Category Archives: Paintings

Diversity

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Edwina Brennan, 3rd Street GalleryEdwina Brennan: Contemporary Gestures

From February 28th through April 1, 3rd Street Gallery presents two solo exhibitions in the main gallery:

Edwina Brennan: Contemporary Gestures, and Jean Plough: Sketches in Paint and an exhibition in the Annex gallery, Demetra Tassiou: Diversity.

Highlights

Exhibition Dates: February 28 – April 1

First Friday: Friday, March 2, 5 – 9 PM

Reception: Sunday, March 4, 2- 5 PM

Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 12-5PM

Edwina Brennan: Contemporary Gestures

Edwina Brennan starts with a mark – simple and straightforward. But then there is another and another, a splotch of color and some scraping. Although the artwork is relatively large in scale, some of the drawings are quite subtle and minimal, while others are bold and expansive. The artwork unfolds, inviting the viewer to share in the conversation, looking at and responding to marks and layer as they move over the surface.

Edwina Brennan‘s abstract paintings and drawings are known throughout the Philadelphia area for their evocative color, strong and subtle markings, and emotional power. Highly energetic, she has been strongly influenced by Cy Twombly and Joan Mitchell. Brennan studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and progressed from landscape painting to her abstract style. Her work is in many collections including Bryn Mawr College and the Berman Museum.

Jean Plough: Sketches in Paint

Jean Plough: Sketches in PaintFlatland, Jean Plough, 2018

Jean Plough Sketches in Paint represents a journey from traditional non-realistic landscapes to bolder unconfined statements, scattered with words etched in crayon. Paintings vary from strictly geometric impressions to more spontaneous renditions. At one end of the spectrum are simple atmospheric color-fields, and on the other, freer expressions that include text. A scrubby, sketch-like quality of similar color brushstrokes is applied in layers to create perspective. The exhibition cannot be pigeonholed into one style; instead it employs several, although the transition is evident from one piece to the next. Inspired by a sense of place, as well as being open to the subconscious, Sketches in Paint presents a wide range of offerings.

Born in Queens New York, Jean studied painting at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She also spent time at the Corcoran Gallery summer program in Washington, DC, and took part in a show at the National Museum of Women in the Arts called, “Insomnia, Landscapes of the Night”. Jean’s piece, “Hurricane/Gulf,” is in the Annapolis Volvo Collection in Annapolis, Maryland, and her work received the Award of Excellence at the University of Delaware Biennial. She earned Best Abstract at the Philadelphia Sketch Club, and honorable mention in Scenes of Schuylkill for “Market Street Bridge”.  Jean paints because it allows communication with others, as well as creating a new perspective, a sense of space and the unexpected. Artist website:  https://www.jeanplough.com

Demetra Tassiou: Diversity

Demetra Tassiou will be showing a selection of her abstract mixed media work around the theme of Diversity in the Annex gallery. Demetra holds an MFA in printmaking from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Athens in Greece, where she majored in Painting and minored in Art Education and Ceramic. She has exhibited extensively in the Philadelphia area and surroundings as well as New York City, Greece, and Italy.

About 3rd Street Gallery: The Gallery has been in existence since 1978, opening in its first space on the corner of 3rd and Bainbridge in South Philadelphia. As one of the oldest artist-run, fine art galleries in the City it has been home to thousands of Philadelphia artists. The members are a diverse group of artists of all ages and backgrounds. They are multigenerational, have advanced degrees in the arts as well as the sciences, work in diverse media from the traditional to the digital, range from the classically trained to the self-taught and include arts educators, award-winners, and artists whose work is collected by museums as well as by corporate and private collectors.

Thank you to Pia De Girolamo for the content of this post.

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Far

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Far From The Tree, Katherine Fraser, Paradign Gallery + StudioThe War of Independence, oil on canvas, 54″ x 60″

Paradigm Gallery + Studio is pleased to present
Far from the Tree

A solo exhibition of new oil paintings by artist Katherine Fraser on view February 23 – April 21, 2018.

