DoNArTNeWs

Laurentiu Todie, The One @ Art Ability Bryn Mawr Rehab Center, Malvern, PA.

DoNArTNeWs finally appears on page one in Google for the search term “Philadelphia art blogs“, thank you very much!   DoN has written more than four hundred reviews, interviews and promotions about the Philadelphia regional art scene for DoNArTNeWs.  The most frequently accessed pages include the term “Philadelphia art” in the web site statistics, “art” is the number one search term.  Philadelphia art is a search term that thousands of people are investigating because the Philly art scene is, as Mayor Michael Nutter stated at the West Collects press conference, “Strong!”  Great art has become synonymous with Philadelphia because of the high end cultural institutions like PMA and the innovative neighborhood artist enclaves, clubs, alliances and collectives that pervade the city and the region, creating an amorphous idea of what is Philadelphia art?  Is it the great art speak that PAFA teaches it’s students?  Is it the gritty allure of Fishtown, Northern Liberties or Germantown and the satisfaction of getting in early on something bohemian, eclectic, outrageous or controversial?  Is Philadelphia really the sixth borough of NYC?

Art is strong and vibrant in Philadelphia with wonderful resources but DoN has heard institutional leaders say the majority of public dollars get directed to the top tier while smaller groups compete for shrinking grant money and must endure its grueling paperwork.  Rachel Zimmerman of InLiquid, one of the oldest artist profile websites of its kind in Philadelphia, told DoN this past Summer that artists have three jobs: making art, selling art and the job to pay for buying art materials.  Artist Gregory Prestegord told DoN there are more like seven jobs to get to what he calls “a state of meditation“, the time he actually gets to spend making art, a broad circle of activities, many unrelated to art production, must happen to get to the moment of meditation when art appears out of seemingly nowhere. Art and the creative economy is enormous in Philadelphia, the competition for money is daunting, yet artists keep pushing against the obstacles and work hard to be known as a Philadelphia Artist, the second most popular search term for DoNArTNeWs‘ Philadelphia art blog.

Search Philadelphia art, who knows what you might discover?

Happy New Year!

LoVe

DoN

Read more about Art Ability at Philly.SideArts art blog and DoNArTNeWs art blog.

Beverly Kohn, Resting Deer, Art Ability International Juried Exhibition of Art & Fine Craft @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center.

Beverly Kohn won Honorable Mention in the category of Fiber Arts, Glass and Fine Crafts at the Art Ability Exhibition.  The gorgeous piece of a fiber wrapped deer feels so modern, like Jeff Koons or DuChamp, not crafty at all but using simple, nostalgic materials and shapes, the sculpture mixes media in a delightful and desirable design.  Click the thumbnail for a close up.

Elizabeth Core at Art Ability International Juried Exhibition of Art & Fine Craft @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center.  The balance of color, hue, tone and textures mingled with sophisticated pattern and composition is exuberantly engaging.

Click the thumbail to check out Sriharsha Sukla, Bombay 01, collage.  The artist lives in Cuttack, Orissa, India, and has been a part of Art Ability International Juried Exhibition of Art & Fine Craft @ Bryn Mawr Rehab Center for many years, submitting fascinatingly detailed collages, so painterly and naturalistic they appear photographic from a distance.

“The Art Ability Program at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital is a year-long program which serves as a showcase for, and celebration of, artists with disabilities. Through art, we hope to inspire patients to reach beyond their limitations, and to encourage people with disabilities to explore their own creativity.

Established in 1996, Art Ability includes the following major components: an annual international juried exhibition and sale of art and fine crafts produced by individuals with disabilities; community outreach and education opportunities including satellite exhibitions and interactive demo days; our permanent collection of artwork and the incorporation of artwork into the patient experience; and a corporate art acquisition program.

