DoNArTNeWs

Judy Engle @ Da Vinci Art Alliance.  If Eileen Tognini says packing tape art is in - then DoN says listen to her!  If you can’t afford a Mark Khaisman before his packing tape drawings increase in value, then buy Engles layered clear tape collage @ Da Vinci Art Alliance for under $200.00 - in real life this small piece is 3D and deep, with layers and layers of tiny bits of color.  Another great steal-able idea.

Judy Engles, photograph.

DoN LoVeS how DVAA displays art - Judy Engle’s photo paired with DoN’s digital print is so elegant and thoughtful, the pieces really work together.  DoN was inspired to print “Autum Oak“, a digital photograph from a few years ago after seeing Amie Potsic’s tree photos @ Area 919 - the most expensive of DoN’s Under $200.00 entries is $129.00.

Lilliana Didovic, Alden Cole & Karl Johnson @ Da Vinci Art Alliance’s Under $200 show.  The DVAA always has such terrific, fun events, even though it was a snowy night, plenty of artists showed up to party - the board is to be commended on their careful attention to detail and making everyone comfortable and welcome.

Francine Strauss @ Da Vinci Art Alliance’s Under $200.00

Gerard Di Falco, etching @ Da Vinci Art Alliance.

Leon Rainbow @ DVAA - he not only produces these funky paintings, Rainbow provides web design services to the esteemed organization.  DoN is grateful for the publicity the links provide, the slide-show of member’s art on the website is cool.

Karen McDonnell & Tony Cortosi collaborate on these stencil & spray-paint images replete with peeling paint, drippy spray, coarse edges and mashed up cultural icons - the Carmen has such a skate punk sneer mixed with Hollywood glamor - Grrrl!.

 Karen McDonnell, Tony Cortosi & Ray Costello @ Da Vinci Art Alliance’s Under $200.00 opening party.

Photographer, Bill Myers @ Da Vinci Art Alliance.  Bill is also an active member of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia; Myers creates photo montage with clashing images mushed into contextual morphs - incredible.There are some really great art bargains for sale at the Da Vinci Art Alliance’s Under $200.00 show.  You can own a David Foss for $100, an Art Ostroff for a Benjamin or so…the Lee Muslin prints are gorgeous, an incredible Dexiang Qian for exactly $200.00!?!  The art show itself is amazing - all the participating members really put in memorable, desirable pieces and James Warhola signed his book Uncle Andy’s Cats;  he took a moment with each autograph to draw a kitty in the front pages and engaged everyone in a personal way - Warhola signed books for 3 hours!  He was still signing books when DoN left.

The Mysterious Distance Between Men of Means, Jed Mauger Williams @ 2424 York Street.

Jed Mauger Williams paintings are in the antechamber of 2424 York Street, the location of the immense Skybox Gallery.  Williams is showing ten works based on themes of his quest for the human figure, pop & mythological and different forms of spirituality.  Manipulating symbols, assigning them spectacular color, signifying icons with saturated layers of various media in tumultuous abandon, Jed makes extraordinary images that are extravagantly engaging.  Even his presentation was deliberately skewed, absurd and charged with a weird cultural angst like some retrofitted beat/pop/rap artist from the past, maybe Paris or Philly, quirky yet hip, kind of ugly beautiful and strange.

Jed M. Williams - semi-abstract pop images seethe with multiple personalities, modern memes & contemporary style.  Williams’ gallery & studio is @ 6th & Bainbridge but DoN loves how ballsy Jed was in working his way into the hot new art center in Fishtown.

Greeting From My Home Planet, Jed Williams.

Pop references and graffiti vibes permeate Williams’ paintings yet a darker narrative creates disturbance and tension.  One day DoN picked Jed up @ The PMA, he had a friend deliver returned art work to the gift shop for him to pick up, this way his work was inside the museum like Ray Johnson mailing art to MOMA because he knew they cataloged everything.