In her third solo exhibition with the gallery, Katherine Fraser draws inspiration for Far from the Tree from fables and explores what it means to have control over our own destinies. Universally-known stories and endings are suddenly given the ability to change. The artist’s most cohesive series to date, each character is presented with the agency to alter their own outcomes.

In the work, The War of Independence, the natural beauty of the Acadian National Park
acts as the backdrop. Having grown up in rural Maine, the landscape is a reference to
the artist’s childhood – a symbol of a time when Fraser felt her most strong and
independent.

Fraser says, “When I use the rural landscape in my paintings it symbolizes
the homeland; I use it to create a feeling of peace and protection. I mostly paint solitary
figures, and being alone in nature is the best kind of alone. In nature I feel most myself,
vibrant, and at one with the world.”

Fraser’s figurative compositions ‘depict moments of quiet reflection and insight, of wonder, vulnerability, yearning, determination, humility, strength, and growth’. She cites realist painters Edward Hopper and Bo Bartlett as influences, but also sees parallels between her work and photographers like: Diane Arbus, Mary Ellen Mark and Sally Mann. All of these artists act as storytellers, capturing individuals in moments and settings with a great deal of intimacy.

Far From The Tree, Katherine Fraser

By Example, oil on canvas, 56″ x 74″

Classically trained, Fraser exclusively works with oil paint for its flexibility and luminosity, striving to make her paintings beautiful, but also to emotionally engage with the viewer. Fraser likes to draw attention to dynamic and conflicting emotions within individual characters. In her overall practice she seeks to portray ‘our continual need to reckon expectations with truth, and the struggles we endure to feel satisfaction with our choices’.

In Far from the Tree, Fraser asks the viewers, “how much power do we really have to
change the narratives of our own lives”?

ABOUT PARADIGM GALLERY + STUDIO

Established February 2010, Paradigm Gallery + Studio started as a project between co-
founders and curators, Jason Chen and Sara McCorriston, to create a space to make artwork, exhibit the work of their peers, and invite the members of the local community to make their own artwork in a welcoming gallery setting. Over the years, Paradigm Gallery + Studio has become a gallery of diverse contemporary artwork from around the world, while maintaining a focus on Philadelphia artists.

ABOUT KATHERINE FRASER

Katherine Fraser has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United
States. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and of the University of Pennsylvania. As a student she received the Thomas Eakins Painting prize, the Cecelia Beaux Portrait prize, and the William Emlen Cresson Memorial Travel Award, among others. Since graduating in 2002, she has received awards including the Lucy Glick Award and the Victor Klein Family Award. Her work has been published in Studio Visit Magazine, Philadelphia Weekly, Die Blumen die Frauen, The Fertile Source, New American Paintings, The Southern Review, the Best of American Oil Painting, and more. Her work may be found in many permanent and private collectionsmnationally and abroad.

Paradigm Gallery + Studio 746 S. 4th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 10147

Thank you to Madison Fishman for the content of this post.

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Celebrate

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PHILADELPHIA CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Exhibitions, Performances and Special Program Highlight Philly’s Month of Activities

The African American Museum in Philadelphia

Founded in 1976, The African American Museum in Philadelphia (above) is the first institution built by a major U.S. city to preserve, interpret and exhibit the heritage and culture of African-Americans.

Credit: Photo by J. Fusco for VISIT PHILADELPHIA®

Black History Month celebrates its 42nd anniversary this year, and Philadelphia honors the occasion with special events, exhibitions, film screenings and family activities. Philadelphia’s Black History Month features the nation’s longest running African American Children’s Book Fair; Black Pulp!, a new exhibition at The African American Museum in Philadelphia, and Henry “Box” Brown: The Musical, starringDice Raw. Here are highlights of Philly’s Black History Month:

Museum Happenings:

