DoNArTNeWs

Nancy Barch, Chained Mail, mixed media @ Grow - Off the Wall Gallery.  The use of disposable materials such as the ceiling tile and old slides reek with hidden meaning and memes.  Slides are so anachronistic and ceiling tiles, even though functional at insulation and sound-proofing, are out of style.  Barch’s piece sends obtuse mixed messages stimulating social consciousness neurons to fire in the brain.

 Grow @ Off the Wall Gallery in Dirty Frank’s Bar.

Alisa Fox, Jars, mixed media.

One of the cool things @ Off the Wall is the corner display case where more delicate constructions can be installed.  The team of Jody and Togo extend much effort in branding, soliciting, promoting and selling art from publicity to art cards and posters to installation, the production is always top notch. Off the Wall has hosted hundreds of local aspiring and established artists in their thoughtful exhibitions.

Karl Olsen, Free Compost, mixed media including ingredients from mustard to absinthe.

Grow is on display through August 7th and includes work by 30 artists including members of the Plastic Club, Photographic Society of Philadelphia and other regional arts groups.  Frank’s has been an outpost for many Plastic Club members and recently Anders Hansen hosted a Salon at The Plastic Club to discuss the Grow show.  In branding the show, curator Jody Sweitzer and manager Togo Travalia, put a new spin on the current “green” trend with a focus on recycled materials and ideas.

Karl Olsen used phylo dough, Julia Fisichella’s amazing photoshop collages are inspired, Ed Snyder’s floral photograph exquisitely illuminated the concept with an image pinched from nature, Veronica Schmude’s moody interior photograph is brimming with stolen narrative (Veronica is the guest speaker at this Tuesday’s PSoP lecture series at The Plastic Club).  The Salon was lively: Shoshanna Aron (just back from Israel) pointed out how being “green” is a new concept - that the old paradigm was consumerism, Bob Bohne introduced the topic of the healing power of art and the importance of community outreach, Alan Clawens highlighted how artists resist creating new work for a theme show and try to squeeze old works into new parameters, DoN mentioned bricolage and Burnell Yow!s amazing show at Smile.  The group sipped wine and chatted until sunset and the party moved to Frank’s.  The discussion helped DoN realize that thinking outside the box isn’t always the best approach - sometimes all you need is the box.

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.

Ellen Benson, “Snow Day“, mixed media.

The Dumpster Divers “The Games We Played Remade” @ The Historic Smithville Mansion inhabiting the game rooms (the pool room & bowling alley) of the 1875 estate is a melange of mixed media, metaphors, memories and wishes.  Alden Cole’s Chinese Checkers is delightfully addictive, Ellen Benson’s mixed media works are displayed with room to breath and absorb, Burnell Yow! squishes Barbie heads with badminton rackets - Super Fun!

Burnell Yow! @ “The Games We Played Remade” in The Historic Smithville Mansion.

The bowling alley of the historic space is a perfect venue for the show; The Games We Played Remade is exhibiting some of Philly & SJs best mixed media, green artists in a quirky theme seemlessly matched with a truly beautiful space (there’s a rose garden and a Moose head in the card room) is definitely worth the short drive on Route 38.

In Your Dreams
June 11 - September 11, 2009
50 Philadelphia artists showcase work related to dreams.  Juried by the Art In City Hall Exhibitions Committee. 2nd and 4th floors, NE corner.  Art in City Hall has been offering public art shows for more than 20 years, displaying work in large display cases, the ongoing exhibition is usually theme-based with the current show focused on dream imagery juried by a panel of professional artists.  The exhibition features drawing (Justin Duerr is the bomb), fantastical jewelry by Christine Alaniz, photography by Morris Klein and Julia Blaukopf, paintings by Patricia Burns and Anne Caramanico, sculptures by Brujo De La Mancha, mixed media and books.  The strength of the show is the acceptance of many forms of art to visualize and share such deeply personal experiences.

Display case two clockwise: DoN Brewer, Shell Game, scanner/Photoshop collage, Brujo De La Mancha, mixed media painting and sculptures, Kathryn Johnston, Saturation, mixed media collage.

Alex Cohen.  This painting seems to tell an entire dream story with a beginning, middle and end.

Angela Washko, “Imposter”, oil on canvas - the large painting highlights confusing imagery of bunnies confronting a slipper demonstrating the duality of dreams where friendly subjects take on menacing behaviors.

 Tanya Dodd, The Right Track, photography and mixed media.  Not all dreams are strange, some are dreams of escape and finding the route to happiness, security and freedom.

 Artist Tanya Dodd recently had a solo show at The African American Museum.

DoN Brewer with Morris Klein’s digital photograph “Daydreaming“, DoN Brewer’s digital photo “light being (Edward Hopper)” and DoN Brewer’s digital photo”hole” @ Art in City Hall, Philadelphia.  Photo by Les Howard.

