Seven Dishsoaps, Peter Seidel @ Da Vinci Art Alliance, 7th & Catharine Streets in South Philly. Peter Seidel won the Da Vinci Art Alliance Gold Medal for his superb painting.
DoN Brewer, Heptagon, photoshop. DoN was honored to be on the jury committee to select the medal winners, which also freed him to produce whatever he wanted for the show. Seven will be shown at The Noyes Museum annex in Hammonton, NJ this Fall.
Lois Allen Charles, Seven Waterlillies and Lilliana Didovic, Seven Elephants @ Seven, the current member exhibition at Da Vinci Art Alliance has a wide interpretation of the symbolism of the number seven, yet the discussion around the sign went on long after the show was installed. The DVAA exhibitions committee really tapped into a concept the members could grok.
Anna Vosburgh, Hope 1 @ Da Vinci Art Alliance - Anna is not only a great painter, she’s a blogger!
Alden Cole completed his series of self portraits portraying the Seven Deadly Sins, the first three sins are included in a painting Cole produced for DVAA’s Henry IV, Part 1 @ The Lantern Theater Company’s Black Box Gallery. These two panels, though, are more explosively emotional, brashly colorful and deeply introspective; Alden acts for the camera then paints the facial expressions with light, color fields and texture as if he’s looking deep into your being, reflecting back the many faces of sin.
Carol Wisker with her award winning mixed media creation, Machine: War Games Series, when the show first opened at Smile Gallery, Carol won Best in Show. The huge gallery space at RRCA is a wonderful opportunity to see most of the original show hanging together again. 3rd Friday in Millville was really fun with live entertainment tucked into every park, alley and plaza including a glee club performance!!! The creative vibe of the monthly event with art shows, restaurants and shops welcome visitors warmly with small town ambiance and upscale art.
Ted Warchal @ Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts special exhibit, Through My Window, A Da Vinci Art Alliance Members Exhibit. Ted, Ona & DoN are members of the Board of Directors of Da Vinci, thanks to all the artists & volunteers who arranged for the art to show up on time and to Dr. Debra Miller & David Foss for the expert installation, the RRCA is a wonderful exhibition space.
David Foss & Nicole Koenitzer.
Betsy Alexander’s Sci-Fi homage drew some teenage geeks into the gallery who seemed mesmerized at the depth of knowledge in the obscure references. Burnell Yow! told DoN he was hesitant when Betsy voiced her encyclopedic idea - but beam me up!
DoN Brewer’s drawing of Paris rooftops is paired perfectly with Lilliana Didovic’s Boathouse Row painting.
The concept pf Through My Window is that more than 20 artists were offered a window to do whatever they wanted with, the result is a uniquely Philadelphian art perspective: Bobbie Adams, Betsy Alexander, Jesse Best, DoN Brewer, Rachel Citrino. Alden Cole. Lilliana Didovic, Jerry di Falco, David Foss, Carl Johnson, Ona Kalstein, Nicole Koenitzer, Gail Kotel, Rikard Larma, Lee Muslin, Liz Nicklus, Kathryn Pannepacker, Michael Shane Simmons, Mike Sweeney, Ted Warchal, Carol Wisker & Burnell Yow!
Our annual members show in July is on the theme of Seven; there is no entry fee for submissions, all work will be included, per rules on attached prospectus. The exhibition will travel to The Noyes Museum of Art in October!
CALENDAR FOR JULY MEMBERS SHOW:
Delivery of labeled art work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . June 27, 2010, 5-7 pm & July 7, 6-8pm
Installation of show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 8, beginning at 11 am
Opening Reception and Awards Presentation . . . . . . . . . July 10, 6-9pm
Pick-up of unsold art work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 25, 4-6 pm & July 26, 5-7 pm
*The PPT lecture on “Depictions of the 7 Deadly Sins in Northern European Art of the 15th-17th Centuries” will be presented by Da Vinci President Deb Miller, supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
All events are free and open to the public. Please plan to attend, and to invite guests!
While Alan Klawans, the Exhibitions Chair of The Plastic Club, awarded honors for the excellent Black & White show, DoN observed sunlight creeping across Vetiado # 48, a mixed media painting by Louisa Velben. The painting glittered as if diamonds are embedded in the surface but the illusion was shiny paint bubbles in the thickly painted and swirled liquid.
Pulled From The Darkness, Erik Melendez, charcoal.
Karl Richard Olsen, Portrait, graphite. Bill Meyers, of PSoP, volunteer posed at the Plastic Club, the likeness is striking yet loose and free.
Rebecca Miller, Overrripe: Compost 3, graphite. Miller is completing the Master program @ PAFA, studying with the extraordinary Scott Noel; this piece was created by drawing on gessoed board, draw with graphite, layer watered gesso over the drawing, let dry, draw some more…the result is an award winning drawing. Miller also took home a prize the same day from The Philadelphia Sketch Club for an oil painting. Seeing young new talent emerging from local art schools with the skill of masters participating in the grass roots arts movement in Philly is extremely satisfying.
