DoNArTNeWs

Valerie Carroll, Spot @ Twenty-Two Gallery.

Valerie Carroll’s animistic portraits of cats & dogs practically growl with aggression, daring DoN to stare down scary faces like monsters in a dream.  Sometimes when DoN looks into KaTy the ArT DoGs eyes he feels a connection with her like some extrasensory perception mind meld is happening, Carroll’s paintings tap into that same vibe.  Carroll’s animal portraits are classic mise en scene animal portraits yet brutalist and difficult like a great punk rock song.

Valerie Carroll, Rub-a-Dub, A Man in a Tub, oil on canvas.

Valerie Carroll explained how she first got this impression of the bathing man while out West but finished the painting back East.  The painting pulses with emotion, the man’s facial expression roils with desperation, the luxury of a bath too sad to believe, a beard grown wild, a rusted basin a momentary respite from the New Great Depression.

Valerie Carroll,  Man in a Pink Shirt, oil on canvas.  Light & Despair @ Twenty-Two Gallery.

Adrienne Jenkins, Jamie, oil on canvas @ Twenty-Two Gallery.

Shawn Murray, Twenty-Two Gallery’s mastermind, warned Adrienne Jenkins that portraits are a hard sell but her paintings of twenty-somethings reveal such a current state of being for young people - harried, a bit grim, self absorbed like characters from a William Faulkner novel set in the future - that it makes DoN glad she ignored his advice, the portraits are so painterly they don’t read as so specific.

Twenty-Two Gallery’s co-curator , Diane Podolsky, has the balls to mix up impressionist still life paintings with stylized portraits and crazed pet paintings & makes it work like some museum show of the history of modern art; paintings just never go out of style.

Valerie Carroll & Adrienne Jenkins at the opening of their show, Light and Despair @ Twenty-Two Gallery during West Center City’s Second Friday art crawl.  The two artists paint together at Wayne Art Center , sharing studio space and creating a kind of cross-pollination of painting styles.  With 25 or so paintings, this is a big show for two artists but Adrienne Jenkins is preparing for her solo show next year for the same space; the two artists have joined the artist collective and you can meet them this Sunday afternoon at Twenty-Two Gallery, 236 South 22nd Street.

Photos by DoNBrewerPhotography.

Jessica Barber, Bonifacio, monotype/oil pastels @ Gallery Twenty-Two’s Making An Impression show featuring prints by Jessica Barber & Alison Altergott.  Prints is a bit of a misnomer in this show, both artists use printing as part of their process but expand the barriers into writing, drawing, collage and painting.  DoN LoVeS this print which looks very much like a Star Trek Ferengi.

DoN asked Jessica if she created this piece in Madrid because it feels so immediate and plein air, as if she set up her plates & inks right there in the cafe.  Actually the artist worked from a photo she took while on a trip to Alice’s annual painting retreat in Majorca with friends from the Plastic Club.  Jessica said club president, Bob Jackson allowed her to work late at night in the wonderful print shop “down stairs”, allowing her to create these rich, saturated images which she had framed at Liberty Art & Framing with non-glare glass.  Immediacy, tension and vitality exude from the paper with a fresh, active style only the rigorous lithograph process produces.

Jessica Barber explained to DoN she uses a new non-toxic form lithographic process using plastic sheets which the artist applies different resists for the ink, Jessica used non-conventional mark-making tools to develop her images including Sharpies, she said, “ink loves the donor”.

Jessica Barber @ the opening of her collaborative show @ Gallery Twenty-Two.  Second Friday for people in cars was frustratingly frantic, west Center City traffic was snarled because of the snow and the South Street bridge being out but DoN walked, easily strolling past cars with “Bad Romance” blasting in his iPod; Jessica was stuck on a bus trying to get to her own opening, arriving safely - fashionably late!

Alison Altergott @ Twenty-Two Gallery.  DoN asked about the girls in Alison’s prints, old dress patterns from the 50s & 20s because of the resonance of the strong feminine ideal of the home-maker.  DoN thought a feminist home-maker is a contradiction in terms but Alison defended the mystique as a commentary on what we’ve lost compared to the way families live now.  Alison Altergott combines handwriting, collage, paint and printing to develop these densely signified images about the ideals of growing up.

Alison Altergott, Heartstrings, 1 of 2 prints @ Gallery Twenty-Two.