Philadelphia City Hall is a spectacular venue for art with every detail of the building designed to the max - sculpture, painting, wood, marble, gold - it is an honor to have art displayed in such a great historic space; a dream come true.

DoN spoke with Luren Jenison about this interesting interactive project ongoing @ Workspace, 319 North 11th Street; the entire room is converted into a giant loom, guests are encouraged to participate with the materials at hand or schedule time to stop by and weave for a while.  You can bring your own stuff to weave, when the large fabric is complete it will be combined with other loomed pieces created in other spaces - so temporal and time-trippy.

To all those who understand my obsession with the LightTro color changing bulb which I have been using for the past 4 years, both here at 717 Federal, and in many luminaries sold over the past 5 years - somewhere around 280 of those bulbs have passed through my hands since 2004, when Betsy introduced me to them - I am devastated. Phillips Color Kinetics, the maker of LightTro, DISCONTINUED making them (some time ago, as I found out this morning). And the distributor has only 36 left. I’m the second one in line for those last 36. And I have one unopened package left of these bulbs, up at the South Street Gallery. Auction time?

Oh well, end of an era in my output. Hold onto your bulbs. They can last a long long time. Seriously, it’s a shame that such a beautiful GREEN item should be discontinued. Perhaps it will nudge me out of the luminary business and back into painting. Those bulbs were as good as it gets in terms of night lighting. On to the next phase…

Alden Cole

Envisioning Hamlet is an art show by members of Philadelphia’s Da Vinci Art Alliance based on Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” currently being performed at the Lantern Theater to rave reviews. Several months ago, Charles McMahon, the creative director of Lantern Theater spoke at the club and explained his concept for staging the play; set in a post WW1 dystopian landscape, the play draws the audience into the diabolical circle of deception, madness and death.

More than 30 works of art are on display in the black box theater in the basement of Saint Stephen’s Theater @ 10th & Ludlow Streets ranging from neo-expressionism to abstraction to mixed media construction and impressionism. The art show is open through May 3rd, the play has been extended through May 17th.

“light being (Ophelia)” & “Denmark“, digital photographs by DoN Brewer.

Mina Smith-Segal @ Saint Stephen Theater’s Envisioning Hamlet.

Dr. Deb Miller, president of the Da Vinci Art Alliance, jurors Charles McMahon, creative director of Lantern Theater Company, lighting designer Drew Billiau and scenic designer Dirk Durossette.

Best in Show: Chinoros Roongsakul’s, Sin, acrylic on canvas.

Alden Cole’s, “Oh, that this too, too Solid Flesh“, oil on panel.

Themes of madness, despair, symbolism and love permeate Envisioning Hamlet, the gallery is in the lower level of Saint Stephen’s Theater.

Second place awarded to Bud Boehringer, third place, Debra Miller, honorable mentions: DoN Brewer, Maria Keane and Ted Warchal.

Karen Stone @ Hopkins House Gallery in Camden curated by Bruce Garrity.

Karen Stone @ Hopkins House Gallery. The two works above are part of a show about new directions in painting as part of the symposium “To Be or Not To Be: A Painter’s Dilemma” @ Rutgers University.

Wall drawing made with hair by Brenna K. Murphy @ Center for Emerging Visual Artists on Rittenhouse Square in a show curated by Brooke Hine last summer.

Brenna K. Murphy @ The Icebox in the Crane Center for the Arts InLiquid auction.

Brenna K. Murphy @ Moore College of Art and Design for the CFEVA Introductions ‘09 show. Murphy has installed hair art @ Eileen Tognini’s house.

Hair on paper circles @ The Crane Center for the Arts installed in the hallway. Artist unknown. The Jullius Scissor Salon on Locust Street has a huge hair sculpture in their window.

Hair is such a meme!

Betsy Alexander and Burnell Yow! of Ravenswing Studio are art collectors, their home is filled with beautiful objects of all kinds and even had a recent story about their eclectic decorating style in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The duo have recreated their art house at Salon des Amis in Malvern, asking all of their friends who have contributed to their collection to show new work in the gallery. Sunday was beautiful weather and a large gathering of their friends arrived at the gallery to find the space filled with work by more than 40 artists.

Luminary artist, Alden Cole @ Art House in Salon des Amis.

Linda Lou Horn @ Salon des Amis for the Art House opening in Malvern.

Philly photographer, Armond Scavo with his work at Salon des Amis. Scavo has just published a book of photographs of Rittenhouse Square, a favorite locale for artists to find inspiration, Through an Artists’ Eye - Philadelphia can be purchased from Scavo’s website.

Eileen Feigenbaum, “The Blue Lady”, oil on canvas.

DoN Brewer, “light being (Rick Selvin)”, digital photograph.

The art crowd for Betsy Alexander and Burnell Yow!’s Art House @ Salon des Amis in Malvern.

Thank you Betsy and Burnell, it’s already nice just being friends with you both but when you do something so special like this art show it re-enforces the bond even more. Salon des Amis means House of Friends - so apropos!

LoVe

DoN