Category Archives: Philadelphia Pop Art

Pop art created by Philadelphia area artists.

Plastic Club’s small Worlds 2011, Huge Art Show of Little Works of Art on the Avenue of the Artists

Plastic Club’s small Worlds 2011.

Paige Ozaroski, Closer Look, photograph, Gaby Heit, Morning, Sugar, watercolor. 246 works are included in the blockbuster event, the Plastic Club continues to draw out the best of artists as they each join the competition for the prestigious awards – imagine what went through the mind of juror Murray Desener when he learned the task ahead of him, he did a fantastic job.

Nick Brown @ Plastic Club‘s small Worlds 2011. Nick sketches from life on ceramic then scratches out relief for the glaze. Caroline Maw-Dies, Woven Stoneware Basket, woven stoneware.

Mervyn Kline @ The Wanderer, print @ Plastic Club’s small Worlds 2011. Mervyn & DoN are included in the show in the Downstairs Gallery @ The Plastic Club; Merv’s stylish renderings are retro futuristic with an ancient lost civilization vibe. DoN will write a separate post about the show including Burton Greenspan, Diane Podolsky & Cara Kendric – DoN feels blessed to be included with such a fabulous group of fine artists, DoN has seven photos on display at the Plastic Club, a true honor.

Plastic Club‘s small Worlds 2011, 246 artworks are on display at the Plastic Club, each small world unique yet when grouped cohesive in a simplistic, natural way – the above tableau of monochromatic works with touches of color is curatorial excellence considering the blockbuster size of the exhibit.

Sylvia Schreiber @ Plastic Club’s small Worlds 2011. The actual drippy painting isn’t much bigger than the image on this page but packs a bold punch of color in person.

Don McPartland, Kicker Conspiracy, mixed media @Plastic Club’s small Worlds 2011; Don McPartland made a splash when he became a new member of the Plastic Club this year, 46 new artists, now capturing first prize with his soothingly complex confection, comfortably nestled in a niche in the dining room.

Plastic Club’s small Worlds 2011, click the thumbnail.

Sung Ham, Joo Hooy, oil, Mervyn Kline, Picasso Blues, digital print, Jen Tsui, Post Card, mixed media @ small Worlds 2011, The Plastic Club’s annual small art extravaganza.

Plastic Club’s small Worlds 2011, each nook and cranny holds a universe of small Worlds – Patricia Wilson-Schmid, Vortex, acrylic, Gail Zelikovsky, Landscape of Mars, silk painting, David DiDonato, Recycled Garden, acrylic, Lois Schlachter, Anxiety Dream, acrylic, Veronica Meekins, Nude Figure, pencil.

Phil Juska, Meatloaf at Gilleys, 2AM, construction @ Plastic Club’s small Worlds 2011

Caroline Maw-Deis, Put de Lime in de Coconut, fiber, Dorothy Roschen, Smoke-Made Landscape, smoke fired clay @ Plastic Club’s small Worlds 2011, a huge art show of little works of art.

DoN is sad for Japan. “Smile, even though your heart is breaking.” With new eyes, look at the wonderful culture, community, vibrancy and beauty we are surrounded with every day and cherish each moment as if it could all be swept away in an instant. “Life is still worth while, if you just smile.”

Structure and Gesture @ Da Vinci Art Alliance

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Ona Kalstein @ Structure and Gesture @ Da Vinci Art Alliance.

Paintings by Jane Liang, photo by John Benigno @ Structure and Gesture a Da Vinci Art Alliance event.

Sandi Nieman Lovitz @ Structure and Gesture, a Da Vinci Art Alliance event. Lovitz won 3rd prize for her painting on plexi with vivid color, bold brushwork and scratching away of paint, the result is very seductive and beautiful, eclipsing the other paintings in the room as far as brightness and movement goes.

Structure and Gesture @ Da Vinci Art Alliance – W. Lukens, E. Lukens & S. Myers, the tableau of earth tones contrasts with the brighter color creating a subtle ebb & flow of emotion, narrative and excitement through the gallery.

Bud Boehringer @ Structure and Gesture, a Da Vinci Art Alliance event. Boehringer‘s painting was a jury favorite and is now attracting attention as a prime example of contemporary Philadelphia expressionist painting with a cool vibe, accessible abstraction and joyful abandon.

