Concurrent with Michael Mangino: The Righteous Gladness

 

Opening Reception, September 18, 6–8pm

 

As part of Fleisher/Ollman’s ongoing commitment to exploring the art of Philadelphia-area progressive studios (programs for artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities and neurodivergence), we proudly present Pictures to Promote Thought, a selection of art by seven artists from Studio Route 29 in Frenchtown, NJ. Featured works include paintings that engage with the history of abstraction, invigorate the still life tradition, re-imagine the human figure, pay homage to artists of influence through inspired portraiture, and integrate popular culture with personal narratives. Other works animate discarded items like old photographs and found packing materials.

 

Bill Eppinger (b. 1961, lives Frenchtown NJ) is a born-again Christian who translates messages from God into a symbolic language recorded in daily drawings. In a parallel practice, Eppinger creates fantastical architecture like the castle shown here. Made from discarded cardboard from his job at Burger King, W.E. Castle is guarded by a rubber duck and a lion that protect yellow smiley face characters and animals housed within. Eppinger has exhibited at ArtYard and Beauty Gallery (both in Frenchtown, NJ) and Fierman, New York, NY.

 

Rachel Irgang (b. 1995, lives Lambertville, NJ) paints what she enjoys (the beach, dark chocolate milk, memories of cooking with friends and family) with pastel colors and floating-in-space compositions that reference the artist’s love of vaporwave, a trend which grew out of an early 2010s nostalgia for the visual culture and musical aesthetics of the 1980s and 90s. Irgang has shown at Beauty Gallery, Frenchtown, NJ and Hicks Art Center Gallery, Newtown, PA.

 

Katie House (b. 1983, lives Frenchtown, NJ) overlays bright painted color on found photographs that range from 1960s educational aids to portrait photography from the early 1900s through the 1980s. Her painted interventions accentuate personalities of featured subjects, breathing new life into these long forgotten people. The title of this exhibition, Pictures to Promote Thought, was inspired by a phrase that was printed on the reverse of one of House’s painted photographs (a teaching aid for young readers). House has shown at ArtYard and Beauty Gallery (both in Frenchtown, NJ); the Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ; and community art spaces throughout the Delaware River Valley.

 

Matthew Jacobs (b. 1991, lives Delaware River Valley, NJ) has a methodical approach to artmaking: he synthesizes two reference artworks taken from art history books in the creation of a painting. Drawing from western modernism and indigenous abstraction, the titles of Jacob’s hybrid paintings reflect this union as well. The work titled Unbedford, for instance, is partially based on a painting by Australian indigenous artist Paddy Bedford. Jacobs has shown at the Beauty Gallery in Frenchtown, NJ and Fierman, New York, NY.

 

Daisy Rodriguez’s (b. 1977, lives Flemington, NJ) skill as a painter lies in her keen ability to de-materialize flowers and still lifes into abstractions that buzz with life but remain forever mysterious. She builds her compositions through broad gestural strokes and pointillist dabs and touches, reveling in the act of painting. She has exhibited at Beauty Gallery, Frenchtown, NJ.

 

Patrick Warner’s (b. 1990, lives Delaware River Valley, NJ) earlier still lifes show the influence of Dutch painters across centuries from Rembrandt to van Gogh. However, his latest figurative paintings seem under the spell of horror narratives by way of Chaim Soutine. These works highlight Warner’s confidence in allowing paint to find its way across the surface of the canvas for what we can surmise are both intentional and unintentional effects. The drips, flows, and wet mixing of color are technically astute and also the vehicle for a haunting creepiness. Warner has shown at ArtYard and Beauty Gallery (both in Frenchtown, NJ) and in a forthcoming exhibition at 47 Canal, New York, NY.

 

David Weinhold (b. 1994, lives Pittstown, NJ) has a long fascination with sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and comics which he explores in painting, drawing, graphic novels, and digital illustration. Weinhold is very much aware of the comic and animation greats on whose legacies he builds. Here, he pays homage to such luminaries as Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, R. Crumb, and Jack Kirby, in carefully rendered gouache paintings with particular attention to shading and color-blending while adhering to the graphic conventions of traditional cartoons (flatness, simplicity, and economy of means). Weinhold has shown at Beauty Gallery in Frenchtown, NJ.

 

Pictures to Promote Thought is organized in concert with Look Here, a multiphase project of exhibitions and a symposium this fall exploring the art of progressive studios locally and across the United States, organized by Haverford College and Center for Creative Works. For more information: https://exhibits.haverford.edu/lookhere/