No matter what your aesthetic, it’s clear your presence here stems from a profound appreciation for the world of all things art. This space, dear reader, serves as a meeting ground for our curious minds and creative souls, coming together in a community that flows like an endless wellspring of inspiration.
If you’re searching for the next great piece to add to your collection or feel like perusing an exhibition, Arch Enemy Arts invites you to join them in celebration of shows by Danielle Schlunegger, Alex Sugar plus their SPECTRUM 5 group exhibition. Each body of work pushes the boundaries between reality and imagination, allowing the birth of innovative ideas and perspectives to come together for something truly spectacular.
Danielle Schlunegger, Alex Sugar + SPECTRUM 5
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
Danielle Schlunegger, SURFACE TENSION
Solo Exhibition August 2nd – September 1st, 2024
Press // Arch Enemy Arts presents SURFACE TENSION by Danielle Schlunegger, a series of emotive landscapes inspired by the artist’s expeditions in Svalbard, a remote archipelago in Norway that is sixty percent covered in glaciers. Moving and original, SURFACE TENSION captures Danielle’s experience seeing the climate crisis firsthand. With her work, she grapples with the disorienting beauty of the Arctic landscape–what it is like to witness the natural wonders of our planet while knowing it is forever changed.
SURFACE TENSION includes a series of miniature resin-cast icebergs affixed inside bell-jars and three larger, masterfully sculpted wall-hanging icebergs. Each dimple, crevasse and striation in these lonely, floating masses of ice is meticulously carved and colored with beautiful, translucent hues of blue dry pigment. Their precise elegance evokes a deep reverence for icebergs. As glacial detachments, they stand alone and truly feel lost at sea.
Danielle’s greatest achievement, however, is in the five massive circular lightboxes–her largest resin casts to-date–which contain gorgeously painted, cut, and manipulated landscapes of the Arctic Sea. And her process for creating them is just as inspired:
“During The Arctic Circle residency, I made a spontaneous series of photographs using an old lens salvaged from an overhead projector. Photographing through the lens caused the landscape to flip 180°, which changed the way I looked at and saw what was around me–a shift in focus that was both literal and metaphorical. After returning home, I wanted to make sculptures that mimic the effect–much in the way the Arctic ecosystem is altered by human activity and climate change–it has become unrecognizable to the people and animals that live there.”
Danielle Schlunegger is based in Portland. She graduated with distinction from the California College of Arts, but much of her work with resin is self-taught. SURFACE TENSION is Danielle’s third solo exhibition with Arch Enemy Arts since joining the AEA family in 2019.
Alex Sugar, STILL DOWN UNDER
Solo Exhibition August 2nd – September 1st, 2024
Press // Arch Enemy Arts presents STILL DOWN UNDER by Alex Sugar, seven fantastically rendered still life paintings of seemingly disparate objects–odds and ends one might find in the pantry, antiques from their grandmother’s cabinet, or nostalgia from an artist’s shelf imaginatively staged with flora and fauna from the Australian landscape. His unconventional groupings framed with razor-sharp titles inspire narratives that feel both classic and contemporary, refined and psychedelic, and encourage our search for meaning.
“The Massacre,” for instance, depicts a lava lamp of jellyfish on a table of marbled waves. Surrounded by cool blue and crisply rendered animals of the Great Barrier Reef, the heat from the lamp casts a warm and shallow glow that could ultimately be their demise. In “Salute,” the eyes of a wise owl reflect the master of surrealism, and a kookaburra in “The Local” is perched on the quintessentially Aussie snack.
“My inspiration comes from a merge of influences: Dutch Golden Age still life paintings, street and graffiti culture, daily observations, and a deep appreciation for the natural world. These paintings reconstruct my personal stories, blending real and imagined worlds with monochrome aesthetics and vibrant color highlights to inspire curiosity, imagination, and to support new perspectives on familiar depictions…[begging] the question: How might a deeper appreciation of daily scenes and natural beauty transform our perspective on our environments?”
Alex Sugar is based in Melbourne. Best known for his large-scale murals, Alex is entirely self-taught with a background in street art that brings a fresh perspective to formal realism painting. He began showing with Arch Enemy Arts in 2021, and STILL DOWN UNDER is his debut solo exhibition with the gallery.
SPECTRUM 5 group show
On view starting Saturday, August 24th and will remain on view through September 15th.
The new lineup includes work from //
@alexgarantart, @alexkuno, @bserway @goblinfruitstudio, @cassandralkim, @mfhaastyle, @colete.martin, @seidmanart, @googoogilly, @ericalynschmidt,@gabrielled_art, @happydartist, @helicewen, @harianddeepti, @horrible_adorables, @ian.c.hess, @joevaux, @justinlovatoart, @verpabunny, @kurtlluch, @laura.catherwood, @lorinelsonart, @lurklovesyou, @raid_33333, @sinistern_art, @mheldillustration, @michaelkoehlerart, @michaelcampbellart, @devlinmolly @nomkinnearking, @bosmaus, @theartofrain, @seaofdoom, @shelbyeclark and @wing.chow.
SPECTRUM 5 will be on view to the public starting this Saturday August 24th with an official Opening Reception party scheduled for #FirstFriday September 6th from 5pm – 9pm.
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
