Category Archives: Philadelphia Multimedia

Allison Kaufman, Artist Statement @ Center for Emerging Visual Artists

Allison Kaufman talks about Dancing with Divorced Men, a series of photos and video at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists, October 27th, 2011.

Hear Ana B. Hernandez‘ artist talk at Philly.SideArts.

Photos and video by DoNBrewerMultimedia.

Jessica Hoffman: Forever and After @ 110 Church Street Gallery

Jessica Hoffman: Forever and After @ 110 Church Street Gallery

Jessica Hoffman: Forever and After @ 110 Church Street Gallery

Dear Mad, I Really Like Your Hair! Love Johnny, hair strands from Jessica Hoffman‘s head in glassine envelopes.

Jessica Hoffman: Forever and After @ 110 Church Street Gallery

Jessica Hoffman: Forever and After @ 110 Church Street Gallery

Slideshow, vials of shavings from photographic slides the artist found.  Hoffman scraped off bits of each slide, saved the scrapings, then presents the slide show with the bits of image removed.  Each vial is labeled with the trip, location and time period the slides were taken.

Jessica Hoffman: Forever and After @ 110 Church Street Gallery

Jessica Hoffman: Forever and After @ 110 Church Street Gallery

Talent Show, split screen video footage projected on the wall.

DoN saw this show two weeks ago and has thought about it often as he scooted around town seeing art over the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011 festival, leaving little time to report.  But Jessica Hoffman‘s show is about memory and the passage of time.  Forever and After incorporates three major narrative elements used in ways that look at the passage of time in abstract even obtuse angles.  “Slideshow is an investigation of memory, using a collection of found slides from the 1960s and 1970s shot throughout Europe and the United States by the same person.  Talent Show is a split screen video piece using footage shot at a school talent show on the left and my own version of the performances on the right.  Dear Mad, I really like your hair today! Love, Johnny is an installation inspired by a box of hundreds of love letters found on the street. – HeavyBubble website”  Each element of the installation recaptures moments in time that are personal, private, secret presenting them in Dada-ist style – should DoN believe that the love letters were found on the street?  Did Jessica really sit and scrape off bits of image from hundreds of slides?  The split screen throw back style to the Woodstock movie era of the video could have been shot over the Summer.  It doesn’t matter if it’s real or not, making found objects or finding found objects, then arraying them exquisite corpse style creates a strange narrative as the mind tries to grasp the connections.  At 110 Church Street Gallery, Jessica Hoffman‘s installation, Forever and After, combines sweet nostalgia, contemporary oblique strategies and pure, clean, simple presentation to take the viewer on a time trip back from the future.

Read more at Philly.SideArts

Photos by DoN.

Haus of DoN – Philadelphia Open Studio Tour 2011, West of Broad Street, October 1st & 2nd

 Haus of DoN - Philadelphia Open Studio Tour 2011

Super Nova, Photoshop collage, digital print, DoN Brewer, 2011

Decorating the Haus of DoN has been very gratifying, reinforcing the DoN brand with his abstract landscape photographs, including the “light being” series, original graphic prints and oil paintings, setting tableau’s and displays throughout the studio and is ready for visitors.  DoN’s body of work has grown substantially, DoN’s first creative job was Display Manager for a department store retail chain in the 1970’s, tapping into those skills has been nostalgic and liberating, marketing DoN‘s product line like he did in the garden department at J.M. Fields.  Usually DoN’s major art works are packed and ready to show when opportunities arise and the Haus is decorated with the works of DuSold, DuPree, Stango and outsider artist Danny Gayder, the work of Masters influencing the path of DoN’s interests and goals.  The DoN collection would not exist if not for the influences of artist friends and mentors as well as collectors, helping refine DoN’s eye and continue art production with confidence.  After weeks of preparation DoN is looking forward optimistically for a delightful weekend of seeing old and new friends and sharing his art.  

 

The Haus of DoN is dedicated to all the artists participating in Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011; DoN understands the aches and pains of finishing projects, solving problems and decision-making involved in making an art work space inviting to visitors.  Thank you to the Center for Emerging Visual Artists for undertaking the task of organizing the citywide art event that is unique to Philadelphia.  Thank you to all the readers of DoNArTNeWs and Philly.SideArts; DoN is grateful to all the artists who share their skills, talents and stories for the art enthusiasts not just in Philly but around the world who follow DoN‘s incursions into the realms of the art world throughout the city.  This weekend is also the opening of a month long exhibition by the Photographic Society of Philadelphia, the oldest photography society in America, at the Plastic Club with opening receptions each Sunday afternoon 2:00 – 5:00 PM; DoN has two favorite photographs included in the prestigious show of fine art photography.

