11th-Hour Shopping, Starting at 2:00!

Still haven’t found just the right present for someone special? Looking to fill in a couple of holes on your list? Tired of checking to see whether Amazon will deliver in time? HEATHER RAQUEL PHILLIPS has happily arranged the solution to your holiday worries — and she’ll add the drinks, great food and live music sure to make shopping EXTRA FUN! Artists, craftspeople and artisans from across our community are soon arriving with their wonderful wares and one-of-a-kind finds to a DIRTY FRANK’S booth right near your stool. Heather’s Mom, JEANNE — award-winning chef that she is —is whipping up some delectable trays. (Side note: alas, we probably will delay the return of February’s ComfortFest one more year.) Then on the downbeat, BOBBY LAVERNE will bring the jazz riffs to add the perfect last touch. We’re always a top destination on Sunday afternoons, but looking at this lineup (and realizing, for some, their beloved Iggles aren’t playing until Tuesday), we are definitely THE PLACE TO BE!

Wish You Were Here

Our Holiday Party is in full swing! RIGHT NOW. All Friday night. And like many social activities and events at Dirty Frank's, it promises to keep going until last call. So swing by if you have a chance and lift a glass to a season that feels like old times. (Bring your vax card, of course, and we'll worry about Omicron in the morning.) VERONIKA SCHMUDE is not in the house. In fact, she is in Bulgaria writing a new chapter in her life. But before she departed, our dear friend gave us going-away presents: serving on the jury for UNDER $100 -- and leaving with us the four wonderful assemblage works her jury colleagues voted into the show. They hang together on our center column, just begging for closer inspection. Everything this artist creates draws you in and engages you. Tonight may not be the night to spend real time with them. But make sure to stop by during the festivities!

VERONIKA SCHMUDE
"Wishbone"
found-object assemblage
65.

Yadda-Yadda-Yadda

Tonight, a couple of weeks out from Xmas, is about the time holiday parties kick into high gear. While there will still be fewer such shindigs than in past Decembers, if you venture out, you’re sure to get cornered into a conversation you weren’t up for. Fan favorite JIM BIGLAN captures the moment when we stop listening and the words being bandied about seem to lose all meaning. It’s been exciting to see the artist’s mastery of ceramics evolve over recent years, inspiring our UNDER $100 jury, already in love with the conceptual nature of the work, to single this out as our show’s BEST VISUAL PUN. It marked Jim’s second award in this show (“Wrong channel” took BEST ASSEMBLAGE), adding to his stack of OFF THE WALL accolades. Surprising though, as of this post, is that “Blah...blah” is the only award winner still available for purchase. Perhaps it’s time to put your money where your mouth is?!

JIM BIGLAN
“Blah...blah”
underglaze on stoneware clay
75.

Iggy Will Have Another Manhattan

IGGY WILL HAVE ANOTHER MANHATTAN: In the midst of our annual SNOWFLAKE PARTY, where we all gather at DIRTY FRANK’S to make hand-cut snowflakes (“hand-cut” also foreshadows our first show of #2022!), a gift of art rises above. ERIC LAVALLEY, who recently purchased some rockin’ UNDER $100 art from NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD, received an early ICON holiday present, which the artist custom-made for her collector: The Godfather of Punk, IGGY POP, in all his glory. Pretty cool…and pretty wild! (And, hey…BTW, where are those REAL snowflakes?!?)

Time for Bed?

Often we post from Dirty Frank's in the wee hours. More frequently it's first thing in the morning. But why not share the art of UNDER $100 just as many of us -- the more responsible, reasonable sorts perhaps -- are winding down and getting ready for eight hours of good sleep? SPACE PUNK would be quick to endorse the notion, and her first painting -- hopefully, of many -- in our space is just what the hour demands. "I offer an ode to comfort," the artist explains, "exploring both the metaphorical and literal symbols of comfort." Nighty night!

SPACE PUNK
“Bed 1”
oil on wood panel
60.

Fresh Hewn

Eight summers ago, our juried show BUT IS IT ART? asked artists across our community to apply their creativity to unconventional materials and unexpected approaches. Some were forced out of their comfort zone. Others were right at home with the assignment. JEFF THOMAS clearly falls into the latter category. His paintings, which eloquently drape memories over clothes hangers, have been the toast of several shows, including our 2018 AUTUMN INVITATIONAL and the 2017 edition of UNDER $100, where he shared top honors. This time around Jeff returns with one painting, joined enthusiastically with two new out-of-the-box sculptures, which use timber blocks to conjure canine figures. As a dog lover who famously lives in a log cabin of his own construction — in Northern Liberties (!) — the artist is once again very much at home. Bark twice if you love these inspired, inspiring pieces...and please visit them in our 3D case!

