Category Archives: Philadelphia Art Installations

Art installations in Philadelphia.

InLiquid Art Auction in the Icebox. Cool!

Leave a reply

Inliquid’s art auction was a feast for the eyes, jam-packed with hundreds of artworks from some ofDoN‘s favorite Philly artists:  Alden Cole, Francine Strauss, John Karpinsky, Lependorf/Shire,Burnell Yow!, Tremain Smith, Genevieve Coutroubis, Carol Cole, Brooke Hine…OMG! Amy Stevens‘ cake photos, and Susan Abrams‘ hand made paper photos.  So much great art for such a good cause – read about it at InLiquid’s site.  The Icebox consistently installs the best of the best; the evening offered wonderful, affordable opportunities to own a cool objet d’art.

Alden Cole’s luminary sold at silent auction! Holla!

Alden Cole’s luminary sold at silent auction!  Holla!

Francine Strauss’ Totem Fetish Doll, 2003.

Francine Strauss’ Totem Fetish Doll, 2003.

John Karpinski @ The Icebox.

John Karpinski @ The Icebox.

dadart

dardart

dadart tell’s DoN he’s not,”…a Gay Republican, I’m a straight constitutionalist.”

Warren Muller @ The Icebox’s InLiquid Auction event.

Warren Muller @ The Icebox’s InLiquid Auction event.

 

Kelly and Weber Gallery @ Crane Arts Center, Virginia Bradley & Chris Malcomson

Leave a reply

Kelly and Weber Gallery on the second floor is showing wall sculptures by artist Mike Steifel; highly imaginative and exquisitely constructed objects reek of found art but are actually all hand crafted.  Steifel tells DoN he used to even make his own screws; each piece is tooled and constructed to evoke old machine parts melded with blurry magnifying lenses and screwy bolts and hardware.  On the south wall of the gallery Mike has panels of wood with inlaid mother of pearl representing constellations from the southern sky and vice versa on the north wall – at first glance the dots appear to be nail heads until the glint of light highlights the pearlescent glow from the shell-stars.

Southern Cross, wood and mother of pearl by Mike Steifel @ K&W.

Southern Cross, wood and mother of pearl by Mike Steifel @ K&W.

Artist, Mike Steifel and his wife at the opening party @ Crane Arts.

Artist, Mike Steifel and his wife at the opening party @ Crane Arts.

Alden Cole reflected in Mike Steifel’s amazing mirrored wall sculpture @ K&W. Steifel tells DoN he has, ” …a fetish for materials. Abalone is luxurious.”

 Alden Cole reflected in Mike Steifel’s amazing mirrored wall sculpture @ K&W.  Steifel tells DoN he has, ” …a fetish for materials.  Abalone is luxurious.” 

So, back to Virginia Bradley who shares a studio with her husband, Chris Malcomson, on the second floor at Crane Arts.  Bradley’s side of the room displays her paintings of icons mashed-up with modern pattern design along side Malcomson’s equally iconic geometric paintings.  DoN especially likes the big circles on wood. 

Chris Malcomson

Chris Malcomson in the studio he shares with Virginia Bradley at Crane Arts Center.

Chris Malcomson

Painting by Virginia Bradley

Painting by Virginia Bradley in the studio she shares with Chris Malcomson.  Chris told DoN he met Virginia in Chelsea where he had a studio and immediately fell in love and followed her to Philly four years ago.  Aw!  Learn more about Malcomson at his website. 

 

Second Thursday @ Crane Arts Center – UD@Crane

Leave a reply

Shoshka. Alden and DoN made the pilgrimage to Crane Arts Center in Fishtown to witness the spectacle of innovation, artistry and experience design the arts space is becoming famous for.The University of Delaware has taken over the old Busy Bee space and the current exhibition of MFA students is insightful and fun.  Looming over the first floor are fiber and plaster neuron-like constructs by the afore-mentioned Mark Donahue; similar to the Hopkins House installation, this time Donahue has balanced separate components on top of each other creating strange transmitters communicating in a language all their own.  DoN was greeted by the elegant Virginia Bradley, artist/curator/educator who shares a studio on the third floor with Chris Malcomson – Virginia and DoN commiserated over sharing studio space (more about that in a minute). 

Mark Donahue @ UD@Crane.

Mark Donahue @ UD@Crane. 

 Untitled, mixed media, Jim Reske. Is this thing cool or what? Simple sun-bleached plywood panels lean against the wall as if Josef Albers were in the house.

