Philadelphia is an art city. When I first encountered Philadelphia’s City Hall on a bright sunny day in early October, I was enchanted by the extent and excellence of the installations and sculptures I encountered, beginning with bronze statues of historical figures that included John Wanamaker, President William McKinley, General McClellan and William Penn. Penn’s statue, created by Scotsman Alexander Milne Calder and installed in 1894, graces the top of the tower of Philadelphia’s City Hall. The city’s website claims it is the largest, at 37 feet tall and heaviest, at 53,000 pounds of any statue worldwide. Challenging the size of Penn in the same plaza is Claes Oldenburg’s “Clothespin,” which is joined by Robert Indiana’s “Love” sculpture, with red letters, and blue sides mimicking his 1976 painting. Jacque Lipshitz’s “Government of the People” (1976) looks like a tangle of human … [Read more...] about PLAY ON PHILADELPHIA! JANET ECHELMAN’S PULSE & DAVID BREWSTER’S ROGUE WAVES AT GROSS MCLEAF GALLERY SHARE THE LOVE
David Brewster
Brewster’s Quixotic Encounters
A Movement and a Region Evolve by J. Fatima Martins David Brewster exemplifies, in an extraordinary way, how American regionalism has evolved and continues to manifest into the contemporary realm. He is a master of formal and trained juxtapositions and dichotomies. In his paintings, Brewster combines the power of midcentury action and expressive mark-making — contemporary forms of plein air production — with the narrative intellectualism of scene painting, capturing and interpreting, from a personal perspective, the nuances of a specific time and place. He is a thoroughly American artist, and as expected for a doyen talent, his work is steeped in and bridges the fullness of art history. What makes him an example and expansion of the regionalist mode is the manner in which he reveals, creates and projects a story. Like the regionalists of the past, his style appeals to a … [Read more...] about Brewster’s Quixotic Encounters