Make sure to mark your calendar and remember these dates because you won’t want to miss the amazing array of artists and exhibitions at Arch Enemy Arts. Always brimming with inspiration, the gallery is constantly keeping us on our toes and igniting our creative senses with Rachael Bridge‘s PARANOID solo, Rebecca Reeves‘ FADING AWAY solo and ELIXIR group exhibition – all currently on display. The opening receptions for each of these shows will be held this weekend on February 2nd from 5-9pm, and they will be available for viewing until February 18th.
Additionally, Dewi Plass‘ APPETITE solo will make its debut with an opening reception on February 2nd from 5-9pm and will be available for viewing until February 25th. If all of that is not enough to satisfy your artistic wanderlust, you can also visit Arch Enemy Art’s CELESTIAL group exhibition, which will release February 16th and have an opening reception on the First Friday March 1st from 5-9pm. This exhibition will be on display until the 17th of March.
Arch Enemy Arts
109 Arch Street | Philadelphia, PA 19106 USA | (215) 717-7774
For sales or private viewing appointments, please email info@archenemyarts.com
Regular Gallery Hours:
CLOSED MONDAY & TUESDAY
• Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 10am – 4pm
• Saturdays & Sundays: 11am – 5pm
Rachael Bridge’s PARANOID
January 20th – February 18th
Opening Reception: Friday, February 2nd from 5pm – 9pm
Arch Enemy Arts presents PARANOID, nine paintings and two drawings by Rachael Bridge–the largest collection of her work we’ve had the pleasure of showing. In her dark, meticulously painted portraits of women, Bridge aims to capture terrors of the human mind.
“These paintings are about facing the mayhem of the world along with my own internal mayhem. Feelings of paranoia, isolation, heartbreak, personal growth…I’m always working on building up this language of translating obscure, intangible thoughts into images others can see and hopefully feel.”
Bridge’s compositional choices–sharp, angular perspectives and lurid, fluorescent lighting–emulate the psychological upheaval of suspicion and angst, pain and existential dread. Casting her subjects as internal decay incarnate, Bridge’s work–harrowing as it may be–is wildly beautiful. Her elegant hand, technical prowess, and cinematic compositions unsettle and bewitch us, luring us into the shocking darkness, and welcoming us into the dread.
A local artist living between her home in New Jersey and the quiet seclusion of Upstate NY, Rachael received a BFA from Pratt Institute in 2010. PARANOID is Bridge’s third solo exhibition with Arch Enemy Arts, and she has been showing with the gallery since 2014.
– written by Candice Musher
PARANOID will be on view from January 20th – February 18th, 2024
Rebecca Reeves’ FADING AWAY
January 20th – February 18th
Opening Reception: Friday, February 2nd from 5pm – 9pm
Arch Enemy Arts presents FADING AWAY, a solo exhibition by Rebecca Reeves. Twenty wall-hanging sculptural arrangements inspired by the antique practice of Victorian funeral objects, Reeves creates “art preservation for those who mourn.”
Beautifully composed of hand-beaded bows and flowers, custom frames, antique remembrance cards, and sermons written or typed by the artist’s grandfather, Reeves’ work carries the weight of grief combined with the delicacy of life as it slips away.
“Although representing mourning or memorial, the hand-beaded flowers in my previous art were full of ‘life.’ In the FADING AWAY series, the hand-beaded flowers have been deconstructed, reconstructed, and aged to reveal their wire skeletons. The beads are sparse and show age and wear. They hold on to ‘life’ through their delicate, wired frames.”
One cannot understate the intensity and care Reeves puts into her practice. Assembling thousands of tiny beads in perfectly crafted arrangements, she mirrors the laborious love she has for the people she’s lost. At the same time, she aims to transcend her own story and provide space for the viewer to connect and reflect on being forced to say goodbye.
Reeves obtained her BFA from Tyler and her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A local artist, she lives and works in Pennsylvania and has been showing with Arch Enemy Arts since 2018. FADING AWAY is Reeves’ fourth feature with the gallery.
- written by Candice Musher
FADING AWAY will be on view from January 20th – February 18th, 2024
ELIXIR Group Show
January 20th – February 18th, 2024
Arch Enemy Arts presents ELIXIR. A group exhibition of sixteen artists exploring the realms of intoxication and magic in liquid form. With enchanting scenes from apothecaries (Nom Kinnear King), magical performances of ancient rituals (Kit Curry), tears bestowed by the gods (Jordan Kressley), and vessels containing mysterious and divine substances (Michael Campbell & Philip Bosmans), ELIXIR quenches our thirsty imaginations. These potions, brews, tinctures and tonics transport our minds to flavors unknown.
ELIXIR includes new work by Beatriz Bradaschii, Bill Ross, Bruce Parker, Joey Chiarello, John Walker, Jordan Kressley, Juliet Schreckinger, kEda Gomes, Ken Keirns, Kit Curry, Michael Camarra, Michael Campbell, Michelle Avery Konczyk, MK Komins, Nom Kinnear King, and Philip Bosmans.
– by Candice Musher
ELIXIR will be on view from January 20th – February 18th, 2024
Dewi Plass’ APPETITE
February 2nd – 25th, 2024
Opening Reception: Friday, February 2nd from 5pm – 9pm
Arch Enemy Arts presents APPETITE, nine intimate new paintings by Dutch artist Dewi (day-vee) Plass. In this series, Plass captures characters she’s visited before–cheetahs, bunnies, birds, bees and foxes–now freshly staged as still lifes of delicious reverie.
“APPETITE is about the space between want and need when one is immersed in a world of abundance and splendor,” Dewi writes. “I like to think of my work as an artistic exploration of unknown worlds in which animals take center stage, inviting the viewer to defamiliarize elements of life as they know it and open it up to new interpretations and meanings.”
Rebelling against restraint and relishing in (cue the children from Oliver!) “Food, Glorious Food,” these pieces run both sides of the food-relationship-spectrum. From a glorious yawn of satisfaction in “Midnight Snack” to eyes that plead “don’t judge me” in “Thirst,” Plass is a master at transferring complex human emotions (or in this case, animalistic desires) onto wildly beautiful atmospheric animal portraits. With each decadent bite, Dewi’s creatures sink deeper into her sfumato haze of culinary excess, communicating both solace and caution in the pure bliss of indulgence.
Dewi Plass is a self-taught painter from The Netherlands. APPETITE is her sixth solo exhibition with Arch Enemy Arts and follows five *sold out* features with the gallery since 2017.
- written by Candice Musher
APPETITE will be on view from February 2nd – 25th, 2024
About the Gallery //
Seeking to fill the need for a centralized hub focused exclusively on new contemporary genres within Philadelphia’s already vibrant art scene, Arch Enemy Arts was founded in 2012 and quickly became Philly’s freshest new venue dedicated to exhibiting emerging and established artists, both local and international. Located in Philadelphia’s Old City District, and with an emphasis on the lowbrow, pop-surrealism, urban, and macabre in a wide range of mediums, Arch Enemy Arts was chosen as Philadelphia Magazine’s “Best of Philly”™ Best Art Gallery for its 40th Anniversary issue, voted the “Best Art Gallery in Philadelphia” on Philly HotList in 2013, and in 2012.
Noah Musher // co-founder & owner
Lawren Alice // co-founder & curator
