Meinhart's Gallery and Curio, Inc. received 2015 Best of Pitman Award!
For January and February, come inside Meinhart’s Gallery & Curio to experience the photography of Scott Carter. Carter will be showing January 21st to February 22nd, through there is to be a sneak peak starting a few days early. The solo will have an opening show during Pitman’s January Fourth Friday, from 6 pm to 9pm. An Artist Reception is to follow the day after, on the 25th, from 1pm to 4pm. European candy and other snacks will be offered on these days. Wine and cheese is offered at the gallery daily.
Since 2010 Carter has been the owner and a photographer for Philadelphia Photography Studio, as well as being an instructor in studio high-speed, low-speed and landscape photography. Most recently in 2013 Carter exhibited on 2nd street in the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, has lead a photography expedition to the rainforests and coastal regions of Panama. He is an Adobe certified expert in Photoshop Lightroom. Below is his artist statement:
"This is how I see the world through the lens of my camera. Sometimes it’s black and white, others in rich colors. I love the beautiful skies and brilliant sunsets and moonsets. And, occasionally a moody sky can completely change the feeling of a subject.
I spend much of my time on or under the water. I’ve been fortunate enough to pursue my dreams and go where they take me. I’ve had dive charter businesses in Florida and the Republic of Panama. I also spent a year as a freelance photographer in South America. Hence, my photography is from all over the Americas – South, Central and North.
I try very hard to get my photos correct in the camera and do as little retouching or photoshoping as possible. I will typically use filters to even out the brightness or blur motion. My background came from shooting black and white, high contrast film. Getting it right in the camera was the only option in the film days.
My latest project has taken over 2 years and is still an unfinished work. The more that I work on this, the more I learn about how to make it better. I’ve had to design the computer hardware, buy the chips, solder them to the board and then write the software to trigger my camera and flash. This is how I capture the water in mid-flight at 1/16,000 of a second. I’ve employed a 5 star chef to get the condiments and drink combinations correct.
I hope you enjoy my view of the world as much as I did making the photographs that portray it."
From November 19th thru January 11th there will be two exhibitions running at Meinhart's Gallery & Curio, Inc. in Pitman, NJ. They will be the “Off-the-Wall Craft Exhibition” by Xiao Li Ma, and “Small Imagery Exhibition” showcasing 2-3 artworks, 12 in. by 16 in. and under, by eight artists.
Xiao Li is a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago with a bachelor of fine arts degree with an emphasis in art education, class of 2011. She has a love for creating ceramics on the potter’s wheel. Displayed during her exhibition with be several mugs and other small sculptures.
“I make art purely for myself. I do nothing grand like bringing awareness to social injustices or world problems. The main reason I make art is to keep sane, to stay creative, and to challenge myself. The main medium of my art is ceramics and I let many things influence me.
I have always preferred 3-dimensional medium over 2-dimensional. While I enjoy sketching and painting, I love the feel of objects in my hands. To be able to manipulate the texture, shape and size of an object through various tools including my very own fingers is very empowering to me; and ceramics allows a level of skinship that makes me feel closer to my creation. In the future, I would like to incorporate other materials such as wood and metal into my work.
I have many influences, mainly because my attention span isn’t very long. This can be a double-edged sword, while I am always entertained, I miss out on spending time to fully explore one theme. When I am not thinking about making things for myself, I take inspirations from nature, other cultures and recently, stories. Given the versatility of my medium, I have the freedom to create different forms, anything from functional pieces like cups and plates, to more decorative works like sculptures and tiles. I enjoy looking at things in different perspectives and bringing out sides of things that people do not always see directly.
I was exposed to small dosages of art since a young age, but was never encouraged to pursue it. During my teenage years, art really stuck with me as a mean to express my feelings and as a stress reliever. It’s a place where I go to ignore the world and focus on creating. While art making is something I do for myself, it brings me joy when others resonate with my work.”
Taking part of the Small Imagery Exhibit are several graduates from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: Alexandra Thomas (BFA ’12), Alina Osipov (BFA ’12), Joel Shambe (BFA ’11), Leigh Meinhart (BFA ’12), and William Sentman (BFA ’12). Also showing is self taught Aimee Lacuanan, Emily Elliott (BFA ’12, of Southern Illinois University Carbonale) who is currently going for her masters at the Pennsylvania Academy, and local artist Susan Culver, a graduate from Tyler School of Art with experience in teaching art.
Meinhart's Gallery & Curio, Inc. is a contemporary, representational fine art and crafts gallery and curiosity shop, catering to emerging and professional artists showcasing clear skill in 2D art and handmade crafts. Business hours are Tuesday through Friday from 11am to 6pm, Saturday 11am to 4pm, and closed on Monday and Sunday. For more information please contact the gallery.
