Category Archives: Portraits

Syd

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West PhillySyd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Written and photographed by Laura Storck

On March 12th, I was fortunate to attend the opening reception of Syd Torchio’s exhibit sponsored by Sarah Theilke and Stephanie Slate of Gush Gallery at Jinxed West Philly. Luckily about 10 minutes early, I had a few private moments to speak to the artist himself about his work, artistic process, training, and to spend a few moments to get better acquainted. Syd was very affable and looked very charming as he wore dark attire with his signature black fedora. Besides practicing as a painter for the past 25 years, I learned that he initally began his artistic training in ceramics in the years prior. In addition, Syd is also a musician who plays French Horn for the West Philly-based band Taupe – a true Renaissance man!

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Mr. Torchio’s gouache portraits are created with very deliberate and colorful strokes, almost as bold as the countenances they honor. Some individuals portrayed in his expressive paintings are family and friends, but several are the free-spirited, nonconformist, eccentric characters that exist on the fringes of humanity’s Venn diagram – in other words, my kind of people. These revealing images are a decisive dichotomy of the lachrymose and joyful. Although raw, edgy, and somewhat maudlin, these gorgeous and lush paintings translate well his choice of purposeful polarity as they also elevate and flaunt the essence of a human soul. The intimate gaze masterfully expressed initiates an irresistible narrative between the visage and the viewer.

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio’s beautifully candid works can be found displayed in the far end of the store, with framed portraits gracefully adorning the walls, and several centrally-located prints available scattered amongst other store ephemera for sale. It’s definitely worth a trip — come see this amazing work on exhibit at Jinxed through the end of March.

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio at Jinxed West PhillySyd Torchio at Jinxed West Philly

Syd Torchio’s website: http://hairylegs.com/sydtorchioart/

Jinxed West Philly, 4521 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia PA, 19143, (215) 921-3755, Open daily:11:00am – 7:00pm http://www.jinxedphiladelphia.com/

“Jinxed began in the 1990’s in Philadelphia as an art-based t-shirt company. After spreading around the country via tattoo conventions and retail stores, we decided to open our own retail location in the summer of 2004. Since then, we’ve expanded to five retail locations in downtown Philadelphia. Now, in addition to t-shirts, we are known for the best vintage furniture and housewares you can find at hassle-free prices. We are also committed to the local art and small business community to bring you variety that you can’t find anywhere else!

Thank you for supporting who we are and what we do!” – Jinxed West Philly

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Laura Storck Photography ARTIST. SCIENTIST. PHOTOGRAPHER. ROCK STAR.: https://laurastorck.wordpress.com/

Instagramhttp://instagram.com/laurastorck/

Facebook:  https://facebook.com/laura.h.storck

Twitter: @Laura_Storck

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Man

Man Ray, Artsy.netMan Ray, Mona Lisa as seen by Duchamp (“La Joconde” vue par Duchamp), gelatin silver print, 6 3/5 ” x 4 1/10″, 1921-22,  Artsy.net

Man Ray was born as Emmanuel Radnitzky in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. in 1890. Born Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp on July 28, 1887 in Upper Normandy region of France, the grandson of a painter, Marcel Duchamp would have an immense impact on twentieth-century and twenty first-century art. The arguments and jabs go on to this day about photography being for artists with no talent, photography isn’t fine art, anyone can do it…someone wrote to me and said I should write about real art for a change. That’s so DADA.

“In 1915 he was introduced to Marcel Duchamp, who would become a lifelong friend and influence; he subsequently moved to Paris, practicing there for over 20 years.” – Artsy

 

“In 1919, Duchamp made a parody of the Mona Lisa by adorning a cheap reproduction of the painting with a mustache and goatee. To this he added the inscription L.H.O.O.Q., a phonetic game which, when read out loud in French quickly sounds like “Elle a chaud au cul”. This can be translated as “She has a hot ass”, implying that the woman in the painting is in a state of sexual excitement and availability. It may also have been intended as a Freudian joke, referring to Leonardo da Vinci‘s alleged homosexuality. Duchamp gave a “loose” translation of L.H.O.O.Q. as “there is fire down below” in a late interview with Arturo Schwarz. According to Rhonda Roland Shearer, the apparent Mona Lisa reproduction is in fact a copy modeled partly on Duchamp’s own face. Research published by Shearer also speculates that Duchamp himself may have created some of the objects which he claimed to be “found objects”. – Wikipedia

“The source for the fraternal friendship that linked the two men is to be found in their shared freedom and independence of spirit. Aside from a passion for chess, they shared a taste for the subversive and an irresistible desire to invent. Intellectually, their processes were similar. As art terrorists, they both knew how to place mines under artistic conventions, and their works, without being similar, nevertheless responded to the other.” – DADA Companion

Hi – my name is Joel, and I work at Artsy. While researching Man Ray, I found your page: http://brewermultimedia.com/2009/04/. I wanted to briefly tell you about Artsy‘s Man Ray page, and about our mission.

We strive to make all of the world’s art accessible to anyone online. Our Man Ray page, for example, provides visitors with Man Ray’s bio, over 100 of his works, exclusive articles, as well as up-to-date Man Ray exhibition listings. The page even includes related artist & category tags, plus suggested contemporary artists, allowing viewers to continue exploring art beyond our Man Ray page.