The Program’s goal is to foster a better appreciation of people with disabilities through the achievements and stories of our artists. As art enriches their lives, we hope their creativity, talent and exuberant spirit will enrich your life.” - Art Ability

Read DoNArTNeWs report about Allen Bryan, Art Ability Artist

Read more at Philly Side Arts

Photographs by DoN Brewer shot exclusively with

Spring Bud, photograph, Jeff Stroud, Galleria Deptford, Deptford Municipal Building, 1011 Cooper St., Deptford, NJ, December 2011.

“I just started to notice how intricate the buds are on the trees as I was passing them by while I was walking, I didn’t realize.  So, I was walking with the camera and as an artist, I thought these are worth taking pictures of, it’s very detailed, there’s a lot of detail that we don’t see on a normal basis.”  Jeff Stroud’s photograph, bathed in natural light from a convenient skylight is at once impressionist and representational, a sense of the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring. “This is actually shot at my home in Magnolia, there’s woods that surround the house and the energy of it, Nature’s always changing.  I was using an 18 to 55mm lens and I just get very close to the shot.”

Jeff Stroud’s photography is part of a group show in the halls of the Deptford Municipal Building in South Jersey, he is represented by eleven photographs.  Jeff brought an extra photograph with him to get help from curator Pauline Jonas in editing and she decided to include them all. The annual photography show brings together work from a diverse group of regional artists that Jonas intuitively pulls together from her wide network of resources. “I met Pauline through the Salem County Arts League, I showed with them a couple years ago, which is all kinds of artists and I met Pauline through them.  People that I know from the Salem County Arts League had show’s here (at Galleria Deptford) and I came to see them.”, said Jeff.  “And then Pauline invited me to be in this show.”

Born With, Jeff Stroud, photograph.  Jeff is a member of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia and will be a featured artist at the group show in Cafe Twelve in early 2012.

Jeff Stroud, Photographer @ Galleria Deptford

December 5 - February 1, 2012 – Reception December 11
Photography by:
Nancy Fogel and Diane Abell of www.dustydogdigital.com, Rona Golfen, Derek Jecxz, Kelly Lynd, Jeff Stroud, Arlene Wilson and her husband, Tony Wilson.  And Design Concepts by David Smith.

Read more about Galleria Deptford at Philly Side Arts.

Read more about Jeff Stroud at Side Arts.

Photographs by DoN Brewer shot exclusively with

Allen Bryan, digital photograph collage

The Art Ability International Juried Exhibition of Art and Fine Crafts show at Bryn Mawr Rehab Center in Malvern is an annual event that DoN looks forward to for many reasons.  First, Art Ability is a great art show with outstanding work by hundreds of artists from 35 states and seven countries in all kinds of media from painting, drawing, collage, mixed media, sculpture and DoN’s personal interest, photography.  Secondly, this is the third year DoN has been included in the show, “light beings (Lorraine and Charles)“, an abstract landscape photo dedicated to my late Great Aunt and Uncle, was selected by the esteemed panel of jurors from hundreds of entries.  DoN is honored to be included in the annual exclusive art event, being featured in the excellent glossy catalog and to be treated to a wonderful evening of dining, meeting artists and collectors at the Patron’s Reception held November 5, 2011.

Photography is well represented in the show, when DoN delivered his piece to Bryn Mawr Rehab he got a sneak peak at the art intake and right away was taken with several large photographs by Allen Bryan.  The wide aspect ratio and densely detailed dream-scapes have all the feel of reality but with unnatural elements, transitions and oblique views, kind of like waking up from a dream.  Indeed, the photo collage Open Box Story won Best in Show, the Charles W. Hennessy Artist Award with proceeds from the Charles W. Hennessy Art Ability Endowment Fund, selected by judges Teresa Jaynes, John Ollman and Ingrid Shaffner.  DoN spoke with the artist at the reception and he confirmed the surrealist work is created with his own photographs which he expertly manipulates with Photoshop, the large format print and subtle frame are exquisitely crafted.  The photo above is not the winning piece but if you visit his website, or better yet go to the show which is free and open to the public daily through mid January 2012, you will experience a masterful artwork that will confound and intrigue the senses.