Amy Schmidt, Toy Soldier @ Area 919, 919 North 5th Street, a survey of the past year of exhibitions.  From a distance the content of this image is clear, a young masked rebel with a gun but up close - break me off a toy soldier.  The collage is a huge collection of tiny war toys: plastic soldiers, tanks, planes, bugs, dolls, animals…the subtext is powerful in what Amy Potsic called “the political room”.

The art work collected in the newly refurbished back gallery is all politically motivated from TODT’s, Camera (an old camera with a fetus trapped inside created in 1980, still relevant considering the current debate concerning abortion), to Abby Schmidt’s Tank (encaustic made from melted crayons on a light box depicting children looking back at an approaching tank) to Potsic’s own photographs commenting on Chinese oppression of it’s people.  DoN likes arguing about difficult art and this show really pissed him off.

Abby Schmidt, Fossil Fooled @ Area 919.  This piece is not so easily read but it’s all plastic dinosaurs - plastic is made from oil, oil is made from dinosaurs, dinosaurs are dead.

Abby Schmidt, Jessica, melted crayons on light box.  Schmidt mixes her own colors by melting crayons together to create “flesh” tones creating a new take on everlasting encaustic.  The subject is fat babies being fed, the look in their eyes is frantic, as if they know they’ve already eaten too much - Mom, please stop!

Abby Schmidt, Jessica, melted crayons.  There are three of these big baby portraits hanging together, heroic in size, extreme close-ups of glowing skin shines with the light of “health” - a strong condemnation of America’s obsession with food and never-ending quest for satisfaction.

Amy Potsic, Made in China - Female Adoption, Made in China - One Child Limit, Made in China - Reproductive Rights & Made in China - Population Control, archival pigment print, each 24″ x 48″.

Amy Potsic, Made in China - Exile, archival pigment print.  Potsic’s Made in China series is based on traditional scrolls but are actually all shot around town.  Amy is a world traveler but came to the conclusion that Philly is a world class city and began shooting photographs as if she were in a foreign land.  The aspect ratio of the camera dictated the scroll design, the content is traditional appearing Chinese imagery but is actually trees found locally, each representing the four seasons, each photo dedicated to forms of Chinese oppression and how America kowtows to the huge market even though they are literally plowing down traditional villages to build high-rise apartment with no concern for preserving history or up-rooting villagers.  Hey, even Disneyland now has a franchise for Beijing.  The photographs are luxurious and rich with crisp detail, saturated color and beautiful composition, if you did not know how angry Amy is about religious oppression in Tibet you would think these were an homage instead of condemnation.

Mark Khaisman, packing tape on light box @ Area 919.

Mark Khaisman uses tape to create “drawings” of Baroque and Rococo furniture found in Sotheby catalogs.  The furniture is, of course, for rich people only and if you actually owned it you would never sit in it or write on it, you would probably put a velvet rope around it - that’s what makes Khaisman’s drawings use of lowly plastic tape so appealing and intriguing.  A former stained glass artist, Mark confidently twists and folds the tape into curvy lines, layering tape to create density and depth, transforming something so cheap into something precious and desirable.

TODT is an artist collective that have been working together (more or less) for 30 years, even though the member artists have individual names, they prefer to be known only as TODT.  The group is primarily interested in the future and science, the above piece was developed in the early 80s, before computers, using a light-box they found on the street, the Marilyn is also a found object, the combination is truly prescient considering the current “green” trend, the use of electronics and light and mixed metaphor collage, très au courant yet timeless.  TODT’s resume includes the Whitney Biennial, the Venice Biennial, and many gallery & museum shows going back to 1979.

TODT, Eye Tower @ Area 919.  This light sculpture was created for a gallery who fronted the funds to develop over a dozen pieces but the gallerist took off with nine of them, luckily several were saved along with material to make more.  The staring eyeballs signaled the oncoming onslaught of oppressive mass surveillance of hidden watchmen cataloging our every move from trafffic lights to toll booths; a local real estate mangement office even has a camera just in case renters get pissed off and don’t pay up.

13 Months has plenty more to see with photos by John Rosser, furniture by Luis Montoya, Anthony Angelicola, Mike Parsell & Daniel Petraitis plus antiques and objects of desire.  In just 13 months, Area 919 has established itself as an art force to be reckoned with.

