Headed for the Finish

Today — for many, a bittersweet holiday already — conjured mixed emotions on our art scene, too, as we are in the last week of an inspiring renewal of our annual MARY LIZ MEMORIAL MASTERS EXHIBITION. The 17th such show, this year’s edition marks the first time we have a solo artist, JEAN PLOUGH, reach this pinnacle of OFF THE WALL achievement. And it’s more than fitting for our feminist gallery that a woman broke this new ground. What's more, Jean has garnered unprecedented bottom-line success. With three additional sales tonight, including this work, the painter stands at 28 sales, which is not only the most of any single Mary Liz Fellow, but also more than any other MLMME show, period. Pretty rarified air. It comes with the territory when we shine a spotlight on such a rare talent. If you haven't yet experienced Jean’s canvases in person, please make sure to come in this week.

JEAN PLOUGH
“Head”
acrylic on canvas
300.

Party Time

Join us over the next few hours as we celebrate — and begin to say farewell to — the paintings of JEAN PLOUGH, our 2022 Mary Liz Fellow and the first artist to lay claim to a solo outing in our most prestigious of all shows, the Mary Liz Memorial Masters Exhibition. Jean’s canvases have found a ready and willing audience, reminding us that OFF THE WALL has always been home to virtuoso painters. Add to this the artist’s versatility and range. Although we added the subtitle “Go Figure”to MLMME17, Jean is not one to be pigeon-holed by such descriptors. “Most things look like figures anyway,” she proposes. Come meet Jean and her remarkable work — and cool off with a refreshing drink. Hope to see you soon!

JEAN PLOUGH
“Triangle”
oil on linen
400.

So Nice...

It’s redux time for MLMME17 just 24 hours from now — SUNDAY, MAY 22, 3-6 PM — as this year’s lone Mary Liz Fellow, JEAN PLOUGH, takes center stage again with a SECOND RECEPTION. Though billed as a “Closing Party,” rest assured if you cannot join us tomorrow, you will have plenty of additional opportunities, through Friday, June 3, to catch up with the second half of this show, which you may recall is the first show we have rotated since 2003, due to its popularity and sales. Put another way, this show is as hot as this weekend’s weather! Heather Raquel Phillips will of course be pouring your favorite drinks and Jean is excited to have a fresh chance to meet followers and collectors and discuss her powerhouse paintings. We look forward to seeing you there!

First and Last

The outpouring of entries to our first summer juried show since 2019 has been nothing short of inspiring and gratifying. If you're part of this enthusiastic response, thank you! If you haven't yet submitted your artwork, procrastinate no more...TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY TO ENTER. You have from now until 11:59 PM, and remember: the reason for the absence of a summer show is the impetus of this call for art. Our 16th Annual Community Juried Show, REEMERGE, seeks outstanding art that examines the pandemic and art that reflects the pandemic's direct impact on your creative perspective and/or process. Please join us. There is NO ENTRY FEE. You'll find out the jury's decisions the week of May 23 and you will need to be ready to deliver accepted work on June 4.

New Art for May

Noble art is about to be o’erthrown...or rather rotated...as both the sold and unsold work of JEAN PLOUGH will be replaced with up to 19 new paintings. And, yes, among those on their way out will be fair Ophelia, a rose of May destined to come down on April 30! We made this unusual call — we haven't rotated artwork midway through a show since 2003 — due to the wildly enthusiastic response of our audiences. With an impressive 16 SALES to date, there are simply too few paintings still available for purchase to meet demand and take us to the conclusion of MARY LIZ MEMORIAL MASTERS EXHIBITION 17 on June 3. We’ll send out an email, too, but if you want first dibs on the new work, please plan to come in Saturday afternoon or sometime this weekend — or check out our website: offthewallgallery.org. Here you can buy Jean’s new pieces...pieces, like this one, which are coming down...and a few available online only.

JEAN PLOUGH
“Ophelia, Floating Girl”
acrylic on canvas
300.

Join Us Today

Today, Sunday, April 3, we officially raise the curtain on MARY LIZ MEMORIAL MASTERS EXHIBITION 17 with an OPENING RECEPTION from 3 to 6 PM. JEAN PLOUGH takes the stage as a painter of the highest order and the first-ever Mary Liz Fellow to be accorded a solo show on our most prestigious platform. The accolade is well-deserved. Rarely has an artist struck a more resonant chord in our community. After first seeing work she generously contributed to our SAVE DIRTY FRANK’S online auction in 2021, we quickly realized that Jean’s canvases—deftly combining abstract intensity, mastery of color and texture, and figurative and graphic elements—would electrify our space. So they have and will continue to do through June 3. Jump right in and ENJOY!