Photos by DoNBrewerMultimedia Photography.

Ed Bronstein is an artist member of Gallery 22 owned & curated by Shawn Murray and is probably Philly’s most prolific plein air artist.  It’s a wonder he gets any painting done though, since he is so gregarious and popular that when he’s painting outdoors people (DoN included) stop to talk.  The collection of 46 paintings at Gallery 22 attests to Ed’s drive to get the job done; many of the paintings are totally plein air but some, like the dog paintings, are completed in the studio.  Bronstein sometimes also works from memory in the studio after beginning a painting in the field, he is so familiar with the territory he could probably create a Philly scene with no reference material at all.

Ed Bronstein @ Gallery 22.  Ed told DoN that usually he has to paint the doggie portraits from photographs since as we know dogs don’t stay still for very long, even when they’re sleeping.  Ed captured many of these dog images at the Schuykill River Park also known as the dog socialization area - one of KaTy the ArT Dog & Lady Doofie’s favorite spots to hang out.

Scenes of Philadelphia by Ed Bronstein @ Gallery 22.  DoN recognized the view from Bartram’s Garden in the lower painting since he sat in the same spot but tried to paint out the oil tanks, focusing on the trees.  Bronstein saw the sculptural beauty and urban aesthetic of the oil tanks and captured the scene with bold color and swift brush strokes.

Ed Bronstein started this painting in Fitler Square but then worked on it for months in the studio.  Libby Rosoff of The Art Blog commented on how hot the colors are compared to the plein air works.  Ed will be having a meet and greet in the gallery soon, check their website for dates & time.

Gallery 22 in Center City West is an artist collective under the direction of Shawn Murray with rotating exhibits of member artists as well as an ongoing group exhibit.  The space is lovely with wonderful light and excellent presentation - the current show Energy & Matter was installed by Shawn and member artist Diane Podolsky, pairing the expressive paintings by Podolsky with photographer Bonnie Schorske.  Before last Sunday’s meet & greet DoN had the opportunity for some quiet conversation with Diane Podolsky while Katy the ArT DoG & Lady Doofie (the St. Bernard/Chihuahua mix) lounged on the sidewalk on 22nd Street.

Over the Summer Podolsky held a teaching fellowship with the Center for Emerging Visual Artists to work on an inter-generational art project bringing together young people and residents of a nursing home.  The gist of the program was to get older people to pass along stories of their lives to the youngsters, incorporating the tales of their lives into an upcoming art installation.  The kids were captivated by the stories told by an ex-professional baseball player from the Negro Baseball League in Philly, a former jazz club singer and folks who lived in simpler times in Germantown.  The project involves cut out paper flowers & leaves and paper clothes to be hung on a clothes line in a nine foot long installation with the stories written on the elements.  Diane was surprised at how much the kids enjoyed hearing the stories and sewing the paper clothes - many of them had never threaded a needle let alone actually sewing.  DoN will keep you posted as to when the completed work with be displayed.

Olea Europaea Biceps Popeyi, Bonnie Schorske, digital capture archival print and Thorns, Diane Podolsky, oil & graphite.

Make a Wish, Diane Podolsky, oil & graphite and Olea Europaea Deja II, Bonnie Schorske, digital capture archival pigment print.

Bonnie Schorske @ Gallery 22.

Diane is quite self effacing about her work even though the bold works are expressive, intriguing and vibrant.  Her style is abstract yet naturalistic, combining brushy strokes of muted color with recognizable objects such as chicken wishbones, woody tree shapes and animal forms.  Matched with Bonnie Schorske’s impeccable black and white photographs of Majorica, the overall effect is transcendent as if following Alice down the rabbit hole.  Bonnie told DoN there is a hidden narrative in the installation which is fun to investigate - kind of like “Where’s Waldo” on an highly sophisticated level.  The skill and beauty of the artists’ work is perfectly complementary with dreamy photo realism aligned with neo-geo paintings; Energy & Matter is on display through November 8th to be followed by a one person show of paintings by the incomparable Ed Bronstein, Explorations…..in the Neighborhood featuring paintings created in Katy & Lady Doofie’s favorite place, the dog park!

The group show @ Gallery 22.