In time for the full swing of Fall is an Off-the-Wall Craft Exhibit: Solo Show in Memoriam of John P. Hanley (1968 – 2013) at Meinhart’s Gallery & Curio, Inc.. The collection of 25 artworks are made primarily out of super sculpty, most of which is designed to hang on a wall as a relief. The exhibit consists of two series, Lovecraft Series and A Six Piece Taste of Tarot, a triptych called Triptych of the Holy Days, among several other singular works created between 2001 and 2013.
The following is a biography provided by Jennifer Black, Hanley’s wife:
“John P. "Snakedaddy" Hanley was an artist, musician, and poet, as well as a practicing Thelemite for over 27
years, 17 of those as an O.T.O. initiate. Frater Hanley had served as an officer of Tahuti Lodge and was a founding
member and Body Master of the now-defunct Laughing Serpent Camp in New Jersey. He was an ordained Deacon of the E.G.C..
Frater Hanley was a self-taught musician and artist whose work focused on the promotion of Thelemic arts and artists to the
general public. John lived his Thelemic views everyday, and though he will be sorely missed, we laud his ascension
to his next incarnation.”
There will be a special celebration at the gallery on October's Fourth Friday, the 25th, from 6pm to 9pm, where organic food, King of Sweets candy and LavAzza espresso will be served. There will be at least two other artworks by Hanley that are only available through meinhartsgallery.com starting October 8th.
Meinhart's Gallery & Curio, Inc. is a contemporary, representational fine art and crafts gallery and curious shop, catering to emerging and professional artists showcasing clear skill in 2D art and handmade crafts. Business hours are Tuesday through Friday from 11am to 6pm, Saturday 11am to 4pm, and closed on Monday and Sunday. For more information please contact the gallery.
The work of eight artists, all graduates of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, is on view from August 2nd through September 28th at Meinhart’s Gallery & Curio, Inc., a new representational fine art and crafts gallery in Pitman, New Jersey.
Among the diverse mixture of representational art being displayed are the oil paintings of Michael Cole Manley, a long sought after artist since 1982, when Michael became the art Director for the Detroit Metro Times, a weekly city newspaper. In 1984 Michael moved to Philadelphia and started working for Marvel and DC comics. He made his mark at Marvel with the popular Transformers comic and quickly moved on to other established characters like Conan and Spiderman. In 1990 Michael co-created and drew the character Darkhawk for Marvel.
Michael moved back to DC Comics in 1993 and became the regular artist on their most popular character Batman, starting with the 500th issue which sold 2 million copies. He drew the book at the height of the character’s popularity. While at DC, Michael added Superman and Shazam to his roster of work. In 1995 Michael formed Action Planet Inc. to publish his own comics and ideas.
In 1996 Michael broke into the animation field and joined the staff at Warner Bros., doing storyboards and background designs from his home in Philadelphia on the highly successful Kids WB Superman, Batman and the new smash hit, Batman Beyond animated TV shows. He has also worked on Samurai Jack, Fairly Odd Parents, Batman Brave and Bold, Secret Saturdays, Venture Brothers, Kim possible, Clerks Spawn for HBO and on MTV’s Spy Groove series. In 2001 Michael started his twice Eisner Award nominated Draw! Magazine and teaches storyboarding, drawing and cartooning classes at The University of the Arts and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he is currently enrolled in the MFA program.
Also on display is the work of the gallery owner, Leigh Meinhart, an alumni from 2012 (BFA). Immediately after receiving her BFA, Leigh traveled to Europe where she lived and studied painting by Odd Nerdrum between his French and Norwegian restates for three months. In 2013 Leigh opened Meinhart’s Gallery & Curio, Inc., a fine art gallery catering to emerging artists as well as professionals in the field. The gallery specializes in representational artwork, as well as hosting off-the-wall craft shows. Crafts such as ceramics, book making, fibers, or other handmade objects by an artist is showcased on the gallery’s walls.
Other artists in the exhibition include Alina Osipov (BFA ’12), Alexandra Thomas (BFA ’12), Cynthia M. Harvey (Cert ’11), Danielle DeAngelo (BFA ’12), John Camacho (BFA‘04), and William Sentmen (BFA ’12).
Meinhart's Gallery & Curio, Inc. is a contemporary, representational fine art and crafts gallery and curious shop, catering to emerging and professional artists showcasing clear skill in 2D art and handmade crafts. Business hours are Tuesday through Friday from 11am to 6pm, Saturday 11am to 4pm, and closed on Monday and Sunday. For more information please contact the gallery.