Untitled, mixed media, Jim Reske.  Is this thing cool or what?  Simple sun-bleached plywood panels lean against the wall as if Josef Albers were in the house.

rickery, watercolor & ink on stretched & cut paper, Francine Fox @ UD@Crane.

rickery, watercolor & ink on stretched & cut paper, Francine Fox @ UD@Crane.

Francine Fox

Francine Fox displayed several three inch square paintings that are executed with virtuosity, flare and fluid surrealist imagination.  Like seeing a weird image in the clouds or faces in foam on the beach, Fox finds eery fractals of flesh, skin and organs which are all intricately applied to the glossy surface of the wood in delicate strokes of paint.

Anthony Vega

Anthony Vega with one of his multiple image paintings.  Vega uses a projector to capture multiple images within the plane of his painting.  Using found or original images he combines blobs of paint into pixel-like splotches which when viewed from a distance morph into pulsating icons that DoN‘s brain tried to make sense of but was thwarted by the cacophony of ideas vying for attention.  Vega told DoN, “…it’s evidently handmade.”

Balloons

Sho, Alden and DoN all LoVeD the balloon-stuffed panty hose, each of us explained the concept to at least one of our friends.  Like Christo‘s temporary installations, these pieces will obviously deteriorate rapidly but will live on in memory and photographs.  Of course, one could always make more and have fun doing it.

At Nexus Gallery, our threesome was treated to a video installation by J. Makary and Bilwa as part of the Philly Fringe festival.  The gallery transformed into a movie theater with stadium seating presented an extraordinary video: part art movie, part music video, part dance performance with an emphasis on hand gestures and body language.  The saturated colors, quirky dance moves and evocative narrative was absorbing and abstract in it’s simplicity of experience design.

 

Nick of Nexus tells DoN the gallery will be installing a low powered community radio station ala Whitney’s Biennial radio station.  People can schedule air time by contacting the gallery. Lo-fi Coolness Rocks!

 

 Super Kawai Lil’ Lamb @ Nexus. 

Bobbie Diamond Adams, Mark Donahue, Melissa Quinter and Ted Warchal @ Hopkins House

1 Reply

The Hopkins House Art Gallery is hosting a facinating exhibit of contemporary art by established and emerging Philadelphia area artists curated by Bruce Garrity of Rutgers University featuringBobbie Diamond Adams, Mark Donahue, Melissa Quinter and Ted Warschal.  The gallery is located on the banks of the Cooper River in Camden NJ in an historic old stone house with sculptures on the lawn (shark fins swim through  the grass) and sailboats glide on the river.  The art  assembled by Garrity in the warmly sun-lit space includes mixed media sculpture, experimental papers and innovative printing techniques on fabrics.

Bobbie Diamond Adams creates collographs on pigmented handmade paper, beautifully presented in hardwood frames, the creativity and craft of fine art prints is evident in each unique piece.  Adams also has a “gaggle” of ceramics which the artist refers to as “organized chaos”.

“Ancestral Sands”, pigmented pulp with lithograph and xerox printing by Bobbie Diamond Adams @ The Hopkins House.

“Ancestral Sands“, pigmented pulp with lithograph and xerox printing by Bobbie Diamond Adams @ The Hopkins House.

Bobbie Diamond Adams

 Bobbie Diamond Adams “gaggle of pottery @ Hopkins House.

Artists, Mark Donahue and Bobbie Diamond Adams @ Hopkins House Gallery.

Artists, Mark Donahue and Bobbie Diamond Adams @ Hopkins House Gallery.

Mark Donahue’s sculpture installation is composed of fiber and hydrocal without any armitures

Mark Donahue’s sculpture installation is composed of fiber and hydrocal without any armitures; Triffid-like the constructions seem infused with energy as if at night they creep about in the dark. Donahue includes ready-made plaster objects in the installation insinuating wit and satire into the mysterious fabrications.  Paired with Melissa Quinter’s enormous orange panel on the wall, the room is like an alien landscape.  More about Donahue later.

Melissa Quinter

Melissa Quinter created each of the fabric patterns in her psychedelic quilt by various methods including scanning images, patterns and batiks then changing the colors and saturation in Photoshop and finally printing and quiltmaking.  Boldly, the artist splashed day-glo green plasticized paint over the delicate handwork, obscuring and illuminating the pulsating patterns.

Melissa Quinter

Melissa Quinter @ Hopkins House Art Gallery. 