JEAN PLOUGH
"Reclining Figure"
acrylic on canvas
400.

See and Be Seen

We spoke the other day about being a feminist gallery. We are also a transgender gallery — speaking for our artists and our community. And we would not be responsible members of that community if we did not stop to acknowledge and celebrate today as the International TRANS DAY OF VISIBILITY. Fight hateful legislation and support new options like marking a nonbinary X on your passport, starting April 11. Hey, we love and thank Joe...but notably, this is the 14th such occasion, dating to 2009. Do your part to make sure it never ends. Thank you, Trans Student Educational Resources!

JEAN PLOUGH
"THERE IS NO WINDOW"
acrylic on canvas
200.

Making Herstory

Even though MARY LIZ MEMORIAL MASTERS EXHIBITION 17 won’t officially open until this coming SUNDAY, APRIL 3, with a 3-6 PM reception, it is more than fitting that it has begun during Women's Herstory Month. That’s because painter JEAN PLOUGH is breaking new ground, every bit as bold as her brushstrokes! She is the very first Mary Liz Fellow to be accorded a solo show on our most prestigious of all stages. Plus, she is only the fourth artist ever to enjoy the solo spotlight in our 43-year history. It says everything about OFF THE WALL and our founding director, Mary Liz, that three among this exceptional quartet are women: JEAN, ELIZABETH H. MACDONALD and ELLEN POWELL TIBERINO. (Bob Jackson is the renowned male counterpart.) After all, we were founded as a feminist gallery — from our very first December '78 outing, “Her Name Is Not Anonymous Anymore” — so we tend to celebrate and elevate Herstory every month of the year. Please do likewise when you visit and shop the MLMME17 website (offthewallgallery.org), and when you join us this Sunday afternoon!

Kyiv Calling

Starting right now and for the next two hours, DIRTY FRANK'S hosts a fundraiser for #Ukraine, which includes an #artauction featuring many #OfftheWall luminaries — among them NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD, who is painting protest-art (see above; $20 each on heavy watercolor paper) ONSITE. And, yes, your drink will also be a direct donation to the cause! As if you didn’t have enough motivation to #joinus for a Friday #HappyHour?!

Last Bite?

A food-themed collage (and a wildly satirical one at that) is no stretch for ANTHONY MORGAN. After all, he is proprietor of the ever-popular Black Gryphon Dining & Spirits in Elizabethtown, PA. (Hence the many art aficionados, fans and foodies from 100 miles away who attended our Opening Reception!) And what better way to invite you to our closing day? Please come in from 1 PM to 2 AM on Friday and take a final nibble at the marvelous smorgasbord that is GLUE PAPER SCISSORS. The collage and assemblage invitational is a concept clearly destined to become a staple of the OFF THE WALL rotation of shows. Above all, CONGRATULATIONS to the artists — Anthony and his colleagues, ALYSE C. BERNSTEIN, DAVID BREZINSKI, JIM BIGLAN, ROBB SPATH, GREG EPHEMERA TROUT, WAYNE W. URFFER and HARVEY WEINREICH — and their collectors, who accounted for a tasty 38 SALES (11 of them Anthony's). Perhaps now a digestivo?

ANTHONY MORGAN
"Eat Eggs, Will Ya?"
mixed-media collage
75.

Just One to Go

As our first-ever collage and assemblage invitational comes to a close this week, one of the eight inaugural GLUE PAPER SCISSORS artists stands alone in being one red dot away from selling out his work. ROBB SPATH, whose intricate, exquisite hand-cut collages have elevated this medium in our community since his summer 2017 debut in RESIST, has earned this accolade, gradually building a loyal following over the years. The artist often finds inspiration in pop culture, and although the thematic core of the five works in this show is somewhat different, a Comedy Central take on Egyptian and Roman history lies at the heart of this last available piece. Robb explains, “I tend to iconize people who move me. Sometimes my inspiration comes in an unexpected way. With ‘Arsinoe,’ it was a particularly hilarious episode of ‘Drunk History’ that moved me to put the X-ACTO to paper.” Who says a pyramid scheme can’t be funny?

ROBB SPATH
“Arsinoe”
hand-cut collage
175.