Alden Cole, Dancing in the Dark, pencil and Leroy Fornoy,Night Bus, oil. Pairing these two graphic pieces is genius - Cole’s trippy Starlings dance ecstatically and Fornoy’s painting has a Manga skate-punk nihilist vibe.
One of the great aspects of this show is the variety of media displayed, now that photography is accepted in the art circles as a legitimate art form, many Photographic Society of Philadelphia members have the opportunity to show with their work along side traditional media - some photographers even entered paintings!
Arthur Ostroff, Floreal Ancienne, ink jet print.
Riikka Salo, Windows to Spruce, photograph.
Lois Schlachter, Exhibitions Chair of The Philadelphia Sketch Club, and Alan Klawans, Exhibitions Chair of The Plastic Club, at the Black & White Show. The Philadelphia Sketch Club opened their 147th Annual Exhibitions of Small Oil Paintings the same afternoon - between the two art clubs there are over 300 new art works by contemporary Philadelphia area artists to see. The juxtaposition of two strong theme shows is visually and psychologically invigorating, one show is limited to size and medium, the other limited to no color, the problem-solving and creativity of the artists is inspiring, entertaining and lucid.
Dog by Karen McDonnell & Anthony Cortosi perfectly encapsulates the theme of this groundbreaking, historic art show curated by Jody Schweitzer of Off the Wall Gallery @ Dirty Franks Bar on the corner of 13th & Pine Streets, bringing together artists from the dual art clubs, The Plastic Club & The Philadelphia Sketch Club on the historic Avenue of the Artists - a painting of a three-legged dog created in collaboration by an opposite sex couple. The formally all female Plastic Club and the formally all male Philadelphia Sketch Club have been co-existing on the same block for decades - the Sketch Club is celebrating it’s 150th anniversary this year with a stunning array of historic art shows & the Plastic Club is nearly 100 - both clubs integrated sexes in 1991, since then Camac Street has become a fantastic haven for artists to work and learn side by side, the competition raising the bar for quality, prestige and creativity for everyone. Alan Klawans, the exhibitions chair @ The Plastic Club, told DoN participation in art shows is up 300%; the current Small Oils Show @ PSC has 170 paintings, you couldn’t squeeze another piece in if you wanted to.
Karen & Anthony, create all of their art together: drawing, cutting, spraying, dumpster-diving, brain-storming…resulting in iconic imagery resonating with vibrant contemporary urban life. Their work is proof men & women can work together in partnership, even if the result is like walking on three legs to get there.
The showcase @ Off the Wall Gallery with Dorothy Roschen, Cara Kendric and more, many of the artists are members of both clubs.
Mina Smith-Segal @ An Offering on Camac. Mina won an award Saturday for a painting she created for the Lantern Theater Company’s Henry IV,Part 1 production, another art collaboration between the Da Vinci Art Alliance of South Philly and the St. Steven’s Theater in Center City - it’s art synergy, baby!
Sibylle-Maria Pfaffenbichler is getting terrific buzz for her jazzy paintings of couples dancing; every show they’re in is instantly energized by the bold color and confidant brushwork, capturing the attention of the viewer like watching a really good-looking couple dancing deep in the groove of the music in a smokey dive with a great juke-box.
An Offering on Camac @ Dirty Franks is the perfect third leg for an art crawl; after trying to absorb over 300 fantastic new art works on view between the two clubs current shows, a stiff drink is in order. What do you call a one-eyed, three-legged dog? Lucky.
Monday @ noon, a ceremony was held in the fabulous Please Touch Museum in the glorious Memorial Hall to introduce a new public art program called Phanatic Around Town, a project assigning artists a life size sculpture of the famous Phillies mascot, The Phanatic. The anticipation was high as each artist was introduced and stood next to their covered art work - but then one of the sculptures came to life and the new RED Phanatic was introduced and with a flourish all the artists revealed their secret projects including Lillian Didovic and Ronnie Norpel of Da Vinci Art Alliance, the famous art club in South Philly.
Ronnie Norpel, the new Red Phanatic and Lilliana Didovic with their fantastic Phanatic collabo of images and phrases referring to Philly fan favorites from cheese steaks to the Art Museum to the Walt. The duo’s work will be on display at The Convention Center on Independence Mall! Lilliana is probably Philly’s biggest fan; the Phanatic Around Town project is the perfect way for Philly to LoVe Lilliana back!
Lilliana Didovic painted her iconic glamorous scenes of Philly paired with Ronnie Norpel’s poems - Norpel has just released her new novel, Baseball Karma & The Constitution Blues on Three Rooms Press. Ronnie’s book release party is @ PATOU, 4/16, 9:00 PM.
