Philadelphia’s art scene is vibrant, ever-changing, combining technique and technology for new visions of reality, creating a transformative influence on life-style in the urban community and beyond.
“The first time I ever heard of artist Judith Schaechter was sometime back in the early 1980’s when we were both in a group show at Philadelphia’s Art Alliance. She had this small unassuming painting that I have never forgotten. Judith stopped painting and went on to excel in another medium, stained glass, and on October 17th, 2015 I went back to the Philadelphia Art Alliance to see a dazzling display of her work. Later, I spent an afternoon at Judith’s home and studio. I believe that this funny, brilliant woman is one of the world’s greatest living artists.” – John Thornton
“It seems my work is centered on the idea of transforming the wretched into the beautiful in theme as well as design. For me, this means taking what is typically negative — say, unspeakable grief, unbearable sentimentality, or nerve-wracking ambivalence, and representing it in such a way that it is inviting and safe to contemplate and captivating to observe (to avoid ending with preposition). I am at one with those who believe art is a way of feeling one’s feelings in a deeper, more poignant way.” – Judith Schaechterexcerpt artist statement
“Judith Schaechter’s work is gut-wrenchingly beautiful. “Beauty” says the artist, “is considered the most horrible crime you can commit in the modern art world. People are suspicious of anything that makes them feel as though they may lose control. Beauty forces you to confront your helplessness as well as your dark side. My work is not intended to make comfortable people unhappy, although it may make unhappy people comfortable.” – University of the Arts faculty
VISIT PHILADELPHIA’s fun, over-the-top commercial honors the city’s beloved icons while showing off the many other enjoyments that make Philadelphia such a popular place to visit and stay overnight. In these two scenes, a larger-than-life Benjamin Franklin makes his way through the city in preparation for a spat with a cheesesteak that’s just as eager for the spotlight as Ben. An outrageous tiff ensues, leaving a visitor asking, “What’s with them?,” and her taxi driver responding, “Oh those two. They’re always fighting for attention.” The tongue-in-cheek spot ends with the tagline: There’s more to a legendary city than its legends.
Credit: Photo courtesy of VISIT PHILADELPHIA®
PHILADELPHIA, January 26, 2016 – VISIT PHILADELPHIA® debuted a new television commercial today—a fun, over-the-top spot that honors the city’s beloved icons while showing off the many other enjoyments that make Philadelphia such a popular place to visit and stay overnight. Created in partnership with Red Tettemer O’Connell + Partners, the commercial is part of the destination marketing organization’s With Love, Philadelphia XOXO® campaign and the first VISIT PHILADELPHIA spot to air on television since 2011. It is viewable at visitphilly.com/philazillas.
“Cheesesteaks and history are legendary in Philadelphia, and deservedly so,” said Meryl Levitz, president and CEO, VISIT PHILADELPHIA. “But we want people to realize that there’s a lot more to this city, and it’s all deserving of attention: the waterfronts, the parks, the restaurants, the bars, the culture, the walkability. Our new commercial shows off these wonders, and every one of them is a great reason to visit Philadelphia. You’ll definitely need more than a day to get it all in though.”
The Concept & Strategy Behind It:
In the spot entitled “Philazillas,” a larger-than-life Benjamin Franklin and a just-as-big cheesesteak vie for the spotlight during an outrageous tiff that leaves a visitor asking, “What’s with them?,” and her taxi driver responding, “Oh those two. They’re always fighting for attention.” The tongue-in-cheek spot ends with the tagline: There’s more to a legendary city than its legends.
Research commissioned by VISIT PHILADELPHIA in 2015 found that while most leisure travelers acknowledged Philadelphia’s iconic sites, they seek fun and authentic experiences, restaurants, nightlife, art and walkability for urban destination getaways. That’s why “Philazillas” shows off the many city features that compel travelers to visit.
