If you missed the exciting news, on Friday, August 5, Arch Enemy Arts celebrated four new exhibitions, including Brian Mashburn‘s solo Atoms and Void, a new collection of work emphasizing his fascinating compositional dichotomy of elements and discerning narratives. Conceptually reflective of the artist’s experiences, the melancholic tone denotes environmental concerns as well as social and political conditions.
“The phrase ‘atoms and void’ comes from Ancient Greek philosophy and the concept, sometimes called atomism, reductionism, stoic physics, was used often in the ancient world and throughout history as a reductive natural philosophy in which everything in nature can be reduced to two components: atoms and void.” ~ Arch Enemy Arts
Also on view is Gretchen Lewis: The Mandrake and the Matagot + PRISMA Collective ‘Amethyst’ + a special pop-up photography show ‘Still Screaming’.
Brian Mashburn: Atoms and Void
Exhibition Dates:
August 5- 27, 2016
109 + 111 Arch Street | Philadelphia, PA 19106
For purchasing information and availability, please contact archenemyarts@gmail.com or call 215.717.7774
PRISMA Collective: Amethyst
Arch Enemy Arts is proud to announce that we’re bringing this year’s annual PRISMA Collective show to Philadelphia. The once a year exhibition features brand new works by Collective members, Ana Bagayan, Audrey Pongracz, Bec Winnel, Caitlin Hackett, Christina Mrozik, Daria Hlazatova, Edith Lebeau, Henrietta Harris, Jana Brike, Jeremy Hush, Kaspian Shore, Nom Kinnear King, Kelly Vivanco, Lilly Piri, N.C. Winters, Nicole Gustafsson, Rod Luff, and Sarah Joncas. For their new show, collective founder, Kaspian Shore knew he wanted to work with a color theme, something that would create a strong connection between the pieces on the wall and a homogenous atmosphere in the room. A Selection of colors was offered to the artists, and the final selection surprised him, “it wasn’t blue or red but purple that attracted everyone’s attention. And where do you see more facets and shades of purple, lilac, and violet than in the depth of an Amethyst, which became the basis for us to draw inspiration from.”
“Amethyst is a precious stone consisting of a purple variety of quartz, hearty, and born in the air pockets volcanoes left behind. It is the last visible color at the end of the light spectrum, wavering on ultraviolet, an invisible unknown realm. It shares its name with an ancient goddess who stood up for herself against the toxic advances of an enemy. In the spiritual realm, it is known as opening place, where one’s intuition may grow. It can be carved, cut, colored, created and transformed, and this is what we aimed to do. Using the many facets of Amethyst in nature and throughout history, we created our own connections to its beautiful hue.” – PRISMA Collective artist, Christina Mrozik
Kaspian Shore
Christina Mrozik
Daria Hlazatova
Henrietta Harris
Jeremy Hush
Nom Kinnear King
Alex Louisa
Gretchen Lewis: The Mandrake and the Matagot
The concept for Gretchen Lewis’ first Arch Enemy Arts feature came to life in her sketchbooks over the last few months, a narrative involving shape-shifting trickster spirits who take the form of black cats, and their relationship to a small host of other characters, who represent different personal aspects of both Gretchen and humanity in general, mostly fragility, vulnerability, and resilience. Gretchen’s growing obsession with the mythology surrounding mandrakes drove how they have worked their way into this larger narrative, often being used as a kind of nemesis of the black cat creatures, who want to possess and use the mandrakes for their own selfish purposes.
Completing the theme is the legend of the Matagot, the French version of a trickster spirit, which can take the form of a few different black animals, but mostly appears as a cat. Matagots are generally malevolent, but can sometimes be helpful, and is said to bring wealth to a person who can capture it or tame it by giving it food.
