The Eighth Annual
M L M 8
Mary Liz M E Memorial Masters Exhibition
March 4 – April 20, 2012 Opening & Closing Receptions: Thursday , March 8 7 – 10 p.m. Sunday , April 15 2 – 5 p.m.
Phil Sumpter Marlise M.
Rick Wright Off the Wall Gallery NE Corner,
13th & Pine
at Dirty Frank's @OTWDirtyFranks
Tkaczuk
On the Calendar Wednesday, March 14 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Plastic Wall Salon: “Wanna Meet Some Masters?” Featuring Marlise M. Tkaczuk and Rick Wright The Plastic Club, 247 South Camac Street
Sunday, April 15 2:00 – 5:00 pm
Closing Reception Mary Liz Memorial Masters Exhibition 8
April 22 – June 1
2012 Spring Show Opens Thursday, April 26, 7–10 pm
Thursday, May 10 11:59 pm
Submission Deadline for “Ties that Bind” Sixth Annual Community Juried Show
June 2 – August 3
“Ties that Bind” Sixth Annual Community Juried Show Opens Thursday, June 7, 7–10 pm
August 5 – September 28
2012 Midsummer Show Opens Thursday, August 9, 7–10 pm
September 30 – November 30
2012 Fall Invitational Show Opens Thursday, October 4, 7–10 pm
Thursday, Nov. 8 11:59 pm
Submission Deadline for Eighth Annual Juried Exhibition
December 2 – 29
Eighth Annual Juried Exhibition Opens Thursday, December 6, 7–10 pm
(on the cover) Phil’s “Wrangler,” Marlise’s “i heart kittehz,” Rick’s “Naranja Baño”
OTW Online
Off the Wall has gradually been building a social media presence. We invite you to like us on Facebook (Off the Wall Gallery at Dirty Frank’s) and follow us on Twitter (@OTWDirtyFranks). We promise substantive postings, such as the first announcements of upcoming juried exhibition opportunities and links to our online publications on issuu.com.
Past , Present and Future
For more than a quarter century, the name most consistently associated with Off the Wall Gallery was Mary Liz Liz. It made sense. Director from our founding in 1978 until her death in 2004, Mary Liz was instrumental in creating this pioneering space, defining who we are and selecting artists still building their reputations — even as they helped us build ours. Mary Liz was the first to deflect attention from herself. A lifelong educator, feminist and arts advocate, she loved working for shared success and loved changing perspectives. Under her watch, Off the Wall led a surge in alternative art spaces across Philadelphia. To pay tribute to Mary Liz, in 2005 we established the Mary Liz Memorial Masters Exhibition (MLMME) to focus on the mission she had shaped: connecting talent with opportunity, and bringing the best art to the most people. Each year we name the most accomplished members of our community Mary Liz Fellows. MLMME8 continues this tradition with three exceptional artists from three distinct eras of our storied history. How fitting if Phil Sumpter had first ambled into Dirty Frank’s through swinging saloon doors, tumbleweeds at his feet. Phil’s soul and artwork have long ridden an open range, and when he showed here in the ‘80s and ‘90s, African American cowboys and cavalrymen — especially expressed in his most expert medium, cast sculpture — were abundant. Phil has since expanded his thematic canvas, and often his scale, to celebrate heroes of African heritage, and history and culture throughout the Americas. Marlise M. Tkaczuk has a penchant for the individual. While she can be broadly satirical, the devil, and the payoff, are in the meticulous detail she brings to characterization — human, canine and now feline — and to the studio process. Discovered in Mary Liz’s last year, Marlise hand-pulls each silkscreen print, finishing many with hand-painting. She has never created two identical prints in eight years on the Wall and has taken us on equally unique journeys of inspiration and whimsy. We’ve met many gifted artists since Mary Liz’s passing. Rick Wright is perhaps the most prolifically experimental and technically proficient of this new generation of Off the Wall artists. Then, there is his photographer’s eye. Yes, Rick’s work shows a deep knowledge of composition, light, tonality, technology and other acquired skills, which he passes on to his students. But being in the right moment with the right equipment and capturing a transcendent image require instincts that elevate photography to art. We trust you’ll enjoy discovering, or rediscovering, the 2012 Mary Liz Fellows and their outstanding work. But remember, the Opening Reception is just the start of our fun. Still on the MLMME calendar are a March 14 Plastic Wall Salon at The Plastic Club, an April 15 Closing Reception, and special events our Fellows will organize in the months ahead. So stay tuned, and stay involved. That’s why Off the Wall is here — for you. Jody Sweitzer Togo Travalia Curator Manager
Our Mary Liz Fellows Phil , Marlise and Rick join our previous 16 Mary Liz Fellows . Bob Jackson is the only individual to have twice held the honor. Our brief history already features two instances of Masters across two generations: in 2007, Raphael Tiberino followed in his footsteps of his mother, Ellen Powell-Tiberino, posthumously honored in 2005, and in 2011, Michael Guinn was named a Fellow the year after his son, David. (clockwise from top) Gabriel Tiberino’s artwork for the inaugural MLMME postcard; work by Bob Arufo, Bob Jackson, Michael Guinn and Jesse Vandenburgh.