  • The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) hosts the regional debut of Black Pulp!, curated by William Villalongo and Mark Thomas Gibson. This visual overview offers up printed works by artists, graphic designers, writer and publishers—including comic books—to examine perspectives on Black identity from 1912 to 2016. February 2 – April 29. 701 Arch Street, (215) 574-0380, aampmuseum.org
  • The Art Sanctuary exhibition Philadelphia Renaissance, curated by Noah Smalls, is an intergenerational showcase of area artists. The month-long display is in keeping with the gallery’s mission to “use power of Black art to transform individuals, create and build community and foster cultural understanding.” February. 628 S. 16th Street, (215) 232-4485, artsanctuary.org
  • African-American history is American history, and the National Constitution Center celebrates Black History Month with programming that includes Breaking Barriers, a show about the lives of Bessie Coleman, Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and other pioneering African-Americans. The center has planned also a workshop to taks a closer look at the Emancipation Proclamation and self-guided tours highlighting African-American history. February 2018. 525 Arch Street, (215) 409-6600, constitutioncenter.org
  • Penn Museum’s 29th annual Celebration of African Cultures features storytellers, artists, puppetry, art making, modern African dance, traditional African music and an African market. The setting for this activity: the African Gallery, with its rich collection of textiles, sculpture and masks, with statuary and tomb materials from 5,000 years of Egyptian culture in the Egyptian Galleries. February 24. 3260 South Street, (215) 898-4000, penn.museum
  • Last year, City Hall unveiled a new statue of Civil Rights hero Ocatvius V. Catto. This year, the Philadelphia History Museum exhibit Taking a Stand for Equity: Octavius V. Catto continues to celebrate the life and many achievements of the brave 19th-century Philadelphian. Through March 31. 15 S. 7th Street, (215) 685-4830, philadelphiahistory.org
  • Niama Safia Sandy makes her Philadelphia curatorial debut at Rush Arts Philadelphia with the multi-artist, multidisciplinary exhibition Giving Up The Ghost: Artifacts/A Study of Power and Solidarity Against White Violence in Modernity. The diverse artists and pieces in the show offer varying messages of individual and cultural truths—American aversion to recognizing Black women’s labor; commentary on the treatment of Muslim Americans, for example—in an effort to clear the air and move the nation forward. January 27-February 24. 4954 Old York Road, rushphilanthropic.org

Music & Dance:

  • Henry Box Brown: The Musical stars The Roots’ own hip hop legend Karl “Dice Raw” Jenkins in the title role of a Virginia slave who escaped to freedom in Philadelphia by mailing himself in a wooden crate. This true theatrical treat is directed by Phill Brown and also stars Minister Jamie Knight and Gina Zo. February 1-17. Community College, Bonnell Auditorium, 1700 Spring Garden Street, henryboxbrownmusical.com
  • Visitors can enjoy free, live, no reservations-required world music as presented by Temple University students during Drumming Traditions of Brazil, West Africa, and India. February 6. Temple Performing Arts Center, 1837 N. Broad Street, (215) 204-9860, templeperformingartscenter.org
  • In the 1930s, over 2,300 first-person accounts by former slaves—The Slave Narratives—helped create the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP). This Manayunk performance of six of these documents—also entitled The Slave Narratives—brings their experiences to life onstage. Venice Island Performing Arts & Recreation Center. February 9. 7 Lock Street, (215) 685-3583, veniceisland.org
  • Vocalist Beverly Owens and pianist Diane Goldsmith join in a “Sundays on Stage” concert of The Art of Sarah Vaughan, atribute to one of the first singers to fully incorporate bop phrasing in her singing. Vaughan’s influence is still evident in contemporary jazz, Soul and R&B. February 11. Free Library of Philadelphia, Parkway Central Branch, 1901 Vine Street, (215) 686-5322, freelibrary.org

Children and Young Adults:

  • The 26th Annual African American Children’s Book Fair is one of the oldest and largest single-day events for African-American children’s books in the country. The free, open-to-the-public fair features nationally known, bestselling authors, illustrators and author-illustrators, many who have won some of the most prestigious American Library Association awards, including the Coretta Scott King Award. Guests can expect an afternoon filled with workshops, giveaways and affordable books for purchase. February 3. Community College of Philadelphia, 17th & Spring Garden Streets, theafricanamericanchildrensbookproject.org
  • As the first stop for many visitors to Independence National Historical Park, the Independence Visitor Center is more than an information center: It’s a gathering spot. During Black History Month, historical figures appear to tell their stories. 6th & Market Streets, (800) 537-7676, nps.gov/inde; phlvisitorcenter.com
    • A historical re-enactor portrays Ned Hector, free Black patriot who refused to surrender his horses, wagons and armaments in the Battle of the Brandywine. February 10.
    • Storytellers from summer’s Once Upon a Nation program return for WinterStorytelling, with true tales of barrier-breaking African-Americans. February 16, 17, 19.
    • Harriet Tubman, American hero and icon, makes this one-time appearance to tell of her life and bravery in leading hundreds of people to freedom. February 24.
  • The Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library Children’s Department will offer family-friendly events covering African-American heritage. 125 S. 52nd Street, (215) 685-7422, freelibrary.org
    • Based on the book by Christopher Paul Curtis, The Watsons Go to Birminghamis the film adaptation of the story of an African-American family’s road trip from Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama in 1963—and the tragic events that take place. For children ages 12 and under and their families. February 24.
    • The Art of Jean-Michel Basquiat: Share Your Creativity invites visitors to enjoy a reading of Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe and Life Doesn’t Frighten Me by Maya Angelou, illustrated by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Inspired participants can add their creations to the Young Artists’ Wall. For ages 12 and under. February 28.

Movies, Stories, Talks &Tours:

  • Murray Dubin and Daniel Biddle, co-authors of Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America, present and sign copies of their book chronicling the life of this charismatic Black leader—a “free” man whose freedom was in name only. February 6. Free Library of Philadelphia,Philadelphia City Institute Branch, 1905 Locust Street, (215) 685-6621, freelibrary.org
  • Lauded by the New York Times for his “ferocious moral vision and astute intellect,” educator and philosopher Dr. Cornel West returns to Philadelphia on the 25th anniversary of the National Book Award-winning Race Matters. February 10. Sold out; simulcast tickets are available for purchase. Free Library of Philadelphia, Parkway Central Branch, 1901 Vine Street, (215) 686-5404, freelibrary.org
  • The Blackwell Regional Library will screen Paul Robeson, a documentary about the internationally acclaimed singer, actor and Civil Rights activist. Despite his talent, his political views lead to blacklisting; while unemployed, he moved to the West Philadelphia home of his sister Marian, who tended him until his death in 1976. February 17. 125 S. 52nd Street, (215) 685-7433, freelibrary.org
  • As part of Black History Month and Philly Theatre Week, 202-year-old Mother Bethel AME screens Black Theatre: The Making of a Movement, Woodie King Jr.’s documentary highlighting accomplishments of Black men and women in theater, the importance of the Black Arts Movement and the funding crisis of Black theaters. February 18. 419 S. 6th Street, theatrephiladelphia.org
  • Praised by Michael Eric Dyson as “the boldest young feminist writing today,” Brittney Cooper will join in conversation with Melanye Price, associate professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University, to discuss Cooper’s new book, Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower. February 22. Free. Free Library of Philadelphia, Parkway Central Branch, 1901 Vine Street, (215) 686-5404, freelibrary.org
  • Now in its 22nd year, the Schomburg Symposium is an annual Taller Puertorriqueñoconference dedicated to Afro-Latino history and culture. This year’s symposium theme: Does Violence Have Color? February 24. 2600 N. 5th Street, (215) 426-3311, tallerpr.org
  • The William Way LGBT Community Center’s second annual Philly Black Trans History: A Multigenerational Panel Discussionwill feature some of the city’s most influential trans pioneers. February 28.1315 Spruce Street, (215) 732-2220, waygay.org

VISIT PHILADELPHIA® is our name and our mission. As the region’s official tourism marketing agency, we build Greater Philadelphia’s image, drive visitation and boost the economy.

Greater Philadelphia’s official visitor website and blog, visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com make up the most-visited website network out of the 10 biggest U.S. cities. Visitors can explore things to do, upcoming events, themed itineraries and hotel packages. Compelling photography and videos, interactive maps and detailed visitor information make the sites effective trip-planning tools. Along with Visit Philly social media channels, the online platforms communicate directly with consumers. Travelers can also call and stop into the Independence Visitor Center for additional information and tickets.

