Category Archives: Philadelphia

The Philly art scene is vibrant, filled with characters who create innovative, avant garde art in the 21st Century. New techniques and technologies are converging to develop a new vision of reality.

4th Fridays on 4th Street

Supermodel Mike invited DoN to visit Jinxed Clothing to meet artist Tim Diet and toy designer/artist  Mr. Shane Jessup.  Tim Diet is a NYC based artist who creates super-pop art featuring icons of advertising and cartoons; “Where’s the Beef?” features the Hamburgler, Wendy, Wimpy and more, “Menace to Society” stars Dennis and other trouble-makers.  Diet’s style is to paint with acrylics on stretched canvas and create a masterful mash-up of cheery icons designed to make us buy stuff that’s not really that good for us.Tim Diet  

Tim Diet with his paintings @ Jinxed.

Acrylic Boxes by Tim Diet

Acrylic Boxes by Tim Diet @ Jinxed (that’s Leanne Biank working on her entry for The Rolling Canvas Art Collective presented by Fuji Bikes which opens Friday @ Jinxed).

Acrylic Box by Tim Diet @ Jinxed.

Acrylic Box by Tim Diet @ Jinxed.

Tim Diet and Jinxed owner Supermodel Mike.

Tim Diet and Jinxed owner Supermodel Mike.

“Words that Hurt” paintings by Mr. Shane Jessup @ Jinxed.

Words that Hurt” paintings by Mr. Shane Jessup @ Jinxed.

Mr. Shane Jessup is a toy designer for Kid Robot planet Earth’s premier creator & retailer of limited edition toys, clothing, mini-figures, artwork & books.  Jessup designs three-D toys in Illustrator, the vinyl toys are manufactured overseas, refined back here in the states and then sold to kids and collectors alike and are currently a big hit at ComicCon in San Diego.  The toys are Super-Kawai bunnies, robots, punks and monsters – DoN LoVes them all!  You can buy a box of 24 figurines some of which are rare and collectable – then you have to network with other collectors to find the special ones you need to complete your collection.  Start by shopping at Jinxed, you’re sure to find something deliciously wacky to start your collection.Painting and vinyl figurines by Mr. Shane Jessup @ Jinxed Phildelphia.

Painting and vinyl figurines by Mr. Shane Jessup @ Jinxed Phildelphia.

Jinxed Philadelphia on 4th Street, South of South Street.

Jinxed Philadelphia on 4th Street, South of South Street.

Next, DoN stopped in Digital Ferret CDs because of the crowd of punks outside; it’s so cool that punk is not dead, super-high platform boots, black leather and pink Mohawks will never go out of style. Digital Ferret CDs is one of America’s leading music retailers and mail order houses for 80s, Ambient/Techno, Industrial, Electronica, Gothic, Metal, Trip-Hop, World Fusion and Experimental Music.  Inside the shop was rocking to the sounds of Philadelphia’s own Society Hill, kind of a mash-up of punk, funk and grunge – really fresh and clean – lead singer Dwight was totally unintelligible – fabulous!  Check out Society Hill’s MySpace Page to learn more about the band.

4th Friday on 4th Street is really fun with jewelry vendors, stained glass, art and clothes for sale on the sidewalk – and parties everywhere.  Let’s ROCK!

All photographs by DoNBrewerMultimedia Photography

Smile Gallery – Sunshine and Flowers

Smile Gallery

Artist Lilliana Didovic, artist Karen McDonnell and Ken Tutjamnong @ Smile Gallery opening for artists Ken Tutjamnong and Mike Sweeney.

Ken Tutjamnong’s impressionist floral paintings are exuberant with a variety of mark making techniques splashed across the canvas then scraped away to reveal subtle coloration and form.  Ken, a native of Thailand, is a dedicated painter and a member of the DaVinci Alliance – not only does he manage the most excellent  Smile Thai Restaurant which is more than a full time job, he finds time in the morning or after to work to develop his unique painterly style.  Tutjamnong’s paintings for the Sunshine and Flowers Show are absolutely happy with rich texture, color and composition; Ken obviously is working hard to realize a dream.

ken2.jpg

Painting by Ken Tutjamnong

Mile Sweeney

Artist Mike Sweeney @ Smile Gallery.

Mike Sweeney mixed paintings and photographs in Smile’s Sunshine and Flowers show. he says, “Photos are an ethereal experience, a painting  you have to live with, get to know, be there a long time.  A photo lasts forever as that moment.”  Again, time shifting and experience design create new vibrations, since DoN is a multimedia guy, it’s refreshing to see an artist freely mix the medias usually kept separate. 