Lilliana’s hubby has been hinting to DoN for months about her progress on the immense project as she worked in a neighbor’s garage; he and their son, Gordon - in full Phillie’s Fan gear - were present for Lilliana’s new pinnacle of success in the Philadelphia art world.
No! it’s not zombies - it’s all the Phanatics with open arms, perfect for embracing all the fans of the Phillies and the City That LoVeS You Back - thanks to the artists for bringing such joy, it really warms the heart to see a giggling little kid get hugged by the big hairy beast - With LoVe Philadelphia XOXO!!!
The Phillie Phanatic Around Town as the Mad Hatter by Lorna Kent.
Eileen Eckstein, Balloons, photograph, DoN Brewer, light being (Mama Cass), photograph, Laura Pritchard, Portrait, mixed media, Dorothy Roschen, Red, White and Green, relief tiles and Alan Klawans, Milan, archival pigment print @ The Plastic Club’sRed, White and Green exhibit.
Michael Guinn,12th Street Still Life, oil.
3rd Honorable Mention Lois Schlachter, My Brother’s Keeper, acrylic, Alden Cole,Good Vibrations, mixed media and Honorable Mention Morris Klein, Love Park, photograph. Juror Rich Harrington has a great eye and excellent taste considering that the theme was ambiguous in that the three title colors had to be used but not exclusively; Harrington chose works who fully met the criteria such as Dorothy Roschen’s wall sculpture in blatant red, white and green squares for 2nd prize and Peter Petraglia’s trippy undersea fantasy in a subtle palette for First Prize to Lois Schlachter’s wildly imaginative abstraction with what seems like millions of colors.
Tracy Landman, Reflections on Stewart, oil, Patricia Wilson-Schmid, Catching the Light, and Lucy Roehm, Radish Trio, color pencil @ The Plastic Club’s Red White & Green exhibit.
The theme is Red, White & Green which one would think should conjure Holiday Cheer but @ The Plastic Club the art is edgy, sarcastic, goth, even scary like Hunter Thompson meets Charles Addams meets Salvador Dali. Some of the work is literal and literate like Roehm’s Radish Trio and some is out and out transcendental like Jake Smith’s Merry Fish Mess. Above: Anders Hansen, Shiva, ink, graphite & charcoal, First Prize Peter Petraglia, Tubulars, pen & ink, Marie Davis Samohod, Funerary Portrait, mixed media and Karen Frank, Totem and Taboo, Acrylic.
DoN is honored to be exhibited along with such wonderful artists as those in the Plastic Club, their shows are always challenging, pushing the envelop, breaking rules yet there’s no stress, the only expectation is making art. And when the art is all hanging together it feels really good to be an artist rubbing shoulders with some of the best in town. A cool thing about writing this blog is that when DoN took the photos he didn’t know that he was shooting the work of some of his best friends, the Plastic Club uses a number system for labeling, it’s kind of like doing your own blind jury-ing and then finding out you picked only your friends such as Lois, Pat, Mike, Alan, Alden, Eileen, Dorothy, Morris, Anders…
Jake Smith, Merry Fish Mess, acrylic and Theodore J. Amick, Untitled, oil.
The group show at the Skybox had a carnival air as 50 artists and their friends mingled in the huge space called the Skybox Gallery, part of a new artist studio complex at 2424 York Street. Some of the work was a bit on the creepy/grotesque side with nods to horror flicks, HR Giger and Manga but a lot of the work by the young artists was thoughtful and hopeful.
As the 2424 website states, “Located in Fishtown at the corner of York and Gaul streets, right off of I-95, and convenient to public transportation, 2424 Studios consists of over 100 work studios and/or office suites that range from 350 to over 6,000 square feet. The rents start at $399 per month and units are now available! Also located within 2424 Studios is the “Skybox,” an unparalleled and climate controlled event space of over 6,200 feet that is for tenants’ use, for community use and for rent to the public. 2424 Studios is now open to the public so please feel free to come by any time to take a look. If you are interested in leasing options, please contact Jessica at 215-284-8804.
It’s interesting how the arts community moves into neighborhoods, transforming them into desirable destinations to visit and live; it’s almost become cliche to take a downtrodden district like Fishtown and restore the area to a creative, affordable, vibrant place to live and work. 2424 York Street is anchoring new development, drawing a younger crowd and offering affordable studio/office space for artists as they get pushed out of neighborhoods they helped to revive - think Manyunk, Old City, South Street, Northern Liberties even Walnut Street used to be lined with galleries. The neighborhood where 2424 York Street is situated also has other art galleries such as High Wireand Proximity, it’s definitely worth the trip to Fishtown to check out the fringe of the Philadelphia art scene.
Author and art-marketing consultant Alyson B. Stanfield, of ArtBizCoach.com, focuses on sharing the artwork directly with potential buyers through electronic and traditional communication outlets—in a manner that is comfortable, not artificial. Artists match Internet marketing strategies with sincere personal skills to take charge of their art careers.
The book includes online worksheets and downloads.