 

A special shout-out to DoN‘s nephew Bud Irwin serving in the Army in Afghanistan; knowing Buddy’s marching across arid desert mountains loaded with gear makes DoN stronger and braver to make new work, produce more videos, write more reviews, do more crunches at the gym and plan challenging new projects for the future.  Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011 is an opportunity to be optimistic, to brush off the haters, ignore the art bullies, defy the critics, escape the economic reality and be free to be an artist living, working and producing art in America.  The Haus of DoN, 2028 Pemberton Street, welcomes you.

 

LoVe

 

DoN

DoNArTNeWs Interview – Ann Koivunen, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Top Tips for Artists

Ann Koivunen is the Director of Studio Tours and Exhibitions for Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, one of the top art events of its kind in the USA.  Ann offers great advice on what to do and what not to do to have a successful, fun event.  The clip is nine minutes, so get a cup of coffee and sit a spell, Ann has a wonderful perspective on POST.   DoNBrewerMultimedia is participating in POST 2011, October 1 & 2, 12 – 6:00PM, check the awesome on-line resources for information on neighborhoods and events at the POST website.

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Video by DoNBrewerMultimedia

Social Media and the Art of Being an Artist

DoNArTNeWs logo

DoN has been bustling around the studio getting ready for POST, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011.  While painting walls, rearranging furniture and making new works, DoN has been absorbed in implementing suggestions made by Todd Hestand @ The Corzo Center for the Creative EconomyDoN is improving his social networking by having DoNArTNeWs art blog synergize with the various communications options available like FaceBook (DoNArTNeWs – DoN Brewer Art Review), YouTube (DoNArTNeWs – DoNBrewerMultimedia) and Twitter (@DoNNieBeat58).  By simply consolidating the information on DoN‘s homepage, DoNBrewerMultimedia, visitors now see all the options to connect with DoNArTNeWs and DoN‘s art work. writing, information, promotions and videos in one place.

The DoNArTNeWs FaceBook fan page has been a particular challenge with interesting rewards.  When DoN posts a blog on DoNArTNeWs or Philly.SideArts, part of the process is “advertising” the story on Facebook, promoting the story on as many relevant art “fan pages” and “group pages” as possible.  The DoNArTNeWs fan page automatically posts a tweet on Twitter and already DoN is trending with new followers.  DoN has a major photography show at the Hopkins House Gallery of Contemporary Art, the FaceBook events feature is an easy way to contact all your “friends” and estimate how many people will actually show up at the event.  Here’s the rub, you may have to contact each page and person individually to “like” your page, or reciprocate your link, or comment on a post.  DoN asked Todd Hestand how much time he spends per day promoting Philly.SideArts on social networks, “About two hours.”

Video will be a big part of future DoNArTNeWs reports making YouTube integral to the whole.  With HD quality video built into most digital cameras and smart phones, it makes sense to take a little time to make a movie, especially now that iMovie is so easy.  DoN has a cache of unseen footage that has been languishing since last Summer when he had to disassemble his video suite due to unforeseen forces.  But with POST forcing a studio clean-up, soon some major stories will include video clips as well as photographs and reviews.

August turned out to be a busy, creative time for DoN, making new work, participating in art shows, published in two art books, Da Vinci Art Alliance Then and Now: 1931 – 2011 (available on Amazon.com) and 175 Years of Reflection, Laurel Hill Cemetery 1836 – 2011 (available in the Laurel Hill Cemetery gift shop, really, there’s a gift shop), well received articles at the Philly.SideArts blog and a record number of page views on DoNArTNeWs.  It is such an honor to be included in two books documenting art history in Philly and to be recognized as “the press” by so many galleries and artists.  Thank you so much to all the fans of DoNArTNeWs, the support and feedback inspires DoN to keep it up.  Look for new and improved DoNArTNeWs and Philly.SideArts stories and if you’re on FaceBook please “like” the fan pages of the organizations you support, these pages are good resources for what’s happening on the art scene in Philly and opportunities for you to participate in our burgeoning creative economy.