CURRENT: Far In/Far Out
The spectator has to think in a vocabulary of action: its inception, duration, direction - psychic state, concentration and relaxation of the will, passivity, alert waiting. He [/she] must become a connisseur of the gradations between the automatic, the spontaneous, the evoked.
-Harold Rosenberg

In viewing the work of these four artists, one becomes immediately aware of the physical and psychological conditions requisite to their mode of creation. Like the practitioners of the Dada and Surrealist movements, Chau, Crabb, Davis and Prince are also seemingly aware of these conditions and their potential as paths to illumination. Although each artist is uniquely defined through their own medium; collage, as a practice, seems to play an integral role in the development of these otherworldly and absurdist works. The show brings together a selection of drawings from animator Garrett Davis whose critically acclaimed work [Story From North America] is, "a combination of surprisingly poignant song-driven storytelling and some of the most crazily inventive and funny hand drawn animation". (Quoted from Amid of Cartoon Brew). Davis' primary influence draws from his study of the long survey of western philosophy and oftentimes implies moral questioning. Although there is an absurd and funny dimension underlying Davis' drawings, for example in the interactive collage of a moveable nun superimposed on another face in which you can change the expression, there is something about the work that leaves one feeling a bit unsettled.
 
Expounding on animist philosophy, proverbs and her own personal narrative, Mylinh Chau's drawings envision alternate civilizations, inhabited by mythical creatures, humanoids, and macabre artifacts. Man/woman's connection with the natural world is a dominant theme throughout most of her work, a factor that is likely inspired by her recent year-long visit to the Northern mountainous regions and coastal villages of Vietnam. Using ink and watercolor as her primary medium, these folkloric drawings seem mysteriously poised in an undefined pictorial space.
 
Submitting to chance and a willful misunderstanding of documentary-based source material (dated National Geographic Magazines and text book illustrations), Garrett Crabb presents collaged landscapes that are both humorous and disturbing in their unlocatable familiarity. In White Flag, for example, the background image featuring an atmospheric forest, is altered only by a single collaged addition, an ambiguous white form resembling a flag, floating ghost-like in the center. Although seemingly effortless in their application, these mysterious images are a labored balance of artistic imagination with concrete fact.
 
By projecting furniture, "art", clutter and décor into her drawn interiors, Erica Prince creates environments of indulgence and frivolity. Lowbrow art and design merge to the effect of cinematic space, unpeopled yet distinctly evocative of the characters that might inhabit them. As the artists puts it in her own words: "I urge the viewer to make themselves at home. Become the missing character. Feel the silk upholstery, meditate, host a cocktail party, and entertain a lover. Try the spaces on like trying on a bad outfit. You know it is too flamboyant, but you have a sick curiosity of how it might look." 

Far In/Far Out will be on view from August 15 - October 24, 2009. Opening reception will be held on Friday September 4th - first Friday - from 6-9 pm.

RECENT:

Hussain Aga Khan’s Focused On Nature.
From his global travels Hussain Aga Khan has been able to capture exotic creatures in their natural habitats from every corner of the world. Khan displays 52 digital prints, ranging in size from 11” x 15” to 38” x 42”. The resultant effect of the larger print sizes envelopes his viewer within the scene, where they are asked to contemplate the importance of our planet’s rich diversity.    Hussain Aga Khan asks us to view the work not through the lexicon of ‘the perfect print’ or in relationship to fine arts photography; instead, he brings to us vibrant, lively photographs of nature and animals, during a time of rapid environmental degeneration – a time when we need to see it most. Hussain hopes that we can share his understanding that every one of these animals and their homes are incredible and irreplaceable and need to be protected as such.In connection with the exhibition, Hussain has initiated a children’s art educational summer camp with the After School Activities Partnership (ASAP) and the Caring People Alliance to help children learn about art and create their own.  The program is a month long course where professional artists will be working with students ages 10-13. The campers will be taught to use digital cameras, and travel on field trips in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to animal sanctuaries and other points of interest related to environmental preservation. For more information about Hussain Aga Khan and these programs you can visit www.focusedonnature.org.

Informative Segments: Massive amounts of information are available today in a way never before realized in history.  The digitization of information makes it possible to spread ideas instantaneously from one part of the globe to another.  This immediate access to information has changed the way we perceive the world.  History used to flow from generation to generation through oral traditions.  Stories changed and evolved in their tellings.  Today, history is recorded on cell phones and stories told on YouTube.  A person can record an event and immediately share their experience with millions of people.  The world has become much smaller and somehow incredibly more complex.  
The act of digitizing anything means reducing the information to a series of positive and negative charges, read by computers as either a "1" or a "0".  This quantized, digital dichotomy, created with segments of simple information, seems to lack the depth, richness, and complexity required to describe the world as it truly is.  What is true, however, is that the access to information has changed our perception of the world by making it more accessible.  Also true, is that our perceptions, now tinged with the omni-presence of digitized information, are actively changing the world.