Tweet It: Your 2018 guide to Black History Month in Philadelphia: http://vstphl.ly/2BG7IX0

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Burgundian

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Old Masters Now, PMASaint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, 1430‑1432. Jan van Eyck, Netherlandish (active Bruges). Oil on vellum on panel, 5 x 5 3/4 inches. Philadelphia Museum of Art, John G. Johnson Collection, 1917.

A Guided Tour of Philadelphia in the Year 1430

by DoN Brewer

Party like it’s 1430! Art is a time capsule, and a lens on society, join me on a tour of Philadelphia to experience life like a Burgundian. Philly was a forest but in the year 1430, at the apex of the Late Middle Ages in Europe. In a country called Burgundy that once existed between France and Spain, a region that was a magnet for artists, there was ground-breaking innovation in technology in the arts.

Just like young artists do today, moving to cities, attending great art schools like The University of the Arts, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, seeking to achieve their creative and career goals, artists in 1430 would have become apprentices and joined guilds; the arts in Burgundy were already well established in the royal courts,  King Philip the Good inherited a well oiled arts department including sculpture and painting studios. Jan van Eyck was the duke’s personal friend and confidant, the story of his diplomatic trips to court the Queens of Europe, like a swipe right/left app, to consolidate power and find romance with art is really a trip.

Let us take a look around Philadelphia to find the influences of Burgundian life from the year 1430. In the three paintings I analyzed for A Guided Tour of Philadelphia in the Year 1430, there are architectural elements that resemble buildings we inhabit like Philadelphia City Hall with it’s French Gothic courtyard, grand steeples, turrets and towers of churches along Christian Street, and The Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral with glorious stained glass and vaulted ornate ceiling.

Weaving was the major economic force in the cities of Burgundy, trade of wool into textile the fabric of society, which we take for granted now with fast fashion. Weaving is still present in the arts today in Philadelphia, especially social practice artists like Kathryn Pannepacker, Lisa Kelley and Leslie Sudock.

Leslie Sudock is the instructor at Ready to Hand SOARI Philadelphia and she is a master weaver. Through her arts practice she connects Philadelphian empathy, sanctuary, and wealth of knowledge to the community.

“I have introduced SAORI weaving to public school children in the Philadelphia recreation system, to homeless and physically-challenged neighbors in churches, shelters and health facilities, and to the general community through my participation in Arts Street Textiles: handmade with the homeless.  My own excitement at discovering SAORI continues undiminished, and I love enabling others to experience the peace, pleasure and freedom to be found in weaving SAORI-way.” – Leslie Sudock

Kathryn Pannepacker and Lisa Kelley thread the needle of the opioid crisis in Kensington with weaving and textile design classes. As a mural artist, she has used weaving as the central idea and main communicative device to connect concepts of reality to the wider community. Just as master weavers of Burgundy portrayed the economic status of the royal houses to the world, Kathryn Pannepacker and Lisa Kelly, by using weaving and textile, exposes the empathic thread of the economy that is now shredded and how through the economics of creating art stimulates healing in the community.

Kensington Storefront is a new Porch Light community space at 2774 Kensington Avenue, Philadelphia. It’s a place to make art and connect to health resources in your community.

We believe that hands-on art-making provides a pathway for individual and community healing. This new Porch Light space at 2774 Kensington Avenue, Philadelphia, is a place for creating art and connecting to resources to live a better, healthier life.

Porch Light is an initiative of Mural Arts and Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health in partnership with NKCDC, Impact Services Corporationand Prevention Point Philadelphia—along with many other community members and organizations.