Read more about DoN’s Art Ability experiences at Philly.SideArts and watch for more reports about this expansive art exhibition.

DoN Brewer

Photograph by DoN Brewer shot with:

Art does not exist unless there is someone to see it and then tell someone else what they saw.  Artists rely on enthusiasts, connoisseurs, collectors and connectors to keep the business of art going.  Malcolm Gladwell describes connectors in The Tipping Point as ” “people who “link us up with the world … people with a special gift for bringing the world together.”  They are “a handful of people with a truly extraordinary knack [… for] making friends and acquaintances.” “  Dee Brodzik was one of these few people who keep the conversation going, a simple compliment or a big art purchase both go a long way to stoking an artists’ creative fire.  Dee Brodzik often told DoN she wasn’t an artist, with no talent for making art.  “You’re a connector.  You bring people together.”, DoN would tell her.  Dee was naive to her own talent, like an outsider artist she was self taught in the language of art, she easily asked questions of artists, curators and educators in her desire to understand.   Adept at symbolism, pattern recognition and memes, Dee could see references that escaped those less observant, then taking that information and applying it to her own skill at bringing folks together whether it be artists and collectors, designers and job opportunities or parties and people.

Dee Brodzik was a New Yorker, participating in all of the cultural advantages the epicenter of the art world proffers.  And, Dee was a maven.  As Gladwell states, “Mavens are really information brokers, sharing and trading what they know”.  The first time DoN saw a Haruki Murikami up close was because Dee took him to Grand Central Station to see an installation of giant balloons with the then new super-flat style of painting decorated with the soon to become iconic flower faces.  “I heard this is something good“, she said.  On April 6, 2006, Dee, Shoshka and DoN attended the Whitney Museum of American Art biennial and saw a movie,  Cameron Jamie’s film installation Kranky Klaus (2002-03), with a soundtrack by the Melvins, documenting the pagan myth of Krampus—a shaggy beast said to roam the valleys of Austria on the night of December 6.  The movie was disturbing because of the bullying young men endured when Krampus would pull them out of restaurants or shops and forcefully push their faces in the snow.  Due to Dee’s religious studies she was aware of the legend of the monster myth that mirrors the magic of Santa; Shoshka and DoN were dumb-founded as she explained the obscure references and how the legends connected the pagan and the Christian.  But, Dee’s favorite artwork was at the 2004 Whitney Biennial’s “Firefies on the Water“, installation with 150 lights, mirrors and water by Yayoi Kusama.  Long lines of people waited for their 30 seconds to enter the room supernaturally filled with an infinity of sparkling light, shimmering water and the feeling of floating through the cosmos.  Dee reminisced about the enlightening experience often, citing the short time spent in the solitude of twinkle lights and glass as transformative and spiritual.

Even though the conversation has ended, DoN can still hear Dee’s voice in his head, the interactive dialog peppered with amusing Malapropisms, a hearty laugh, on point quips and salient quotes.  And questions, lots of questions she was eager to hear the answers to.  Dee listened to people, an essential part of the art of conversation as many are thinking to themselves what they might say next instead of hearing the other person.  Dee Brodzik lived in the moment, listened and heard what was said to her, observed and could describe what she had seen and most importantly shared the information with her extended family, expansive network of friends, acquaintances, colleagues and associates, shedding her light, sharing clarifying opinions and leading the conversation towards the positive side of things.  Dee Brodzik was a true artist, creating a collage of diverse people, drawing lines between opportunities and events, designing experiences, developing plans, expanding communication circles and connecting the dots.

LoVe

DoN

Allison Kaufman talks about Dancing with Divorced Men, a series of photos and video at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists, October 27th, 2011.

Hear Ana B. Hernandez‘ artist talk at Philly.SideArts.