2005 Ellen Powell-Tiberino Jerome Robinson 2006 Clark DeLeon Jim Ferrell Bob Jackson 2007 Raphael Tiberino Wayne W. Urer
2011 Michael Guinn Alice Meyer-Wallace Jack Thompson
2008 Huston Ripley Jesse Vandenburgh Rob Willis
2012 Phil Sumpter Marlise M. Tkaczuk Rick Wright
2009 Bob Arufo Bob Jackson 2010 David Guinn Jim Montgomery
Phil Sumpter
Feliz Cumpleaños , Jefe ! As he turns 82, Phil Sumpter returns to Off the Wall Gallery for the first time in over a decade. That’s no reflection of the output from his studio, but it does signal that for much of this time, Phil has resided in Puerto Rico, where new audiences have discovered the artistic giant Philadelphians have long known. In fact, it often requires one of his larger-thanlife public sculptures to match Phil’s profile and personality — perhaps the statue of Negro League star and Hall of Famer Judy Johnson in front of the Wilmington Blue Rocks stadium; the Negro League monument at Belmont and Parkside Avenues; the Patriots of African Descent bas-relief at Valley Forge National Historical Park; or a tribute to Puertorriqueño hero and Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente at the North Philadelphia middle school named for the star ballplayer and humanitarian. In Puerto Rico, Phil’s biggest splash so far has been a major, multimedia installation at San Juan’s esteemed Museo de las Américas in 2009. Entitled “Vaqueros de las Américas,” show harkened back to the smaller-scale “...consider Sumpter’s visit the bronzes of African American cowboys and a holy showing and your cavalry riders that once debuted right here in Off the Wall’s 3D space.
attendance something of a necessary pilgrimage.”
We are honored to have our compadre — a true Master whose work Mary Liz chose — A.D. Amorosi Amorosi, on the occasion to exhibit too many times to count and who of Phil’s ‘06 show at the The Ellen could more often be found here at the bar, portfolio in hand — back in his home city to celebrate some of his newer work and a great career that continues to evolve and grow. For the young at heart, art and the process of creation never end.
Galleros # 1
Some additional prints of certain of Phil’s giclée reproductions may be available. Please inquire at the bar. (clockwise from top) “Galleros #3,” “Learning the Song” and “Jivanno.”
giclée print 150. framed
Galleros # 2
giclée print 150. framed
Galleros # 3
giclée print 150. framed Jivanno
giclée print 100. framed Learning the Song
Xerox copy 100. framed
Out in the Open
Xerox copy 100. framed
Wrangler
giclée print 200. framed
Marlise M. Tkaczuk
KITTEHZ ! , the theme of this recent series , came into my life on little cat feet . The group of prints began with the smaller silhouette studies of the kitties that recently moved into my house and then gave me an amusing new detail to incorporate into my ongoing series of illustrations of the bizarre people I somehow wind up meeting. Although my subject matter may be playful, I maintain a serious commitment to creating printed images with a high level of technical proficiency and an obsessive attention to detail. Each print, using the Drawing Fluid/Screen Filler process, is individually registered and hand-pulled from hand-drawn screens and images, with many prints featuring applied textures, and natural, minor variations indicative of handmade artwork. The manner in which I print is considerably more timeconsuming (than the more commonly used photo-emulsion process), but it gives me more flexibility, and a greater control on the overall final printed product. As I prepared for this Mary Liz Memorial Masters Exhibition, the question came up, “How did I first come to know Dirty Frank’s and the Off The Wall Gallery?” For me, Frank’s was always just a standard, Philly, welcoming place to be. But in 2004 I answered a Call for Artists, and had my first group show with Dave Glass and Jim Lower (which, if I recall correctly, had a record number of sales at the time). Since then, I’ve been given the opportunity to be a juror for several Off the Wall group shows, and also to exhibit on many other occasions. It has always been a pleasure and an honor to work with this unique, pro-artist, community gallery space and for that I want to say a heartfelt THANK YOU!
(from top) “pounce,” “sniff,” “unamused” and “stare.”
