DoNArTNeWs

Amy Stevens cakes @ POST 10 party at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

Amy Stevens - CFEVA 2008 Alumni - made the art cakes for the POST 10th Anniversary party in University City.

Art Party People - Ed Bronstein (a POST founder), photographer Danny Reilly (who’s having a one-person show @ Bonte’s on 17th this October), Ron (we studied together @ Fleisher with James Dupree), Andrew Pirie (former CFEVA rep)…Shoshka, Alden & DoN ate cake & sipped wine with Margaret Anderson of heavybubble.com, Brooke Hine, CFEVA director Holly Lentz,  Genevieve Coutroubis (with her pretty baby), Tremain Smith (encaustic artist), and so many more.  Hopefully the tradition of having the kickoff parties for future POST events at the ICA continues since it’s the epitome of contemporary art spaces in Philly.

Textile artist & muralist, Kathryn Pannepacker arrives via moped at the POST 10th Anniversary party @ the ICA.

Collaborative paintings by Kim Martin & Karl Olsen in the upstairs gallery/studio of the venerable Plastic Club allowing the large scale unmounted paintings pride of place.  Many visitors to the club remarked how the space looked so chic, like an atelier in Paris.

Kim & Karl worked together for eleven months to produce the fantastical installation of paintings; the first floor gallery is dedicated to works created by the artists as individuals with the room split right down the middle.

 Al Gury said he liked this collabo the best because of the composition.  Even though the distinct styles are visible, the two halves work together as a cohesive whole.  The simple materials, limited palette, fast hand and apparent mind-meld produced this trippy drawing.

This painting was one of the duo’s latest collaborations with no restraint, no bumping elbows, no hard feelings even if one painted out the others favorite patch, it’s also one of the first collaborations they started.

Karl Olsen’s self portrait is reminiscent of Ralph Stedman, Hans Bellmer and Thomas Hart Benton’s prediliction to distortion, confusing perspectives and introspective investigation.

light being (Diana) - DoN Brewer

“MAKE ME CRAZY MAKE ME THINK”
Location:  Plastic Club, 247 S. Camac St., Philadelphia
Opening Reception:  Saturday Sept 26th 6pm - 8pm
Reception and Presentation:  Sunday September 27th 1pm - 4pm
The “Make Me Crazy Make Me Think” exhibition is the culmination of ten months of collaborative work by Karl Olsen and Kim Martin. The concept was to paint our individual self portraits together, side by side at the same time, on the same canvas. The process of painting “ourselves” in this relative setting, the work reflects those dynamics in subtle and sometimes dramatic ways. How we worked, discussed, and managed the totality of each painting was tense, thought provoking, stimulating and included continual compromise with individual and collective interpretation.The result was 11 highly differing pieces averaging 6′ x 6′.

Images courtesy of www.coldnose.org - Kim Martin’s website.

Paul Rider, Chance 1 - 20, photographic prints each 16″ square.

Keiko Miyamori, Birdcage, mixed media installation.

Cecelia Rembert, Given, oil on canvas.

Paul Rider, Primitive 1 - 3, photographic prints.

Art shows don’t hang around long enough but DoN got to see In conversation with the Oracle at the Center for Emerging Visual Artist’s gallery twice.  Both times spending time alone with the art was engrossing and thought provoking: Paul Rider’s photographs of blades of grass read like charcoal mark-making, Keiko Miyamori’s birdcage installation bring mythological stories to mind of caged beauties or harpies, Cecelia Rembert’s paintings are bold reminders of how much fun paintings can be.

The cul-de-sac seems to be a particular spot of inspiration for artist’s, Miyamori’s sculptures speak with each other adding color to the myths hidden in the art - the use of found material is particularly romantic, not the lovey dovey kind of romance but the romance of danger and fear as if an adventurer returned with a giant strange bird which has escaped it’s confines.

Frank Rausch @ The Marketplace at East Falls.  Rausch is a member of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia; his dream like images of rippling water are easily recognizable as Rausch’s style.  The Marketplace at East Falls was the home of the first computer, ENIAC, but is now a great farmer’s market with a bakery, coffee, food court, craftspeople and vendors.  Rausch has prime display space with a great view of Laurel Hill - it’s so cool to go to a new space and find art made by friends.

Frank Rausch @ PSoP 16×20 show in Bonte’s Cafe, 1321 Walnut Street.  The current show will be on exhibit through October.

Photographic Society of Philadelphia @ Bonte’s 13th & Walnut.

Karl Olsen & Kim Martin having been doing daily self portraits for 30 days.

 Foxy Brown, Karen McDonnell & Tony Cortosi @ Heroines and Harlots:  Women in History  Annual Juried Exhibition  9-27 September 2009.

Alden Cole, The Charge of the Goddess, drawing.  Cole won honorable mention for this enigmatic mixed media drawing; drawing is the root of all design and communication.

 Da Vinci Art Alliance member artists Liz Nicklus & Regina Barthmaier with their entries to Heroines & Harlots.  DoN LoVeS Regina’s Industrial Barbie print with hand-pressed type collaged onto the frame - really beautiful, decorative and slyly subversive.  Liz’s Pandora’s Box is such a fantastic meme - DoN really wants to know what’s inside?

Liz Nicklus, Pandora’s Box, mixed media.

Heroines and Harlots:  Women in History  Annual Juried Exhibition  9-27 September 2009 - Da Vinci Art Alliance

First Prize, Jason Scuilla, Pallazzo with Spirits, Dance of Salome, etching.  As Dr. Deb Miller and H & H judge Kathryn McFadden of Fleisher Art Memorial pointed out, there are no women in the image, only the results of decisions made by women are portrayed in the etching.  DoN heard a statistic the other day that highlighted if more women were in positions of power there would be less conflict in the world.

Little Red Riding Hood Avenging Grandma, Anna Volburgh.  Grrrl!!! (more…)