Category Archives: Philadelphia Artists

Artists DoN has met in and around Philadelphia.

Ion Zupcu “Works on Paper” and Yuichi Hibi’s “Neco” @ Gallery 339

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Ion Zupcu is a conceptual photographer – first he sketches out his ideas, then constructs tiny one inch square sculptures from black paper photographing the simple forms and meticulously producing inventive gelatin silver prints which read like drawings.  Some of his photos are titled after favorite artists such as “Dear Frank” which is dedicated to Frank Stella.ion zupco

Ion Zupcu @ Gallery 339 

Yuichi Hibi’s “Neco” @ Gallery 339

Ion Zupcu‘s “Dear Frank” @ Gallery 339. 

Yuichi Hibi‘s Neco is a room full of pictures of cats that he photographs in NYC, Paris, Tokyo… Hibi tells DoN, “cats are way more mysterious than dogs” and that his images “don’t portray cats as cute or sweet.  I’m looking for the Hitchcock-ian moment.”   You will just have to visit the beautiful Gallery 339 @ 21st and Pine streets and spend some time absorbing the narrative of the delicate, contrasty black and white images of these wonderfully mysterious beasts. 

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 Yuichi Hibi‘s cat photos @ Gallery 339.

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Gallery 339 artists Yuichi Hibi @ Sarah Stolfa @ the opening night party. 

The 2nd floor of Gallery 339 is an oasis of fine art photography featuring work by Martin McNamara‘s extraordinary artists.  Last month DoN missed Tetesugo Hyakutake’s fantastic wide aspect photographs in the main gallery but fine examples of his work can be found here to study in the quiet privacy of the upper level.

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Tetesugo Hyakutake @ Gallery 339. 

 

Art of the Flower @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club

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The Art of the Flower show at the Philadelphia Sketch Club is an annual, open juried competition for 2 or 3 dimensional works of art on the theme of the flower by prominent and emerging regional artists.  This year’s juror, James P. Repenning, chose not only traditional styles of flower painting but also abstractions, photography, prints and even a neon sculpture.  Rik Viola, committee co-chair, pulled together an exceptional show with a new twist on flowers in art with an opening reception that was well attended and exciting.  The awards were kept secret until they were announced at the gala which added an aura of anticipation since even the winners didn’t know until the announcement.  The exhibition runs through March 22nd and will be followed by the annual Small Oil Paintings show.flowers

The winners wall at The Philadelphia Sketch Club’s annual Art of the Flower Show which overlaps the famous Philadelphia Flower Show.  1st Place, Emerging Amarylis, monotype by Rona Richter, 2nd place, Roses with Reflection, pastel by Beverly Jensen, 3rd place, Dried Flowers in a Burl Vase, pastel by Ben Cohen, 4th place, White Iris, photography award by Elizabeth Bard. Honorable mentions went to Tony Anthony, Robert Bohne, Doris Peltzman, Jessie Joern, Gus Sermas and Eve Hoyt.

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DoN Brewer‘s inkjet print collage, “Gingko“.

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3-Dimension award winner – Luminous Flora – Neon by Eve Hoyt.

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Cactus Flower, ink and watercolor, Peter Petragia.

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Glories, color pencil & ink, Hal Taylor.

Black Rose, etching, Thelma Grobes.

White Orchid, digital print, Valerie Hutton. 

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Artist Gus Victor Sermas with his mixed media drawing, Flower 1, at The Philadelphia Sketch Club’s Art of the Flower show through March 22nd, 2009. 

Justin Duerr: Song-Story Images in Black and White @ St. Asaph’s

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Justin Duerr: Song-Story Images in Black and White  (and some Red) @ St. Asaph’s Gallery, presented by Coalition Ingenu is a tour de force in magic realistic drawings.  Duerr’s marker drawings, some huge and involving, some small and dream-like, fill the Gothic room with Bosch-ian imagery of bird-men, crawling words and psychedelic thought forms.  The presentation by Robert Bullock of Coalition Ingenu is pristine, with simple framing with glare-free plexiglass, permitting the viewer to delve into the mind of Justin Duerr.

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Cake decorated by Justin Duerr for his opening party at St. Asaph’s gallery.  One of Duerr’s first jobs was working in a bakery where he learned to work with frosting.

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Gallery view of the Justin Duerr installation @ St. Asaph’s Gallery, 27 Conshohocken/State Road, Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

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“Ghost Born Free From Cages and Jails”, drawing by Justin Duerr.

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Justin Duerr @ St. Asaph’s Gallery through April 5, 2009.

Moore College of Art & Design, 160 Years and Beyond, Art in City Hall

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Cathey White, Growth “Process”, spray paint and mixed media.  Boot designed and cast by Darla Jackson.  Art in City Hall currently has a show on 2 & 4 called the Fringe of Fiber curated by Kathryn Pennepacker, very cool show and PSoP on 5.

Photographic Society of Philadelphia – Art in City Hall

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As DoN entered the 5th Floor of Philadelphia City Hall for the Photographic Society of Philadelphia exhibition of member work a part of Art in City Hall he was greeted by Eilleen Eckstein with a flower for participating artists.  Shoshka pinned DoN‘s carnation and they entered the ornate halls together; the gala was jammed with estimates of 300 attendees, the walls are hung with a fantastic array of photographic styles all meeting the only rule, that the framed image not exceed 16 x 20 inches.  The crowd was jovial and high spirited.

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The Photographic Society of Philadelphia opening night party for Art in City Hall on the 5th floor.

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Lynn Shepsman with her photograph, “Deep in Devotion“.  DoN is fascinated with how this simple image emanates a certain time and place and when DoN talked with Lynn he learned the image is indeed of contemporary India.

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Photographer Alan K. Klawans @ Art in City Hall.  Klawens recently curated the excellent small WORLDS show at the Plastic Club.

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Alan K. Klawans‘ photos, “Buoy #14“, a composite image and “Nuts and Bolts“.

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DoN LoVeS  Veronica Schmude’s photographs, “Untitled #1″ & “Untitled #2“.

Kudo’s to the exhibition committee for the most excellent digital catalog, Morris Klein customized the pdf files so that each artists work appears on the cover – here’s DoN‘s.  brewer pdf

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A visitor studying DoN‘s entry in Art in City Hall’s, Photographic Society of Philadelphia members exhibition.  DoN‘s work was framed by Armond Scavo of Earthlight Images, simply heat mounting the prints to foam-core board with no glass heightened the visibility of the images.

Many people asked DoN how he does it – Friday the 13th, DoN will participate in a discussion about light in art, with a video slideshow of his “light being” series at The Philadelphia Sketch Club @ 8:00PM.

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“light being (Walt)“, digital photo by DoN Brewer @ Photographic Society of Philadelphia, Art in City Hall show.