I’m contacting certain website & blog owners, and asking them to help us achieve our mission by adding a link to Artsy’s Man Ray page. In addition to spreading the word about our page, I believe your site visitors would enjoy this content.

If you are able to add a link to Artsy’s Man Ray page, please let me know, as I’d love to share it with my team.

Best,
Joel

“Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask “how,” while others of a more curious nature will ask “why.” Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.”
-Man Ray

Thanks Joel!

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Love

Paint a Face for Dawn's Place

ART IN LOVE PARK TO SUPPORT SURVIVORS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Dawn’s Place to Display Public Art Project at Community Art Day: April 11 in Love Park

PHILADELPHIA –  Not many people are aware that slavery still exists. Most still find it hard to believe that slavery is happening in our country or state or neighborhoods today. Dawn’s Place the only residence of its kind in the tri-state area that proactively helps both domestic and international adult female victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is striving to change that & in the neighborhoods of the Delaware Valley. And they need your support.

On Saturday, April 11 in Love Park (JFK Plaza) Philadelphia, Paint a Face for Dawn’s Place, a community art project to support survivors of human trafficking, will be displayed at Community Art Day. Art Day will take place from noon to 3:00 pm, featuring an outdoor installation of painted portraits of women, live music, spoken word performance, and live street portraits. For more information, visit www.aHomeforDawn.org.

“Human trafficking is just the tip of the iceberg”, says Sister Teresita Hinnegan, a medical mission Sister and co-founder of Dawn’s Place, a 9-bedroom residence in an undisclosed Philadelphia area location. It happens because of all the social and human injustice that’s been around from the beginning. We can focus on rescuing and restoring the victims, but unless we look at the demand side, the injustices that cause trafficking, it will continue.

Consider the following:

  • Within the United States, women, children and men are trafficked daily for commercial sex and forced labor.
  • Victims may be rich, poor, foreign nationals, U.S. citizens, adults, or children under 18.
  • Human trafficking generates $32 billion annually – half of that made in industrialized countries.
  • 80% of all transnational victims are women and girls.

 “It’s all about people who are living in poverty and have very few choices, and how to survive, Sister Teresita continues. Our culture has accepted prostitution. It s seen as a victimless crime. It is not. Prostitutes are labeled as criminals. They are not. They are victims. They need to be treated that way.”

Paint a Face for Dawn’s Place is a public art project organized by Dawn’s Place and Philadelphia artist, Joanna Fulginiti. The project asks members of the community to paint a face of a woman they love or admire. The paintings will be collected and displayed alongside information on human trafficking to rally community support for victims of this crime in the Delaware Valley. Community Art Day will include live performances by musician Rosa Diaz and artist Bonnie MacAllister. Members of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia will take professional street portraits that can be posted to social media or stored on a smartphone.

For interviews and additional media requests please contact: Sr. Michelle Loisel at 215-849-2396

Joanna Fulginiti at joannfulginiti@aol.com

Paint a Face for Dawn's Place

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High School

31st Annual High School Art ShowBoss, pastel, Tyreese Tunnell, Frankford High School, Grade 12, winner Judges Choice Philadelphia Sketch Club High School Art Show 2014

31st Annual High School Art Show at The Philadelphia Sketch Club

2015 Annual Philadelphia School District High School Student Art  Exhibition: This is a juried exhibition open to Philadelphia High School Students. Chair: Dorothy Roschen

You are cordially invited to the artists reception and awards ceremony February 22, 2015, 2:00 – 4:00pm. Philadelphia Sketch Club 235 South Camac Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107.

Hours: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday  & Sunday 1:00 – 5:00pm

“The Philadelphia Sketch Club “support[s] and nurture[s] working visual artists ” by providing studio space through our workshops program as well as by providing exhibition and networking opportunities; we support “ the appreciation of the visual arts ” by providing free public access to our exhibitions; we support “ visual arts education ” through our low cost, open enrollment workshop program; and lastly, we promote “ the historical value of the visual arts to the community ” by providing free public access to our historic collections and facility.”

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Portraits

Portraits at Plastic Club

Portraits at Plastic

Portraits at Plastic at The Plastic Club, 247 South Camac Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. December 7th – 21st.

Artist Reception and Awards: Sunday, December 7th, 2:00 – 5:00pm

Portraits at Plastic includes work that portrays a person–a likeness or description, including single and double-portraits (portraits of two people together), self-portraits, and abstract portraits.

“A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer.” – Wikipedia

Prize Juror: Sarah Stolfa, Fine Art Photographer and Educator, Founder/Executive Director of
Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, MFA Yale University, currently teaching at UPenn.

Sarah Stolfa was born in Winfield, Illinois in 1975.  She earned her BS in photography from Drexel University, Philadelphia, in 2005 and her MFA in Photography from Yale University in 2008.  In 2004, Stolfa won The New York Times Photography Contest for college students and several of her photographs were reproduced in The New York Times Magazine.  In 2006, Stolfa was included in the Second Woodmere Triennial of Contemporary Photography at the Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia.  In the same year, her work was exhibited at Gallery 339 in Philadelphia and Silverstein Photography in New York.  In 2007, Stolfa was included in “Women to Watch” at Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, and in “L’Autre” at the Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery of the University of the Arts, Philadelphia.” – Gallery 339

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