“The challenge in developing a spot that broadens people’s perspectives about what makes Philly great was having a bit of fun with the two things the city is most famous for—cheesesteaks and history,” said Steve Red, president and chief creative officer, Red Tettemer O’Connell + Partners. “But at the same time, it was important to acknowledge their legendary status and importance to the city.”
Why Now?:
Philadelphia has hit records and milestones in recent years, with 39.7 million total visitors in 2014 and 77% occupancy at Center City hotels and an historic visit from Pope Francis in 2015. To keep this momentum going, it’s important for Philadelphia to stay top of mind for people making decisions about their next vacation or even contemplating a new location for their home or business. That means getting the Philadelphia message out to them on all possible platforms, including on TVs and digital screens.
The Media Buy:
Video consumption across many platforms is at an all-time high, and it’s imperative for VISIT PHILADELPHIA to reach consumers in these spaces. The destination-marketing organization secured a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development grant to promote visitation to Philadelphia through video on screens of all sorts—TV, desktop, mobile and tablet devices—in 2016. This multi-screen grant helps extend the messaging of the With Love campaign to a wider audience.
There are three versions of the commercial: 60 seconds, 30 seconds and 15 seconds. The 60-second version tells the most robust story, and that iteration will appear online and on VISIT PHILADELPHIA’s websites and social media properties. Due to a limited budget, the shorter versions will run on television and online as part of the paid advertising buy.
The “Philazillas” spot will complement VISIT PHILADELPHIA’s core media buy, which will feature creative on digital and out-of-home advertising in the New York and Philadelphia DMAs. The commercial will run on broadcast and cable networks in three flights: February 1-21, July 11-31 andSeptember 5-18, 2016. In addition, it will appear online through media distribution partners such as Lin Digital, TubeMogul, Facebook and YouTube.
VISIT PHILADELPHIA® makes Philadelphia and The Countryside® a premier destination through marketing and image building that increases the number of visitors, the number of nights they stay and the number of things they do in the five-county area.
On Greater Philadelphia’s official visitor website and blog, visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com, 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.
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Mannequin: A Group Photography Exhibition At Da Vinci Art Alliance – Opening January 6th
(Philadelphia, PA December 15th, 2015) Da Vinci Art Alliance, 704 Catharine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147 invites the public to Mannequin: A Group Photography Exhibition January 6th – 31st. Regular gallery hours for this exhibition will be Wednesdays, 6:00 – 8:00PM,Saturdays and Sundays, 1:00 – 5:00PM with an opening reception on January 6th from 6:00 – 9:00PM.
This exhibition shows the collective work of 30 Philadelphia-area photographers, each who share their own unique viewpoint of mannequins and their roles as life size models. The zany appeal of these articulated dolls prove both attractive and disconcerting at the same time; mysterious yet strangely familiar. This interesting dichotomy is being explored and interpreted through the vision of each artists’ lens.
“As this project has unfolded, I’ve come to observe and photograph mannequins of several different configurations, located in windows and within merchandizing displays,” says curator Laura Storck.
“These models can vary demographically by neighborhood – even though the stores could be selling essentially the same product, each has a unique style and ambience which is reflected in their mannequins – the pose, color, and choice of whether or not to use a realistic face versus abstract, or even headless versions. The more expensive the clothing, the more rich-looking the mannequin seems. Mannequins in windows tend to have faces and are more eye catching, whereas those within the retail environment appear utilitarian. These silent salespeople were held in high regard during the surrealism movement of the early 20th century, as these objects blurred the lines between animate and inanimate, human and machine, the sexualized and the sexless, and ultimately life and death.”
ABOUT DA VINCI ART ALLIANCE: Da Vinci Art Alliance is a public, non-profit!501(c)(3) artists’ organization located in South Philadelphia. The organization was founded in 1931 to serve the needs of professional artists and artisans in the Delaware Valley. Da Vinci currently has over 140 members and is supported through membership dues, gallery/studio rentals, sales commissions, grants, and donations. It holds exhibitions of members’ and nonmembers’ artwork as well as special events, workshops, performances, poetry readings, and lectures. The mission of the non-profit artists-run organization is to support its members and to further community-based arts, cultural, and educational exchanges.