The artists in Informative Segments, each in very different ways, exhibit visual examples of a world composed of segmented bits of information that changed by and are changing the viewer.  Some fill the spaces between disordered moments with important details, or compose disintegrating creatures with meticulously drawn marks.  Others use the tool of segmentation to create grim visions of a material world afflicted with technology as if it were a disease.  Others still take a completely abstract approach, using grids to explore surfaces, or boxes to contain information. Mary Cook refines her large frenetic figurative drawings with detailed line work, creating segments of meticulously drawn marks, bordered by her gestural sketches.  There is tension  int eh somber figures Cook creates that arises from the the interplay between the highly energized marks and the deliberate lines in between.  Tony Ingrisano creates obsessively detailed images of "distressed" animals, whose forms fade and disintegrate into the white page.  Created from endless square bits, Ingrisano's creatures seem to have miraculously arranged themselves out of the preexisting shapes, struggling to maintain their shape.  One can just imagine the artist at work, compulsively marking the page, only to step back after a marathon drawing session, to discover the animal born from obsession. 
Matt Conradt's collages are both portraits of a generic America, as well as a comment on the new information age the world is constantly coming to terms with.  Barren fields, empty mall parking lots, junk yards, and dilapidated houses are the settings for the disjointed figures.  Collaged on mylar from found digital images, the pixelated backgrounds look worn and tattered.  Conradt's deconstructed figures feel like grotesque versions of tabloid pop images. 
Mary Raap takes a more abstract yet physical approach to the concept of segmenting information, with her tactile paintings and drawings.  Her canvases are covered with many layers of paint, and the scratched and cut by the artist in a sweeping grid, revealing the various layers beneath.  Like an archaeologist uncovering layers of history, Raap connects together separate segments of discoveries into a unified whole. Lee Heekin also employs the grid in her wooden and wax light-boxes and paintings.  In the sculptures, objects are suspended between layers of wax in aged wooden boxes, and back lit, as if to be studied.  Others create jumbled walls of small boxes that invite the viewer to inspect each segment , but also create a formidable barrier.  Heekin's paintings jumble the grid even further, where boxes float amid a sea of light washes of browns and greys.  In Heekin's world, things that appear chaotic are really just cubes that haven't quite fallen in place.

April 3 - 22, 2009: University of the Arts Senior Photography Show -- Showcasing 32 students from UArts. Opening Reception: Friday April 3, 2009 6-9pm View video from Philthy Blog.

March 5 - 29, 2009: KINSEY & IKEDA -- FUEL presents Douglas Kinsey and Koosuke Ikeda. Upon first glance, the work of Douglas Kinsey and Koosuke Ikeda appear to be seemingly disparate, both artists distinguished by specific formal concerns and varying backgrounds: Exhibiting since the early 70’s, Douglas Kinsey emerged from the swing of the Abstract Expressionist movement and studied under the direction of colorist Paul Reed. Kinsey has spent most of his formative years in the US and Canada. Koosuke Ikeda, on the other hand, is an emerging artist who approaches painting by combining digital medial with traditional materials, demonstrating an eclecticism inherent among his generation. Ikeda began his career after moving to the U.S. several years ago. Before moving to the United States, Ikeda resided in London, France, and Japan. Despite these differences, both artists share commonality in their artistic goals and motivations. Ikeda and Kinsey are existentialists at heart who are heavily influenced by eastern philosophy. Both artists appraise their paintings in a hyper intuitive manner, placing principal importance on the quieting conditions of their studio preparation, and the symbolic choices of their subject matter. 

December 5 — 28, 2008: GRAND SMALL WORKS: FUEL attempts to fit 1,000 small works in one show, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting FUEL the CURE. Featuring over 300 artists from all over the world. All works are less than 20 x 20 inches and range from paintings to stuffed animals. View artwork  *Exhibition extended thru January 26, 2009. [ 1st/2nd Floor ] 

