocean and cast up on the beach - check out driftwebs.com .  Pam’s story of how she discovered these objects is totally engrossing, as are her paintings such as “Surge” a painting full of the tension of tidal waves and fragile power grids.

DoN collected so much information to share about the other panelists including Carol Prusa’s entrancing dome drawings with fiber optic lights, Liz Brown’s dioramas of mismatched dumb stuff and Steve Pauley’s gravestone-like carvings of vending machines, anthrax letters and homeland security advisory guides…deep.

Scott Noel @ Gross McCleaf Gallery.  Facile paint and a strong eye melded with a futuristic/ancient vibe makes these large paintings timeless and relevant.  With a wink at Ingres and a nod to David, Noel paints like he really knows what he’s doing.  This painting, “Is That All There Is?” is enormous and packed with narrative information; mixing styles and metaphors as fluidly as paint itself.  A portrait of Bill Scott hangs in the Stedman Gallery on the Rutgers campus and I know Bill must be so proud because Noel really makes people look good, approachable and intelligent.DoN spent the day on the Rutger’s Camden campus attending the “To Be or Not To Be” symposium on painting moderated by art blogger Libby Rosoff.  Today’s panel was excellent - Noel will be on tomorrow’s. DoN finds the show in the Stedman Gallery to be really edgy and cool, really incorporating new media and modern mark making such as video and venticular prints right next to paintings - painting on photographs and even the lenticular prints was felt really Jetson-eque, like DoN is finally living in the future. 

Congratulations Kathryn, from all the Da Vinci Art Alliance members on your upcoming cover story in American Craft magazine!!!

The article below on Kathryn will appear in the April/May issue of American Craft magazine with the cover story called Urban Fabric which details her career in murals, fiber art, social activism, painting, and making Philadelphia a better place to live.  Kathryn, who is currently on the Board of Directors and was past Director of Da Vinci, we are so proud and happy for you Kathryn.  Pick up a copy of American Craft in bookstores in April or go to their website to get a preview, with many photos of Kathryn’s many projects.

Congrats Kathryn, we love you!!!!!  

David Foss, executive director Da Vinci Art Alliance (from his e-mail to the Da Vinci Art Alliance).  

The story on American Crafts online magazine is really cool, too.  DoN LoVeS Kathryn; she’s an artist who actually affects change on our urban fabric, the murals at Broad & Lehigh will aid in the revitalization of the city.

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists has installed a show called Treasures at the Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Building @ 1701 Market Street featuring works by Career Development Programs Fellows.  The spacious lobby is displaying works by some of DoN’s favorite CFEVA artists including Scott Pelnat, John Woodin, Ben Volta, Danielle Bursk, Brenna K. Murphy and many more - the works are of a smaller scale and affordably priced.  The art party was well attended and some of the works sold while the wine flowed and patrons nibbled the tasty buffet. DoN spoke with Amy Potsic about how CFEVA installs “Custom Exhibitions” in public spaces where the art and artists can be exposed to the world at large instead of the confines of a gallery.  For more than three years this important organization has placed works in offices, lobbies and corporate spaces where potential collectors can view art in their own environment, often resulting in sales for the artists.

Ben Volta’s “Steam Punk Kosmos 3 ” @ Treasures, 1701 Market Street. 

Scott Pelnat’s plastic sculptures at CFEVA’s Treasures exhibit. 

Danielle Bursk, Gregory Brellochs, & Danielle Bursk, CFEVA Fellows @ 1701 Market Street. 

Check it out - a wide angle shot of Justin Duerr’s incredible show at St. Asaph’s.  DoN can’t stop thinking about Justin’s story about his first job in a bakery.  The boss was mean - we’ve all had mean bosses but this jerk took the cake - but Justin learned to decorate cakes and design with frosting. Duerr decorated his own cake for the opening party with day-glo orange piping of a woman’s face. The framing by Robert Bullock of Coalition Ingenu is truly superior, some of Duerr’s drawings are five feet or more with thin plexiglass offering distortion free viewing.  Learn more about Coalition Ingenu and the fine work they do using art to improve people’s lives and our community, you’ll be inspired - Shoska & DoN LoVe this show and art space! 

Ion Zupcu is a conceptual photographer - first he sketches out his ideas, then constructs tiny one inch square sculptures from black paper photographing the simple forms and meticulously producing inventive gelatin silver prints which read like drawings.  Some of his photos are titled after favorite artists such as “Dear Frank” which is dedicated to Frank Stella.

Ion Zupcu @ Gallery 339 

Ion Zupcu’s “Dear Frank” @ Gallery 339. 

Yuichi Hibi’s Neco is a room full of pictures of cats that he photographs in NYC, Paris, Tokyo… Hibi tells DoN, “cats are way more mysterious than dogs” and that his images “don’t portray cats as cute or sweet.  I’m looking for the Hitchcock-ian moment.”   You will just have to visit the beautiful Gallery 339 @ 21st and Pine streets and spend some time absorbing the narrative of the delicate, contrasty black and white images of these wonderfully mysterious beasts. 

 Yuichi Hibi’s cat photos @ Gallery 339.

Gallery 339 artists Yuichi Hibi @ Sarah Stolfa @ the opening night party. 

The 2nd floor of Gallery 339 is an oasis of fine art photography featuring work by Martin McNamara’s extraordinary artists.  Last month DoN missed Tetesugo Hyakutake’s fantastic wide aspect photographs in the main gallery but fine examples of his work can be found here to study in the quiet privacy of the upper level.

Tetesugo Hyakutake @ Gallery 339.