Lilliana Didovic, Sandi Neiman Lovitz, Pat Wilson-Schmid…there are more than 20 Philadelphia artists included in this exuberant show celebrating art making of all kinds. The Da Vinci Art Alliance continues to offer cohesive, thematic shows which challenge the artist and the viewer to see, think and communicate more.

Carol Wisker, Marilyn, mixed media @ Structure and Gesture a Da Vinci Art Alliance event. Carol Wisker turns ordinary wire screen mesh into a luxuriously lustrous confection, earning her second prize in the juried competition.

Lois Schlachter @ Structure and Gesture, a Da Vinci Art Alliance event. Lois is super-charging her art career after a long run as exhibitions co-chair at The Philadelphia Sketch Club with surrealistically changed landscapes reminiscent of Charles Dumuth over-lapping super-flat planes of color, defining spacial concepts. Check out her web-site for all the events Lois is participating in; even though she won an honorable mention for the above print, DoN found her large painting in the Da Vinci show to be much more enthralling. Visit this art gallery gem in South Philly, with the collection of outstanding work by a diverse group of artists, to see what DoN means.

Structure and Gesture @ Da Vinci Art Alliance – check out this line-up of paintings, drawing and print by a cluster of influential Philly artists – Lois Schlachter, Roz Bloom and Alden Cole.

The Structure and Gesture exhibition features the artwork of:

J. Benigno, R. Bloom, S. Bloom, B. Boehringer, A. Cole, L. Didovic, J. Engle, D. Foss, O. Kalstein, C. Kelly, Y. Lee, J. Liang, M. Loippo, W. Lukens, E. Lukens, L. Mills, S. Myers, S. Neiman-Lovitz, L. Schlacheter, A. Strosser, P. Wilson-Schmid, C. Wisker.

Toni Nash @ Dumpster Divers on South Street

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Toni Nash, Leaning Tower of Brass @ Dumpster Divers Art Gallery on South Street.

Toni Nash, Hand of Time @ Dumpster Divers on South Street.

Toni Nash explained to DoN that her found object construction expresses the concept that people always look to their hands to acknowledge the passage of time. Nash uses hand imagery in her work, “…because what can you do without hands? A baby see it’s own hand, I see stuff and it talks to me, then I interpret what it says.”

Toni Nash, Last Sunset of the Millenium @ Dumpster Divers on South Street.

Nash was intrigued with the last sunset of the 20th century but not the first sunrise, she became involved in an art project involving Legg Eggs and transforming the Titanic ship to look like a rocket and forgot to watch the sun come up on the new millennium. It’s fun chatting with Toni in the eclectic gallery on South Street with the collection of art made from recycled materials surrounding us and hipsters wandering in off the street to check out the unusual art, Nash hosted a long running talk show in the Philly region and has zillions of stories to tell about meeting stars. The gallery is decorated for the holidays with some wack-a-zoid toy assemblages which are enthralling kids on South Street, stop in and meet the artist, she’s really cool.

Art Ability 2010, An International Juried Exhibition & Sale of Art & Fine Crafts by Artists with Disabilities @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center in Paoli, PA.

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William Parker, Caribbean Dream, colored pencil. William Parker, a Philadelphia artist, is included in the 15th Annual Art Ability International Art Exhibition and Sale of art and fine crafts by people with disabilities in the Bryn Mawr Rehab Center, his portrait of a pretty girl with flowers sprouting from her head is pure exuberant joy. Using a mouth-stick, the ebullient Parker explained to DoN that depending on the subject a drawing such as a face may take two weeks to draw, a simpler drawing only a few hours; the smooth contoured shapes describing the head are sinuous and silky, the color saturated into the paper’s surface with Dada-ist comparisons between lips and roses in subtle tones. Parker said this is a new beginning for him, he did an abstract and thought, “this is really nice!”

Sheryl Yeager, Pittsburgh PA, Happy As A Rose, pastel @ Art Ability in Bryn Mawr Rehab Center in Paoli, PA. Sheryl is planning a series of greeting cards for her popular animal pastels; the originals are popular, too. Sheryl originally got into art as therapy but now is presenting mature inspired works that touch your inner animal spirit. Yeager’s primitivist style dials right into the art collector psyche with signified shapes, rich layered color and impeccable presentation, a real self advocate, Sheryl promotes her art by participating in art show across western Pennsylvania.