• “Modulate” A Spotlight Exhibition featuring Career Development Program Fellows Ana B. Hernandez and Allison Kaufman

  October 26 - November 22, 2011

  The Center for Emerging Visual Artists, 237 S. 18th Street, The Barclay, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Photos and video by DoNBrewerMultimedia.

Jerry Kaba at The Crane Arts Center

DoN had the photos and the interview from a Second Thursday art crawl September 8th, 2011 at the Crane Center for the Arts in Fishtown.  But, DoN could not find the artist’s name!?!  By chance, Jerry KaBa’s business card surfaced and DoN can now share with you the scariest Halloween costume design - ever!

Video & Photos by DoNBrewerMultimedia

Karen M contacted DoN prior to the start of the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours East weekend to tip him off to drive by the baseball field on Wharton Street near Geno’s and Pat’s Steaks.  Karen and DoN talked recently about the economic situation of artists, the unreliability of sales and income to cover the expense of making art.  Art costs money, usually.  Karen M and Anthony C have been tagging the city, graffiti style, with their own collectible paintings.  Using the same technique as their high end paintings on canvas, the pair uses found cardboard and posters to paint their iconic portraits, like Wisdom Kid, with stencils and spray paint, then install them where people can steal the art.  During the recent Philadelphia Open Studio Tours West, they stapled a beautiful portrait on glittery paper to the bedraggled knit-bombed telephone pole at the end of DoN’s block.  Luckily while walking KaTy the ArT DoG and Lady Doofus, the geriatric St. Bernard / Chihuahua, DoN was able to carefully retrieve the piece, the scars torn into the paper from the staples a secret prize of provenance.  Collectors across South Philly follow their messages, like the one DoN was texted, to go to a particular spot for some prime art loot.  It’s all the fun of stealing without any of the guilt.  Karen M and Anthony C prove that art can be free and fun, provocative and intellectual, thoughtful and carefree in a public arena with no fees, no charges, no costs, no juries, dealers or committees or money.  Free Art = Free Money.

Karen M & Anthony C,  Street and Free Art.

Read more of DoN’s art adventures at Philly.SideArts.

Photos by DoN.

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011, Tim McFarlane in Old City, Saturday, October 15th.

Tim McFarlane’s studio in the heart of Old City Philadelphia is the archetypical artists’ loft, a steep climb up three pea green flights of stairs to arrive gasping into a high ceilinged loft space overlooking Third Street right off of Market.  The old industrial space is divided into three studios: Carol Royer’s figurative work greets you at the end of the epic climb, John Gatti has a spacious room in the middle and Tim McFarlane’s studio has windows overlooking the street.  John was painting while lola, Spike & DoN luxuriated in Tim’s studio filled with his exuberant stylized abstract paintings arrayed from floor to ceiling, paint splattered everywhere, outlines of canvases layered over years of work, brushes and paints poking out of cubbies - just like you imagine an artists’ studio to be.  Tim McFarlane has participated in the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours for many years, this year he was a cover model for the catalog, allowing the public to see the progress he’s accomplished in his art over the years.  The light shining in from being near the river glows into the space activating the color fields vibrating in the paintings, DoN thought about how this is the way a true artist lives, in a bright airy studio right in the hub of the lively contemporary arts scene in Old City with the energy and time to think big.

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011, Tim McFarlane

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2011, Tim McFarlane

The swirly cellular structures from Tim McFarlane’s memorable abstract paintings are still present and prominent in his new work but now layers of patterns from stencils are laid in then painted over and into, deep layers of color, shape and contrasts make his individual canvasses vibrate.   A room full of Tim’s works in various stages of progress is really a privileged experience because his work is usually seen only in art galleries like Bridgette Mayer Gallery on Walnut Street.  In fact, Tim McFarlane’s work will be included in the upcoming show, Karmic Abstraction, November 15th through December 31, 2011 - “The show’s title reflects gallerist Bridgette Mayer’s “interest in the idea of the karmic cycle of an artist’s history of painting and ideas.” The selected works, by sixteen nationally- and internationally-recognized artists reveals, “how, at a given moment in time, standing in front of a work of art, the viewer is faced with the multiple layers and concepts that create a painting as well as a lifetime of ideas, actions and history that make up the career and art history of a contemporary artist.” (Bridgette Mayer Gallery website).