Man Ray was born as Emmanuel Radnitzky in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. in 1890. Born Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchampon July 28, 1887 in Upper Normandy region of France, the grandson of a painter, Marcel Duchamp would have an immense impact on twentieth-century and twenty first-century art. The arguments and jabs go on to this day about photography being for artists with no talent, photography isn’t fine art, anyone can do it…someone wrote to me and said I should write about real art for a change. That’s so DADA.
“In 1915 he was introduced to Marcel Duchamp, who would become a lifelong friend and influence; he subsequently moved to Paris, practicing there for over 20 years.” – Artsy
“In 1919, Duchamp made a parody of the Mona Lisa by adorning a cheap reproduction of the painting with a mustache and goatee. To this he added the inscription L.H.O.O.Q., a phonetic game which, when read out loud in French quickly sounds like “Elle a chaud au cul”. This can be translated as “She has a hot ass”, implying that the woman in the painting is in a state of sexual excitement and availability. It may also have been intended as a Freudian joke, referring to Leonardo da Vinci‘s alleged homosexuality. Duchamp gave a “loose” translation of L.H.O.O.Q. as “there is fire down below” in a late interview with Arturo Schwarz. According to Rhonda Roland Shearer, the apparent Mona Lisa reproduction is in fact a copy modeled partly on Duchamp’s own face. Research published by Shearer also speculates that Duchamp himself may have created some of the objects which he claimed to be “found objects”. – Wikipedia
“The source for the fraternal friendship that linked the two men is to be found in their shared freedom and independence of spirit. Aside from a passion for chess, they shared a taste for the subversive and an irresistible desire to invent. Intellectually, their processes were similar. As art terrorists, they both knew how to place mines under artistic conventions, and their works, without being similar, nevertheless responded to the other.” – DADA Companion
Hi – my name is Joel, and I work at Artsy. While researching Man Ray, I found your page: http://brewermultimedia.com/2009/04/. I wanted to briefly tell you about Artsy‘s Man Ray page, and about our mission.
We strive to make all of the world’s art accessible to anyone online. Our Man Ray page, for example, provides visitors with Man Ray’s bio, over 100 of his works, exclusive articles, as well as up-to-date Man Ray exhibition listings. The page even includes related artist & category tags, plus suggested contemporary artists, allowing viewers to continue exploring art beyond our Man Ray page.
I’m contacting certain website & blog owners, and asking them to help us achieve our mission by adding a link to Artsy’s Man Ray page. In addition to spreading the word about our page, I believe your site visitors would enjoy this content.
If you are able to add a link to Artsy’s Man Ray page, please let me know, as I’d love to share it with my team.
Best,
Joel
“Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask “how,” while others of a more curious nature will ask “why.” Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.”
-Man Ray
“What are your rituals? RiTUAL. A ceremonial act ~ Rites used in the course of worship ~ The performance of ceremonial acts ~ The prescribed form of conducting the ceremony ~ A method of procedure that is followed without variation ~ performance with gestures, words, and objects, often in a sequestered place. In the winter months as the chill settles in and the days grow shorter come inside the RiTUAL Reading Room”
December 5, 2015 — February 29, 2016
Exhibition Space: Heavy Bubble / @HBHQ, 1241 Carpenter Street 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19147. On-line catalog RiTUAL Reading Room
“@HBHQ will be transformed into a reading room. Be surrounded by stories, engulfed by pages, dazzled by over two hundred books. Books on shelves. Books on tables. Books hanging. Walls covered with books on display. Take books down, curl up and read. Sip some, tea, coffee, or hot cider. Fall in love with a book, buy it, and take it home.” – HBHQ