Loving the Alien

When the private diaries of ANDY WARHOL, edited by long-time confidante Pat Hackett, came out soon after his death, critics largely dismissed the entries as glib and shallow and mired in celebrity name-dropping. Think again. Gifted documentarian ANDREW ROSSI brings to Netflix a stunning, binge-worthy, six-part series, exec produced by RYAN MURPHY, that uses these diaries — what the artist says, doesn’t say and everything between each line — as a framework for exploring not just the life and times of the Father of Pop Art but every possible related subject: queerness, societal perceptions, art history, the creative process, the art market, identity and masks, race and appropriation, AIDS, isolation and relationships, feeding the fame demon, iconography and Catholicism, commissions and inspiration, the shifting lens of crtitical appraisal. You name it. And, yes, there is plenty of glitz, often aptly fatuous and empty, culled from gritty 70s and more so 80s NYC. It is an indescribable and unrelenting portrait of an at-times inscrutable genius. To tap into a creative and philosophical vein Andy would have appreciated: you can’t stop watching!

Absence Begets Inspiration

We are proud to announce our first summer juried show...since 2019. The reason for the absence of this staple of the OFF THE WALL calendar now becomes the impetus of this call for art. So please mark your calendars for our 5.12.22 DL...remember there is no entry fee...and immerse yourselves in the details of ReEmerge, our 16th Annual Community Juried Show!

Rarely in history do ALL ARTISTS—no matter how they identify, where they live, create and find inspiration—have a common touchpoint impacting their work. The pandemic was such a shared event. SHOW US with outstanding work from the last two-plus years how COVID and the future it ushers in have been reflected in your art and creative process and/or how you now think about ideas such as freedom and limitations, isolation, community, personal choices and public health.
• All media are welcome: 2D, 3D, MULTIMEDIA AND MORE.
• 2D work CANNOT EXCEED combined dimensions (height+width) of 48”; 3D work MUST FIT in our secure case.
* There is NO ENTRY FEE.
• EMAIL BY THURSDAY, MAY 12 to offthewallgallery@gmail.com no more than five (5) entries with six things: 1) high-quality images, 2) framed dimensions, 3) titles, 4) prices, 5) media, and 6) a single two-sentence statement about your work.
• Be ready to deliver accepted, wired, ready-to-hang artwork to Off the Wall on SATURDAY, JUNE 4.

Road Traveled

Our MID-SHOW RECEPTION for GLUE PAPER SCISSORS is well underway, and we hope you are with us...or else en route! Of the dozens of artists and art-lovers who have joined us already, one group has journeyed the farthest: ANTHONY MORGAN and his friends and colleagues from Elizabethtown, PA. The artist, who owns the popular Black Gryphon Dining & Spirits, chose to shut down the joint completely today and follow his heart and his art all the way to OFF THE WALL. As much as any of our eight artists, Anthony inspired the concept for this show when we first saw his extraordinary collages 13 months ago. The story’s kicker is that Anthony wasn’t just showing us a portfolio or submitting to a juried show. At a bleak juncture of the pandemic, he was donating work to us to SAVE DIRTY FRANK’S — even though he really did not know our bar or gallery very well at all. A similar passion drives Anthony’s creative process. “When I view images, some are imprinted in my mind with the power of a metal punch, which will ‘haunt’ me until I take up the challenge to produce an analog collage with them,” he explains. “My work is an examination of these elements and how they affect me, my life and others who view them. Since my analog collages are a collection of already produced images, put together differently, it allows them to work together in a way that was never intended.” Welcome, friend! You always have a home away from home here in Philly.

ANTHONY MORGAN
“Feed or Slaughter”
mixed-media collage
250.

Hail, Not Heil

Our pioneering gallery has always been, since 1978, activist by nature. The last six years have reinforced this mindset, with the ideas of preserving democracy and supporting our whole community front and center. WAYNE W. URFFER has never pulled punches in speaking out against inequality and tyranny. How appropriate then that the artist’s lone piece in GLUE PAPER SCISSORS — marking his 13th outing in our space, spanning two full decades — is the most politically potent and outspoken...and is our proud Presidents’ Day post!

WAYNE W. URFFER
“Gott mit Uns”
mixed-media collage
75.

