Category Archives: Philadelphia Art

Art in Philadelphia, PA.

Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012

Jess Yohn, Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012

DoN was invited to the Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012 by graduating artist Hayley Tomlinson, as soon as he arrived DoN ran into professor of illustration Rich Harrington who asked if I was covering the story for DoNArTNeWs? That was not originally the plan but when DoN was presented with the massive show of talent in the Galleries at Moore it made him realize how illustration works and it’s continued relevance in the modern world.

Visual cues, archetypes and formats are integrated into images creating patterns that trigger memories and memes of experiences. Presentation was key, each artist created their own sense of self identity and accomplishments in a very professional manner. DoN was impressed with the level of business acumen and polished presentations of the artists with their thoughtful projects and confident communication skills, with business cards, art cards, websites, Tumblr blogs and all sorts of swag to accompany and sell their main objective of making memorable images.

Jaine Kopala, Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012

We want the funk, get up off that funk. Jaine Kopala, digital prints.

Breana Karnis, Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012

2 = 2 = 22, 2012, hand cut Sintra, acrylic and monofilament, Breana Karnis‘ majored in textile design but this mixed media artwork works as fine art, installation, decor and more.

Natalie Helman, Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012

Jennifer Villareale, Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012

Rich Harrington introduced DoN to Jennifer Villareale, one of his illustration students who overcame shyness with her aggressive, tough illustrations of heroic adventure. The watercolors are vibrant and controlled, “Watercolors are tough. I went through some really bad paintings but, you know, every single painting you do get’s a little bit better. And as I was going I got tighter and tighter, even with the gradations of the color, each painting got better. You have to do thin layers and it takes a lot longer.” said Jennifer Villareale.

Kait Amadio, Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012

Stacy Hornung, Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012

click the image

Basma Abouelenein, Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012, photo courtesy of the artist.

Basma Abouelenein, Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012

The experience design in Basma Abouelenein‘s installation was multi-media and multi-faceted from the business card to the rustic box of problem’s to the unusual use of an overhead video monitor, the craft and sense of the hand was strong but the obvious competence and cleverness in the use of technology asserts the new direction illustration and experience design is headed.

Sandy Frank, Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012

Instead of business cards Sandy Frank gave away flags.

Congratulations to the Class of 2012 at Moore College of Art and Design.

Sunday is the opening of Phillustration 2012 at The Philadelphia Sketch Club under the artistic direction of Moore’s Rich Harrington, the reception is 2-4:00 PM. The annual show always exhibits the state of the art in contemporary illustration in the historic gallery/studio on the Avenue of the Artists.

Written and photographed by DoN

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Hayley Tomlinson, Moore College of Art and Design Senior Exhibit 2012

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Hayley Tomlinson, Moore College of Art & Design Senior Exhibit 2012

Artist, Hayley Tomlinson‘s installation at the Galleries at Moore for the Senior Show was grand in every way from concept to execution to presentation. The artist made a splash with her needle point award ribbons in the Philadelphia art blogs last year, her use of an old fashioned technology like crochet or needlepoint mashed into modern social networking is an on point comment on how information spreads. The information stored in knitting is powerful; fabric is a metaphor for storing information. Scan the QRCode in one of her fabric iPads and it will take you to her website. Hayley Tomlinson‘s senior thesis from Moore College of Art & Design, her degree is 3D Fine Arts, also takes on the fame side of art with an homage to Jeff Koons and the information stored in balloon dogs.

“My paper is about artists that I envy and who I want to be like one day. But, I’m also kind of jealous because of the money that they have and I really want to be rich and famous.”

Hayley Tomlinson, Moore College of Art & Design Senior Exhibit 2012

Hayley Tomlinson graduated magna cum laude and already has a job as a graphic designer in Philadelphia. She told DoN, “Now that I have this full time job I can find a way to support my separate art career. So, I guess we’ll see, I’m moving to a new place, starting a new job, I need to organize myself and figure out what I want to make. I won the Blick Art Award so I want to go to Blick Art Materials and buy a lot of markers and paper and draw things and see where that takes me.”

