DoNArTNeWs

Rich Harrington, fine artist, illustration professor & Philadelphia Sketch Club board member is just one of the local art activists featured in Midsummer Invitational @ Off The Wall Gallery, 13th & Pine Streets.  Harrington’s paintings of rusting hulks of old cars and trucks are indefineable: part landscape, part still life and part portrait, the paintings are loaded with secret narratives and unanswered questions.  Harrington is a driving force@ PSC, always prepared to problem solve, take on projects and promote other artists - just ask his students, they love him.

Morris Klein is VP of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia and organizes ongoing art show at the Bonte Cafes in Center City, his style of photography is hyper-realistic with enhanced color and edges.  Getting photographers to participate in ongoing events is like herding cats, Morris is always even keeled and fair without being condescending - guys like Morris make such clubs like PSoP last hundreds of years.

Michelle Anne Clements @ Off the Wall in Dirty Franks - curator & gallerist Jody told DoN that Clements is donating a portion of the proceeds of her drawings of coral to Gulf relief.  The alien forms are wonderfully rendered drawings of different kinds of corals, the simple black and white drawings, beautifully presented, pay homage to the complexity of the simple and vital life form.

The Midsummer Invitational @ Off the Wall Gallery includes: Michelle Anne Clements, Rebecca Cross. Rich Harrington, Morris Klein, Kelly A. Kozma, Don McPartland, Karen Rodewald, Peter Smyth, Michael B. Tantaros & Lauren Westenhiser through October.

Reta Sweeney’s Passages in Paint exhibit at Twenty-Two Gallery includes several paintings from a trip to an island off Puerto Rico as a guest of Glenn Curry, editor of Art Matters Magazine.  The deal was to help spruce up a guest house and then have time to paint, a cool gig especially when your friends like Doris Peltzman, Betz Green, Barbara Keogh and others are there to help.  The glow of light in her tropical paintings is a lively counterpoint to the woodsy East Coast landscapes.  The body of work on display pays tribute to Sweeney’s trained eye and finely skilled hand, just beautiful.

The Second Friday art crawl in Center City offers several destinations, Twenty-Two Gallery consistently presents interesting installations featuring local artists. Reta Sweeney’s drew a crowd of Philly artists and friends in support of her one-woman show of  paintings; Reta’s core group of friends are all dedicated artists who enjoy taking trips to study and paint.  Diane Podolsky curated the show with Shawn Murray, the installation is subtle yet utilizes and activates as much space as possible, even hanging paintings back to back in the window.

Meeting of the Board II, oil, 16 x 16″, Reta Sweeney @ Twenty-Two Gallery.

Kumquats, oil, Reta Sweeney @ Twenty-Two Gallery, 236 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia through September 3rd, 2010.

Photos by DoNBrewerPhotography.

Karl Olsen lights the subject of an impromptu critique of Yeoun Lee’s paintings during the monthly Salon des Plastiques @ The Plastic Club on the Avenue of the Artists.  Lee took up the challenge from a previous meeting to bring out a few paintings on the sweltering Summer evening to stand up to the observations of Anders Hanson, Bob Jackson, Mike Quinn, Alan Klawens - the guys behind the on-going series of exhibitions at one of Philly’s premier artist clubs.  DoN couldn’t help to harken back to the days when air conditioning was a dream yet to be realized.  Yeoun explained the cosmological influence on her current work with light being represented by a subtle rainbow of color.

Yeoun Lee @ The Plastic Club’s Salon.

The Casual Summer Show @ The Plastic Club showcases artist favorites.

Members of the Plastic Club are showing works not directed by a theme allowing for a salon like diversity of styles and medium; curators Alan Klawans and Bob Jackson filled the main galleries with a spectrum of light and color.

Marlise M. Tkaczuk, 3 Big Monkeys, silk screen in The Casual Show.  The Plastic Club has long represented printmaking with a great print room and print shows; Marlise’s confrontational funky monkeys are part clever and engaging, jumping off the wall.  Check the clubs website for info and links to events.

