Category Archives: Philadelphia Photographers

20th Street Art Scene – studio christensen, Prelude Gallery and Beauty Shop Cafe

Matthew Ostroff @ studio christensen

Matthew Ostroff is like a graffiti artist using wheat paste and torn paper the way a tagger over-writes earlier tags. But Ostroff doesn’t deface property, he confines his low-fi technique of pasting painted colored paper onto a painting background then tearing away the paper like old posters shredded on a South Street Wall. The deep layers of color, intense saturation and feeling of the hand emanates from the surface in perfect abstract expressionism. Curator Jt Christensen is an interior architect who has transformed the old storefront at 333 South Twentieth St. Philadelphia into a hip, aspirational showcase for art, furniture and chic urban style. The Ostroff show with big, bold contemporary art pairs with the modern and mid 20th Century classic furniture in a hip, clean living space vibe gallery, emblematic of the changes taking place along 20th Street, offering a street view tableau of cool desirable furnishings.

Brian Lauer @ studio christensen

Brian Lauer was the featured artist at studio christensen for June but Jt decided to keep many of them because they just look so damn good. DoN noticed them while we discussed Ostroff’s work and thought they were paintings, from the street they read as paintings but on closer inspection the detail emerges from the color and a photograph coalesces. The photo above is Jesus being made up as a Zombie at Tattooed Mom’s on South Street, the chiaroscuro of light across Jesus’ wounds is like a Rubens. The photo below are guys standing along the river in Camden but feels like some Nordic outpost with sad characters staring to sea but it’s just folks enjoying the view of a blizzard on the Delaware River.

Brian Lauer @ studio christensen

Anna Shukeylo @ Prelude Gallery

Prelude Gallery is dedicated to promoting emerging artists in a gallery setting. DoN talked with Creative Director Gaby Heit about their mission and she explained how the gallery is collaborating with art schools to help under-grad and master level artists have opportunities to get their work seen. Heit said the neighborhood has been very welcoming, the gallery a perfect addition to the hip restaurants, salons and shops – Pamcakes is their neighbor, Yum! July 1st was Prelude Gallery’s soft opening but look for new work for the Second Friday art crawl on August 12th.

Kyle Deal @ Prelude Gallery

Christopher Enty @ Prelude Gallery

Gaby asked DoN what his favorite paintings are, a tough question since it was his first visit but Christopher Enty’s portraits of urban youth stand out with a rough beauty that is almost brutal. The characters in Enty’s paintings express the self consciousness of youth in a socially networked society where a profile is suddenly important, revitalizing the significance of portraiture; Heit confided in DoN she felt Christopher Enty is Prelude Gallery’s Soutine.

Benjamin Gonzales @ Prelude Gallery

Gaby Heit expressed to DoN she thought the revitalization of the 20th Street Corridor was coming from the North, the Rittenhouse Square district, but DoN explained how the Beauty Shop Cafe staked out the corner of 20th and Fitzwater Streets when there were still gangs hanging on the corner. And now students and young professionals make the trek to Center City from GHo all the way from Washington Avenue and get their morning coffee at the corner cafe. Art shows were part of the Beauty Shop Cafe plan from the beginning and the current show is really good.

Caitlin Beattie @ Beauty Shop Cafe

Caitlin Beattie is an emerging artist photographer, this is her first art show. It is so gratifying to know that artists have showcases like The Beauty Shop, Prelude Gallery and studio christensen to exhibit their work where it can really be seen by a lot of people but it makes the neighborhood so much more vibrant, intellectual and welcoming, too.

Sabik @ Beauty Shop Cafe

Dreamcatcher, NFS

Beauty Shop Cafe

Jewelry and etchings by Kenzie Gemz. The Beauty Shop looks like an old library or museum with terrariums, collections and photos creating a vibe of a secret society meeting room. As the GHo neighborhood transforms with modern new houses wedging between old row-homes, young families with strollers, hipsters with porkpie hats and folks who have long lived in the neighborhood are now enjoying a renaissance of sorts along 20th Street helping to delineate a terrific art crawl up 20th, across Walnut Street to Sande Webster, down 22nd Street to Twenty-Two Gallery and on to 21st & Pine and the fabulous Gallery 339. Second Friday, now a Center City West tradition, is August 12th.

