Models as Artists 2015, The Plastic Club, Kevin B. Huang, The Original Daisy Disco Ball, barrettes and carnival beads
Models as Artists 2015, The Plastic Club
Kevin B. Huang’s The Original Daisy Disco Ball is like a great dance song mash-up of art pop culture memes and trends. The flowers are so Murikami, the up-cycle concept is so Brini Maxwell, the reuse of found objects is true Philadelphia Dada, street and hip hop. The meme of a disco ball, the eternal party, is co-opted with kids parties and playing rough enough your barrettes fall out. Each blossom narrates a little story, the endless cycle of the ball forms fractals of cultural information in super-kawaii execution.
Models as Artists 2015, The Plastic Club, Bob Jackson, Ace and Bee-Bee, Junk and stuff, Susan Stromquist, Hunted Line 5, oil transfer drawing
Susan and Bob are both on the board of The Plastic Club; Bob is past president and Susan is the Exhibitions Chair. The art show before the Models as Artists is the Workshop Show when artists show work only completed or inspired by an art workshop at The Plastic Club. Models inspire artists to look deep, to gaze on the model and then make marks that might explain to the world what that artist is seeing. A friend of mine asked why I post so many pictures of my figure study drawings on facebook? She said they’re never going to sell. I asked my niece if my great-niece was offended by the nudes? She told me, ‘No, she likes it.’ She’s seven.
It’s not about selling the drawings, though. It’s about seeing, the mind/body control, out of body concentration, continuous innovation, and endless learning of how to use the tools. The figure is so interesting and alive, the most ambitious pose as challenging as the simplest, being in the moment and collaborating on catching a memory with marks, color and shapes is transformative.
Models as Artists 2015, The Plastic Club, Jenn Warpole, Untitled, oil, First Prize
“I am interested in the constancy of change and seek to discover harmony and beauty through accidental or seemingly chaotic climates.
There are no parts or stages in my paintings that are considered sacred or safe. Everything that arrives or that is born into paint is vulnerable and subject to objectivity. The final image is more about what has survived than any beginning intention.”– Jenn Warpole
Jenn Warpole, Untitled, brilliantly captures the spirit, the ingenuity and talent of The Plastic Club. The nuance of palette and texture activates a scene filled with liveness, emotion and action. The fields of color read as ideas, the lines lead to adventure, the brush strokes offer a feeling of freedom. The tone of the painting is subdued but the narrative is exciting and active, the artist captures a moment of contemporary realness.
Models as Artists 2015, The Plastic Club, Virginia Mae Smith, Mother Womb I Sat Inside, Father Was the House of Trees, tempera, ink, polyurethane
The strange attraction of abstraction flows like auroras from the solar wind in Virginia Mae Smith’s, Mother Womb I Sat Inside, Father Was the House of Trees. The painting is loaded with information about modern art and the importance of attracting the gaze. On a wall with several excellent artworks, this painting quietly attracts attention with a lush and luxurious finesse.
Models as Artists 2015, The Plastic Club, Irene Reinke, Island and Sea Goddess, fiber art
“Irene Reinke is a dancer who performs flamenco fusion, combining flamenco, tribal belly dance with sword balancing. She has been a fiber artist and calligrapher but now is venturing into other mediums. She also co-writes with Tim Beckham on “Shadow Venture” (www.phillyirene.com), a blog based on Carl Jung’s ideas of the journey of the shadow self in the second half of ones’s life. Irene is also a full-time artist’s model.” – Irene Reinke
I’ve seen Irene Reinke dance many times: Argentine Tango, Flamenco, a sword dance, tai chi fan dance, belly dance, expressionist free form dancing. Watching a friend perform is so intimate and intense, the energy is dynamic with empathic pangs of stage fright. I’ve witnessed Irene be cool and collected when the CD started to skip or even if the music won’t play. Dancing before an audience, communicating a mood through movement and spatial design is like weaving a story with guesture. It’s no surprise that Irene’s artwork leans toward fiber art with the code of weaving fibers echoing the timbre of the steps of a dance. How many dances do you think are in her head? The fiber art pieces are large compared to the other art in the room because Irene thinks big. Her art is expansive and expressive, filling the room with vibrancy and positive energy.
Written and photographed by DoN Brewer except where noted.
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