Reta Sweeney @ Gallery TwentyTwo.  Part of what DoN refers to as the School of Philadelphia (Peltzman, Barns, Monaghan…), Sweeney sees light with a delightful optimism and has the ability to create welcoming atmosphere in paint.  Reta’s paintings are joyous, reveling in the liquid medium, working quickly and efficiently, applying color with skill, so as to sign the work by scratching into the wet paint with satisfaction.

A Rose Bouquet, oil on canvas, Reta Sweeney @ TwentyTwo Gallery.

Cherry Blossoms and Tulips, Reta Sweeney, oil on canvas and Valerie Carroll @ Gallery TwentyTwo - DoN was impressed and inspired by the pairing of these two paintings, it’s not just the color palette, soothing pinks enhanced with warm atmosphere,  but the balance of symbolism and visual cues that creates a broader real world narrative.  This is a lesson in how to decorate with art confidently placing expressionism with impressionism in close proximity increasing the visual energy of the art.

Valerie Carroll @ TwentyTwo Gallery.  Paintings like this make’s DoN want to paint, reaching deep into the soul creating an image to explain the human condition, paint strokes representing the passage of time, entropy and generativity vs. despair visualized with mysterious smudges and emotional color.

Wolves & Deer in art around town over the past year.

Nexus Gallery @ Crane Art Center

Rik Viola @ Philadelphia Sketch Club

Darla Jackson @ CFEVA.

Scott Pelnat @ CFEVA event.

Jack Kelly @ Scott Pellnat’s Art House.

Karen Davis @ TwentyTwo Gallery.

TwentyTwo Gallery is an artist collective, each member exhibits a semi-annual one-person show and is included in on-going group shows. Dale Levy’s colorful abstractions are currently energizing the space with splashy color, nature forms, cartological references, homages to Frankenthaler and Pollack, and metaphorical inferences drizzeled across the large canvases. Levy makes painting look like fun.

Dale Levy @ TwentyTwo Gallery. Levy cleverly titles each piece with her initials and a number, acrylic on canvas.

Dale Levy @ TwentyTwo Gallery, looking like a map from outer space, this painting actually does reference real locations. DoN thinks part of this image represents Sardinia with the orange dot a volcano.

Dale Levy hosted her opening @ TwentyTwo Gallery on a beautiful Spring evening. Shawn Murray and Diane Podolsky once again have installed a superior show; TwentyTwo has some of the best lighting and display of any gallery in the city.

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. 

Twenty-Two Gallery @ 236 22^nd Street in Philadelphia has a long history of exhibiting (and selling) excellent paintings and since the showcase has become an artist collective the bar has been raised even higher.  Owner Shawn Murray collaborated with artist Diane Podolsky to install a group show of superior quality with some of Philadelphia’s best artists.  Plus the artistry with which the work is displayed makes viewing even more enjoyable with excellent lighting, thoughtful groupings and perfect eye level hanging; with the huge front window offering a glimpse of what’s inside, the gallery is a great place to show and be seen.  DoN stopped in the gallery last Sunday to meet many of the artists and was truly impressed by the variety and quality of the art.

Artists included in the show are Alison Altergott, Ed Bronstein, Valerie Carroll, Eric Fausnacht, Megan Greenholt, Nancy E. F. Halbert, Carter Leidy, Dale Levy, Ed Marston, William Middleton, Bruce Murray, Sr., Diane Podolsky, Bonnie Schorske, Jerome Schwartz, Michael Smith, Lauren Sweeney and Reta Sweeney.  Ed Bronstein’s plein aire paintings of Philly are true collectables, Ed Marston’s painting of a ramshackle seaside hut is filled with light, Diane Podolsky’s pastels are mysterious and haunting, Eric Fausnacht’s rooster paintings are decorative and evocative with bold color and brushwork creating a surrealistic vision of the common bird and speaking of birds, Bonnie Schorske’s pigeon photos are a hoot especially when you learn the history of the urban pests.

Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday noon to 6:00 PM, the Members’ Exhibition at Twenty-Two Gallery is open through February 11^th. 

Bonnie Schorske’s pigeon photos @ Twenty-Two Gallery.

Ed Marston’s oil painting @ Twenty-Two Gallery.

Ed Bronstein @ 22 Gallery.   

Michael Smith @ 22 Gallery. 

Valerie Carroll @ Twenty-Two Gallery. 

Eric Fausnacht @ Twenty-Two Gallery. 

Diane Podolsky @ 22 Gallery.