John Gatti.  DoN loves this picture of the artists’ studio, comparing and contrasting the shapes, tones and marks on panels against one another creates an energy field of color.

Photos by DoN.

Frances Galante, Overlooking San Miguel, oil at Artists’ House Gallery.

The exhibition at Artists’ House Gallery includes many fine artists and beautiful artworks, check the website or better yet go to the gallery, but when DoN walked in the front door of the well established gallery he was greeted with a group hug from old friends Frances Galante’ and Robert Bohne.  The gallery was packed on October First Friday, so Frances and DoN squeezed through the crowd packed in the hallway to see Clarissa Shanahan Schirmer’s ethereal encaustic compositions, to the quiet back room where we could sit and talk, having not seen each other in ages.  Frances Galante has been showing her atmospheric naturalist paintings at Artists’ House for twenty-one years, “I think they opened in 1990 and I was one of their first artists.  So, they’ve survived, I’ve survived; it’s a good gallery.”

Frances Galante teaches three painting classes per week at Woodmere Art Museum, “I like teaching as part of the routine because I get out of the studio and I learn things from teaching.  I like the energy and to be social and be around people who are enthusiastic about learning.”  After a sabbatical to paint on her own Frances realized she just needed to be with people again, “Share information and get feedback and energy from them.  I’ve branched out a bit, too.  I don’t know if that’s a result of teaching, the influence of some of the students, but my work has gotten more colorful than it used to be.  My colors used to be more muted.  This is something new for me.  It’s not so much about my work but what I see them doing, I pick up things, their interests and the things they’re exploring.  It gives me new ideas.  I teach adults, some of them actually exhibit, some are hobbyists but a lot of them are quite serious and quite good.”

Artists’ House Gallery, Frances Galante

Frances Galante, Musing, oil

Robert Bohne explained to DoN, “Well, I work my job with Amtrak and I do this.”  All DoN could say was, “Wow!?!”  “I work several jobs, more than two actually.”  “Really?”  “Well yeah, I work for Amtrak, I have a Union job which is related to the Amtrak job, I’m the Chairman.  I do a lot of auctions, that’s where I get most of my frames, at auctions.  So I do a lot of buy and sell at auctions and then I do this.”  This being painting modern realist artworks with a contemporary sensibility of descriptive atmospheric naturalism.  DoN asked when he has time to paint?  “There’s time.  I have everything set up in my house, so, when I go home there’s no set up involved, it’s all ready to go and I can paint.  That’s the way to do it, yeah.  It’s a mess, but it works.”  It is messy but worth it.

Artists’ House Gallery, Robert Bohne

Artists’ House Gallery, Robert Bohne, S.S. United States, oil on panel

“The S.S. United States is one of my most recent paintings, I worked on it this past Winter, the day after Christmas and and I set up across the street in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot.  And while I was working on the painting, they were plowing the snow.   The guy came running across the street to see what I was doing and he told me that his mother had came over on that ship.  He knew the entire history of the ship and he told me about the super-structure of the ship being made of aluminum, that’s how they kept the ship very light, it set speed records, it’s a fascinating story.  It’s interesting, the other day I was at an auction and I picked up this little silver-plate coffee pot and on the bottom was, The United States Lines, so, it’s from the ship.  A unique find.”

Artists’ House Gallery, Robert Bohne

Artists’ House Gallery, Robert Bohne, Turning, oil on panel.

Photos by DoN.