DoNArTNeWs

Amie Potsic’s photo series - Made in China: Poor Working Conditions, Poverty, Tainted Exports & Made in China @ Lightroom Salon in the Fairmount neighborhood.  Potsic’s Asian motif pairs exquisitely with Julia Blaukopf’s print of a collage made from her own photographic source material.  The photography takes the visitor on a trip to the Far East with a finely honed American gaze, like the Impressionists, DoN is still attracted to the shapes and color of the East.

Julia Blaukopf, digital print on fabric @ Lightroom Salon.  Julia is a fellow of the Center of Emerging Visual Artists, it it so cool to see how the relationship building and social networking of the artist development team at CFEVA creates a great merger of styles, personalities and techniques; the synergy of the exhibit feels so personal and memorable with the vibe real friendship and cooperation.

Genevieve Coutroubis &  John Karpinski, photograph with drawing and Julia Blaukopf prints lined along the mantle.  The gallery on Wallace Street is elegant and welcoming, it’s really fun to get to see the old world architecture.

Genevieve Coutroubis &  John Karpinski - the turtle is a symbol of long life, the dream of all artists if not for themselves then their art.  The art team involves trust, understanding and strength in creating powerful narrative and clear composition; viewing a successful collaboration makes DoN remember working in teams is still possible.

Jill Katz, Yamdrok Yso Lake en route to Gyantse, Tibet and Everest Base Camp (elevation 17,060 ft.), archyval pigment print.  The colorful scarves emanate prayers into the wind, a transcendent thought to merge with the images.

Julia Blaukopf is experimenting with photography and tile - cool-hunting tip!

Photos by DoN.

Charles Cushing @ Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Festival, mid September 2010.

The Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Festival attracts artists and collectors to the famous park in Center City, the perimeter lined with white tents each artist displaying their collection in the late Summer heat.  DoN talked with Philly favorite, fine artist Charles Cushing about the large scale painting attracting crowds to his booth - he worked on the oil painting over several months creating a nose-bleed view of the ball park all the way down town.

The Philly Fall art scene explodes this weekend with Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Photography 2010 @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia Images @ The Plastic Club and DoN Brewer’s one-person show, Dark Matter, @ Bonte’s Cafe, 17th & Sansom Sts., a Photographic Society of Philadelphia event- this is the weekend to plan your art crawl carefully to experience the unique, open, accessible art world embedded in Philadelphia culture.  And the Phillies clinch fourth straight playoff berth - Go Phillies!

Photo by DoN, 2010.

Kodak Digital Cameras

Jacob Koestler ,Window, Rochester, NY, photograph, 2010.

Jacob Koestler lives in Johnstown, PA. near Pittsburgh where he is a member of a shared art space called 709 Railroad Street, his photographs are included in a group show at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists, his second time showing in Philly.  Three years ago Koestler’s work was included in the first collabo with Pittsburgh Center for the Arts in the space on Rittenhouse Square.  In Selection From Cluster, the photographer was invited by Amie Potsic to include the group of photos based on a revenge dream narrative where a rich boy who wants to be a rock star inherits the perfect secluded mansion in Rochester, NY, equipped with all required to live the life of the privileged, surrounded by collaborators, a dream home for him in contrast to the suburban dream home his own father is building for himself.  The series is like a metaphor for art killing the father, each generation must claim their own turf.

Michael Sherwin, True North, pigment prints mounted to steel.  The series of prints explore fuzzy animism & techno-geek virtuosity - mounting the prints on steel is very cool, calculated & hard yet amorphous and squirmy like finding ancient artifacts from Mars.

“This exhibition exchange is part of an ongoing collaboration by CFEVA and PF/PCA Created in order to strengthen the artistic dialogue between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Cluster was originally presented at The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and curated by Adam Welch. The Philadelphia presentation of this exhibition was curated by Amie Potsic. Participating artists: Dee Briggs, Connie Cantor, Nayda Collazo-Llorens, Kyle Houser, Ben Kehoe, Jacob Koestler, Michael Sherwin, Lenore Thomas.”  CFEVA Website.

Dee Briggs

The steel draws lines of shadows in the alcove @ CFEVA Gallery, as the airy shape slowly rotated the play of light & dark created a living drawing.  DoN observed people dreamily staring, imagining how they could clear out their living room to make space for Dee Briggs sculpture - the artists website is cool, too.  CFEVA  @ 15th & Locust Sts.

Nayda Collazo-Llorens, Test 32, gesso, ink & pigmented marker on canvas.  The large drawing is engrossing like looking at a Chuck Close.  Little blobby shapes coalesce and entwine, connecting dots in the brain, melding mind maps spread out across the canvas like an alien landscape, coordinates marks each other trying to signal and cooperate with all elements to capture your attention.  DoN loves marker art.

Selection From Cluster is a unique opportunity to view art from PA’s other big city - Jacob Koestler described to DoN a vibrant downtown art scene/district in Pittsburgh with a fun First Friday.  Thanks to CFEVA for opening the lines of communication with artists across PA.

2010 Philadelphia Open Studio Tours -  pdf

Register @ http://www.philaopenstudios.com/Opportunities.aspx

DoN Brewer @ his artist reception.  All event photos by Peter Prusinowski.

