Friends,
Hope this finds you all well. If you didn't see the posts by organizers on our other outlets;
THANK YOU to everybody who made
Last Meal a killer show. If you missed it, a good portion of the show has sold, but some solid work remains on the walls. A few shots from the opening...
We've got some big things coming up in May and June. First up, Phantom Hand is hosting a solo exhibition of one of our favorite local illustrators, David Rankin.
"Dave Rankin paints with the fury of the gods.
Take
post apocalyptic Earth, swords and sorcery, current day politics and
the rest raw power, grind it all up into a rusty vat of destruction and
you will have one of his paintings. Dave
doesn't pull any punches with his far from exact vision of humanity,
past and not too distant future. He delves into a world of fire, texture
and feeling, his oil and mixed media panels carrying a strange sense of
foreboding to them. They desire to be perfect, but know in their hearts
that they cannot.
He
lives just outside of Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. While he
is not waiting tables at Buddakan, he makes art for Effigy Skateboards,
paints and plans to create a life size whale from recycled, welded
bicycle frame tubing. He envisions starting the whale at its heart."
We've got two exhibitions slated for June,
Group Therapy and
Small Talk, and the artist turnout for the latter is shaping up to be our biggest since having our Gallery on South Street.
JUNE 22nd // SMALL TALK at Jinxed
"This June, Phantom
Hand appeals to the voyeurs and people-watchers. Small Talk is an
exploration of the awkward, forced, occasionally drunk, seemingly
meaningless and yet necessary interactions we have with strangers every
day. Participating artists will be asked to go out into the world -
whatever bars, coffee shops, buses or dark alleys they may haunt - and
sketch from life, maybe even eavesdrop and jot down snippets of
conversation to be used in making of their final piece of artwork.
Artists will be supplied with identical Field Notes brand memo-books to
work in, and a page of this preliminary work will hang with each
finished piece of art, both unifying the show and giving a rawer glimpse
of the artists’ studies."
JUNE 8th // GROUP THERAPY at
Masthead Print Studio
"Art
is often cathartic, but typically as a fringe benefit. Vast amounts of
art criticism and history have been written trying to surmise the
artists fears, the pain they live with or the demons they cannot shake -
all working their way into a final piece. In some cases the catastrophe
that molded the body of work is known, and the psychological damage can
be measured in the art itself. The fact that this emotional baggage
appears in art cements that creating is often the artist’s way of
working through a problem, venting to the viewer or coping with painful
memories. This June, Masthead Print Studio, in collaboration with
Phantom Hand, is presenting the rare occasion, when the art is that
demon, plain as day. We’re inviting artists to create and dig as deep as
they like, or stay shallow or vague, remain anonymous, or just plain
ignore our invite. We are not looking to exploit your fears or put on a
2D soap opera - we only want to provide a venue, and an occasion to in
the company of friends and fellow creators, get something off your
chests."
More soon.
