Press Releases
For Humanities / Poetry Programs
Art Exhibit
Contact: David Kozinski 302. 764.1291
The vivid, varied photography and mixed media artwork of G. Loie Grossmann will be featured in the upcoming exhibition at the Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center (MRAC), along with work by members of the Manayunk Roxborough Artists’ Co-Op in several media and styles. Titled, “Convergences: From Photography to Dreamscapes, photoArt by G. Loie Grossmann”, the show’s opening reception will be Sunday, September 12, 2010, from noon to 3:00 PM, in the gallery at MRAC, 419 Green Lane (rear), Philadelphia, PA 19128. The opening will be followed by a poetry reading, presented by MRAC’s Humanities division.
The new work G. Loie Grossmann will exhibit at MRAC constitutes a convergence of images from diverse sources including aerial views, images taken during a vacation in Arizona and pictures of familiar and not-so-familiar Philadelphia scenes. An image that features a statue of Benjamin Franklin, sporting a Phillies’ ball cap and titled “The Man In The Red Cap”, will be recognizable to many Philadelphia area viewers and no doubt elicit smiles. The convergences of the title refer to the joining of old and new technologies, the convergence of positive energy found at vortices such as Bell Rock and other locations in the American Southwest, and the coming together of different ways of experiencing art.
Although Grossmann usually begins her creative process with the camera, only some of the works could be simply termed “photographs”. She alters many of her images using computer graphics programs and a Wacom tablet that allows her to draw on the computer screen. The images are eventually printed onto canvas or art quality paper, and she sometimes applies paint to the surface before the work is finished. The resulting images, which Grossmann has dubbed “photoArt”, can be comprehended as representations, but often project uncanny qualities that embrace the surreal and the abstract. “I believe the visual impression for the viewer is more important than how I achieved the image,” Grossmann explains.
Although they began as photographic images that Grossmann – who admits to being a somewhat reluctant flier – took on the long airplane trip to Arizona, works such as “Plane View” can be perceived in several ways. She transforms the “patchwork quilt” of countryside, with its geometrically irregular plots of land and the roads that border them, by intensifying and sometimes changing the existing colors of the landscape. Although primary colors are predominant, close inspection reveals a spectrum of hues, each one influencing its neighbor as well as the whole picture. The viewer can “read” the image as a view of the ground from the sky, as an abstract exploration of colors and shapes, or as a convergence of both. Another aerial view renders crop circles with exotic coloration, suggesting lily pads as they might exist on another planet.
Grossmann is an award-winning photographer who worked for the Philadelphia Daily News for more than fourteen years before launching her own business, Philly New Media, which designs, “attractive websites that are easy to navigate.” She was born in Philadelphia and grew up in the neighborhood of Roxborough. A founding member of the Manayunk Roxborough Artists’ Co-Op and member of its publicity committee, she had her first solo show at the then Manayunk Art Center in May, 2006. She now resides in the Blue Bell Hill neighborhood with her husband, David Haugaard, who is a board member of MRAC.
Grossmann and Haugaard celebrated their thirteenth wedding anniversary in Arizona. Visits to the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert provided her with an abundance of energy and inspiration. Fascinated by the study of rocks and minerals since childhood, she found herself overwhelmed with emotion by the spectacular sights at these locations. Grossmann made few adjustments to the photograph, “Otherworldly”, a landscape from the Petrified Forest. In the foreground and to the right stand gold and amber rock formations, weathered by the eons. These contrast with the blue, lavender and brown valley below, a ziggurat-shaped formation jutting up from it, and the dark access road that snakes its way through the scene. Grossmann found her spirits uplifted – by the breathtaking scenery to be sure, but also perhaps by the convergent energy that exists in proximity to the great rock formations near Sedona, and possibly by the relatively high sea level and low humidity of the region.
Images from the trip include some taken along Route 66, celebrated in story and song. A rusty, circa 1930s car stands in the foreground of “Tepees And Old Ford”, its prominent headlamps and large, damaged grill suggesting a wide grin missing a few teeth. The teepees in the background, that seem to reflect the darkening sky, are actually motel cabins. All the cabins, Grossmann notes, “have classic cars parked permanently in front of them, in better condition than the old Ford.” While the picture captures some of the kitschy nostalgia to be found along the old highway, the looming automobile seems to mark the location as one frozen in time, but for the rust that slowly devours it.