GET INVOLVED
— Apply to use the space!
https://goo.gl/forms/xpVh1SbbT4UH4Z6r1/

LEARN MORE
— Strengthening community wellness through public art: https://www.muralarts.org/program/porch-light/
— Southeast by Southeast–another Porchlight project in Philly: https://www.facebook.com/PRMHCSEbySE/

There are many Philadelphia artists comparable to the traditions of arts and painting that we see in the transformative era of the Late Middle Ages. The artist and teacher Katya Held, an accomplished portrait artist who studied with the master Nelson Shanks at Studio Incamminati recently sent me a link to miniature paintings by artist Ludmila Bognycheva. Miniatures were the main source of communications through illustrated manuscripts and devotional objects and alter pieces in 1430. Being able to communicate an abundance of information distinctly with minimal data is an art that transcends technology from weaving to painting to writing; a correlation can be made between the the technological breakthrough of oil painting on economic growth with the growth of the internet, the world wide web.

Fashion and fine textiles are a part of everyday life now, but some artisans make fibre, jewelry, and design speak in a modern language. In Burgundian times status was announced with wardrobe, today high fashion is available at the consumer level. To differentiate from the masses one must choose wisely to stand out in the crowd. Philadelphia fashion designer Diane Litten creates multi-useful fashions that are transformable, jewelry made with coils and magnets, and stretch wacky hats with fibrous dreads.

In our art tour stop at the Jan van Eyck painting, I mentioned the portrait of Queen Isabella of Portugal‘s style and beauty, fashion and physique, and the spatial illusion in the composition. It was really important that the picture accurately portrayed the Queen, Jan van Eyck lived in Portugal for months to make the portrait; a prototype dating app. It’s not hard to imagine the luxuriousness of the lifestyle in Spain, like Burgundy there were fabulous textiles, furs, lace, the best of everything.

Fine foods Jan van Eyck would have eaten on his grand diplomatic trip are available in Philly, the royal houses were great consumers of meat, imagine the feasts in the high castles by visiting a Brazilian steak house. Roasted meats served on swords, carved at the table connects over space and time through the recipes from the the wedding feast of Philip the Good to Queen Isabella of Portugal, at the change of the decade 1430 in a land called Burgundy.

Music! Piffaro, The Renaissance Band

“Piffaro delights audiences with highly polished recreations of the rustic music of the peasantry and the elegant sounds of the official wind bands of the late Medieval and Renaissance periods. Its ever-expanding instrumentarium includes shawms, dulcians, sackbuts, recorders, krumhorns, bagpipes, lutes, guitars, harps, and a variety of percussion — all careful reconstructions of instruments from the period.”

 

Link to A Guided Tour of Philadelphia in the Year 1430

Link to Robert Campin, Christ and the Virgin

Link to Jan van Eyck art tour blog post – click here.

Link to Blasco de Grañén art tour blog post – click here.

Link to Old Master Now at Philadelphia Museum of Art press release on DoNArTNeWs

Written by DoN Brewer.

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Reflections

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Jacque Ferretti, 3rd Street Gallery

Bella and Sharky

Reflections of the Past

“We clasp the hands of those that go before us,

And the hands of those who come after us.

We enter the little circle of each other’s arms

And the larger circle of lovers,

Whose hands are joined in a dance

And the larger circle of all creatures

Passing in and out of life

Who move also in a dance

To a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it

Except in fragments.”

-Wendell Berry

“My interest in the subject of this exhibit was first sparked when I fell in love with a house, which is now my home, in an old Philadelphia neighborhood.  I had yet to discover why this area would hold such a special allure for me.

Bella and Sharkey were my maternal grandparents.  Incredibly, Bella as a teenager, once lived on my same street, just a few houses away when she met Sharkey at a neighborhood dance; they eventually married.  Sharkey was a tailor by trade, owning his own shop, and together he and Bella raised five children.  Sadly, when child number six, my mother, was on the way Sharkey died at the age of 32.

I found the house where Bella lived and raised her six children and where Sharkey’s tailor shop stood.  These buildings have since been torn down but not before I was able to collect many artifacts during the demolition process;  including photographs and construction fragments (rusted nails, shards of pottery, glass, stones and a wall sconce) all precious relics of my family history that have become indispensable to my artistic interpretation when telling Bella and Sharkey’s story.” –  Jacque Ferretti

Jacque Ferretti, 3rd Street Gallery

3rd Street Gallery, 45 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, (215) 625-0993

Hours: Wednesday – Sunday, 12 – 5:00pm

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