Hayley Tomlinson, Moore College of Art & Design Senior Exhibit 2012

“I made the bunny as the poor man’s Jeff Koons, it’s stuffed and I made it myself and I can’t pay other people to make it for me. So it’s stuff that’s very soft, I put it on cement blocks because I can’t have a concrete pedestal like Jeff Koons can. The iPads I made are also about envy, it’s more focussed on things I have a love/hate relationship with and that like, ‘I hate myself for loving these things’. So, I’m going to keep working with those ideas that I make.”

“I’ve got a degree, I’ve got a job, I’ve got ideas in my head, so, it will be good.”

PHILAGRAfiKA Invitational Portfolio Prints at studio:christensen

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PHILAGRAfiKA Invitational Portfolio Prints at studio:christensen, Emily Brown, An Early Thaw, lithograph

“There’s a mix of people here, some are younger or mid-career. Some of them have never made a print before, it’s their first print, and there’s a great mix of people.” PHILAGRAfiKA director and curator Cindi Ettinger said to DoN during the opening reception for Invitational Portfolio Prints at studio:christensen, 333 South 20th Street.

DoN recalled PHILAGRAfiKA coming into existence while he studied at the University of the Arts in the early 21st Century. “Philagrafika was originally the Philadelphia Print Collaborative which was a consortium of all the different organizations in Philadelphia that were involved with print-making. And then it evolved to become Philagrafika which the goal was more about festivals, printmaking and how it could be used outside the box.”

“Now, after that major festival we’re kind of scaling back and starting over, reincarnating ourselves and we are having a lecture series and have events and projects in other cities and international. So, we’re getting started all over again, right now.” DoN inquired about the connection with the chic gallery near Rittenhouse Square and Cindi explained that a member of their board is friends with Jt Christensen, the designer behind the storefront gallery/design studio. “What’s nice about this is it’s very low key and we found that the best way you can reincarnate yourself is to start small and gradually get really, really good people together and have it be much more organic. Have it be an organic process, so that’s what we’re doing.”

PHILAGRAfiKA Invitational Portfolio Prints at studio:christensen, Eric Avery, Paradise Lost, four color chiaroscuro print on Okawara paper.

Eric Avery‘s, Paradise Lost describes the fourteen major infections of Adam and Eve, diseases specific to humans. The technical virtuosity and exquisite information design is masterful, the narrative deep and disturbing, the presentation at once decorative and discrete. “Most of the major human infectious diseases, including some confined to humans and absent from animals, are “new” ones that arose only after the advent of agriculture.” Can you think of one major disease specific to you as a human being?

PHILAGRAfiKA Invitational Portfolio Prints @ studio:christensen, Judith Schaechter, Child Bride, two color linocut on Somerset paper.

DoN asked about the famed stained glass artist, Judith Schaechter‘s, affiliation with PHILAGRAfiKA? “She was involved in the first portfolio and you know, she was happy to do it.” There was a schedule conflict that evening as the artist unveiled her spectacular new windows at The Eastern State Penitentiary.

“PHILAGRAfiKA is developing a 2012 portfolio, we’re just getting the artists chosen and by the end of the month will be announced on the 31st. Philagrafika is alive and well.” said Cindi Ettinger, a master printer who worked with most of the artists in the exhibit, coordinating with major print firms and universities to bring the show to life.

PHILAGRAfiKA Invitational Portfolio Prints at studio:christensen, Nami Yamamoto, Miniature Garden: Trace, pigmented over beaten bleached abaca with watermark.

PHILAGRAfiKA Invitational Portfolio Prints at studio:christensen, Jennifer Levonian, July in Philadelphia, digital print with dye cut.

May 31st, 6:00 pm at studio:christensen is a lecture entitled Natural Discourse, with Mary Ann Friel and Nami Yamamoto find out more how to register at the Philagrafika FaceBook Page.

Written and photographed by DoN

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