Summertime, 10th Annual Community Juried Art Show at Off the Wall Gallery at Dirty Franks, NE Corner, 13th and Pine Streets, Philadelphia, May 31st through July 31st, 2015. Artist reception June 4th, 7:00 – 10:00pm.
As a native Philadelphian, I’d never visited the Eastern State Penitentiary, which is attributable to my own design as well as lack of desire. Known as America’s most historic prison, Eastern State Penitentiary was once the most famous prison in the world due to its grand architecture and strict disciplinary practices. Notions of such harsh discipline, imprisonment, and being confined to small spaces renders fear and paralysis in my mind. However, after learning about the May First Friday unveiling of several artists at the ESP, this art enthusiast felt it was a perfect time to make the guarded effort to see this well-known space.
I was especially intrigued after reading about the installation ofJesse Krimes, entitled Apokaluptein 16389067: II. Jesse is a Philadelphia-based artist, who was indicted by the U.S. government on non-violent controlled substance charges, and served a 70-month federal prison term. While serving his term, Jesse produced a breathtaking and evocative 39-panel landscape on bedsheets. His process is just as magnificent: Jesse transferred cutout images from the New York Times using a plastic spoon and hairgel he had purchased from the commissary. He used the spoon to press the sheet and hairgel onto the newspaper cutout which resulted in an inverse image on the sheet. Lastly, the images were blended together with color pencil. With the help of prison guards who had supported his work, he was able to store the sheets in a prison locker before having each panel mailed home piece by piece upon completion. Jesse kept a running dialogue in his mind of each of the sheets, as he didn’t see the entire grouping of panels until his release.
In it’s original iteration, Apokaluptein16389067 is 15 feet tall and 40 feet long. The images are a grouped according to three major sections: the bottom represents Hell, the middle portion is a depiction of Earth, and the upper portion signifies Heaven. A facsimile of the original is on display along the interior walls of an abandoned cell at the ESP. I spoke with Jesse about his artistic process, and he explained that the current installation was made by scanning the original bedsheets onto a large scanner and making a large print. He then made a copy of the large print (to mimic the inverse images that appear on the bedsheets due to the transfer) and affixed those pieces onto the walls of the prison cell exhibition space using hand sanitizer and a sealant. Jesse feels that this project has reached it’s zenith in as it’s final iteration at the Penitentiary.
This installation is a brilliant collage of color, form, and text. The texture is reminiscent of decoupage or encaustic painting. In their entirety, the panels serve as an artistic time capsule.
The original title, Apokaluptein16389067, references the Greek origin of the word apocalypse which means to reveal; by definition, it is a cataclysmic event. The numbers reference the artist’s Federal Bureau of Prisons identification number. Of all the works on display at this First Friday event, I felt especially compelled to see this exhibit as I am both amazed and in awe of the power of human resilience. Last year, I read wonderful meme that has since stuck with me: “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity”. Jesse Krimes‘ work is the epitome and personification of this proverb. I hold much admiration for his creative self-motivation in making this impressively transcendent work of art during his own personal apocalypse.
NATIONAL MULTI-MEDIUM ART COMPETITION COMES TO PHILADELPHIA’S DILWORTH PARK
Calling Artists of All Formats to Create for the 2015 Red Bull Art of Can
PHILADELPHIA, PA. – What can a creative mind design and create, all starting with a can of Red Bull for inspiration? Coming this fall, the landscape of Philadelphia’s Dilworth Park will be transformed into an interactive, digital and physical art gallery as the nationwide creative competition, Red Bull Art of Can, comes to the city known for it’s famed public art. Artists of varying formats and aspiring creatives from across the country are challenged to make a work of art inspired by a can of Red Bull.
Now through June 15th, submitted art can come in the form of all art disciplines including physical, and digital mediums. A selection will then be made by a panel of judges from the art community to be displayed at a special showcase at Dilworth Park in Center City Philadelphia.
Participants can submit to three categories in the 2015 competition:
“Physical Art”: A physical piece of art that uses the actual Red Bull Can as the primary material in the final work.
“Digital Displayed Art”:A work of art that can be displayed on a screen and includes a digital version of the Red Bull Can in the final piece. We are not designating a specific format or genre. Submissions could take the form of an animation, a digital short film, stop motion, or GIF. Essentially any displayed digital medium is fair game.
“Interactive Installation Art”:A piece of artwork that merges both the physical and digital world and uses the Red Bull Can as its primary source of inspiration.
The Red Bull Art of Can exhibition will run from October 1 through October 8, with a special public opening event the weekend of Oct 2 -3 at Dilworth Park.