The 14th Annual Art Ability Exhibition & Sale at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital’s Patron’s Preview Party on November 7th was a sensational event kicking off the extensive art show featuring more than 400 art works by 128 artists from 23 states and 10 countries.  The hospital on Paoli Pike is an excellent venue with high, long walls, a fine hanging system, great lighting providing a wonderful stroll or roll along a meandering path to wander and take in the wide array of fine art.

Photographer Linda Fry Goschke was honored with the catalog cove, a beatific portrait of a “Crested Caracara“, a raptor she spent time with in a bird sanctuary.  The photograph is poignant, strong and sensitive; at first glance it appears to be a painting with golden light brushing the elegant bird’s feathers, the dark head contrasting the ochre beak and the glint of disinterest in the eye, a perfect metaphor for the theme of the exhibit.

Goschke told DoN that in order to capture her images she had to wait for new technology to catch up with her vision - the lustrous flower photograph is actually created on a flat-bed scanner, then enhanced with Photoshop.

Linda Fry Goschke, Barred Owl, photograph @ Art Ability.

Sal Panasci was commissioned by Bryn Mawr Rehab to create the design for a mural leading to the admissions center, formally along stark hallway to what could be an uncomfortable experience.

Now, the hallway is a colorful, exuberant scene welcomes people to what may be an extended stay to rehabilitate the body, mind and spirit.  Panasci’s painting was transformed into wallpaper creating a warm, sunny vista.

Sal Panasci, Late Autumn Palette, oil.

Ken Smith, Blue Flower, photograph pigment ink on paper on board, encaustic.  Smith’s serene composition won honorable mention, The Mary Armitage Green Memorial Award presented by Heather and Damien Lubeski, the wax finish means the print will survive for a very long time.

Michael Jameson, Charlois Bull, oil painting on birch panel

Sheryl Yeager, pastels.  DoN talked with Sheryl about her inspiration for the delightful pig and zebra pastels, she explained that she portrays lots of different animals because they make her feel free, at one with God & nature and the art heals her past.  A self described high functioning autistic, her most popular drawings are of elephants and she’s more than willing to accommodate her customer base.  This is Sheryl Yeager’s 5th year with Art Ability, she has been accepted into the Pastel Society of Little Rock and has exhibited her work at the Andrews Art Museum in North Carolina.

The big fish are by Arnie Segal, the drawing is by Mari Newman, Dick Wexelblat created the menagerie and won honorable mention for Fine Crafts presented by Sal & Linda Panasci, the sculpture in the right forefront is by blind artist Tara Arlene Innmon.  This tableau is very popular with visitors with the vibrant animal forms delighting the eye and lifting the spirit.

Arnold Segal was a true art star at the Art Ability Patron Preview, selling most of his collection of sculptures and earning commissions - a mixed media artist, Segal uses plaster, paper mache and electronics to enliven his sculptures which often have hidden surprises.

Liam Kennedy, Dreams, bronze, winner of 2nd prize for sculpture, the Sarah Hair Shearer Memorial Award.

Kathy Harris, Double Self Portrait & Winter Bride.  Harris created the portraits from life masks - the double self portrait is from 30 years ago and the Winter Bride is a recent mask.  Kathy told DoN that the younger version is dreaming of the future and the elder shows aging through time, either way she’s beautiful with a wonderful spirit and wicked wit, we had the best time chatting about her career making paintings, ceramic tiles and pipes.

Michael Tavani, Winter in Chadds Ford, oil.

Jack Beverland, Happy Trails, acrylic & plastic.

Clif Anderson, The Last Rose, oil.  Clif told DoN this was literally the last rose in his garden last November.

Beverly Strohecker-Yablin, Favorite Teacup, oil.

David Gerbstadt is one of the famous Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, his mixed media paintings are super-pop, perfect for a hipster’s pad or austere modern interior.  DoN was recently in the Dumpster Diver gallery on South Street and a patron bought 27 of his $1.00 drawings as Christmas gifts.

