DOUG HERREN
“Chroma – Structure”
October 10th – November 20th, 2020
Opening Reception
Saturday, October 10th
Gravers Lane Gallery
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Doug Herren is a Philadelphia based sculptor working in clay. He came to the medium organically. First studying at Wichita State University (BFA) and then Louisiana State University (MFA) earning degrees in ceramics, Doug was captivated
by the technical nuances of wheel throwing and began making functional ceramics.
After school, he attended the acclaimed Archie Bray Foundation in Montana and The Clay Studio in Philadelphia. Both residences were influential in developing his remarkable, hybrid sculptural vessels and stands.
His recent body of work is bold, non-apologetic monuments to classical forms and functional objects. His tables, amphora urns, stirrup pots, and elaborate architectural vases are assembled wheel-thrown and slab-built stoneware components coated with layers of oil-based enamel paints. The saturated vivid colors, often subtly bleeding through from lower layers, accentuate and soften the edges of the architectural ceramic forms. Doug’s keen understanding of color saturation animates the massive stone-like forms. With an architect’s eye, he is able to optically flatting a shape in space, pushing another forward, suspending one plane which resists the pull of another. Doug’s monolithic structures are at a glance imposing, yet after careful examination, they reveal dynamic elements of stability.
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“I AM NEVER ALONE IN MY GARDEN”
Brooch: bronze, sterling silver, mother of pearl, antique cameos.
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“A WHISPER”
Necklace: rutilated quartz, sterling silver, copper, baroque pearl.
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ROBERTA & DAVID WILLIAMSON
October 10th – November 15th, 2020
Roberta and David on working together
for 50 years:
“Our work has always been narrative in nature. That narrative has evolved very
little over the 53 years we have worked together.
The garden has always been a source of inspiration and comfort. The garden has
also become an allegory for a place in our minds that is rich in imagination, wonder, beauty and privacy. Working together since we were 18, our minds blend as one and we like to say the work is created by the third person between us.
Pieces are fabricated from sterling, bronze, copper and gold. We are always pushing ourselves with technical challenges whether it is the scale of the piece, the delicacy of soldering tiny sterling ant legs to a bronze branch or figuring out how to incorporate a found object that seems impossible to secure.
Our studio is filled with thousands of found objects collected since childhood which offer inspiration and provide the materials for our pieces. It may take years of looking at a treasured tiny cameo, found in a dusty corner of an antique store in the countryside, but when the time is right, it comes alive in our story. As we work with the cameo, we are transported to another time and place where time falls away and everything comes to life.
As we look at the pieces we have created, no matter what is happening around us, we remember who we are. They hold our emotions of longing, loss, love, beauty and wonder. We are transported to that intimate place we hold so dear. We are never alone in our garden.”
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JESSICA BASS
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JESSE WEINSTEIN
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Gravers Lane Gallery was proud to host the work of two emerging student artists from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University for a pop-up show in our window displays earlier this month. Sculptor/Painter Jessica Bass and graphic designer Jesse Weinstein were selected as winners of the Critic’s Choice Award at the Vantage Spring Art Gala in February. Along with a cash prize, the Critic’s Choice Award allowed each artist the opportunity to feature their work in a solo show at a local gallery. We were delighted to be able to showcase the work of these talented young artists, and welcome their family and friends for a small, outdoor, Covid-safe reception. We look forward to offering more of these unique community shows and events in the future.
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“R.B.G. Passing the Baton”
Acrylic on canvas, 2020
16″H x 12″
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“Obama Day”
Acrylic on canvas, 2020
Size: 30″H x 16″
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“The Great Cori Bush”
Acrylic on canvas, 2020
16″H x 12″
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COLLEEN QUINN
“I make art as a way of processing the world. My most recent body of work has been entirely a reaction to the time in which I live. In using current political figures as a main subject of my work, I do take a position. I am not neutral. I use my painting to shine a light on things that I find disturbing. At the same time, I am looking for beauty if not in form, then in color and composition. Painting offers me a way to slow time down to take a longer, closer look at people in power who may be hiding behind the scenes. I have focused mainly on portraits because they have allowed me to stare into the eyes of people. To engage my curiosity about my subjects and their inner world. To find some reminder of our shared humanity even if it is our shared depravity, some connection to what it is to be human in this world, this country, at this time.”
Colleen Quinn received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 2002, and has studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia and at the Art Students League in New York. She won the Leeway Grant for Women in 2002 for the completion of an outdoor sculpture in Philadelphia, and did a month-long artist residency in Costa Rica in 2008. Several of her paintings have been published in Scoundrel Times and The Nation. She has shown her work in juried shows and galleries in Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Tennessee. She started painting political figures in 2012. “I was interested in slowing down the onslaught of media imagery and taking a longer, closer look at the faces of those in power. As the political situation has changed, these paintings have become a form of personal protest.”
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In order to provide our guests with a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable visit, we are offering private visits for individuals, families, or small groups of friends. In accordance with Pennsylvania COVID guidelines, no more than 6 names will be registered per group.
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Located in the historic Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA. Gravers Lane Gallery represents the finest in Contemporary Crafts, Painting, and Sculpture. With an emphasis on Contemporary 2 & 3D Textile and Fiber Art, one-of-a-kind Jewelry, Studio Furniture, Ceramics, and Mixed Media Art, Gravers Lane remains one of the last galleries representing the spectrum of Studio Crafts in the United States.
Contact us to schedule a private appointment or virtual tour.
Wednesday – Sunday 11am-5pm and
Monday – Tuesday by appointment
8405 Germantown Ave/Philadelphia/PA/19118
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