Grossmann earned her B.A. in Journalism/News Writing, with a concentration in Photojournalism at Pennsylvania State University. During her undergraduate years her photography was exhibited three times at the Kern Gallery, including a solo show of images from the Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans. After graduation she lived in New York, taking advantage of the city’s cultural scene and independently studying the photography and painting of such masters as Stieglitz, Monet and Georgia O’Keefe. After returning to Philadelphia her photographs were published in the Old City Digest and, starting in 1979, more than thirty of her pictures were featured in Clark DeLeon’s column in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
A freelancer with the Daily News for more than two years, Grossmann won the Best Of Show prize in the Philadelphia Press Photographers Competition and the newspaper hired her as a staff photographer. A nine-image study of the second Vietnam War Memorial, “The Longest War”, won her First Place for National News Picture Story presented by the University of Missouri. The New Jersey Press Photography Association named her New Jersey Photographer of the year in 1984, 1988 and 1990.
When the Daily News eliminated its darkroom in favor of a computerized system, Grossmann taught herself how to use Adobe Photoshop. This change of tools and a class she attended about the internet were partly responsible for her decision to enter a Masters Degree program in Instructional Technology And Multi-Media at Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, which became Philadelphia University. She finished the Master’s program in 1998 and soon established Philly New Media.
Working at the new business curtailed the time Grossmann had for photography until a 2003 trip to California revitalized her devotion to the art. Applying her fluency with computer graphics programs like “Adobe Photoshop” and “Corel Painter”, she began creating “photoArt”. She has since exhibited her work in numerous shows at MRAC, in the storefront at 4410 Main Street in Manayunk and at the Manayunk Arts Festival. The new show at MRAC is proof that her creative momentum is growing. “I’ll always take photographs,” Grossmann asserts, “I keep a visual diary of my life. I try to show people how I see the world. I hope these images of Arizona, Philadelphia, and the world from the air will give visitors to my show a fresh view.”
The opening reception for the exhibit is Sunday, September 12th, 2010, from noon to 3:00 PM, held in the gallery at MRAC. Guests are invited to partake of light refreshments and to meet the artists. “Convergences: From Photography to Dreamscapes, photoArt by G. Loie Grossmann” will run through Sunday, September 26th. For more information about this and other events at MRAC, telephone 215. 482.3363 or see www.manayunkartcenter.org on the web. The gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Admission is free, donations encouraged.
Humanities / Poetry
CONTACT: PETER KROK
Humanities Director of the Manayunk Art Center, at 215-482-3363
Manayunk Roxborough Art Center (M/RAC) hosts “Three Singular Voices & Their New Books: Bill Hengst, David Kozinski and Bruce Niedt” on Sunday, on September 12, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. $4 Donation and refreshments available. Includes Open Reading.
The Manayunk Roxborough Art Center (M/RAC) at 419 Green Lane (rear) is having a spirited afternoon of poetry with a program called “Three Singular Voices & Their New Books: David Kozinski, Bill Hengst and Bruce Niedt” on Sunday, September 12, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. $4 Donation requested. Light Refreshments available. That afternoon will also include an Art Show Opening featuring G. Loie Grossmann from noon to 3:00 PM.
David Kozinski first collection of poetry, Loopholes, won the 7th Annual dogfish Head Poetry prize. Kozinski is an established artist and member of the Manayunk Art Center. He is also an able actor and his literary work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the Mad Poets Review and the Schuylkill Valley Journal.
Bruce Niedt’s latest chapbook, Breathing Out, is available from the Finishing Line press. He has worn first prize for poetry at the Philadelphia Writers Conference in 2006 and 2007 and he has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is a south jersey native who calls himself a “beneficent bureaucrat.”
Bill Hengst’s poetry chapbook, Yard Man, which was recently published by Finishing Line press, is inspired by his gardening life and a fertile imagination. He holds both a Masters' and PhD degree in city planning and practiced in that field for 25 years. In his second career he has combined gardening and writing.
All three poets have done readings throughout the area and have had poems that appeared in a number of literary journals including the Mad Poets Review and the Schuylkill Valley Journal.
Peter Krok, the Humanities Director of the MAC, started his literary afternoon series at the MAC in the fall of1990. There is a $4 donation and, of course, refreshments are provided. Afternoon will include an Open Reading. For information about the program, call the MAC at 215-482-3363.