« Older Home
Loading Newer »

The Legacy of Leonardo - Da Vinci Art Alliance’s Annual Members Exhibition 2009

The 3-D collage (Mona Squared) pictured above is in the multi-media exhibition of 30 Da Vinci artists, featuring works inspired by the life, art, and science of Leonardo da Vinci. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Well, during the month of July, the Da Vinci Art Alliance celebrates its 78th anniversary with its annual members exhibition of artworks inspired by the organization’s namesake, Leonardo Da Vinci. With over 30 members contributing art in numerous media and styles, the exhibition celebrates the aesthetic legacy of Da Vinci and the organization that proudly bares his name. The artist reception and award ceremony will be held on July 11th from 6-9 pm and is open and free to the public.

Show runs July 8-29, 2009

Opening Awards Reception: Saturday, July 11, 6-9 pm

“Intuitive Bricolage” -The Curator’s Statement by Dr. Debra Miller

Dr. Debra MillerIt is a great pleasure for me to be able to bring together the work of two of my favorite contemporary artists: Joroko, active in Denver; and Burnell Yow!, working in Philadelphia. Though separated by distance, they share a common artistic process, employing found objects and listening to their subconscious voices to create thought-provoking works of intuitive bricolage. Without any preparatory sketches or preconceived compositional plans, their serendipitous materials and innermost feelings lead them to the evocative mixed-media creations they offer to us here today.

This exhibition is intentionally disturbing and challenging. It references such significant art movements of the 20th-century as Surrealism, Dada, and Pop, while being completely relevant to our current troubled times. Reminiscences of Robert Rauschenberg’s combine paintings take on new meaning in Joroko’s burnt and battle-scarred canvases; nightmarish imagery haunts us in Yow!’s digital prints and deformed doll assemblages. Both artists present us with jarring scenarios of a mysterious history of cultural detritus, the present mayhem of the world and of our minds, and excavations into a future that we hope never happens—what is and what never should be. This intuitive twin vision shocks us into the reality that we hold the power to stop the apocalypse depicted in these works. To apply the lyrics of Lou Reed to the trash-filled treasures of Joroko and Yow!, “Do they see beauty in ugliness, or are they just playing in the dirt?” The meaning is there for the viewers, and for the artists, to uncover.

Dr. Debra Miller, Curator

Dolls Are Ready for June 12th Opening…

The new Dolls of the Apocalypse (click thumbnail) are finished and installed at the Smile Gallery awaiting Friday night’s Opening Reception of the show titled "Intuitive Bricolage: The Works of Joroko and Yow!." Along with the Dolls, I’m also exhibiting a number of pieces from the award-winning Digital Exquisite Corpse Project, as well as a few assemblages that incorporate doll parts. The artist I am exhibiting with is Denver artist Joroko. You can check out his compelling work at http://www.joroko.com/

Reception: Friday, June 12, 2009, 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Smile Gallery
105 S. 22nd Street
Philadelphia, PA

Phone: 215.564.2502

Show runs till July 7th, 2009.

Dolls Rusting…

Dolls Rusting

Dolls of the Apocalypse rusting. The dolls have each taken several dips, at this point, in the container of blue liquid to the right. As you can see, they are well on their way to realizing their full potentional as the last toys of the last children on Earth. If you’d like to read more and to see a few completed dolls from the last series, CLICK HERE.

Dolls in Waiting (The Rusting)…

"Dolls in Waiting" refers to the thirteen never-before-seen works in the Dolls of the Apocalypse continuing series. Indeed, these thirteen pictured here are waiting for the final process: the rusting. Each doll will be dunked repeatedly in a solution that causes the finish to rapidly oxidize or the period of a few hours. What you are seeing here are the dolls after being painted with a water-based paint containing actual iron filings. I have, in a sense, given them a metal coating, which I will next rust.

The dolls will be part of an exhibition opening at the Smile Gallery in Philadelphia on June 12th. It’s a two-person show featuring Joroko as the second artist.

I’ll also be exhibiting eight images created in collaboration with two other artists I met over the internet. The project has come to be called the Digital Exquiste Corpse Project (DECP).

Smile Gallery
105 South 22nd Street
Philadelphia, PA
215-564-2502

"Intuitive Bricolage"
The works of Joroko and Yow! A two-person show.

Exhibition Dates: 12-29 June 2009
Opening Reception: Friday, 12 June, 6-9 pm

Gallery Hours: M-F noon-9 pm, Sat 5-10 pm, Sun closed

For more information: contact debmiller1@hotmail.com

Rescued from the Trash - Lady & the Ant…

Many years ago when I was in my early thirties and living in Married Housing at Western Michigan University with my first wife, Janet (she was finishing a degree in Modern Dance & Choreography), I did what a lot of young artists throughout history have done. I tossed a number of my early paintings into a dumpster. Actually, I had a good reason for doing so, or so I thought at the time.