Of a Feather

Among the diversity of perspectives and media in GLUE PAPER SCISSORS, we are particularly excited to showcase six works in a brand-new series from ALYSE C. BERNSTEIN. By cutting out negative spaces, the artist is allowing the layer of feathers below to come to life. Of course, no birds were harmed in the making of this art; to the contrary, there is an important conservation story to be told and all sales benefit ongoing environmental education efforts. We’ll let Alyse, whose work has always reflected her love of animals — in this space, dating back to the PETS juried show more than six years ago — speak to her inspiration: “I traveled to Florida in July to visit the Everglades and conduct research for a wildlife series. These bird collages are the first completed works. The use of feathers to create the birds is a purposeful reminder of the impact the plume trade had on the Everglades during the late 19th century. Fashionable hats nearly wiped out the Snowy Egret by the early 20th century until protections were put in place and bird populations began to increase.” Following in a proud OFF THE WALL tradition, which was also central to PETS, the artist is donating a portion of her sales to The Everglades Foundation (@evergladesfoundation).

ALYSE C. BERNSTEIN
“Snowy Egret”
mixed-media assemblage
200.

Revealed At Last

We had originally hoped that UNDER $100 would introduce to our community the dramatic hand-cut collage of DAVID BREZINSKI. Alas, though juried into the show, his opening salvo of bold ideas was put on hold when logistics prevented David's participation. GLUE PAPER SCISSORS has quickly changed the picture. And what a coming out party it's been! The artist also known as THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE DISTRICT has found a bevy of new followers — and red dots adorn five of his dozen collages. With our MID-SHOW RECEPTION slated for this THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 7-10 PM, David's debut promises to pick up even more momentum.

DAVID BREZINSKI
“Camera”
mixed-media collage
75.

Insurrection Plus One

A month and a day removed from FDR's “day that will live in infamy” is our generations’ version of the same, now one year old. But this festering enemy to democracy was — and is — very much within our borders: Americans who do not love this country despite despicable acts in its name. The truth will out (eventually). Such anarchy, led by an autocrat, has always inspired our artists to take deeply personal stands across years of outspoken shows like How Would You SAVE THE WORLD? and RESIST. Although she is brand-new to our community, CHAU NGUYEN was the strongest voice in this vein from our just-concluded UNDER $100. Her two powerful mixed-media assemblages, both of which found ready buyers, are from a body of experimental work the artist is creating about history and memory.

CHAU NGUYEN
“Unravel”
old canvas, paint stripper, oil, oil pastel,
gesso, history textbook on paper
95.

Picking up Steam

First off, we’re happy to use our subject line to celebrate hitting 1,000 followers on Instagram. It’s been seven years of organic outreach, building this audience one person at a time. Next, let’s use the same concept to point us in the direction of our first show of 2022! While the PR will be forthcoming and we remain on our NEW YEAR’S hiatus through Friday. January 14 — NO MUMMERS about our traditional break this year, since we chose to shutter for New Year's Day for the first time in our history (public health comes first) — we can give a solid hint of what’s to come. Over the past several years, there has been an exciting Renaissance of hand-cut collage and assemblage work in our space, led by the artist we are posting here, ROBB SPATH. This is one of his UNDER $100 pieces (still available for purchase at offthewallgallery.org), but Robb will have exciting new work when we hang our Winter Show, GLUE PAPER SCISSORS, on Saturday, January 15. What’s more, Robb will be in elite company, joined by six esteemed colleagues: five already well known in our community, ALYSE C. BERNSTEIN, JIM BIGLAN, ANTHONY MORGAN, GREG EPHEMERA TROUT and HARVEY WEINREICH, and one making his belated OFF THE WALL debut, DAVID BREZINSKI. Hey, shovel that coal and lay on some steam...we’ll be rolling into thd New Year in no time at all!

ROBB SPATH
“Locomotive”
hand-cut collage
90.

Happier Old Years

As we prepare to turn the page on 2021 and hang up a new calendar, uncertainty again drapes over us — a thick, choking, smog-like haze. This is not to say we shouldn’t greet each other over the next week or two with HAPPY NEW YEAR!, lift our champagne and prosecco glasses and flutes on cue next Friday, and welcome 2022 with open arms. But it leaves us still wondering WHAT'S NEXT?!? PHOEBE MURER finds it difficult to escape this New Normal/New Year's state of mind. Instead she chooses to rekindle life before COVID, Alpha through Omicron. “I dread the what the future brings with the pandemic,” says the UNDER $100 artist. “Yet, I move forward, while sharing nostalgic memories of Philly with my friends.” Hey, whatever gets us through....

PHOEBE MURER
“Laser Show”
mixed-media screen print
80.