Tag Archives: portraits

Souls

Souls Shot, Portraits of Victims of Gun Violence, Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill

“On November 3, 2017 I went to the Presbyterian Church in Chestnut Hill to see a show of portraits of victims of gun violence. Artist Laura Madelaine had invited me to a show that she co-curated with Rebecca Thornburgh. Artists were paired up with family members of shooting victims to commemorate the lives of their loved ones.” – John Thornton

“There is a parable told by Jesus about a man who kept accumulating possessions. At some point, he had so much stuff, he had to build barns to contain it all.  Apparently once the barns were built and the stuff stored, he said to his soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”  “Fool!” booms God’s voice disrupting this man’s satisfaction with the future he had secured. “This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” It was God’s way of saying, “You can’t take it with you.” – Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Stewardship

Presbyterian Church in Chestnut Hill8855 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118

Through November 30th, Gallery Hours 10:00am – 4:00pm, Monday – Friday

Thank you to John Thornton Video for the content of this post.

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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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Syd Torchio

Syd Torchio, Paintings, Vintage Wine Bar

Syd TorchioMy Big-Time Art Opening, Oil Paintings, Vintage Wine Bar

“Miss this and It’s probably because I didn’t do a painting of you.” – Syd Torchio

Syd Torchio, Paintings, Vintage Wine Bar

Syd Torchio, My Big-Time Art Opening, Oil Paintings, Vintage Wine Bar

Syd Torchio‘s portraits have a liveness, a sensual realness, that engages the viewer in a conversation with a character. The paintings are exquisitely composed, the figure always has an emotive expression, the backgrounds are reminiscent of 1950’s abstract painters but the subject is contemporary. There is a timelessness to the work and that Philadelphia realness vibe calls out other portrait painters with passion and bravado.

Syd Torchio, Paintings, Vintage Wine Bar

Syd TorchioMy Big-Time Art Opening, Oil Paintings, Vintage Wine Bar

This is a bad photograph of a great painting. You can find better pics at Syd’s facebook page and his etsy site. The dramatic composition of the artist’s wounds being licked by a beautiful woman while a nude model glares from the studio is like Syd’s previous surrealistic paintings but now the fun house mirror is gone.

Syd Torchio, Paintings, Vintage Wine Bar

Syd TorchioMy Big-Time Art Opening, Oil Paintings, Vintage Wine Bar

Syd Torchio wisely put his paintings under glass since the space is open to the street and Vintage Wine Bar is a busy and vibrant restaurant serving the hip dining crowd along the revitalized 13th Street corridor. The paintings on the exposed brick wall and the wall covered in wooden wine crate panels looks beautiful and artistic. Portraits are a tough sell, as Syd joked about in his artist statement, but in the stylish surroundings, the portraits look accessible and desirable. The painting above is of Joe Tiborino, the connection with Philadelphia history through portraits is important and meaningful.

Syd Torchio, Paintings, Vintage Wine Bar

Syd TorchioMy Big-Time Art Opening, Oil Paintings, Vintage Wine Bar

My Big-Time Art Opening by Syd Torchio exhibits contemporary portraiture with an edge, divergent style and dynamic content. The artist captures mood, action and atmospheric realism in thoughtful yet astonishing brushwork. See it for yourself, they have happy hour 4 – 6:00.

Written and photographed by DoN Brewer

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