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists hosted an artist reception for DoN Brewer and the Philadelphia Art-erati turned out in full force - friends & colleagues from the past, present & future converged on the Coffee Bar @ 17th & Locust to support DoN’s explorations into photography.  Amie Potsic of CFEVA (& fellow photographer) and Ann Koivunen worked with the Coffee Bar to have a POST (Philadelphia Open Studio Tours) artist show in their recently remodeled cafe - the buttery walls and excellent lighting is so satisfying and easy on the eyes the photos have never looked better - and out of 30 artists the team presented, they picked DoN.  What an incredible honor & pleasure to represent Philadelphia Artists in the venerable Warwick Hotel, a landmark & planetary crossroad; DoN overheard languages from all over the world, it is so gratifying to have the work stand on it’s own, this being the largest collection of DoN’s “light being” series to date.

Muralist David Guinn, his Dad & Plastic Club former President Mike Guinn, the back of Ted Warschal’s head, Cynthia Arkin (manager of The Plastic Club website), UArts’ Regina Barthmeier, DoN, Ona Kalstein and Rob Stauffer (Rob mounted, matted and framed most of the show, his outstanding presentation skills enhances the work immeasurably) @ the Artist Reception for “light beings“.

Enhabitues of the Philly art scene, Regina & Lisa lounge below light being (Thelma) @ the artist reception for DoN Brewer’s light beings show @ The Coffee Bar - these intrepid art crawlers have been extremely supportive of DoN’s career and have been present at almost every art event important to his reputation.  Having friends be there when you need them is so important to an artists ego - Merci!

Ann Koivunen of The Center for Emerging Visual Artists manages the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours submissions (going on now) and took DoN’s feeble attempt at image size accuracy and created the terrific transparent labels, a beautiful bio book and documentation - Thank you Ann for your patience!

light being (Leo Seeger), DoN Brewer @ The Coffee Bar, The Radisson Warwick Hotel through July 2010.  This image has appeared in several art shows from the Philadelphia Sketch Club’s Absolutely Abstract Show to The University of Princeton Medical Center’s ArtFirst show to The Beauty Shop Cafe @ 20th & Fitzwater - DoN LoVeS it when people start seeing “light beings” in the wild.

Thanks to Shoshana Aron, Alden Cole & Les Howard for helping hang the show, Rob Stauffer for framing and the Center for Emerging Visual Artists for their tireless support of artists in Philadelphia.  DoN will be announcing an artist talk date soon.

Special thanks to Peter Prusinowski for photographing the event and his support and friendship, it’s such a good feeling to be recognized as an artist by peers - Philadelphia XOXO.

light being (Diana), DoN Brewer, digital photograph.

light being (Carl Sagan), DoNBrewerMultimedia Photography @ The Radisson Warwick Hotel, The Coffee Bar.

light beings (May & Andy), DoN Brewer, digital photograph.

The Coffee Bar at The Radisson Warwick Hotel @ 17th & Locust Streets in Philly is spotlighting fourteen photographs from DoN’s series titled “light beings“, February 26th through July 30th, 2010.  Strictly landscape, the images of reflections on urban surfaces seem mysterious or manipulated, the photographs evoke thoughts of what we may become - beings of light traveling at unimaginable speeds in all directions of the universe at once.

DoN was contacted by Amy Potsic of the Center for Emerging Visual Artists inquiring if he could mount a one person show with only two weeks notice?  Duh?  Amy and Ann Koivunen selected 14 images out of twenty-two, Rob Stauffer helped DoN with framing, custom mats & non-glare glass, Shoshka, Aldy & Les helped install the show - art is hard work, man!  You have to know math!?!  The Coffee Bar space is fabu, good light, great Einstein coffee, yummy food and it’s a bar at night!  How cool is that?

Artist Reception: April 7, 2010, 5-7PM.

Photos by DoNBrewerMultimedia Photography.

DoN Brewer with artist Arthur Ostroff @ DoNBrewerMultimedia, POST - X, 2009.

Artist, Mina Smith-Segal checking out DoN’s central command post.  Mina leads the studio workshops at the Philadelphia Sketch Club.

Artist, Clif Anderson visited DoN’s open studio with his lovely wife Henny.  Clif is a terrific musician and artist, his work will be on display at Bryn Mawr Rehab Center’s annual exhibit, Art Ability fearturing work by artists from around the world - opening 11/7/2009.

Neighbor Melody, DoN & artist/framer/teacher Rob Stauffer @ DonBrewerMultimedia POST-X 2009.

Photographer, Morris Klein @ DoN’s POST open house.  Klein is VP of The Photographic Society of Philadelphia.

Saturday afternoon, DoN hosted more than 25 visitors to his studio - art dogs KaTy & Doofie (the St. Bernard/Chihuahua mix)  guarded the gate and made sure all visitors are dog lovers.

DoN Brewer, self portrait, acrylic, collage, 1976.

Ben Cohen, pastel, 2008.

Kim Martin, oil, 2009.

Mike Guinn, pencil, 2009.

Karl Olsen, oil, 2009.

Paul DuSold, oil, 2007.

Alden Cole, oil on wood, 2008.

Michael Tantaros, pencil, 2009.

Participating in the annual Philadelphia Open Studio Tours means really putting yourself out there for all to see.  Being an artist model also puts one under a focussed gaze, the experience inspired DoN to ask some of his artist friends to contribute works created when DoN modeled at The Plastic Club and the Philadelphia Sketch Club.  Thank you to all the fine artists who provided their work, it feels so narcissistic but DoN LoVeS the attention!

DoN Brewer, self portrait, charcoal, chalk & conte on paper @ The Da Vinci Art Alliance.

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.