Through My Window, Da Vinci Art Alliance Members Traveling Art Show now in Millville, NJ Arts District in the Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts through 7 - 10 -2010

Carol Wisker with her award winning mixed media creation, Machine: War Games Series, when the show first opened at Smile Gallery, Carol won Best in Show.  The huge gallery space at RRCA is a wonderful opportunity to see most of the original show hanging together again.  3rd Friday in Millville was really fun with live entertainment tucked into every park, alley and plaza including a glee club performance!!!  The creative vibe of the monthly event with art shows, restaurants and shops welcome visitors warmly with small town ambiance and upscale art.

Ona Kalstein, Through My Window @ Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts.

Ted Warchal @ Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts special exhibit, Through My Window, A Da Vinci Art Alliance Members Exhibit.  Ted, Ona & DoN are members of the Board of Directors of Da Vinci, thanks to all the artists & volunteers who arranged for the art to show up on time and to Dr. Debra Miller & David Foss for the expert installation, the RRCA is a wonderful exhibition space.

David Foss & Nicole Koenitzer.

Betsy Alexander’s Sci-Fi homage drew some teenage geeks into the gallery who seemed mesmerized at the depth of knowledge in the obscure references.  Burnell Yow! told DoN he was hesitant when Betsy voiced her encyclopedic idea - but beam me up!

DoN Brewer’s drawing of Paris rooftops is paired perfectly with Lilliana Didovic’s Boathouse Row painting.

The concept pf Through My Window is that more than 20 artists were offered a window to do whatever they wanted with, the result is a uniquely Philadelphian art perspective: Bobbie Adams, Betsy Alexander, Jesse Best, DoN Brewer, Rachel Citrino. Alden Cole. Lilliana Didovic, Jerry di Falco, David Foss, Carl Johnson, Ona Kalstein, Nicole Koenitzer, Gail Kotel, Rikard Larma, Lee Muslin, Liz Nicklus, Kathryn Pannepacker, Michael Shane Simmons, Mike Sweeney, Ted Warchal, Carol Wisker & Burnell Yow!

Photos by DoNBrewerPhotography.

Susan Barnes, North End Dunes, oil.

The Annual Members Exhibition of the Philadelphia Sketch Club at Newman Galleries on Walnut Street is a wonderful introduction to the many fine artists who belong to America’s oldest art club.  The swirly mix of styles, techniques and ideas is evocative of the Philly art community in microcosm; the mezzanine and third floor gallery holds a heady mix of contemporary art by masters, newbies, wannabes of all ages celebrating the first decade of the 21st Century.

Edna Santiago, Museum Stroll, acrylic on plexiglass.

 Garth Herrick, Red Barn, 11:00 AM at Beaver Farm and Donald Meyer, Study (Structure) Hosta Series, egg tempera.

Linda Townshend, Holstein, oil on canvas.

Karen McDonnell, Wisdom, mixed media.  Karen  e-mails DoN phone pics of stickers of this little guy in public spaces, her contribution to the Philly art scene by introducing graffiti style into the mix of traditional media is like when photography put it’s foot in the door.  The silver spray paint gives a glamorous luster to the surface of the canvas as if dressed up for the special day when all the artists show their best work.

The 2010 Members Exhibition of The Philadelphia Sketch Club @ Newman Galleries with 156 works by as many Philadelphia area fine artists runs through 6/9/2010.

Photos by DoNBrewerPhotography.

Grotesque Profile / Dean’s Song, Michael DiPrinzio @ Da Vinci Art Alliance.

Michael DiPrinzio encourages his son, Dean, age 5, to grab some art supplies and work with his Dad in the studio while he creates his abstract expressionist /naive primitivist paintings.  Unlike the Philly Dad who let’s his kid swig beer at a ball game, DiPrinzio is familiarizing Dean with the arts and culture of all kinds - Dean was a cool art star at the opening, drawing and posing for pictures.  DiPrinzio the Younger’s work was hung on clothes pins scattered around the gallery among DiPrinzio the Elder’s paintings.  Seeing familiar household objects and surfaces incorporated into DiPrinzio’s dream-scapes plucks on childhood nerves like time traveling back to a younger day when a clothes-pin was the coolest thing ever.