JEFF THOMAS
“Block Dog #1” and “Block Dog #2”
stacked wood blocks
approximately 14” high
95. each

Ware It's at

Every year since ‘92 we’ve proudly hosted the mother of all holiday craft shows: TRAVELING WARES! We even took our pioneering tradition (flattered by its many imitators) outdoors last year. All the same, it will be best back inside DIRTY FRANK’S 1-7 PM SUNDAY 12/5, affording you a chance to hop from booth to booth…and back to the bar, where HEATHER RAQUEL PHILLIPS will be pouring your favorite drinks. Holiday shopping doesn’t get much more festive — and amazing, one-of-a-kind gift ideas are rarely more plentiful. More than a dozen artists, artisans and craftspeople, including TW founder JODY SWEITZER, will offer usable, wearable, hangable, totable, lovable items, all available for purchase. And it’s worth saying that the backdrop is our UNDER $100 show, which has notched more than 40 sales, meaning a diminishing amount of great art is also up for grabs. Come early for the finds. Stay as long as you can for the fun!

It's a Cyber Life

No hard knocks here. We seemingly have it all at our fingertips. And if the Cyber Monday sales didn’t start sometime over the holiday weekend, they are really hopping now — each of your fave online shopping spots trying to one-up the other. It’s a little too much, especially for advanced life forms, like the aliens landing in the Grand Canyon, according to this fantastical digital work from THERESA BRAUN, which earned an award by tickling the jury’s FUNNY BONE. The ETs are out of here, and so are we. You probably ought to check your inbox. No doubt you’ve missed a bunch of messages by now....

THERESA BRAUN
“Beam Me Up”
digital collage
60.

Light the Way

For those of you who spent time around your chanukiahs/menorahs and then your dinner tables this evening, it goes without saying: family is what sparks the Festival of Lights. Of all our UNDER $100 artists, CARA CROKE is definitely the one who touches so poignantly and eloquently on the power of family — in a very l'dor v'dor way. Her miraculous amalgamations of vintage photography and watercolor paintings combine childhood memories, rendered with stunning intimacy like the one of her and her Dad, with inspiring backdrops. No wonder our jury awarded Cara MOST INTIMATE for this work, which is joined by a second piece, "Hem," still available for sale as of this writing. Chag Urim Sameach!

CARA CROKE
“Margin”
watercolor and photography
65.

Let's Go Shopping!

On Small Business Saturday, we’re obligated, even with 33 UNDER $100 sales — and counting! — to our credit, to go to bat for smaller concerns all across our city and environs. So head out that door, hit the pavement and, as BOB INGRAM suggests, “pound away at the patriarchal bullshit,” eco-friendly shopping bags in hand. Winner of the BEST REUSE OF MATERIALS jury award, Bob is happily one of 17 artists making their OFF THE WALL debuts. Such are their immediate contributions that just a few weeks into our engagement, we cannot imagine our community without their talents.

BOB INGRAM
“pounding the streets”
vintage meat tenderizer with vintage doll leg
85.

Illuminating

It’s been a most enjoyable, energizing evening — and we’re really just getting started! Our gratitude goes out to the many members of our community who have joined us to welcome UNDER $100, celebrate the art and artists, and fete our winners of $700 in cash prizes. This ROLL OF HONOR is notably topped by two artists who remind us, in no uncertain terms, that the renewed call for social justice and antiracist commitments represents the positive energy emanating from these past 20 months….