November 7 — December 28, 2008 [First Floor Gallery] ERIC DOERINGER: Bootlegs, Homages, and Recreations >>
The FUEL Collection is thrilled to present a solo exhibition featuring the bootleg paintings and radical artifacts of Eric Doeringer. Crafted in imitation of the originals, Doeringer’s Bootlegs copy the work of over 100 contemporary artists; from Baldessari, Barney and Bleckner all the way Judd, Katz, Kippenberger, Kawara, Koons, Levine, Prince, Richter, Walker and Warhol; his paintings recreate murals of Saddam Hussein that were defaced by American troops in Iraq; his fraudulent VIP cards and collection of admissions stickers from the Whitney Museum comprise a collection of artifacts that employ his paradoxical “aesthetic strategy.” Doeringer’s work is characterized by contradiction: he, the artist, is crafting objects which can be used for their face value, the value for that which they depict—an admission sticker, a VIP card—but only at the expense of its value as an art object. In being an artist, Doeringer endows value onto the pieces by producing them, yet challenges the viewer to make use of them and simultaneously comprise their efficacy. An Honors BA graduate from Brown University MFA holder from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Doeringer has hosted other solo exhibitions in Soma NYC, Apex Art, and Katharine Mulherin (Toronto, Ontario) while also participating in innumerable group exhibitions and art fairs. His work has traveled as far as Leon, Budapest, and Paris. *Visit www.ericdoeringer.com for more information*

November 7 - December 1, 2008: DUCK & RECOVER: Painting, performance and process art examining healing violence or trauma through art -- On the second floor of the gallery, FUEL will host a group exhibition Duck and Recover; a collection of tragic, often haunting paintings, performance and installations created in memoriam regarding personal experience with violence. Contributing artist, Sam Trioli, paints telescoped, intimate glimpses of haunting crime scenes, placing the viewer in a mysterious context that has the unsettling appearance of imminent violence. Scott Langley, a documentary photographer, captures powerful images of the experience of a Death Row inmate, and haunting images of exonerated inmates formerly on Death Row. Serena Saunders, a young emerging Philadelphia artist, translates her own emotional experiences into paintings that layer women’s faces on top of colorful camouflage. The large-scale paintings present a dramatic and poignant look at the emergence of strength through adversity. The final artist, Joseph Brugger, is engaged in “The Spirit Project” , which is a photographic series of family members of individuals who were recently murdered as a result of gun-violence in Philadelphia. It is a conviction of the artist’s that looking into the eyes of those affected has a greater resonance than third-person report of these tragedies. It is FUEL’s great pleasure to host these four outstanding artists.

September-October 2008: FALL COLLECTION -- Cool, Collectible. FUEL presents 21 local and emerging Philadelphia artists! Get a start on collecting some art. This seasons' opening show is called Fall Collection; one of four seasonal collections FUEL has assembled to showcase local talent. Have you ever pictured yourself buying a work of art? Many people do not consider starting an art collection because they fear that prices would be prohibitive. The economy is sagging. The price of necessities has gone up exponentially, and some Americans have temporarily edited out luxury items from their shopping lists. But this is a buyers market for art. It is the season to start collecting art. The Fall Collection artwork ranges in style from landscape to still life to abstract and figurative. Paintings in watercolor, acrylic, oil, collage and a unique technique called cissing is the variety of medium. Additionally, many genres of work are exhibited throughout the gallery. There are surrealistic works by Jim and Lynn Lemyre, kitsch paintings by Erin Castellan, Libby Saylor and Kellianne McCarthy. Find landscape watercolors of China by Tang Hongxuan, minimal abstracts by Brian Richmond, and quirky urban landscapes by Amze Emmons and Erin Murray. FUEL is proud to present multiple works from all of the artists in this show.  Artists include: Nancy Sophy, Erin Murray, Holly & Ashlee Temple, Eric Fausnacht, Erin E. Castellan, Nic Coviello, Cathy Hozack, Kellianne McCarthy, Jim & Lynn Lemyre, Janet Nelson, Lauren J. Sweeney, Tang Hongxuan, Brian Richmond, Diane Szczepaniak, Libby Saylor, Jenna Stoltzfus. View artwork >>

June 6 - July 27, 2008 Style of Consequence : 1st Floor, A Look at Style and Fashion in Art. Style of Consequence – A Look at Style and Fashion in Art will provide proof that fashion is rooted deep in art. Curator Katerina Lydon-Warner selected the artists and pieces based on the communicative qualities that inspire thought and discussion: “I am interested in using subtlety to initiate a dialogue about fashion in culture”, says Lydon-Warner, “and I think the work involved is smart and very well executed.” Featured Artists: Theresa Pfarr, Aster Luu, Jay McClellan, Valerie Garlick, Cheryl Yun and Shelly Bahl. Theresa Pfarr’s abstract paintings of women adorned in dresses in emotional poses, high fashion poses are done with broad, sweeping strokes and applied with thick paint so that the ladies seem to melt across the page in warm colors. She says, “Provoked by the shifting status and mutable portrayal of women in mass culture, I work to articulate the mixture of euphoria and dread I experience in viewing women's magazines and incidentally explore my own feelings of guilt, shame and defiance.” Valerie Garlick scoured MySpace for other women fighting the system in the same punk-rocky style she has. Her photography exhibit “600 Girls that Look Like Me,” is a tragically comical collection of internet pics of black leather and lace-sporting, pierced chicks with alternating expressions of apathy, tortured grief and silliness. 'Pink is the Navy Blue of India' by artist Shelly Bahl is a 3-part project consisting of a mixed-media video installation, a series of 20 digital prints, and a drawing installation. This project is inspired by a quote from fashion guru, Diane Vreeland (Vogue magazine).  I have been observing the current public fascination with 'Indian/ Bollywood Chic' and have developed a group of works that are humorous and satirical critiques of the phenomena.  I have been sifting through materials from the world of fashion and popular culture, which glorify ethnic consumerism/ consumption, and am creating strange and surreal stories. Exhibition Images >>  