Photos by DoN

DoN Brewer, Building an Art Brand Starting with a Typo

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Andy Warhol‘s real last name was Warhola, Banksy is a made-up name, Lady GaGa is made up, there are one name stars like Cher, Madonna, Christo – the idea is to build a brand, be memorable and stand out in a crowd. P!nk uses an exclamation point as does famous Philly artist Burnell Yow! to make their name stand out. DoN is attending seminars at the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy at the University of the Arts, on a cold early Spring evening, CO-COO of ZEROTO5IVE, Michelle Pujadas, an expert in business branding, lectured at length about famous brands and their imagery. DoN worked up the nerve to show her his business card in front of the room full of art entrepreneurs, the card with the big red DoN and crown which the branding guru then critiqued at length. She liked the big N in DoN because it looks different and quirky, big & red always works, she liked the crown a lot, a memorable image that creates links in the viewers mind but thought the mouse drawn crown should be simplified, she did not like the swirly pink background at all (DoN tried to explain the tie-in to his website but if you have to explain…start over) and she particularly critiqued the hand feel of the card, what DoN thought was slick and shiny Michelle Pujadas felt was slimy! Slimy! Her card has a memorable logo and lush, velvety touch with room to write personal notes. Ink doesn’t even adhere to DoN‘s old shiny/slimy cards.

DoN also learned that he was over-promising services on his business card; as a multimedia designer and artist it seemed important to list all of his skills including Flash, seo, video & reiki. What DoN learned was that even though those activities are ones he enjoys doing, working with others on their ideas or problems isn’t always a satisfying experience. DoN learned at the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy events to be able to express what he does as a business in the length of time it takes to ride an elevator. So, with his new business card design, DoN highlights what he likes doing best – art, blogging, photography & web deign – if search engine optimization, Flash animation, producing video or healing pesky past life issues with reiki enters the conversation, cool. If not, oh, well.

ZEROTO5IVE also recommended simplifying the color palette of the card, DoN eliminated the disco swirls and changed the font up a little, still his favorite Futura, a geometric sans-serif typeface designed in 1927 by Paul Renner, but now the D is a bit bigger, the o a bit smaller but the capital N remains capitalized, a favorite of the audience and the expert presenter, even people in the back row got it. The crown in DoN‘s new logo is now the W from the free font called IntellectaCrowns from www.dafont.com designed by Intellecta Design, a Brazilian type foundry interested in typographical research and revivals of all forms of ancient typefaces and handwriting styles. It searches historical churches, museums and similar institutions to develop handwriting and other fonts from old documents. This kind of research is not common in Brazil. In addition, their design team also works to create new and modern typefaces for all applications. DoN removed the Flash animation with the dizzying swirl and unexpected noises from his homepage, too. DoN has people say to him all the time,”The Don with the big N, right”. People also think DoN looks like Wille Nelson, but that’s another story. A simple typo has turned into a moniker, logo and brand that folks remember, even if they think it’s a mistake. The big N continued when DoN began writing this blog, DoNArTNeWs – DoNBrewerMultimedia Reviews the Philadelphia Region Art Scene, now with over 60k hits per month, thank you, and the typo has become a meme.

Now, DoN‘s card is still bold but simplified, the advice from the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy has helped DoN re-focus his energy and values on projects that re-invigorate, inspire and develop his brand – DoN with a capital N. As a result of meeting entrepreneurs at the Corzo seminars DoN is now a Contributing Writer, providing exclusive content about the arts, to Philly.SideArts, an artist portfolio and arts opportunity website. And it started with a typo.

Logo by DoNBrewerMultimedia.

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center

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The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Every corner of the mammoth Icebox Gallery in the Crane Arts Center is activated with visual signs, symbols and sensory stimuli. Last January curator Amie Potsic sent a call for ideas to the Fellows of The Center for Emerging Visual Artists for the huge art space in Fishtown. Site specific works were encouraged, developed and confirmed by April and last week all the pieces fell into place and Construct, an invigorating, unique, studied look at contemporary art and how assemblage, construction and collage is integral to the new way of seeing. The photo above looks so Rauschenberg but it’s mash-up of two large installations, one a trippy multiple collage by Jennifer Williams applied directly on the walls and a large assemblage by Don Edler that sprawls across the concrete floor like a drift of entrancing debris.