Michael DiPrinzio, Give Thanks, A Heart Felt Toast @ Da Vinci Art Gallery in South Philly.

Michael DiPrinzio, Year of the Rat @ Da Vinci Art Alliance. 

Dinosaur by Dean DiPrinzio, crayon on ceiling tile.  Having a kid’s art perspective bouncing off the adult abstractions creates a vibration between childish mark-making and child-like abandon.

With Dali-esque coloration, Michael DiPrinzio gets down & dirty with this large scale mixed media painting, the paint battles across the canvas, mixing like a wacko fractal model.

Learn more about the DiPrinzio family project @ the Da Vinci Art Alliance website including info on Daniel DiPrinzio’s novel, “New U“.

Untitled, Michael DiPrinzio @ Da Vinci Art Alliance @ 7th & Catharine Streets.  The gallery is a hidden gem in South Philly, offering artists the opportunity to have one-person or group shows along with themed members only exhibits throughout the year.  Just a few blocks from The Italian Market, Da Vinci Art Alliance offers contemporary art in a lovely town-house gallery across the street from Fleisher Art Memorial.

Photos by DoNBrewerPhotography.com

Valerie Carroll, Spot @ Twenty-Two Gallery.

Valerie Carroll’s animistic portraits of cats & dogs practically growl with aggression, daring DoN to stare down scary faces like monsters in a dream.  Sometimes when DoN looks into KaTy the ArT DoGs eyes he feels a connection with her like some extrasensory perception mind meld is happening, Carroll’s paintings tap into that same vibe.  Carroll’s animal portraits are classic mise en scene animal portraits yet brutalist and difficult like a great punk rock song.

Valerie Carroll, Rub-a-Dub, A Man in a Tub, oil on canvas.

Valerie Carroll explained how she first got this impression of the bathing man while out West but finished the painting back East.  The painting pulses with emotion, the man’s facial expression roils with desperation, the luxury of a bath too sad to believe, a beard grown wild, a rusted basin a momentary respite from the New Great Depression.

Valerie Carroll,  Man in a Pink Shirt, oil on canvas.  Light & Despair @ Twenty-Two Gallery.

Adrienne Jenkins, Jamie, oil on canvas @ Twenty-Two Gallery.

Shawn Murray, Twenty-Two Gallery’s mastermind, warned Adrienne Jenkins that portraits are a hard sell but her paintings of twenty-somethings reveal such a current state of being for young people - harried, a bit grim, self absorbed like characters from a William Faulkner novel set in the future - that it makes DoN glad she ignored his advice, the portraits are so painterly they don’t read as so specific.

Twenty-Two Gallery’s co-curator , Diane Podolsky, has the balls to mix up impressionist still life paintings with stylized portraits and crazed pet paintings & makes it work like some museum show of the history of modern art; paintings just never go out of style.

Valerie Carroll & Adrienne Jenkins at the opening of their show, Light and Despair @ Twenty-Two Gallery during West Center City’s Second Friday art crawl.  The two artists paint together at Wayne Art Center , sharing studio space and creating a kind of cross-pollination of painting styles.  With 25 or so paintings, this is a big show for two artists but Adrienne Jenkins is preparing for her solo show next year for the same space; the two artists have joined the artist collective and you can meet them this Sunday afternoon at Twenty-Two Gallery, 236 South 22nd Street.

Photos by DoNBrewerPhotography.

James Dean Erickson, Portrait of Douglass Carr, oil on board.  The model in cap & hoddie can be found wheel-chair bound outside St. John’s, a diabetic, a friend recommended the artist invite him into the studio to pose at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.  James relayed to DoN, “Portraiture can be a vehicle for therapy, highlights the dignity of the individual, and be a channel for excitement and energy.”