Marilyn Lavins, 40th Anniversary 1969-2009, Moon Landing, collage.

Photography by Jim Knisley @ Art Ability.

Gregory Gans, Spirit Over Waters, photograph, winner 3rd Prize for photography, The Denise Fraunfelter Memorial Award.

Photography @ Art Ability Exhibit in Bryn Mawr Rehab.

Gregory Gans, Forest Cathedral, photograph.  DoN had the opportunity to chat with Greg’s biggest fan, his wife, who offers constant support and encouragement and agrees with DoN that if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything.  Gans’ has been a working photographer for 45 years, creating hundreds of images - now many of his photos have Biblical & spiritual references reflecting his faith and strength to battle the epileptic seizures he endures after having a benign brain tumor removed.

The Art Ability show has so much to see it’s impossible for DoN to share it all - Evan Gozali’s brilliant digital Asian style scroll is transcendental, Elizabeth Core’s imaginative large painting, Christine Severson’s jewelry…the point is that even though the art is all created by artists with disabilities there are no boundaries, no style, no medium that is exempt from an artist with the will to create from painting to drawing, photography to sculpture, fine art to crafts, an artist is an artist even if they have to hold the brush with their mouth, work from a wheelchair, try to hold steady until the tremor passes or struggle to articulate because the words won’t come.

DoN was so happy to see so many red dots indicating sales - 80% goes to the artist and the remainder is used to improve the facilities to aid people who need rehabilitation everything else is provided by volunteers including the wonderful sales team.  DoN had the pleasure of meeting Ellie Pfautz, a volunteer sales rep who absolutely loves Bryn Mawr Rehab since they helped her recover from a brain aneurysm; the two of us marveled at the new Lokomat suite - a robot which helps train muscles & nerves by reminding the body of motor pathways, building new neural networks and strengthening the body without manual manipulation by a technician.  To see a short video clip - click here.

Lokomat Robot @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital

Zach Osif, Iraq III (Lindsy Lohan), oil on canvas @ F.U.E.L.  Shoshanna & DoN chatted with Zach Osif regarding his inspiration for the portrait of Lindsy’s infamous mug shot and he responded that his work is a result of flirtatious dalliances on the internet.  His plan was to do a series of paintings about the Iraq war but found that TV & the web are more saturated with images of pop princesses than war heroes.  DoN noticed that this week TV news headlines included “wife allergic to husbands sperm” and “plastic surgery for penis enlargement” as if seeing flag-draped coffins and grieving wives are not enough to draw viewers.  But there is a subtext of pin-up girls and soldiers going back to Betty Grable & Marilyn Monroe to be found in the heroically large paintings.

Zach Osif, Dalliances.  Shoshanna recognized the model as Kim Kardashian in Playboy- uh, DoN did not.

Zach Osif, Made in U.S.A., oil on canvas.

DoN did not get to interview Xavier Schipani about her trans-cultural drawings incorporating tribal, ethnic, sexual, mythical, middle eastern and samurai imagery yet the impact was indelible and inscrutable.  The wacko poodle cut-outs around the perimeter of the room are super-kawaii!

More than 150 small artworks in many different media are arrayed around the historic gallery space of the Philadelphia Sketch Club on the Avenue of the Artists, Camac Street.  Miniatures represents the work of more than 60 area artists from Betsy Alexander of Ravenswing Studio, Dumpster Diver extraordinaire Alden Cole and Da Vinci Art Alliance board member Lilliana Didovic to esteemed club members such as Karen McDonnell & Tony Cortosi, Dr. Doris Peltzman and first prize winner Michael Kuncevich, one of the club’s elders.  Second prize was awarded to Susan J. Donmoyer  for an extraordinary drawing.  Even though DoN was a co-chair of the show, he has to say - the show is extraordinary with really exciting work by great Philly artists.  Thanks to everyone who helped pull it off - if you’ve ever organized a show, you know what a time suck it is.  A special thank you to Laura Guzzo, 3nd prize winner, for acting as docent & sales associate.

Laura Guzzo @ Miniatures in PSC Gallery.

