Jon Manteau Exhibition

Posted on: Monday, March 28th, 2011

The gallery is being transformed this week into Manteau’s world.  Exciting new work going up on the walls. You will see the broad range of his creativity as he tackles everything from painting, sculpture, works on paper, a re-creation of sorts of his studio, and an installation.  You don’t want to miss the work of this Philadelphia painter, driven by a passion for paint, color and nature’s discarded.

The exhibition opens on Friday, April 1…drop in on First Friday.  We’re open until 8:30.  You’re also invited to the reception on Saturday, April 2, 5 – 8 pm.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Solo Exhibition: Jon Manteau — To a Hammer Everything Looks Like a Nail

Posted on: Monday, March 28th, 2011

Gumtrees and Ghosts

JON MANTEAU To a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail

April 1 – May 14, 2011
Artist Reception, April 2, 5 – 8 pm
First Friday, April 1 and May 6, 6 – 8:30 pm

LGTripp Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of recent works by Philadelphia artist, Jon Manteau. This is Manteau’s third solo exhibition with gallerist Luella Tripp.

The gallery will be transformed from a white cube into an artist’s creative workspace. In this latest exhibition entitled To a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail, Jon Manteau makes his mark on the physical gallery space and on the audience. Unrestrained by space or conventional means, Manteau continues to experiment with the themes that have dominated his work for almost 25 years; the warping of the figure-ground relationship, color field, gestural mark-making, scale, attention to formal concerns yet with an extemporaneous approach, and embracing the discarded, eroded and transitory.

Jon Manteau states, “Humans have left behind an astounding catalog of monuments and artifacts, which have contributed greatly to our culture and sense of achievement. There are other things that we leave behind, the seemingly insignificant remnants of cultures past and present, our triumphs and our tragedies.”

In the largest of the work, “Gumtrees and Ghosts” (8’ x 20’), Jon Manteau extends the canvas by integrating painted driftwood inclusions that appear to lift the painting from the wall, confronting the viewer. This site-specific work resonates with the other paintings, works on paper, color saturated wall and free standing driftwood sculptures, a facsimile of the artist’s studio and a documenting video. The video of the making of “Gumtrees and Ghosts” is a testament to the conscious build-up of layers and interaction of fiery colors that define the controlled and intuitive marks left by Manteau.

Defining his work within an historical context, Manteau describes it as Post-Painterly Abstraction or Post-Neo-Abstraction. His influences are Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, Miro, Kline, Pollock, Rothko, Rauschenberg, Stella, Scully, Richter (to name a few), and more recently Nares and Fonseca. Foremost, Manteau simply states, “I’m a painter”. This is a not-so-surprising trajectory for the young Philadelphia graffiti artist of the 70’s.

Jon Manteau was born in 1963, just outside of Philadelphia. After high school, he moved to New York City to study at Parsons School of Design. At Parsons he studied painting and drawing with Sean Scully. He returned to Philadelphia to complete his undergraduate studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1987). He earned a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Delaware in 1996. His works have been exhibited nationally and are in collections throughout the United States and Canada.

Upcoming Exhibition

Posted on: Sunday, March 20th, 2011

FOCUS
4th Annual Abstract Photography Exhibition

December 2, 2011 – January 7, 2012

Artist Reception, December 10, 5 – 7 pm
First Friday, December 2, 6-8:30 pm
First Friday, January 6, 6-8:30 pm

Presenting works by:

Nik S. Clements
Alyssha Eve Csuk
Chip Forelli
Mallary Johnson
Jenny Lynn
Paul Rider
Rachel Zimmerman

Painters Don’t Retire – First Friday and Artist Reception

Posted on: Saturday, March 12th, 2011

We had two wonderful events last weekend, First Friday and the artist reception on Saturday. A steady stream of visitors came through the gallery on First Friday, many lingering to see works by eight senior artists. Saturday’s reception brought a full house of guests to commemorate and support the artists. It was a celebratory event. Thanks to all who attended!

Group Exhibition — Painters Don’t Retire

Posted on: Friday, March 4th, 2011

Painters Don't Retire

PAINTERS DON’T RETIRE
Works by artists 70+

March 4 – 26, 2011
First Friday, March 4, 6 – 8:30 pm
Artist Reception, March 5, 4 – 6 pm

GILDA ELLIS
ALAN S. GOLDSTEIN
JAN JOHNSON
HAROLD KIMMELMAN
JOEL LE BOW
LIBBY NEWMAN
CHARLOTTE SCHATZ
BURTON WASSERMAN

It is a great pleasure to welcome eight senior artists to LGTripp Gallery. Most of them are from the Philadelphia area, have been rewarded with long-lasting successful careers and have made significant contributions to the art community not only through their art but also by promoting artists, establishing galleries, through their writings, lectures, and reviews.

American contemporary artist Will Barnet (age 99) once said, “Painting is almost like a religious experience, which should go on and on. Age just gives you the freedom to do some things you’ve never done before. Great work can come at any stage of your life.”

The artists in this exhibition have discovered that passion and creative impulses transcend age and even some of its limitations. While the rest of society is contemplating retirement at age 65, artists perceive their profession as lasting a lifetime even when, for some, exhibition opportunities are limited. Although a few privileged artists have the good fortune of exhibiting their works through latter years, there are many who have a very different experience. Exhibition opportunities decrease due to a plethora of reasons, such as galleries shifting their focus to work by younger artists, the loss of representation, disillusionment with the gallery scene and physical challenges, to name a few. However, this reality doesn’t inhibit the aging artist from being creative and productive. Rather age grants artists liberty to explore their medium, to experience a surge in inspiration and sometimes the freedom to reinvent their work. Their view of themselves as artists and as contributors to society doesn’t end at a designated age.

Painters Don’t Retire features a range of abstract works by seven painters and one sculptor. Impressive lists of solo exhibitions, commissions, awards, publications and collections fill their resumes, giving evidence of vibrant careers. This exhibition provides an occasion for the work of these artists to be seen and acknowledged once again.