Sheryl Yeager, Giraffe, pastel, 3rd Prize winner for Works on Paper, the Marjorie M. Schwartz Memorial Award.

Arnie Segal, Hippopotamus in a Pink Tutu, sculpture @ Art Ability 2010 @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center in Paoli, PA.

DoN Brewer, light being (Walt), digital photograph @ Art Ability 2010 @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center in Paoli, PA.

DoN had the opportunity to talk with Art Ability Committee member Doris Gordon’s role in putting on the massive art show which had thousands of entries and is showing over 500 works this year? Originally the committee’s goal was to collect art for a permanent collection, and there is a superb selection, but after a few years the concept of an international juried art show by artists with disabilities was conceived and is now, after 15 years, the focus of the group. Doris told DoN that the committee works so well together it took only 3 major meetings to delegate this year’s duty’s from the take-in to the jurying to the hanging to the most excellent, informative catalog.

Daniel Neufeld with his paintings in the Art Ability annual art exhibition at Bryn Mawr Rehab Center. The Patron’s Preview Party was really fun with artists mingling with patrons, supporters and enthusiasts over wine, tasty appetizer stations, roving waiters with hors d’oeuvres, light dinner and yummy dessserts; the attentive sales staff promoting the art guided patron’s through the maze of halls lined with one fantastic piece after another.

Allison Merriweather, mixed media @ Art Ability‘s annual art extravaganza.

Carla Laws, Valid Points, computer graphic.

Cynthia Lyon, Red Hot Ice, oil. Is this awesome or what? The trompe l’oeil effect of the super-kawaii painting is pun fun yet artistically on point with it’s Pop Art reference with placement between hospital charts and everyday objects.

Al Walton, The Fix, woodcut print. First Prize for Works on Paper, In Memory of Jacqueline Van Handel.

Kurt Weston, Stained Glass Cathedral Woods, photograph. Weston is from Huntington Beach California.

Gregory Gans, The Near Shore, photograph @ Art Ability 2010 @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center in Paoli, PA. Gregory Gans’ creates deeply emotive works with photography and post production, his narrative style is like leaves drifting on the water sweeping the viewer into a mystical vista.

d’Elaine Johnson & Robert Davis Art Ability 2010 @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center in Paoli, PA.

Victor Mordasov, Italian Girl, oil.

Beth Livingston, The Fourth of July, mixed media. DoN spotted this awesome piece right away during the drop off of work, the distinctive red stripes vibrating all the way across the room. Every inch of the mixed media piece is packed with information, the spools weaving a panoply of rich color, the corrugated material suggesting waves, the sparkling embroidery of melting stars as poignant as the National Anthem.

Kathryn Pannepacker, mixed media @ Art Ability 2010 @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center in Paoli, PA. Kathryn Pannepacker is included in the permanent collection of Bryn Mawr Rehab but she too has evolved beyond the original kernel idea into a true art star, creating murals throughout the city preserving textile patterns of the world, a woven mural on Ludlow Street, the handmade by the homeless weaving project on South Street and so many more philanthropic, selfless exercises in beauty and kindness that she truly epitomizes the spirit of this show, that art heals the body, mind and soul.

Photos by DoN.

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2010 – Fishtown & Kensington

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Rachel Citrino – Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2010. DoN called Karen McDonnell, the Queen of Hip-Hop Graffiti, to ask where she recommended to start on the last day of the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, 2010, West of Broad and she immediately replied, “Rachel Citrino!” lola & DoN drove out Girard Ave,. past Frankfort Ave. to the east end where Rachel has a studio in a beautiful old Philadelphia row-house. The long, narrow interior is filled with Rachel’s mono-prints, paintings, photographs and prints, her brazen color and appealing compositions look great on her pumpkin colored walls; chatting at Rachel’s kitchen island about her process and projects is a memorable highlight from an art saturated weekend.

Rachel Citrino‘s studio in Fishtown, a short walk from Girard Ave., is filled with bright color wall-to-wall.