MARY-ROWE MEMORIAL JURY PRIZE
Vincent Bush’s SHINE

HONORABLE MENTION
Anthony Morgan’s SAY HIS NAME

MOST INTIMATE
Cara Croke’s MARGIN

BEST POP ART
Simone Bailey Campbell’s DANGEROUSLY BEAUTIFUL SERIES

BEST ASSEMBLAGE
Jim Biglan’s WRONG CHANNEL

BEST REUSE OF MATERIALS
Bob Ingram’s POUNDING THE STREETS

BEST VISUAL PUN
Jim Biglan’s BLAH…BLAH

FUNNY BONE
Theresa Braun’s BEAM ME UP

An Evening of Reflection + Celebration

The run-up to the return of UNDER $100 has been emotional for our community. Before this show, our last call for entries took place in the fall of 2019. Tonight’s 7-10 PM OPENING RECEPTION is two years and one day removed from our most recent unveiling of a juried show, which brought together more than 150 of us on December 17, 2019. We cannot yet hope for turnout along the lines of those heady numbers. But we are back TOGETHER. We have a well-deserved $700 in CASH PRIZES to distribute, topped by the soon-to-be-announced winner of the esteemed MARY-ROWE MEMORIAL JURY PRIZE. And we have 17 debuting artists among the 41 individuals in our stellar lineup. Our community keeps growing. In the end, perhaps this is what matters most. Rest assured, we will always have a barstool or a booth waiting for you. So come join us for a lovely, inspiring, heartfelt evening. See you soon!

Must See Art

MUST SEE ART: Don’t touch that dial all week long, as we count down to the UNDER $100 Opening Reception this THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 7-10 PM. It’s always great to end the year with our favorite juried show — and yours! — which once again is proving its ratings, year in and year out, are no fluke. With 16 sales already (and counting), seasoned artists like JIM BIGLAN, cracking up crowds in our 3D space, and the opportunity to introduce 17 new artists, we encourage you to TUNE IN and DROP IN. Plus, bringing the metaphor into the here and now, once our website is updated, we’ll be streaming this show, too!

JIM BIGLAN
“Wrong channel”
gouache on homemade paper
95.

Riding Off

RIDING OFF: The sunset for our 2021 AUTUMN INVITATIONAL is well past the horizon, but this show deserves a special Yippee Ki Yay (we'll stop right there) before we do the final round up. After all, our three artists piled up an eye-catching 26 SALES (!): 17 for RACHAEL MCLAUGHLIN, four for SIMONE BAILEY CAMPBELL and five (including this master work) for LEONARD HOLLINGER. For obvious reasons, we're signing off with this favorite iconography of Leonard's, which also marked his storied debut on the Wall, when he lassoed top honors in BRICK BY BRICK, our Stonewall at 50 celebration. It's undeniably powerful symbolism as the artist subverts an ultra-normative image of masculinity, nurtured in white-cisgender-male lore and mass-produced by Madison Avenue. "A lot of these pieces were created just for me as a form of therapy," Leonard shares. "So as you look at my art, keep in mind that you are looking at parts of me laid out before you — and just maybe they’ll speak to something inside of you as well." Perhaps the artist's message — equally relevant to his colleagues — is as simple as: don't fence me in.

LEONARD HOLLINGER
“Manufactured Masculinity”
silkscreen and acrylic on wood
550.

Bloom Off?

More than one viewer has noted the surprising spring-like quality of much of our 2021 AUTUMN INVITATIONAL. LEONARD HOLLINGER’s airy palette dances in pastels, including a piece entitled “Spring.”RACHAEL MCLAUGHLIN’s floral motifs often inform her abstract patterns. And, not least, SIMONE BAILEY CAMPBELL’s “New Day”series leaps off our Wall, with its hot pink and warm green bursts of vitality. “The fresh colors against the dark backgrounds emphasize the new day that has arrived,”Simone tells us. “They signal a new perspective in the manner we see and approach our lives.” Her paintings also pay tribute to the flora and fauna near her New Jersey home: magnolias, dogwoods, black locust trees, persimmons, orioles. Maybe it’s no coincidence that, finally, as we prepare to take down this intrinsically hopeful show on Saturday, the temperatures will start dropping — and it will feel like winter is not far off after all.

SIMONE BAILEY CAMPBELL
“New Day Series 2: The Song Has Begun”
acrylic on wood
185.

Have Needle — Will Embroider

During the height of the pandemic, RACHAEL MCLAUGHLIN ended up with a lot of extra time on her hands. Her 25 embroideries in the 2021 AUTUMN INVITATION are products of these uncertain times, as well as labors of love. "I love doing any kind of art that is process-based and falls into the craft category," says Rachael, who is quick to point out she never thrives when standing still. "Keeping my hands busy is key to staying out of my emotional brain." No wonder the artist also offers multiple unique originals of each of her works, something we didn't know until recently. So in the waning days of our show, which comes down Saturday, please feel free to reach out if you fell in love with a piece that is already listed as sold — not an uncommon occurrence, since we are proud to say there are 15 red dots alongside Rachael's pieces on the Wall and in the 3D case. KUDOS!