Melissa Quinter

Mellisa also has several mixed media pieces in the show; working with fabric, collage and other media, she brings craft and fine art together in vibrantly luminous objects of desire.  Working towards her Senior Thesis at Rutgers, this artist has pulled out all the stops mixing materials, techniques and media with abandon and enthusiam.  Alden & DoN LoVeD the trippy, drippy paintings, Shoshka was eyeing up the wacky quilts – all of us were inspired by the inventiveness and clear sense of direction found in the art.

Ted Warchal’s wall-hung open boxes

Ted Warchal’s wall-hung open boxes filled the first floor gallery space with dark, spooky combinations of images, objects and symbols.  Dada-like and surrealistic, the found art constructs are each packed with synthetic narrative, poetic streams of consciousness and dream-like combinations of thought patterns.  DoN has viewed several of Warchal’s art works at Da Vinci Art Alliance shows but this collection of variations on a theme is wildly unexpected in it’s intensity and drama.  Warshal is expert at combining materials to create the elusive objet trouve.

“Fetish I”, mixed media, Ted Warshal @ Hopkins House.

“Fetish I“, mixed media, Ted Warshal @ Hopkins House.

Hopkins House is only 15 minutes from Center City; DoN suggests you scoot on over to Camden and check out some very cool art by established and emerging local talent. 

 

 

A Night of Art, Music and Film @ Studio 34

Leave a reply

Shoshana and DoN attended “A Night of Art, Music & Film” @ Studio 34.  The yoga/healing studio/art space at 4522 Baltimore Ave hosted avant garde music, poetry, the premier of a film and an art exhibit, creating an exciting and interesting vibe in the mixed use space. 

Artist, Stefan Kietzman with his paintings in the gallery at Studio 34.

Artist, Stefan Kietzman with his paintings in the gallery at Studio 34Painting by Stephan Kietzman @ Studio 34.

Painting by Stephan Kietzman @ Studio 34.

Stefan Kietzman

From surrealist abstraction to impressionist landscape, Stefan Kietzman demonstrates his wide range of technique and painting facility.

Photographer/Artist, Alan Massey

Photographer/Artist, Alan Massey with his photography installation at Studio 34 (sorry for the lens flare) but DoN wanted you to see the scope and scale of Massey’s  unique display.

Detail of Alan Massey’s photos of sidewalk cracks

Detail of Alan Massey‘s photos of sidewalk cracks which seemed to spill out of a broken picture frame and squiggle across the wall.  Each photo is an image of an actual crack in city concrete, Massey can tell you exactly where each one is located.

Artist, Maryann Held

 Artist, Maryann Held with her modern pin-up illustrations.  A graduate of UArts, Held says the school, “…pushed not just what was good but what makes me happy.”  Holla!  Held is planning a career in illustration and designing books for kids.

Djo Fortunado

Djo Fortunado working on a background painting for his production of “Gods vs. Men” to be performed at The Rotunda in University City.  Fortunado wrote, directed, cast, designed costumes, created sets and even wrote music for what the artist calls a Reggae, Rock, HipHopera.  During the evening Djo also served as MC, introducing the eclectic mix of artists and performers.  Cool.

Drawing by Djo Fortunado @ Studio 34.

Drawing by Djo Fortunado @ Studio 34.

Character studies for “Gods vs. Men” by multimedia artist Djo Fortunado.

Character studies for “Gods vs. Men” by multimedia artist Djo Fortunado.

Cait Davis

Cait Davis, starred, directed and produced “in This Place“, a movie she wrote and designed with a little help from her friends.  The abstract narrative follows Cait’s character through trials and tribulations of being young in the city – DoN found himself wishing she wouldn’t smoke so much in the movie.  The saturated colors and quirky angles captured by cinematographer Ray Flynn takes the viewer from The Green Line Coffee Shop (a very funny scene) to the bedroom to a dreamscape with precision and technique which truly resembled the qualities usually found in film not video.  “In This Place” will be entered in the Brooklyn Film Festival.

A unique aspect to the evening was that many of the artists are high school friends who all attended CAPA, the High School for Creative and Performing Arts (Cait and Alan have known each other since they were two) remaining close and collaborative.  So, friendship in the modern age isn’t just who has the longest friend list on FaceBook or being friended by strangers on MySpace, it’s actually showing up and supporting the people you love.  PAFA people support each other and so do members of Da Vinci Art Alliance, the Plastic Club and Philadelphia Sketch Club.  Being an artist is a competitive business, not for the thin-skinned or weak at heart, but with the appreciation of friends and family, producing art can be a rewarding intellectual experience.  Thanks to James Peniston for being such a gracious host and introducing DoN to all the artists.