Stephan Iwanczuk, silver print.  Steve is chair of Miniatures.

Clockwise - Lilliana Didovic, Deborah Horsting, Parimalasri Vairapandi & Vincent Docktor.  Vince is part of the the three-person show in the PSC Stewart Room.

Betsy Alexander’s Alaska paintings capture the expansiveness of the great wilderness in tiny squares.  Bold color choice, graphic decisions and simplicity transport the viewer to a foreign landscape at once welcoming and strange.  Betsy is also an original Dumpster Diver and was recently featured on the Today show with her famous piano playing cat, Nora.

Monique Lazard, oil @ PSC Miniatures.

Dr. Doris Peltzman, Giovanni’s Table, oil.  Doris has had several one-person show’s in Wilmington’s prestigious Carspecken Scott Gallery, has sold out shows at Artist House, consistently wins top awards and today is gallery sitting at the club - stop in and visit her and Reta Sweeney.

Alden Cole, Dancing with the Stars, drawing @ PSC Miniatures.

Clockwise - Linda Hibbs, Elizabeth Breakell, Elizabeth MacDonald, Marlene Craig, Dorothy Roschen & Lucy Roehm.

DoN entered a digital picture frame with 20 views of Paris roof tops - the prospectus said any medium!

David Foss, The Grid, acrylic on wood panel, plastic, foam, 2009.

David Foss, Between I and Thou, acrylic on canvas & foam.  Kathryn Pannepacker, Art Trick & I Am A Magnet, embroidery coated with wax.

Kathryn Pannepacker weaves anything within reach, including yarn, rags, thread, rope, book matches, even left over aluminum foil creating other-worldly decor as if for a Star Trek set.  Both Pannepacker and Foss have an aura of tranquility and inner peace causing DoN to wonder if maybe they have been taken up, up, up…each donates much of their time doing outreach in the community.  Foss is Executive Director of Da Vinci Art Alliance mentoring and promoting art carreers and Pannepacker has created several public murals and is currently weaving art with homeless people as part of Activities and Advocacy to End Homelessness every Thursday & Friday @ Arch Street Cafe, 740 Arch Street.

David Foss, Field Shift, acrylic on canvas, plastic & foam, 2009.

Kathryn Pannepacker & David Foss at the opening of Parallel Lines @ Smile Gallery.  Matt Lyons calls the art space “the biggest little gallery in town“; the gallery continually shows modern, edgy, sometimes difficult art by a continuum of Philly’s best artists.

Jessica Hummel, Self Portrait took first prize with her photographic trilogy.

The Plastic Club on Camac Street is hosting an outstanding show of art by artists models; who else but models have insight into the world of artists, absorbing and intuiting the complexities of visual arts.  Many of the plastic club models have been mentored by the fine artists they pose for and artists are grateful for the intricacy and nuance of posing.  Susan Stromquist is included in Off the Wall Gallery’s Summer Show of past award winners - her folded chalk and pastels are Rorschach pop melded with classic atmospheric naturalism.

Karl Richard Olsen, Jeno, POR - looks like a bargain since this appears to be what’s known in the art biz as a masterpiece.  Olsen draws and paints everyday, even while walking, honing his eye and exploring new ways to express his vision.  Karl’s Flickr page is very cool and he’s currently completing one self portrait each day for 30 days.

Rob Willis, Self Portrait - you know, DoN had to double check but he knew this drawing is by Willis, last year’s Model’s Show big winner, since a definite style has emerged over time - he’s really handsome, too.

Jenn Warpole @ The Plastic Club’s Model Artists Exhibit.

Echo Shi @ The Plastic Club

Rob Willis @ The Plastic Club

Rob Willis - the paint job on this chopper is Super Kawai, super flat, super cool - DuChamp for everyday life.

Jym Paris, Shooting for the Moon & The Night Has A Thousand Eyes.  DoN LoVeS Jym’s fearless style, infectious personality and spontaneous gesture.  As Antony & the Johnsons sing, “I’m a little boy now, but when I grow up I’ll be a beautiful woman.”

