Category Archives: Philadelphia Pop Art

Pop art created by Philadelphia area artists.

Joroko & Yow! – Intuitive Bricolage @ Smile Gallery

Burnell Yow!, “Dolls of the Apocalypse“, Smile Gallery.

Burnell Yow!, “Mummy Barbie“.

B. Yow!, L. Parkes, D. Walters, “Exquisite Corpse #33“, giclee print, 20″ x 16”

Joroko,”March On“, mixed media.

Joroko, “Subtext“, mixed media.

Bricolage, pronounced /ˌbriːkoʊˈlɑːʒ/, /ˌbrɪkoʊˈlɑːʒ/ is a term used in several disciplines, among them the visual arts and literature, to refer to the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things which happen to be available, or a work created by such a process. The term is borrowed from the French word bricolage, from the verb bricoler the core meaning in French being, “fiddle, tinker” and, by extension, “make creative and resourceful use of whatever materials are to hand (regardless of their original purpose).”

A person who engages in bricolage is a bricoleur.

Thank you Wikipedia!

Burnell’s dolls are totemic, shamanistic, zen-like, beatific, clever, ironic, dystopian creations repurposing objet trouve and doll parts. The digital “exquisite corpse” prints are a great stealable idea – so po-mo.

Joroko‘s goth skeletons populating bombed out surfaces, dancing and cavorting with stars, stripes, crosses and words perfectly counterpoints the odd dolls – somehow the energy of the room becomes a bad boy’s fantasy world of stealing your sister’s dolls and ripping the heads off and drawing war scenes with explosions, craters and bodies. Dr. Deb Miller curated the show – deep.

Plastic Surgery As Art: Michael Jackson, Orlan and Self-Mutilation Performance

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Michael Jackson was the penultimate post-modern artist; the indelible impression of a person being able to transform race, gender, age, and identity with the use of mass media is an artform beyond the realm of acceptance for many. Like a human collage Michael had a tiny doll nose, pretty pink lips, fawn eyes, opalescent skin, Liz Taylor hair and Kirk Douglas jaw line, his thin frame absolutely perfect in the “You Are Not Alone” video. Only in our futuristic present are people able to transform their physical being to match their internal identity, anyone can change their look, even in the slums of Brazil breast augmentation is big business. Michael Jackson was a true visionary who understood the synergy of image, performance and marketing to penetrate the minds of people even to the farthest corners of Earth.

The French artist, Orlan, famously uses plastic surgery to transform her image creating ugly/beautiful, intriguing/repulsive, ancient/futuristic changes to her face. Cheek and lip implants, bulbous forehead adornments, Cruella DaVille hair all mashed up to create a shocking, memorable experience – a design using human flesh as canvas. Check out Orlan’s website – she is a trip! On David Bowie‘s “1 Outside” album, the CD liner notes tell the tale of a performance artist who cuts off small bits of his body for an audience of connosseurs willing to pay for the privilege of witnessing self-mutilation, the artist cutting off digits and bits of muscle till only one arm remained. Art is in the eye of the beholder.

Stefan Sagmeister‘s famous AIGA poster.

DoN LoVeD Michael, always believing he would never harm a child. A friend once told DoN he saw Michael Jackson with a wheelchair bound child at a ride in Disney World, the people in line went wild asking for autographs but Michael told the crowd he was there to be with the sick kid and devoted hours to making a child’s dream come true. We are the world.

In Your Dreams – Art in City Hall

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In Your Dreams
June 11 – September 11, 2009
50 Philadelphia artists showcase work related to dreams. Juried by the Art In City Hall Exhibitions Committee. 2nd and 4th floors, NE corner. Art in City Hall has been offering public art shows for more than 20 years, displaying work in large display cases, the ongoing exhibition is usually theme-based with the current show focused on dream imagery juried by a panel of professional artists. The exhibition features drawing (Justin Duerr is the bomb), fantastical jewelry by Christine Alaniz, photography by Morris Klein and Julia Blaukopf, paintings by Patricia Burns and Anne Caramanico, sculptures by Brujo De La Mancha, mixed media and books. The strength of the show is the acceptance of many forms of art to visualize and share such deeply personal experiences.

Display case two clockwise: DoN Brewer, Shell Game, scanner/Photoshop collage, Brujo De La Mancha, mixed media painting and sculptures, Kathryn Johnston, Saturation, mixed media collage.

Alex Cohen. This painting seems to tell an entire dream story with a beginning, middle and end.

Angela Washko, “Imposter”, oil on canvas – the large painting highlights confusing imagery of bunnies confronting a slipper demonstrating the duality of dreams where friendly subjects take on menacing behaviors.

Tanya Dodd, The Right Track, photography and mixed media. Not all dreams are strange, some are dreams of escape and finding the route to happiness, security and freedom.

Artist Tanya Dodd recently had a solo show at The African American Museum.

DoN Brewer with Morris Klein’s digital photograph “Daydreaming“, DoN Brewer‘s digital photo “light being (Edward Hopper)” and DoN Brewer’s digital photo”hole” @ Art in City Hall, Philadelphia. Photo by Les Howard.

Philadelphia City Hall is a spectacular venue for art with every detail of the building designed to the max – sculpture, painting, wood, marble, gold – it is an honor to have art displayed in such a great historic space; a dream come true.