Mike Sweeney

Painting by Mike Sweeney @ Smile Gallery. 

Ken and Matt

Ken Tutjamnong and his brother Matt Lyons. 

Second Thursday @ Crane Arts Center – The Gray Area

DoN posted a 30 second video on YouTube of the Super Mario Brothers music which is enchanting and magical; using the score from the video game soundtrack and sound effects from character/avatar interaction with puzzle elements in the game, the music is post-post-post modern.  The video is just part of the Golden Calf exhibit in the fabulously dark installation of paintings, photography and sculpture about decay, destruction, nausea and mysticism.  DoN found the art to be emotionally raw and psychologically dismal with elements of claustrophobia, isolation and estrangement; Hagit Barkai’s “Vomitous” is awesomely powerful, the paintings are Bacon-like in their facility, the subject charged with feelings of fear, powerlessness and despair, the paint application is expert.  The artists of Golden Calf are establishing New Philadelphia as the art center of the region, unafraid to tackle the more difficult apects of modern life.Brian Billingsley’s “Homage to Me” video and “Untitled (Saturn Devours His Son)” oil on canvas in the Golden Calf Show at Crane Art Center.

Brian Billingsley’s “Homage to Me” video and “Untitled (Saturn Devours His Son)” oil on canvas in the Golden Calf Show at Crane Art Center.

blobs

Weird little blobby things were all over the place.

Super Mario

Super Mario Music!!! 

UArts @ URBN

UArts @ URBN

Shoshana & DoN attended a show of recent graduates of UArts photography majors at the Urban Outfitters headquarters in the Navy Yard, a wonderfully cavernous, bright space with hip, modern amenities for workers and visitors, repurposed from an industry long gone.  The occasion was a first for Urban Outfitters, to include art from outside their own studios, a coup for UArts photography majors to have their work hanging in the ultimate New Philadelphia. The display wall was installed especially for this exhibition permitting the artists to exhibit large scale works or groupings in a salon style fashion. The art is superb, the level of skill is extraordinary with unique uses of tools and technology producing fine art photography from staged magic realism to documentary realism to intimate glimpses into childhood memories.Artist Anna Tas

Artist Anna Tas with two examples of her Linticular Prints, the collection will appear in the Please Touch Museum.  Tas taps into cultural stereotypes with the shifting shades of humanity playing out cheerfully in simple plastic shapes.  The technical term for the type of linticular print used is a “flip” which is really only two images divided into strips, the lens lets the mind’s eye create multi-cultural blends.

Stephanie Ricci

Stephanie Ricci with photos of the carousel at Knoebels Amusement Resort; an homage to her grandfather this sampling is from a group of 26.

Dustin Ream

Photographer Dustin Ream with “Fukayama Japan 01, 2007”.  The view is under a Japanese rail line with amusement sculptures, Murikami-like in their super-flatness.  DoN & Dustin discussed the similarity to Zoe Strauss’ Under 95 projects, the Shin Honsen train system in Japan and traveling with a rail pass.  Ream is going for an MFA @ Tyler.

Christos LoutovoulisPhotographer Christos Loutovoulis with “In the Name of Cha Ching, the Crucifixtion“, created by applying liquid emulsion to paper then exposed to light from an enlarger, the four sheets of paper are nailed directly to the wall.The exhibition space @ Urban Outfitters HQ @ The Navy Yard.

The exhibition space @ Urban Outfitters HQ @ The Navy Yard.  All photography by DoNBrewerMultimedia Photography.LoVeDoN 

Yoshi’s Island 3 @ Crane Arts Gray Space

 

DoN LoVeS the Yoshi Island Video installation by Brian Franklin in the Gray Space’s side room, a perfect execution of mutlimedia music and visuals filling the space with a futuristic soundtrack, all of the art in the rest of Golden Calf benefitted from the music. Created for Super Mario Brothers video game the music is 4 soundtracks playing simultaneously, simultaneous overlapping loops of bloopy tones creating a modern sound design installation with late 20th Century video game music repurposed into new art.  As game technology advances and leaves artifacts behind, Franklin rescues the musical artifacts like a modern day monk saving information in illuminated manuscripts.  The music stand with the score displayed elevates the piece to Wagnerian dramatic heights developing a sense of nostalgia for a time when video game technology was new.