Deborah Dias, Ratamandala.

Model Artists @ The Plastic Club through 8/22 - the club is holding special event workshops with moving model Stephanie Hyland - imagine long, slow croqui’s with the model slowly , steadily changing.  Contact the club for dates and times.

Da Vinci Art Alliance is sponsoring the fabulous show, “Little Show of Horrors” @ Bartram’s Garden Gallery; alliance members were challenged to create works commemorating Charles Darwin’s 150th anniversary of “The Origin of Species”and carnivorous plants and all the artists went crazy on the theme of the fabled bug eaters.  Above is Ted Warchal’s mixed media dream box and DoN Brewer’s digital photo collage.

Dexiang Qian, Girl with Venus Flytrap, oil on canvas @ Little Show of Horrors @ Bartram’s Garden Gallery.  An honorable mention award winner, the painting explores the mystery and allure of collecting exotic plants.  The display of carniverous plants in Bartram’s Garden is unbelievably fascinating, DoN highly recommends seeking out the display while the Summer is still hot.  Venus Flytraps are indigenous to the Carolina’s and their habitat is being encroached upon, Bartram’s Garden offers a glimpse into a strange & wondrous world of ecology and botany and it’s fragility.

Alden Cole’s Starlings tap into a deep psychological pattern recognition much like ancient man must have reacted to the Venus of Willendorf; the simple play of line and shape is loaded with narrative, a single line of graphite tingling the hive memory deep in our genetic code.

Michael Diprinzio @ Bartram’s Garden Gallery “Little Show of Horrors” featuring Da Vinci Art Alliance members.

Emily Orb with Bartram’s Garden director Louise Turen with “The Garden of Earthly Delights“, silk  painting was honored with Best in Show.  The reinvention of Bosch’s iconic dream scape is rendered with modern characters and technique, filling an entire wall of the historic space.

Dr. Debra Miller presenting awards @ Little Show of Horrors.  The Bartram’s Garden Gallery is in the oldest barn in Philadelphia and a wonderful space for art shows with the rough stone white-washed walls, wide wood plank floors and ancient windows - and air conditioning!

Rachel Citrino, Ted Warchal (Most Creative winner) and the painting duo Karen McDonnell & Tony Cortosi @ Little Show of Horrors.  The show runs though August 22nd and members of the alliance will be gallery sitting, Alden & DoN will be on sight all day Wednesday.

The art party opening for Little Show of Horrors @ Bartram’s Garden Gallery sponsored by the Da Vince Art Alliance.  For a free downloadable version of DoN Brewer’s Honorable Mention winner, “Botanical Print”, click here.

Burnell Yow!, “Dolls of the Apocalypse“, Smile Gallery.

Burnell Yow!, “Mummy Barbie“.

B. Yow!, L. Parkes, D. Walters, “Exquisite Corpse #33“, giclee print, 20″ x 16″

Joroko,”March On“, mixed media.

Joroko, “Subtext“, mixed media.

Bricolage, pronounced /ˌbriːkoʊˈlɑːʒ/, /ˌbrɪkoʊˈlɑːʒ/ is a term used in several disciplines, among them the visual arts and literature, to refer to the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things which happen to be available, or a work created by such a process. The term is borrowed from the French word bricolage, from the verb bricoler – the core meaning in French being, “fiddle, tinker” and, by extension, “make creative and resourceful use of whatever materials are to hand (regardless of their original purpose).”

A person who engages in bricolage is a bricoleur.

Thank you Wikipedia!

Burnell’s dolls are totemic, shamanistic, zen-like, beatific, clever, ironic, dystopian creations repurposing objet trouve and doll parts.  The digital “exquisite corpse” prints are a great stealable idea - so po-mo.

Joroko’s goth skeletons populating bombed out surfaces, dancing and cavorting with stars, stripes, crosses and words perfectly counterpoints the odd dolls - somehow the energy of the room becomes a bad boy’s fantasy world of stealing your sister’s dolls and ripping the heads off and drawing war scenes with explosions, craters and bodies.  Dr. Deb Miller curated the show - deep.