The newTRADITIONALISTS Art Show and Opening.

 

Featuring our own Paul Palcko, Kyle Margiotta and Anthony Pedro.

This show has been about two years in the making. I jokingly said a while back that I would love to see a show with these guys and we could call it “The serious side of the PCS.” That thought never went away, I love what Kyle, Paul and Anthony do and I wanted the proper venue to really highlight their talents. Fortune smiled upon me when my good friends over at NicholsBerg Gallery in Chestnut Hill asked if I had any ideas for art shows. Flash forward to right now and I have just sent out about thirty press releases, posted all over the place and am eagerly awaiting the postcard you see above.

The name might have changed but I am honored to be curating what I still think of as the serious side of the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society.

I hope everyone in the group can make it out on May 5^th for the opening reception, fittingly scheduled on Free Comic Book Day.

You can find out more about it at the Event page here.

Dennis Jones - Art Show This Month at Starbucks

If you have ever been anywhere near the Starbucks at Broad & Pine on the University of the Arts campus, you have probably seen Dennis, the guy sitting in the front window painting, drawing, designing, and playing the key-tar. You may have wondered, "What is that guy's story?"

You should come out Friday, October 7 and find out. Dennis Jones of Silver Back Productions will have a collection of work hanging all month in the Starbucks he treats as his studio and office. You might think he's an unusual character until you get to know him. But the truth is that Dennis is just a straight-ahead working artist. Most of the work he does at that coffee shop is for hire. He is constantly painting portraits of the Phillies, drawing dogs, and designing logos. Dennis attended UArts back in the 70's when it was called the Philadelphia College of Art. He was a sign painter for years, a t-shirt designer, and even designed a jacket years ago for Janet Jackson.

Dennis holding an "Our Gang" painting in its early stages

I asked why he always does his work at the Starbucks. He didn't really have an answer for me. He just said he stopped in there one day, saw they had an outlet to plug in his phone charger and key-tar, and it evolved into what it is today. Dennis is at that Starbucks at Broad and Pine almost every day. His plate is always full of work.

Dennis' opening reception is around 5 PM on Friday, October 7, 2011, and his work will hang all month. Make sure you stop by, see some great work, and talk to the man.

If you would like to talk to Dennis about a commission or his music, his number is (267) 770-2334. You can also e-mail him at: soloDJX2@gmail.com

Dennis playing his Key-tar in between working on his art

Pierced Pearl

"Pierced Pearl" is my contribution to the "Garbage Pail Kids" show at Gallery 1988 in LA. The show opens this Friday Sept, 2.
http://nineteeneightyeight.com/

Jenny Kanzler - First Friday Art Shows

Local artist Jenny Kanzler will have paintings hanging in two spots around Philly this month. If you are out and about tonight, please stop by the LaPelle Gallery in Old City (122 N. 3rd Street), where Jenny has a few new paintings. You can also swing by the Mausoleum of Contemporary Art at 12th and Spring Garden to see one of her pieces on display at the Mausolem in PhilaMythos, curated by Alex Stanton.

To see a lot more of Jenny's work, CLICK HERE to go to her website.

FunKidsPortraits.com

Hi everyone,

I 'd like to introduce a brand NEW project I have been putting together and the website is finally finished-You can now commission original art online, by uploading your own photos!

FunKidsPortraits.com

Let me know what you think. And, if you like it, please feel free to pass it on!

Thanks!

Paul

A Big Thanks.

Just wanted to follow up the Effigy Skateboard post with a BIG thanks. Dave Rankin has already made his $4,000.00 goal to make his decks for a summer release. Thank you to everyone that checked out the site, donated and spread the word. The project is still running and there are still some great paintings available if anyone is interested. Any extra dough will go towards shipping and what not. Dave is a great guy, this an awesome thing. Cheers!

Dave Rankin and Effigy Skateboards.

Some of you folks are familiar with Dave Rankin. Many in our circle were classmates, students or saw Dave's work at the last Deck Heads Art Show at Exit Skate Shop.

Dave is an awesome dude. He was one of the first guys (along with Jeffro and Bob Dix) to invite me behind a table at a comic convention. As an upper upperclassmen his work was often featured in the display cases at school. He was even nice enough to show me how to add a bit of crimson to the nose and cheeks of a figure to make them pop. He is gracious and extremely talented.

Dave has recently embarked on a business venture that is his dream come true. He is launching Effigy Skateboards. If you know him, you know this is what he's all about. If you've seen his work, you know its a perfect fit.

Above: Dave's Kickstarter video for the launch of his Summer 2011 line of Effigy decks.

Below: The awesome decks for the 2011 Summer Release.

