Philadelphia Sketch Club’s 2010 Members Exhibition @ Newman Gallery
1 Reply
Category Archives: Philadelphia Artists
Newman Gallery – Memorial Day Art Sale
Coulter Watt, A Bag of Fun, oil on board @ Newman Galleries on Walnut Street.
Newman Galleries is the 2nd oldest continuously family owned art gallery in America, the collection the Newman family has amassed is amazing. Terry Newman is hosting a holiday art sale, offering terrific deals on paintings; DoN began dreaming of decorating an awesome beach house or a glamorous new condo with the perfectly eclectic work of art to match with decor – there is so much to look at, it’s hard to imagine what to put where. Terry suggests trying taking favorites home on a trial basis to find that perfect piece that expresses your lifestyle, their website has a fantastic database to explore.
Abraham P. Hankins, Picture on a Blackboard, oil on canvas. The third floor gallery is a cool respite from the street filled with desirable works of art. Newman Gallery will be hosting The Philadelphia Sketch Club‘s Annual Member’s Exhibition June 12th, 2010.
Ethel F. Betts Bains, House and Garden, 1923, oil on canvas, @ Newman Galleries.
Photos by DoNBrewerPhotography.
light beings @ The Coffee Bar
While you’re visiting Center City this weekend to celebrate Memorial Day consider dropping in the Coffee Bar @ 17th & Locust to see DoN‘s show of photographs titled “light beings” presented by The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – their gallery @ 15th & Locust is uber-cool. And Bonte’s Waffle Cafe’ @ 17th & Sansom is hosting Photographic Society of Philadelphia‘s solo artist show of Alan Richter photos. The Photo Society & CFEVA both tirelessly promote photography as an art form and Philly photographers as artists with on-going shows and promotion; without organizations like these the Philly art scene is a much tougher field to navigate. And somehow photography and coffee just go great together.
light being (JRR Tolkien), digital photograph by DoN Brewer @ The Coffee Bar, 17th & Locust in The Radisson Warwick Hotel through the end of July 2010.
A Show of Hands @ Salon des Amis
Robin Hotchkiss, To The Opera, oil on wood @ A Show of Hands, Salon des Amis in Malvern.
Robin Hotchkiss organized the theme show about hands, the quirky gallery near Valley Forge has a broad array of art by Philly regional artists. Divine & To the Opera, oil on wood by Robin Hotchkiss – the sculpted ceramic hands are by Markels Roberts.
Robin Hotchkiss, From the Past, oil over antique painting, Ellen Benson, Springtime Divas, mixed media and Ann Keech, found object assemblage @ Salon des Amis.
Alden Cole, Magic Hans, oil on canvas @ A Show of Hands at Salon des Amis.
The Sunday afternoon opening drew Shoshka, Alden & DoN out to the tiny gallery on the hillside near Valley Forge to see A Show of Hands at Salon des Amis, a themed group art show of art focusing on hands – drawings, paintings, photos, sculptures, jewelry, hats…each artists’ unique approach expands and illuminates how important the image of hands are in popular culture.
Photos by DoNBrewerMultimedia.
Light & Despair @ Twenty-Two Gallery – Valerie Carroll & Adrienne Jenkins
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.