PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release

Jules Goldman Books and Antiques
29 North 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
 
Contact: Jules Goldman
215-923-2203 (store)
215-920-3920 (cell)
goldmanjules@yahoo.com
 

DEFIANTLY EXPRESSIONISTIC ART LANDS IN PHILADELPHIA

"Modernists in Exile" Four-Person Show Opens in Old City, Feb. 3

First Friday in February will mark the debut of "Modernists in Exile," a new group show opening at Jules Goldman Books & Antiques in Old City, Philadelphia.  Paintings and other works by four artists will be on view: Brian Gormley, Ronald C. Martin, David Ohlerking, and Robert Petrick.  "Modernists in Exile" encompasses art both abstract and representational; what unites this motley selection of artists is the expressiveness of their styles, the passion manifested in each artist's approach to mark-making.  


BRIAN GORMLEY made his name in the early 1980s as part of a small cadre of young artists from the East Village and Lower East Side, including Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, who brought graffiti into the realm of fine art.  Today, his colorful, frenetic abstract paintings and prints still retain traces of street art's influence.  Gormley’s massive body of work has been exhibited in solo shows in Dublin, Vienna, Prague, Zurich, Rome, and Mexico City.  ROBERT PETRICK's eclectic portfolio includes non-objective and abstract art as well as word paintings, installations, and sculptures that speak to his background in graphic design.  RONALD C. MARTIN is a local artist, born in Philadelphia, whose work is influenced by his studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Barnes Foundation, and Christie's New York.  DAVID OHLERKING is already well-known to Philadelphians for his loose, painterly oils of the local scenery, which he completes on-site in a matter of hours.  Ohlerking is known for bartering his paintings; in fact, in his first encounter with Goldman, Ohlerking traded a still-wet painting of Goldman's storefront on Second Street for a bundle of antique frames.


The title "Modernists in Exile" was inspired by the group's lack of exposure in the mainstream art establishment.  Unlike a typical Old City gallery, Jules Goldman’s store on Second Street overflows with books, art, and all other manner of things collected during his thirty years in the antique business.

Jules Goldman Books and Antiques, located at 29 N. 2nd St. in Old City, is open from noon to seven p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and by appointment. Modernists in Exile" will be on view from First Friday, Feburary 3, to March 1.


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Further information about the exhibition and Jules Goldman Books and Antiques can be found at http://www.julesgoldmanbooks.com.

For details about the artists, please visit http://www.briangormley.com, http://www.robertpetrick.com, and http://www.davidohlerking.com.

More work by Scot Borofsky arrived in time for First Friday in December, and the press is starting to flood in.  Here are some excerpts:


CA: Can you talk about the experience you had with Jean-Michel Basquiat?
SB: I was at a Julian Schnabel exhibit. I was in a room by myself and suddenly Basquiat walks into the the room. Basquiat started to back up to the wall while taking a marker out of his pocket, and behind his back he started doing a drawing on the wall, during the opening at the Whitney! And he was looking me in the eye the whole time. He put the marker back into his pocket and then slowly made his way out of the room. You couldn’t make out the image he was trying to draw but you could see Basquiat in the line, you could feel his energy. That’s what helped me find my own style. That was his gift to me, He gave that to me.
"Scot Borofsky: The Aesthetic Sage" in the Brattleboro Reformer, 12/3

"I’m told that Borofsky sprang from the same graffiti/art culture that produced Basquiat and Keith Haring. His work has that same sort of nervous energy. It varies from totally abstract imagery to abstract-with-traces-of-figurative motifs.  Some of the pieces are masses of lines, tangling and intertwining, and consequently producing a somewhat hypnotic effect.  Summer Hay is especially effective [in] this regard."
'"The Newest Art Venue" in the Broad Street Review, 12/5


"The work may appear to be simple abstractions but Borofsky is giving you the ARCHETYPE, layered. God knows what these images are doing to viewers’ brains. "
"Scot Borofsky - From Street Art to Gallery, An Interview" in Philadelphia's artblog

"Randomly on the street I met artist Scot Borofsky doing some live painting outside of a bookstore where he has work showing. We went inside and it was a really interesting place, with art resting up against all the book shelves. Ancient books and signage everywhere, the kind of experience you don't get browsing audible or on your kindle- and probably one of the last stores of its kind."
"Philly First Friday: Crawling Old City" on Artsucks.com by COJO

The first Saturday of the month is always the same story-- the store is trashed in the aftermath of First Friday.  (You might have to be a regular customer, however, to discern first Saturday's disorder from the typical state of affairs.)

Safely above the fray hang fourteen new works of art from Scot Borofsky.  Scot and Brian were in attendance last night, as was their  friend Michael Carter.  Many thanks go to Mark, Jeff, Billy, and Steve of BRO for the live music and good vibes.

Technically Brian's show is set to end on November 10, but you can expect to see his work in the near future.  Talks are the in the works for a joint Borofsky-Gormley show in December.

