After Dr. Deb’s lecture about Andy Warhol @ Fleisher, DoN visited the studio of Karen McDonnell & Anthony Cortosi – the art team behind award-winning, evocative stencil, spray paint and mixed media paintings appropriately iconic images of Elvis, Betty Grable, Janet Leigh, and much like Andy Warhol, even Factory Superstars like Joe Dallesandro.  The difference is the McDonnell/Cortosi hive mind extracts the images from media, then cuts the stencils, sprays the paint, makes marks, composes word structures  –  making each piece different even if in series, instead of slavishly copying with silk screen; it’s not so much appropriation as it is appreciation of popular culture, visual iconography, memes, idols, graffiti tagging, sticker art, words, naive primitivism and cave painting.

The team currenty has a show @ Roger Lapelle Galleries in Old City.

 Karen McDonnell & Anthony Cortosi.

Dr. Deb Miller compared Andy Warhol’s Cow wallpaper to Flemish cow paintings; McDonnell/Cortosi continues the theme of farm animals as subject for decorative paintings now created with spray-paint, stencils and markers, once to fill the homes of wealthy landowners, now it’s downtown lofts and street art.

The studio of Karen McDonnell & Anthony Cortosi.