Don Edler @ The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Mami Kato in coming to the end of a long relationship with the special Japanese grass she uses to create the sinuous sculptures which take years to make to a new direction using resin for the bio-morphic sculpture in the foreground. Her work looks so beautiful in the Gray Area, tying up the space in a confounding knot of dense yet floaty tubules.

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Laureen Griffin plays with styles, textures, composition and sexual role models – huh? DoN overheard a comment, “What’s that girl doing in the chair?” The girl is dressed quite masculine, like a business woman, reading a paper, a strong contemporary image of a black woman set against the grain of an antebellum manor. Intensely conflicting narratives zipped through DoN‘s neural network from stories embedded in the fabric, visual cues in the styling and strangely involving decor. Gorgeous!

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Kimberly Witham was concerned for a moment that the photographs that are so huge in her studio would seem dwarfed by the scale of Icebox, but arrayed salon style, the still life photographs using dead animals, wallpaper and found objects read perfectly well. The beautifully rendered still life photographs are so bitter sweet, we get to look at beautiful creatures living on after death in a work of art, an exquisite corpse of a different kind. Witham’s photographs drew a crowd of people who stood and stared a long time; the mixture of repulsion and fascination, ugly and beautiful, cheery and morbid strums a tender nerve. And the concept that raw steak is not just the color of cabbage roses but can be sexually Dali-nian is genius.

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Alison Stigora, Whirlwind, charred wood, site specific installation. Like a charcoal drawing in space, Whirlwind is a feat of imagination swirling up like a tornado; Stigora and a friend hand-charred the wood, pulling logs from the fire and dousing them with water to preserve the scarred luminous iridescence of the wood for the construction. Alison wants all DoNsters to know she is not a pyromaniac, having a healthy fear of fire and does not play with matches. The imposing sculpture continues Stigora’s investigation into the fractal like forms of the natural world, especially trees and all that art owes to them.

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Alison Stigora, Whirlwind, detail.

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Lewis Colburn was seated atop a 15 foot wooden tower where he typed War and Peace by Tolstoy during a performance at the opening reception; Colburn typed out part of the book relating to a theory about history and calculus, a repetitive process which spilled a long stream of paper into a puddle on the floor. The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Lewis Colburn @ The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Maggie Mills has five paintings included in the exhibit, each artwork representing a bit of the anxiety she feels about the political and ecological environment her young daughter is growing up in. Mills’ paintings incorporate compressed narratives, coupled with coming of age incidents and rituals. In each of the paintings, young people are involved in a manner of play that involves constructions like kites but in a dream state haunted by angst, danger and fear for the future.

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Swim Team, oil on panel, Maggie Mills @ The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Panoramic shot of the Icebox Gallery, The Center for Emerging Visual Artists – Construct @ Crane Arts Center.

Artists exhibiting are: Noah Addis, Arden Bendler Browning, Lewis Colburn, Don Edler, Laureen Griffin, Jordan Griska, Ana B. Hernandez, Mami Kato, Allison Kaufman, Daniel Kornrumpf, Maggie Mills, Tim Portlock, Alison Stigora, Jennifer Williams, Kimberly Witham, and Bohyun Yoon.

Construct is on view through June 29th, a short run for such a big show but exhilarating in it’s scope, direction and audacity.

Photos by DoN.

Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne

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Lois Schlachter, @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne, 2011

Steve Iwanczuk @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne, 2011. That’s Steve reflected in the drawing on the right.

Lois & Steve have collaborated as the co-chairs of the Philadelphia Sketch Club’s Exhibition Committee for years, lately Lois is focused on her own art career, continuing to volunteer but now making new art, showing in galleries and entering competitions. Schlachter has had the unique experience of viewing virtually thousands of artworks submitted to the venerable art club’s competitions and exhibitions and now is creating her own memorable art, fractured planes, vibrant color, dreamy narratives like a mix of Charles Dumuth and Takashi Murakami. Steve Iwanczuk teaches graphic design but his drawings are surreal and photographs technically exact, in this show he shows three sides of his persona, each piece strange and deep.

Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne, 2011.

Mina Smith-Segal Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne, 2011.

Deborah Ann S. Horsting @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne, 2011.

Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne – Gift Shop! Many of the artists brought prints, cards and posters to sell, Art Space‘s lay-out is multi-purpose and really fun to wander through. Art Space is a major component in the art vibe of Lansdowne, many of the locals came out to the show, the support of the neighbors is so important if art is the force communities use to stay vibrant and relevant.

Dorothy Roschen @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne, 2011.

Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne, 2011.

John Schmeichen @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne, 2011.

Karen McDonnell & Anthony Cortosi @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne. Karen & Anthony are collaborative by nature, often taking on responsibilities others don’t want to do ensuring art events can jump off. The duo work together on their art, drawing and cutting stencils, spray-painting and decorating their canvasses until layers of memes, myths and memories are mashed-up like a DJ Shadow mix.

Rich Harrington @ Philadelphia Sketch Club Volunteer Art Exhibit @ Art Space, Lansdowne, 2011.

Volunteering is a good way to make friends, learn new things, experience different ideas and stretch social skills; sometimes it feels really good, sometimes it’s hard work but in the end people working towards a common goal, solving problems, creating opportunities, being selfless and inclusive is an art form unto itself. Thank you so much to the Philadelphia Sketch Club and Art Space, DoN LoVeS seeing his work flanking Lois Schlachter and Steve Iwanczuk‘s art, to be included in their company is an honor. Not all the volunteers are represented in this blog post many other artists are in the expansive show, take the drive out to Lansdowne to see the show, support the volunteers and the view of the city on the drive back is spectacular, a fine reward.

Photos by DoN.

DoN Brewer @ The Plastic Club Members Medals Exhibit and The Philadelphia Sketch Club Members Art Show & Sale

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DoN Brewer @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club Art Show & Sale.

Being part of an art group and observing the social dynamics in the art world is as interesting as the art. The recent artist receptions at the historic art clubs, The Plastic Club & The Philadelphia Sketch Club, drew crowds of artists to the Avenue of the Artists in Center City to celebrate the best of the best. It is so much fun to be the fly on the wall when someone is looking at your work; having pieces in both shows was especially gratifying and when people observe to DoN they remember his photos from one show or the other show it feels so good to know they remember the images. DoN entered his digital photograph from Da Vinci Art Alliance‘s Envisioning the Decameron show titled Heliotrope in PSC‘s art sale (the image will represent DoN‘s work in the forthcoming DVAA 80th Anniversary art book), an abstract found architectural detail photo that confounds observers – it looks like a painting but it’s a photo, Heliotrope is a color but it’s also a magic stone that was thought to cure the plague.

Heliotrope, digital photo & print, DoN Brewer.

Meeting artists is as much fun as looking at the art and drinking wine: painter Garth Herrick and DoN chatted about how he exclusively does commissions now, Steve Iwanzuk PSC Exhibitions chair told a story about once putting Mark Zuckerberg in his place, Chick Kelly was dressed to the nines in a dashing hat, Karen McDonnell, the Queen of Hip Hop Grafitti, looked HoT! in black, Scott Affleck posed with DoN for photos since our work is hanging next to each other…it was a really good art day.

Panoramic view of the Philadelphia Sketch Club‘s Members Art Show & Sale – that’s PSC President Bill Patterson in the middle, it was a wonderful moment when DoN saw Bill shaking hands with Mike Guinn, Plastic Club past president, at The Plastic Club’s Members Medals show, the two leaders are essential to the success of the historic art clubs.

The Philadelphia Sketch Club‘s Members Art Show and Sale.

The Plastic Club’s Members Medals Show – center bottom row is DoN‘s Rune, digital photo printed on matte paper. DoN picked this photo to go after a prize because to him it represents painting, photography and printing all at once – even though the image is glossy, the paper is matte, creating an illusion. Oh well, it’s great just to be nominated. Congratulations to Lois Schlachter for winning the Gold Medal.

Panoramic shot of the Plastic Club Members Medals Exhibit – that’s artist Yeoun Lee in both ends of the photo!

Panoramic shot of the Plastic Club Members Medals Exhibit.

Upstairs at the Plastic Club.

Both art shows end this week, DoN recommends you find time to see these important art events because they represent some of the best of Philly’s contemporary artists and what they think is their best work.

Photos by DoN.

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