Piety Choi @ Highwire Gallery

Kensington was our next art stop, a short drive up Frankord Ave, to a cool cluster of galleries and studios on a warm afternoon. Highwire Gallery is showing a group show called Exploring Invisible Piety Choi, Maria DiMauro, & Karen Steenwhich, a totally entrancing collection of enigmatic paintings, Choi’s recognizable style is so calm and thoughtful, her multiples are dreamy, the symbolism drawing DoN into her creative world with ease.

Piety Choi, Encountering Beauty @ Highwire Gallery in Kensington.

David Stanley Aponte @ BYOPrint.

According to co-founder Lauren Fischer, Aponte is a master print-making guru with a wealth of knowledge to contribute to this unique operation – a community print-making shop you can rent by the hour or the day, be a full-time member or just hang out when you’re in the mood. The BYOPrint team will help you realize your dream of an intaglio, woodcut, silkscreen, monotype, collograph and more; Lauren told DoN, “We’re about making prints happen.” The space in a loft overlooking a motorcycle repair shop is cool bonus.

Lauren Fischer‘s workspace @ BYOPrints in Kensington.

BYOPrints, the DIY all-purpose print shop in Kensington participated in this year’s Philadelphia Open Studio Tour.

Extra Extra bookshop & gallery showcased A Diamond is Forever – Alexandr Skarlinski , Daniel G Baird , Dave Murray , Jordan Tate & Michelle Ceja – above in the corner is 85% of All the Art I Made Turned into A Diamond by Dave Murray, a glamorously spare presentation of an en-cased diamond with a story. “Extra Extra is an artist-run space dedicated to the exposure of under-represented artists challenging the limits of the visual and performing arts.” The multi-media and light art is enthralling, this space is one to re-visit and be rejuvenated.

Abbey Lee Sarver @ Extra Extra bookshop & gallery in Kensington – her website is groovy, too. Sarver’s mixed media pieces in the loft bookshop is awesomely engrossing, playing mind games with generic archetypes transmuted into futuristic artifacts. The bookshop sells handmade and special edition books, curator Derek French told lola & DoN that the artist collective, a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization, set up shop in Philly instead of their hometown Baltimore because it’s not as combative here.

Part Time Studios in Kensington featuring recent work by in-house studio artists. The cluster of art spaces in Kensington allows young artists to work at their art by teaming together and re-imagining the old world work spaces into new millennium intellectual outposts in Philly’s north-east.

Stopping for coffee at Rocket Cat Cafe across from the Warlocks Motorcycle Club made a cool continuum of the art smart vibe we’d been experiencing all day, sitting and watching hipsters pet their beards is a fun past-time, too.

Our final stop of the day was the Studios at 2424 East York, where we met two fine artists that the fine people at POST had arranged to display their art in the halls of the terrific arts building anchored by the uber-cool Skybox Gallery, Ellen Abraham and Marge Feldman took full advantage of the long hall showing a large collection of paintings; Ellen Abraham‘s style is cartoon expressionistic and Marge Feldman‘s God’s-eye view paintings are other-worldly yet familiar. As it turns out Abraham is a fellow member of Da Vinci Art Alliance, DoN encouraged her to enter the upcoming Decameron show. It’s so great that POST helped artists to find great new spaces to make them part of the famous art crawl, if only there was more time (and energy) to explore all the hidden art treasures to be found throughout all of Philly’s neighborhoods.

Ellen Abraham @ Studios @ 2424 York Street during the annual Philadelphia Open Studio Tour.

Marge Feldman @ Studios @ 2424 York Street during the annual Philadelphia Open Studio Tour.

Thank you so much to the Center for Emerging Visual Artists and Philadelphia Open Studio Tours for creating such a wonderful experience design, the catalog with maps is a keeper, the posters around town were divine especially when DoN spotted an artist he knows in the picture, the advertising and promotion was probably the best ever by a local arts organization with a terrific web resource, inviting all of the city to come out and support their local artists.

Photos by DoN.

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DoNArTNeWs

Philadelphia Art News Blog by DoN Brewer

Category Archives: Philadelphia Pop Art

Plastic Club’s small Worlds 2011, Huge Art Show of Little Works of Art on the Avenue of the Artists

Structure and Gesture @ Da Vinci Art Alliance

Toni Nash @ Dumpster Divers on South Street

Art Ability 2010, An International Juried Exhibition & Sale of Art & Fine Crafts by Artists with Disabilities @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center in Paoli, PA.

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2010 – Fishtown & Kensington