DoNArTNeWs

Photo Synthesis is -

A juried awards exhibition featuring photography and photographic processes

with art by:

Amy Ahearn, Tony Anthony, Keith Auerbach, DoN Brewer, Suzanne Comer, Judy Engle, Carlos Gil, Robert Grunke, Rikard Larma, Marilyn Lavins, Richard Marr, Karen McDonnell & Anthony Cortosi, Lee Muslin, Liz Nicklus, Mickie Rosen, Armand Scavo, Susan Van Selous, D.B. Stovall, Robert Waldeck, Ted Warchal, Julien Weitzenfeld, James Widerman.

Juror and Awards Judge: Internationally acclaimed photographer JON NAAR.

Mr. Naar was present at the opening reception, signing his books The Birth of Graffiti (2007) and Getting the Picture (2005).  DoN purchased Birth of Graffiti and chatted with Naar about how to present photographs most effectively.  ”Naar’s photographs have been published in many of the world’s leading magazines and exhibited at the Metropolitan  Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the International Center of Photography, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris. In 2005-06 at the Jan Cunen Museum in the Netherlands, his retrospective attracted a record-breaking 15,000 visitors (Jon Naar’s website).”

DoN with his entry ”light beings (Dora & Pablo)”, photo by Rikard Larma.

Award winning photograph by Suzanne Comer.  (DoN agrees it looks like a botanical drawing - just stunning.)

Suzanne Comer with Photo Synthesis juror Jon Naar.  Comer was trained as a painter who used photography for reference but is now a primarily a photographer which explains her painterly eye.   Comer was thrilled to win an award with such terrific competition at The DaVinci Art Alliance, she positively glowed with pride.

Artist Liz Nicklus with her photo montage/collage.

Liz Nicklus’ “Witness“, mixed media.

Susan Van Selous‘ “Carley’s Daisy“, digital design. 

Photo by Rikard Larma @ Photo Synthesis.

Artist Marilyn Lavins with her entry in Photo Synthesis @ DaVinci Art Alliance.

Dr. Debra Miller, President of DaVinci Art Alliance with Armond Scavo’s first prize winning photograph.  

Miller’s T-Shirt was created by Margharita Warhola, niece of Andy Warhol, exclusively for Deb.  Andy would have been 80 years old this year and has been gone from our plane of existence for twenty years now - hard to believe.  Dr. Deb explained the meaning of photography in her opening remarks, “Phos is Greek for “light,” and graphein is Greek for “to write”–so photography means writing with light.” 

All photography by DoNBrewerMultimedia except where noted. 

Philadelphia Area New Media Association presented a primer on new web applications which was totally fascinating, fast-paced and intelligently presented, including talks by Kelani Nicholeof M, Johnnie Billota of Indy Hall and Nick Floro of Sealworks Interactive Studios.  DoN learned so much cool stuff about the web, social networking, design and working with clients - PANMA is a wonderful resource for artists, designers, coders, videographers, photographers - if you are one of the afore mentioned you should join PANMA, it’s free, fun and informative.  The presentation took place in the Buckminster Fuller room with a portrait of Bucky that seems to stare at you wherever you are in the room as well as his Dymaxion map of the world - very cool.  Do you know what “FOAF” or “OWL” means?  DoN does now.

Some of the cool websites we looked at include:

Smashing Magazine

A List Apart

Wine Library

eCost.com

Maramushi.com

37 Signals

Ning.com

The Center for Emerging Visual Arts keeps raising the bar on curating art shows in Philadelphia, the current exhibit, Décor/Decorum, of photography, sculpted plates and plaster vignettes is simply exquisite like being plunked down into a scene on a Wedgewood plate only it’s in your eccentric grandmother’s white lacquered cabinet.  Photos of the interior of Joelle Jenson’s grandmother’s Florida home are a temporal distortion, the mostly white spaces combine a mix of natural and artificial light, memory and architecture, austere, fresh and clean - when fresh and clean didn’t mean you were hip-hop but a time when everything had a place and was in it, sparkly and shiny.  Joelle’s grandmother had glamour shots of herself stratigically displayed thoughout her immaculate home, even producing calendars with her beautiful image, her snow white hair perfectly coiffed, as gifts for family members. Now Grandma is a star in Joelle’s homage to an esthetic quickly disappearing from the American landscape; Joelle confided with DoN that the family used to ridicule their grandmother’s decorating style but when she died and Joelle’s parents moved in they didn’t change a thing.  Jenson has completed photographing her husband’s parents home in Florida and is working on a series from her other grandmother’s abode.  Jenson produces her work at The Camera Club  of New York and exhibits at Wall Space Gallery in Seattle.

Joelle Jenson@ Décor/Decorum @ CFEVA 

C-Print by Joelle Jenson @ CFEVA.

Jedediah Morfit’s carved plaster plates and vignette’s mounted on the wall compose a chilly counterpoint to Jenson’s photographs.  Morfit “explores irresistible contemporary taboos including craft, religion and narrative” (CFEVA art card).  The antechamber gallery features a wall of plates Jed told DoN was about “new temptations of Saint Anthony“, with the plates each featuring a modern tempting diversion.  The opposite wall has a striking series of bas-relief sculptures with antebellum women pushing wheelbarrows filled with bones and heads running from a rain of arrows - very powerful.  DoN overheard one patron say she felt she was in, “one of those blue plates”.  DoN suspects she meant Wedgewood china.  Morfit tells DoN these are the first in a series that will feature “tons of figures including flying monkeys”.

Bas-relief wall sculpture by Jedediah Morfit @ CFEVA.

Jedediah Morfit with his plaster plates in CFEVA’s main gallery.

All photography by DoNBrewerMultimedia 

Saturday, Shoshka and DoN visited the Center for Emerging Visual Artists Show House at 1634 South 13th Street, the former home and studio of artistScott Pellnat.  The townhouse is filled with art by CFEVA artists including Anne Canfield, Katie Murken, Julia Blaukopf, Kara Rennert, Caleb Nussear, Darla Jackson, Jennifer Chapman, Serena Perrone and of course Scott Pellnat’s wonderfully wacky constructions.  Pellnat is an accomplished woodworker and avid dumpster diver creating mechanical constructs out of marquetry of colored pencils, found objects and wood, there’s even a hidden room behind bookshelves which open by pulling on a book ala the Addams Family revealing robotic creatures pulling ropes and strings producing a dramatic diorama.

Looking up into the turret Pellnat built on the roof.

Looking down from the turret into the house - the walls are covered in colored pencil marquetry and the floors are spray painted through lace and stencils. 

The top floor is filled with a knitted installation with tendrils swooping through the room like some kind of giant alien brain cell.  The site specific piece was created by Katie Murken.

 Scott Pellnat in his “secret studio”.

As if the room isn’t creepy enough, there’s a gravity distortion which turns the room sideways!?! 

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 with his paintings @ Jinxed.

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.

Tim Diet and Jinxed owner Supermodel Mike.

“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.

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.