Anthony Pedro - TOOTH, TUSK & TALON @ Proximity

Opening Reception: April 1, 2011, 6pm-9pm
Proximity Gallery

If you've ever broken bread with Anthony Pedro you may have noticed a distant look in his eyes, a twitch to his ear as if listening for an approaching storm. Anthony Pedro is in fact a Haunted Man. Down through time blows a wind carrying with it the whispering of grasses and the sad song of flora and fauna long since fossil fuel. He hears this, whether or not he chooses to, and is bound to record it in pigment and oil. The cacophony of teeth in flesh and cackle of nearby hyena keep him up late on tempest wrought nights. The banging of kettledrums and guttural chant is so loud he might as well be standing white knuckled on a steamer, bobbing silently on the Nile or Amazon.

Anthony's pockets are always bulging, filled with a strange array of tools and charms, lest he be ill prepared for when Gia comes crashing through the wall of sleep, the thin veil of time, and confronts him with all the tooth, tusk, and tal...on of his nightmares. He collects bones and hides, but what we don't see is the phantom flesh and sinew that collects and writhes, bleating, howling his name in the horrid tongue of the bush. Even when at peace, his hands twitch and move as if caressing an unseen rifle stock, carved with ornate fetishes and beasts on a drunken night around a campfire in the Burma jungle. Anthony has long since followed the ignis fautus into the misty woods and never returned. Anthony Pedro is a Haunted Man.

While his time as man is of current standing, his soul exists on a wholly different plane, a plane that is choked with vines and abnormally large vegetation. His spirit runs through jungle, desert, and forest alongside beasts man can never ...again behold. His earthly body is a beacon for his mind, which receives the crackle and hisses of transmissions, reporting his travels, hardships, grief, his kill. This is why Anthony Pedro's work is so important, so vital to us. It reads like an environmentalist's journal, which is doomed to jump to and fro different periods, eons, and hemispheres. Without Anthony Pedro's paintings we would not know about his other life, his true self, or his curse. And when soma joins pneuma, and Anthony leaves the present time, we can take solace in the fact that he is now complete, and will forever walk the forest smiling, periodically making bird calls. And when he is gone, his paintings will tell an epic story of an adventure more expansive than the Odyssey. Anthony Pedro is a Haunted, nay, Hunted man.

words: Sam Heimer

Proximity Gallery
2434 East Dauphin Street (in Fishtown)
Philadelphia, PA 19125
Contact: 267-825-2949
E-mail: janel@proximityart.com

out 2 dry, left 4 dead

my second post! see, i haven't forgotten about you guys.

this is my one unique contribution to the out 2 dry show. there was a news story about some fascinating photos taken with a microscope. this is a curled up ruby tailed wasp, but since i'm still playing around with traditional media this is just grayscale. it's pen and ink, brush and ink, and some white acrylic for the highlights. about 5" x 5" and one of the very rare pieces that i do that's entirely traditional media. it'll be going for $50 at the show but i'll have some way cheaper screen prints available as well.

sorry if i lead you to believe that this would be fan art of a zombie running through new orleans. see you kids at the show!

<3tFk!

Rain Gives Rise

This picture shows a Thalassomedon feeding on fish in the Cretaceous Sea while Ancient Ammonites drift by. The Thalassomedon is a type of plesiosaur, that had a 20ft long neck. Scientists think it may have used this long neck as stealth to sneak its way into schools of fish while its body could remain hidden below. They also think it may have fed like a crocodile or alligator thrashing its head from side to side.

Ammonites are one of the best ways scientists can date the ancient seas. Their shells were easily fossilized, and flourished through out the age of Dinosaurs. They grew pretty big sometimes with shells 3ft across. They looked like squid with a beak for eating other cephalopods.

"The Past is a Wilderness of Horror"

10"X20"

acrylic on panel

Detail - Ammonites adrift

 Detail - Ammonites adrift

detail - Thalassomedon chasing a school of unknown fish 

This picture depicts an Ultrasaurus and a pair of Pteranodon Ingens.

"Lizard Beyond Others"

8"X10"

acrylic on panel

detail

detail

These pictures will both be shown in The Age of Reptiles show, premiering at Paradigm Gallery Tomorrow evening. It is a show I curated and will feature many of your fellow PCS brethren. Sam Heimer, James Heimer, Paul Palcko, and Jeffro amongst others. I hope to have your support.

I also look forward to your sincere critiques of the pictures I have posted, I always appreciate suggestions on what I could have done better. Also if you are unfamiliar with my work please visit here ( the link on the sidebar is broken) also follow me on Facebook where I update often. Please find below the promo card for The Age of Reptiles and the Facebook event link.

onFacebook

Samhain- pron: /ˈsɑːwɪn/, /ˈsaʊ.ɪn/, or /ˈsaʊn/)

Hello,
Here"s my contribution for the Hallowed Halloween show-
Cant wait to get to Proximity and see all the art work in person-so many amazing images!
Thanks to Sam Heimer and Janel for putting together this show!

whispers

Hi all,
This is a recent painting I did for the heART Valentine's Day show at JINX/TOOTHLESS CAT gallery. I know, this post is late and the show is over, but I thought I'd share anyway....Keep workin'!