Rachel Constantine, Fifteen, oil.  The title says it all.

Richard Coach, The Fish of Delos.

Like time traveling to a lost and ancient city, this painting could be anywhere in time and space.  Seething with hunger for life, referencing work, culture, taste, serving up skills acquired with trial & error, the exquisite painting and substantial frame is right here in Philly in America’s oldest art club, the Philadelphia Sketch Club.

Kyle Margiotta, Blow, oil.  This would be a great picture for a house with kids, imagine how this masterful painting would elevate the taste of growing minds, simple mark-making telling long stories playing out like fairytales, set in the real world, incredulous expressions speaking volumes.

Mark Brough Goodson, Tom Csaszar/Eye of the Critic and Neysa Grassi/Eye of the Critic.

The pair of pairs of eyes, attractive and expressive, are superb examples of how small paintings capture moments in time, filled with emotions, thought and empathy in a medium which will last for centuries.  Hundreds of years from now the oil paintings being produced now will still transmit stories from our time, the present, to the future, their past.

DoN overheard a man say, “Why don’t they say where these places are?”  DoN pointed out the title does name a place, “Snow Melt, Sand Island“, by Sandra Corpora, it just doesn’t give GPS coordinates.  The man asked DoN what he liked about the painting? “The restraint of using the one thick pure white stroke of paint to represent the most distant point in the painting.”  He looked hard @ DoN & disappeared into the crowd.

147th Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings is through April 24th with 170 of the best oil paintings in the city hanging together, continuing a long history of excellence in contemporary oil painting.

Dog by Karen McDonnell & Anthony Cortosi perfectly encapsulates the theme of this groundbreaking, historic art show curated by Jody Schweitzer of Off the Wall Gallery @ Dirty Franks Bar on the corner of 13th & Pine Streets, bringing together artists from the dual art clubs, The Plastic Club & The Philadelphia Sketch Club on the historic Avenue of the Artists - a painting of a three-legged dog created in collaboration by an opposite sex couple.  The formally all female Plastic Club and the formally all male Philadelphia Sketch Club have been co-existing on the same block for decades - the Sketch Club is celebrating it’s 150th anniversary this year with a stunning array of historic art shows & the Plastic Club is nearly 100 - both clubs integrated sexes in 1991, since then Camac Street has become a fantastic haven for artists to work and learn side by side, the competition raising the bar for quality, prestige and creativity for everyone.  Alan Klawans, the exhibitions chair @ The Plastic Club, told DoN participation in art shows is up 300%; the current Small Oils Show @ PSC has 170 paintings, you couldn’t squeeze another piece in if you wanted to.

Karen & Anthony, create all of their art together: drawing, cutting, spraying, dumpster-diving, brain-storming…resulting in iconic imagery resonating with vibrant contemporary urban life.  Their work is proof men & women can work together in partnership, even if the result is like walking on three legs to get there.

The showcase @ Off the Wall Gallery with Dorothy Roschen, Cara Kendric and more, many of the artists are members of both clubs.

Mina Smith-Segal @ An Offering on Camac.  Mina won an award Saturday for a painting she created for the Lantern Theater Company’s Henry IV, Part 1 production, another art collaboration between the Da Vinci Art Alliance of South Philly and the St. Steven’s Theater in Center City - it’s art synergy, baby!

Sibylle-Maria Pfaffenbichler is getting terrific buzz for her jazzy paintings of couples dancing; every show they’re in is instantly energized by the bold color and confidant brushwork, capturing the attention of the viewer like watching a really good-looking couple dancing deep in the groove of the music in a smokey dive with a great juke-box.

An Offering on Camac @ Dirty Franks is the perfect third leg for an art crawl; after trying to absorb over 300 fantastic new art works on view between the two clubs current shows, a stiff drink is in order.  What do you call a one-eyed, three-legged dog?  Lucky.