RACHAEL MCLAUGHLIN
"Be Gay Do Crime"
embroidery
70.
multiple unique originals available

New Day/First Day

Technically, today is the 12th full day of our 2021 AUTUMN INVITATIONAL. But for those of us gathering tonight (7-10 PM!) on and around our beloved bartop (you must bring vax cards to be inside), which galvanizes some of the best creative forces in our community, it’s genuinely our show’s first day. SIMONE BAILEY CAMPBELL brings, among two collections, a series of work that captures this optimism, rooted in transitions, fresh starts and reboots. It’s art that “celebrates life and hope,” declares the artist, speaking also to a much larger context. “The color against the dark background emphasizes the new day that has arrived and signals a new perspective in the manner we see and approach our lives.” In other paintings, which we’ll explore soon, Simone uses flora and fauna to illustrate the point. But there is an undeniable richness and simple freedom when Simone revels in no more than palette and lines. BRAVA! Come celebrate with us this evening.

SIMONE BAILEY CAMPBELL
“New Day Series 2: No. 10”
acrylic on wood
575.

Look Ahead Thursday

Are Throwback Thursdays getting a little tired? While we don’t have a finger on the pulse of social media (coming off a rough week with the outage), we do know that for us, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, has nothing to do with looking back. Tomorrow is all about WHAT’S NEXT. First, we gather to lift the curtain on our 2021 AUTUMN INVITATIONAL, which has been turning heads since it went up late last month, with a 7-10 PM OPENING RECEPTION. Then, just as our reception is winding down, we, alas, close the door to entries for UNDER $100, our first juried show since the pandemic struck. If you haven’t yet entered — and we have received an enthusiastic outpouring from artists near and far — it’s NOT TOO LATE...you have until 11:59 PM tomorrow. This is a very special INVITATIONAL and another important step on our road back. SIMONE BAILEY CAMPBELL arrives with two collections: “Fashion Stories,” a celebration of the evocative, empowering nature of fashion apparel and accessories, focusing mainly on shoes; and “New Day,” a timely conversation about the challenges, transitions, and hope that describe our lives. LEONARD HOLLINGER has a flourishing commercial art practice of his own, but when he comes here, it feels like he is wearing his creative heart on his sleeve. The cowboy iconography that helped win Leonard top honors in the last UNDER $100 show, in December 2019, rides range again, but over a far-reaching series of works, he reveals an unbridled process of experimentation that yields stunning results. And RACHAEL MCLAUGHLIN, much like her colleagues, makes art as a form of therapy, just as much as it is self-expression. Her work is a joy: lyrical fabric poems that are, at turns, simply beautiful and unapologetic and forthright. We are thrilled and inspired to be in the midst of such talent, and we hope you can join us — by attending the OPENING and by entering the JURIED SHOW. Onward and upward we go!

Odd Artist Out

We’re shocked to find that we have not posted a single one — among four captivating large-scale works — of MICHAEL JICHA’s manipulated photographs during this magical run of BABY, WE’RE BACK!, which is quickly drawing to a close. Together with many members of our community, we fell in love with the artist’s approach to “painting” with photography and digital tools, but his debut on our Wall, in BRICK BY BRICK, constrained the size of his work. The current show has loosened those reins, allowing his work viscerally to take hold of viewers. “These images are part of ‘Project 1910’ — my personal interpretation of the post-impressionist to surrealist movements. In 1910, the term ‘post-impression’ was first used,” Mike explains. “The intention of my process is simple: I want viewers to see and experience the influences of these art movements.” We are committed to his return to our space — and more appearances in this space, too!

MICHAEL JICHA
“Mischievous Spirit”
digitally manipulated photograph
limited edition of 10
450.

Ready for Your Close-Up?

Perhaps the biggest hit of our return show, which is sadly in its final 36 hours, is a series of four-inch-square canvases from JOSEPH EGGLESTON. These portraits — intimate in every sense of the word — are also paeans to colors and the artist as a supremely talented colorist. Each one is named after the tube of acrylic or oil paint that dominates its composition. We were also very fortunate to have Joe replenish his stock of these paintings during the run of the show. So far, he has sold eight of these 18 small-scale master works, and we hope that quite a few will remain available on our website (offthewallgallery.org) once BABY, WE'RE BACK! comes down on Saturday.

JOSEPH EGGLESTON
"Close-up (Perylene Violet)"
oil and acrylic on canvas
60.