We were moving from Kalamazoo to Cleveland, with a short stop-over with her parents in Erie, PA. Her dad was driving to Kalamazoo with a trailer to take back our stuff. When he arrived with a trailer that I knew immediately was too small for all of our stuff, I became annoyed. But instead of voicing that annoyance and incurring the wrath of my wife (things have changed, I can assure you), I simply suffered silently and, as an act of passive aggression, I began tossing paintings into the dumpster next to the building.

I should mention that my best friend and fellow artist, Paul Nehring, was there helping us load the trailer and seeing us off. After we said our goodbyes and then pulled away and out of sight, Paul did something I was not to find out about till years later - he rescued my paintings from the dumpster. At some point, he did inform me via letter (no one had heard of email yet) that he had the paintings and was going to remove them from their stretchers and ship them to me - all except for one, which he was keeping for himself. That piece was titled "Lady & the Ant."

Recently I discovered a photo of the painting, which I scanned and manipulated digitally. It is pictured above. I digitally added the planet Mars and the space background. Every time I look at it, I think of my dear friend and his rescue of the paintings tossed in anger.

“Ecologically Correct: The Philadelphia Dumpster Divers”

PLEASE JOIN US THIS THURSDAY, APRIL 2ND, FOR AN OPENING RECEPTION FROM 5-8 PM

The Outsider Folk Art Gallery has spent the last year meeting the individual Philadelphia Dumpster Divers in their studios, viewing their artwork, and learning about the collective. “Ecologically Correct: The Philadelphia Dumpster Divers” is the result of this project. (Photo credit: Emily Christensen)

Participating Artists Include:

Isaiah Zagar, Leo Sewell, Harry Anderson, Smokie Kittner, Neil Benson, Ellen Benson,Randall Cleaver, Len Davidson, Mark May, Randy Dalton, George Bilyk, Valerie Black,Charmaine Caire, Alden Cole, Carol Cole, Bruce Gast, Linda Lou Horn, Hugo Hsu, John Jonik, Ann Keech, John Lindsay, Kathryn Pannepacker, Eva Preston, Ellen Sall, Joel Spivak, Toni Nash, Burnell Yow!, Betsy Alexander, Leslie Matthews, David Gerbstadt.

5th Floor suite 504
Outsider Folk Art Gallery
201 Washington Street
Reading, PA 19601-4040
(610) 939-1737 george@outsiderfolkart.com

HOURS: Tuesday - Saturday 10 - 6
By Appointment: 610.939.1737

Betsy & Her Fellow Dumpster Divas Tonight, Friday, March 27th in Elkton Maryland

Dumpster Divas Postcard
Betsy and 10 other female members of the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers (affectionately referred to as The Dumpster Divas) will be exhibitng in a group show with members of the Trashy Women art group from Maryland. (Photo: Work by Linda Lou Horn)

March 27-April 24 - Found Object Art, The Trashy Women and Dumpster Divas: A Little on the Trashy Side • Cecil County Arts Center, 135 East Main Street, Elkton, MD. Opening Reception Friday, March 27, 5-7 pm.

Betsy Alexander’s Light Series Photography at Balance Gallery

Entire month of April, Opening Reception: Friday, April 3rd, 6-7 pm

112 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: 215.751.0344
Fax: 215.751.0840
http://www.balancegallery.com

The Silver Ghost gave up hers…

We’re hard at work viewing and picking up work or arranging for delivery of work for the show we’re curating. Alas, a few days ago, while driving to a neighboring town to pick up artwork, our trusty Toyota Camry suffered what our mechanic says is a crack in the engine block. It doesn’t make sense to replace the engine, so we’re car shopping. In the meantime, we’ve signed up for Philly Car Share to get us through the next couple of weeks of frenzied activity.


Subscribe

Words To Live By

“If you hear a voice within you saying, 'You are not a painter,' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced, but only by working.”
by Van Gogh

What I'm Doing...

  • New blog post: The Legacy of Leonardo - Da Vinci Art Alliance's Annual Members Exhibition 2009 http://bit.ly/yy9gX 1 day ago
  • Just added myself to the http://wefollow.com twitter directory under: #mixedmedia #collageartist #foundobjectartist 1 week ago
  • Delivered work to Hicks Art Center today for the ArtMobile - a semi trailer truck that visits schools all year as an art gallery on wheels. 2 weeks ago
  • More updates...

Posting tweet...

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Be Notified When Blog Updated

Enter Your Email


Preview | Powered by FeedBlitz

Sign-up to Receive Newsletter...

Email*
First Name*
Last Name*
* = Required Field

Nora The Piano Cat's Blog

View Series

 

July 2009
M T W T F S S
« Jun    
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  

Categories

Bloglines

Raven's Reading List


Hands down, the best book on self-promotion for artists. Read my review HERE.

Author:
Alyson B. Stanfield

Giclee Prints Available...