SAVERY Gallery is thrilled to announce the upcoming exhibition: Roger Ricco : Paintings & Photography showing in Philadelphia from Friday May 8th, through Sunday June 14, 2015. There will be a reception for the artist on Friday May 8th, from 6 to 9pm and an Artist’s Talk on Saturday May 23. SAVERY Gallery319 N. 11th Street Philadelphia PA 19107 267-687-7769
Roger Ricco : Paintings & Photography features work that spans from 2008 until today. Large scale paintings on canvas interspersed with digitally captured photographs line the walls of the main gallery and a collection of smaller photographs from his Eclipse series is displayed in the adjoining annex gallery. Heavily influenced by nature, the subjects are: flora, rock, jungle, birds, grottoes, as well as geometry and celestial beings. The artist employs photographic reference images, movie stills, fabricated tabletop “sets” and manipulations of scale as starting points for his technical exploration.
The paintings use a carefully limited dark palette full of inky blacks, grays and silvery-greens, no doubt influenced by the Northern light that filters through the enormous wall of glass in the artist’s Woodstock home and studio. Splashes of pinks, purples and cobalt blue add a luminosity, and a surprising femininity. Many of the works in the Jungle Dreaming series are dyptichs, connecting lines from one canvas to the other. His subjects emerge from dark washes of background with energetic marks as lighter, more detailed and recognizable plants, animals and environments. The larger individual canvases (some as large as 48×48) are representations of natural formations, bodies of water and looming natural occurrences, devoid of any evidence of humans or animals. The work presents nature that has been framed or captured elsewhere first, then investigates, follows, manipulates and finds moments of illumination. An other-worldly quality reverberates throughout the work.
In Ricco’s photographs from the Eclipse series, the artist also uses a pared-down color palette combined with similarly thoughtful formal presentation to present a study of what appears to be celestial bodies. Using arranged objects, studio sets and digital processing, the artist created images that appear as if they could have been captured by high powered telescope, or conversely, electron microscope. Their gallery presentation as deeply rich and satiny prints framed without glass allow the viewer to experience an intimate connection to the work while at the same time conjuring large, grand, metaphysically challenging ideas.
Roger Ricco is an internationally recognized multi-disciplinary artist working in painting, photography and video who is based in NY. He has won the Rome Prize in painting, worked with Irving Penn, and currently co-owns and operates Ricco-Maresca Gallery in New York City which represents the work of world-renowned Outsider Artists. He is a leading expert and multi-published author on Outsider Art.
Recently, he has exhibited with: KM Fine Arts, Los Angeles, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont NY, Castell Gallery, Asheville, NC Mr. Ricco has also been faculty at School of Visual Arts in NYC in the Art History department and has lectured at Yale University, Bard College, Museum of American Folk Art, Cooper Union, and Zen Mountain Monastery among others.
Roger Ricco : Paintings & Photography May 8th, through Sunday June 14, 2015. Reception for the artist on Friday May 8th, from 6:00 to 9:00pm and an Artist’s Talk on Saturday May 23.
SAVERY Gallery319 N. 11th Street Philadelphia PA 19107 267-687-7769
Please join us at the historic Philadelphia Sketch Club for an opening reception . Free and open to the public. 152nd Small Oil Painting Juried Show – April 17 – May 9, 2015
152nd Small Oil Painting Juried Show is an open, juried competition for paintings where the principal medium is oil paint, acrylic, casein, tempera or other mediums used to represent oil painting. This is not a works on paper or water medium exhibition, although oil on paper is acceptable. Maximum size for any one dimension is 20″ (excluding frame).
“Maria Kurtzman‘s professional career started as a practicing physician in internal medicine. She attended Washington University undergraduate and Medical School. She comes from a family of professional artists and has had a lifelong passion for art. She is married and the mother of three grown sons. Maria has studied with Frances Galante, Jon Redmond, Paul DuSold, Stefanie Lieberman, and the faculty at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.” – Maria Kurtzman
Philadelphia Sketch Club is America’s oldest club for artists. Since 1860 the PSC has served as a meeting place, forum for ideas, and a vital bridge between the creators and supporters of contemporary art. Past luminaries have included such American masters as Eakins and Anshutz. Present luminaries could include you.
My only entry was accepted, Camp Oneida was painted entirely plein air last summer while camping in the Endless Mountains. I was able to paint at the same time each day for three days and leave the easel set up all day. When it was time to pack up the camp site the easel was the last thing I put away.