Music to My Eyes : 2nd Floor, Performance and Video Work Incorporating Music in Process or Concept. Although a sweet melody may sooth your soul, this exhibit centers on ways that music can be easy on the eyes. Performance, video projection and paintings included have incorporated music in the process of their creation or in their concept. Featuring works from: Kate Tessa Lee, Betsey Biggs, Jessica Feldman, Preston Poe, Ed Osborn, Seth Kim-Cohen, Jennifer Schmidt and John Kannenberg. Artist Kate Tessa films daily, mundane events, presenting them with poetic, symbolic angle so that each seemingly unimportant act and action has performance value. “I “collect” gestures, breaths, walking patterns, body scans that I decode, simplify and transform into melodies, rhythmic topographies, movement patterns , cyclic calendars or animated charts,” says Tessa of her work. This exhibit displays her project, “Praha My Sweet Prison Prague: Rhapsody for Solo Xylophone,” a whirlwind of claustrophobic feeling, mental imprisonment and personal borders that chronicle her four-month self-induced captivity in Prague. Betsey Biggs is an artist and composer working with sound, video, interactivity, installation, and performance. Her work aims to engage the audience, to expose the beautiful in the mundane, and to explore the tension between spontaneity and form. For her piece “What’s Your Sound?” Biggs said: “So many people are afraid of museums and galleries; not sure what they are supposed to think or do; unsure of how to behave; resentful of an entirely one-way flow of creativity. Preston Poe is a video sculptor, teacher, curator, and sound artist living and teaching in Salisbury, Maryland. His installation “SomnambuTable” is an interactive sound-bed incorporating transducers to resonate sonic waves through the human body. Public Reception: Friday, June 6, 2008 6-9pm  Exhibition Runs Thru July 27, 2008

300: A Fashion Show: Friday, June 20, 2008 - The event was inspired by the current exhibition, Style of Consequence - A Look at Style and Fashion in Art. One of the featured works is titled "600 Girls who look like me" by Valerie Garlick. Garlick scoured myspace and found photos of 600 girls who look like her. The video projection features images of those girls and the runway-style fashion show brings this piece to life. Click here for event coverage... 

April 29-May 6, 2008: University of the Arts Photography Senior Thesis Exhibition.  The work ranges from alternative process, to traditional color and black and white, to digital. Some of the students have taken on projects relating to political or economical statements while others depict explorations into traditional portraiture and documentation of their own subcultures. Public Opening Reception: First Friday, May 2, 2008 from 6-9pm. Exhibition Images >> 

April 21-25, 2008: FIBER  -- featuring work by PennDesign Graduate Students: Jonathan Asher, Emily Bernstein, Megan Born, AJ Chan, Adam Fenner, Kenta Fukunishi, Marguerite Graham, Katherine Harvey, Boyu Hu, Ryan Keerns, Christopher Lee, Amanda Lember, Hui Liu, Andy Lucia, Lauren MacCuaig, Austin McInerny, Jonathan Mickle, Misako Murata, Chau Nguyen, Andrew Ruggles, Erica Savig, Bridget Schmelzer and Kristen Smith. Exhibition Images>>

April 1-19, 2008: Indifference and Apocrypha - 1st Floor Gallery - Cryptic paintings that echo memories, dreams and childhood. Memento Mori - 2nd Floor Gallery - Latin expression meaning “Remember that you are mortal” or “Remember you will die”. The viewer is to consider the state of earthly pleasures as well as the societies disconnected from the difference between consumed object and pleasurable object. Artists include: Angelou Guingon, Peter Drake, Adela Leibowitz, Catherine Tafur, Rene Smith, Megan McGinnis, daniel Baltzer, Kendrick Mar, Steve Skinner, John Zoller, Ikeda Koosuke, Scott Sjobakken, Ali Cabbar, Lizabeth Eva Rossof, Chris Mateer, Maria Adela Diaz & Tattfoo Tan.  Exhibition Images>>  :  First Friday Reception Photos >>