FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Summer Patterns: Keith Breitfeller, Sarah Haenn and Robert McNellis
Opening Event June 3, 2017
May 11, 2017– JED WILLIAMS GALLERY is proud and excited to announce its first showing of 3 fascinating artists, whose works conjugate the feel of summer through the use of patterns of color and light in various striking ways. Jed Williams Gallery continues its exploration of adventurous curating, revealing the subtle connections and inner similarities between various artists and art mediums– including the first-ever showing of large sculptural installations incorporating artificial lighting. “Summer Patterns” seeks to express and celebrate the different connotations of summer, and the intermingling of the device of repeating color patterning with a free, joyful creative mindset. The small scale of Keith Breitfeller’s drawings adds vivid punctuation to the conversation; the interest in color and light is nicely bracketed between Robert McNellis’s illuminated sculptures and Sarah Haenn’s large fabric and framed prints displaying bold pattern shapes. Many of Breitfeller’s pieces rely on metallic inks to reflect light and provide an ethereal foundation. In so doing they echo the play of light and reflections that McNellis uses also to great effect. Breitfellers’ drawing works contain tiny areas coated in repeating patterns that Sara’s work so aptly isolates and in some ways amplifies.
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Sarah Haenn is a recent graduate from Rhode Island School of Design (BFA Textiles 2016), she will be showing large fabric works from her thesis, Illuminance Experience, and several framed pieces from Lil Mermaid, a collection of repeated hand-painted prints focusing on the aesthetics of three different Surfer and Mermaid destinations. Haenn’s large prints are inspired from her time spent in Avalon, New Jersey – a beach town full of life long memories and friends which, Haenn says, “has impacted her life so positively”. According to Haenn, her artwork focuses on Experiences – whether it be a specific Experience of a place, or to make work that the viewer can Experience and enter into metaphorically. I draw inspiration from places that have brought ultimate gratification and happiness to either myself, or another. Sarah also currently has work on view in “Surface Forms”, an exhibition at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, which she created during her time as an apprentice there.
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Robert McNellis represents the first ever showing by JWG of an artist using actual electric lights and reflective gels in his work. Robert McNellis’ new work is in part a response to the evolving sense of the importance of “narratives of landscapes” in his work of the last year. Relying even more on the untapped possibilities of the photograph, the plurality of image in the new work evokes not only expanses of space, but also expanses of time. Again, he uses details of images derived from photographs and photographs derived from details of images, only now he combines these with an eye towards their narrative undercurrents. McNellis first studied film at the University of South Florida. In 2008-2012 he turned from photography to begin working with mixed media using fluorescent lights, color filters, and building materials to make large three dimensional pieces. He has shown in a variety of venues including the Johnson Center for the Arts (in Troy, Alabama), Holy Family University and, most recently a solo exhibit, “afterimage|photostructures.” at ARTSPACE 1241 in Philadelphia.
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Keith Breitfeller‘s drawings are personal, casual works he creates , in his own words,“to entertain myself with”. Just like carefree summer days, Breitfeller’s drawings are fun, fast and allowed to evolve casually and spontaneously. Keith makes them in the evening, during downtime while unwinding. Keith studied with New York Artist Marion Pinto. The keystone of his methods was acquired at the Barnstone Studio, a renaissance type Master and Apprentice program. The heavy emphasis on the Golden Section and color theory continues to inform his work. Residing in Philadelphia, Keith has exhibited locally for 30 years with solo exhibits at Vox Populi, Sande Webster Gallery, Abington Art Center and Perkin’s Center for the Arts. Outside of the region he has shown in Texas, Tennessee, Massachusetts and in Austria.
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Please join us for an opening reception June 3, 2017 from 5-7pm. Private press previews and artist studio visits are available prior to the opening by appointment only. Show runs from June 3-24 at Jed Williams Gallery, 615 Bainbridge St. Philadelphia.
About Jed Williams Gallery: Named one of the top art galleries in Bella Vista and Queen Village by Philadelphia Magazine (March 2015), Jed Williams Gallery is a unique art space owned and operated since 2010 by artist Jed Williams. JWG showcases up-and-coming and inspiring artists from the Philadelphia area. Artists featured are from all backgrounds including classically trained as well as self-taught outsider artists. The gallery shows a variety of thoughtful, cutting edge high quality works ranging from 2D, mixed media and painting, to video, installation and sculpture.