Some talented performers from out-of-town will be helping us celebrate Brian's exhibition on Friday:

- BRO,  a psycho electro-shock lounge quartet, Jeff Eldredge on accordian and trumpet, Steve Meltzer on electronics, Billy Sokol on piccolo bass, and Marc Jacoby on strings
- Lyle Rickards, using dulcimer, fiddle, and dobro to bring an old-timey feel
- The Dharma Bums, psychedelic folk-rockers (also on Myspace)
- poet Michael Carter, author of Broken Noses and Metempsychoses (available for purchase at the front desk)

We're also pleased to announce that paintings by Brian's friend Scot Borofsky will also be on view Friday night as a small preview of his upcoming show at the store (details TBA).

 

Above: Detail from Woman in the Mountains, 2004, oil on canvas.

More details on Brian's show can be found here on our website.

Press release here:  http://www.julesgoldmanbooks.com/gormley-closing-press-release.html

As my interests expand to include contemporary art and artists, I want the first exhibition to be about beauty and intelligence. That is why I chose to begin with Brian Gormley, an artist whose work expresses both those qualities in abundance. It is my great pleasure and honor to introduce this artist to Philadelphia.

I have known Brian for more than 20 years, mainly through the flea market scene. He always impressed me with the sharpness of both his mind and his eye. Once I saw his work it bowled me over.

As a rare book seller who also deals in antique prints and curios, I have learned that in things of genuine value – that is, items that enhance reality by virtue of their presence – there is always an element of beauty. As such, over the decades my “eye” for beauty has developed and grown acute naturally. What thrills a book collector is not necessarily going to impress a collector of, say, a French bronzes. However, rest assured, the element of beauty is present and is very much a factor in their choices and in their joy of possession. Once your eye is attuned to it, beauty is the spark that lights up an object as worth having.

My approach to selling art is, like my approach to everything, a bit different. My shop, people often comment, feels like something out of fin de siècle Paris. As I understand it, Picasso, Vollard, Braques, and many other now famous artists from that era first displayed their work in curio shops not so different from my space here in Old City Philadelphia. Therefore, rather than try and redo the space so that the art fits, I have chosen to exhibit Gormley’s pieces that fit in the space.

I invite other dealers here in Philadelphia to come and see the work, meet the artist, and make arrangements to show Gormley’s more massive pieces. You will be awed by the immensity of his output overall, and the relentless beauty inherent in his work.

I invite everyone to come and experience the power of genius present in these painting and prints.  Please help me welcome Brian Gormley to Philadelphia. And thank you for your interest in my new adventure in the world of contemporary art.

                                                                        Jules Goldman

                                                                        September 2011


Brian Gormley Exhibition of Paintings and Prints

First Friday October 7 through November 1, 2011

Jules Goldman Books and Art

29 North 2nd Street

Old City Philadelphia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED ARTIST
OPENS EXHIBITION IN OLD CITY

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7    The long-overdue first Philadelphia exhibition of painter and printmaker Brian Gormley is finally at hand.  Jules Goldman Books and Antiques will exhibit 100 of Gormley’s works beginning First Friday, October 7.  The artist, who was born in Manhattan and raised in Bucks County, PA, is often linked with the late Jean-Michel Basquiat for the energy and hyper-retinal styles of both painters, as well as the fact that the two were close friends.

Gormley regularly exhibits outside the United States, with prior shows at the prestigious Hillsboro Gallery in Dublin as well as in Vienna, Prague, Zurich, Rome and Mexico City. After the opening of a recent exhibition of printmaking at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, director Enrique Juncosa celebrated Gormley’s contribution to the show with a sit-down dinner for the artist and 200 of the museum’s top patrons at the Clarence Hotel, owned by Bono and The Edge.

The First Friday reception will include musical entertainment by the Delaware River Valley’s own Working Class Bohemians, a bass saxophone and resonator-ukulele duo playing New Orleans jazz and bawdy blues, as well as a poetry reading by friends of the artist. 

As the distinguished Irish critic Brian Fallon has noted, “Gormley continues to expand upon a style which is Sui Generis.” Gormley’s paintings combine an intense intellectual abstraction with sublime beauty. His powerful printmaking leaves no doubt that the work is created by a master of the mark.

Both paintings and prints will be on display in the Old City location at 29 North 2nd Street, right across the street from Christ Church. Jules Goldman Books and Antiques is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon until 7 p.m. and by appointment. The exhibition runs October 7 through November 10, 2011.


For further information, please contact Jules Goldman 215-920-3920.

For list of previous exhibits and press clips, please visit  http://www.briangormley.com/Brian_Gormley/Bio_%26_Press.html.


For jpegs of images, please visit http://www.briangormley.com/Brian_Gormley/Paintings/Paintings.html.

For a music sample, please visit http://www.ukejackson.com/Assets/Snippets_1-2.mp3.