“Kittehz Silhouette Series” 2-color silkscreen prints 75. framed / 60. unframed bite
limited edition of 24 observe
limited edition of 20 pounce
limited edition of 25 sniff
limited edition of 20
“the cake lady”
bailey j .
Multiple prints are available of stare all of Marlise’s silkscreen prints. limited edition of 20
3-color silkscreen print 200. framed / 170. unframed limited edition of 15 2-color silkscreen print, with hand-painting 225. framed / 190. unframed limited edition of 20 kittehz kittehz kittehz
7-color silkscreen print 335. framed / 300. unframed limited edition of 29
sheit ! . . . all I sed wuz can I hold yer fone . . . daaamn ! (the cake lady)
’
7-color silkscreen print on gold-tone paper 375. framed / 340. unframed limited edition of 12 tasty ribbon
limited edition of 25 “kittehz kittehz kittehz”
i heart kittehz
‘
unamused
6-color silkscreen print 160. framed / 130. unframed limited edition of 20
Rick Wright
Photo Simulacra : slight , unreal , superficial likenesses , even effigies . These “photos” were generated by a camera app called Hipstamatic. The physical lens is lodged inside an Apple iPod Touch. The Hipsta app is populated with algorithms meant to SIMULATE real film and SIMULATE real lenses. The “films” have colorful names like Kodot XGrizzled, Dream Canvas and Claunch. The “lenses” have enticing names, too: John S, Lucifer VI and Helga Viking. This series of work came from a year-long exploration within this alluring synthetic realm. There was minimal post-processing — that is, after the Hipstamatic did its thing, the image remained largely unmolested on its way to the printer (read: no Photoshopping). My favorite combination of lens/film was the John S lens with Kodot XGrizzled film. The ragged edge and (from top) “Schachspeil Licht,” intensified/saturated color palette reminded me of old Polaroid transfers. I printed the final set of “Cherry Bomb” and “Snow Globe.” images with archival pigment inks on archival matte paper (Epson inkjet).
Photo Simulacra — the title borrows from Jean Baudrillard’s intriguing 1983 work
Simulacra and Simulation. The analogy that Baudrillard uses came from Borges’ fable in On Exactitude in Science. In it, a large Empire created a great map of their territories and influence. As the map grew and grew, it became so detailed that it absurdly matched the size of the Empire itself. Over time, as the great Empire crumbled, the map was all that remained. Back inside Baudrillard’s book, he posits that it is the map that people live in — the simulation of reality they live in. It is reality that is crumbling, like the Empire, through disuse. (continued)
(continued from previous page)
Photo Simulacra? It is a tremendous honor
to debut these photo synthetics as a Mary Liz Fellow through Off the Wall Gallery. My first beer at Frank’s happened innocently enough as I trudged over from the nearby Plastic Club after one wintry Thursday night drawing session. My good mates Mike Guinn (past Mary Liz Fellow) and Anders Hansen (frequent Wall contributor) initiated me into the charm of the space AND the art on the walls.
(from top) “Santo Spirito,” “Fianchetto” and “Neon Charnel.”
Over the past half-decade, my relationship with Jody and Togo (the esteemed stewards of The Wall) has deepened. I have shown in a half-dozen shows with them, juried on several panels, won some awards and sold well over 60 photos. The bar and Wall are a true nexus for artists and art — an anchor and gathering spot for dozens of artists/friends/students/colleagues. Rick’s iPod Hipstamatic snapshots are printed with archival ink on presentation matte paper. Each is 60. framed framed, and multiple prints are available for all. Bacci Veloce
Eglin’s Arrow
Queued Mood
Cantenary Quarry
Fianchetto
Rodchenko Denken
Cherry Bomb
Fission
Rue Morgue
Cough Drop Stop
Mirrored Mortar
Santo Spirito
Dalliance
Naranja Baño
Schachspeil Licht
Damsels Askance
Neon Charnel
Snow Globe
The Dart Thrower
Pole Dance
CALL FOR E N T R I ES enter ONLINE by MAY 10 SHOW RUNS jun 2-AUG 3 6TH ANNUAL COMMUNITY JURIED SHOW
Ties that Bind
Community Family Culture Off the Wall Gallery at Dirty Frank’s NE CORNER, 13TH & PINE
Entering is free and easy easy... X
select up to 5 works in any medium, 2D or 3D, evoking a sense of community, family, relationships and deeply felt connections.
Y
meet our standard 2D size limitations of less than 15 pounds and 75 inches combined dimensions (height + width).
Z
e-mail jpegs (no larger than one MB), prices and a statement to the jury discussing your work to oěthewallgallery@gmail.com.