Jacob Klensin.

So as I promised.. we will be doing fun artist features on this blog. Unfortunately this has taken me a little more time than I thought it would but I'm certainly collecting resources and doing my homework. I'd like to start with one of our favorite regularly exhibited artists and this month's co-curator of "Inspired by Film"; Jacob Klensin.

First I must gush a bit. We met Jacob through his lovely lady, Destiny, and couldn't be happier that we did. We started our amazing relationship with him in our lovely space during a quiet opening and it turned into an afterhours night of fun, laughter, and amazing photography/art talk (with lots of wine and beer of course). Jacob is everything you want in an artist friend (especially when you're running a very DIY alternative space such as The Art Is Not Dead). He's extremely passionate about his work, others' works, and the general idea of artistic community. He has been a joy to our space and without him, 'Inspired by Film' wouldn't have been half of what it was this past Saturday. A GIGANTIC 'thank you' to him again.

As far as his work goes; Jacob is a medium format photographer working in a classic analog style. He prints a large majority of his work himself and takes pride in every tiny nuance in each piece. You could classify him in a documentary-like style with his "Michael Jackson Memorial" series or his new "American Fighters" work but if you take a look at his portraits and landscapes, you understand that he sees the world in a very fine art type of way. Each piece shows something a bit more than the initial figure or subject projected. You can see the soul and heart in his subjects and it certainly makes you want to know them and be in the space he was when he created the piece. We urge you to check out his website or stop by the space and see some of his amazing work (and the new pieces on canvas are simply gorgeous). He has become a great supporter and friend of ours and we hope you have the chance to see his work up close and in person someday.

Here's some of our favorites:







All works ©JacobKlensin.

Once again.. a HUGE thank you to Jacob. We look forward to seeing more and more work from you in our space and otherwise.

Check him out, friends: http://www.jacobklensinphotography.com/

Inspired By Film.

The Art Is Not Dead gallery presents... Inspired by Film:

An art show celebrating film, cinema and all sorts of moving media. When media first started moving it opened a new world for artwork and set into motion much of what had been seen previously. Now we're turning time back and slowing the work back down to a standstill. Work will include:

Painting by Alexis Maybry...http://alexismabry.webs.com

Photography by JP Bevins...http://www.jpbevins.com

Painting and photography by Maria Teicher...http://flickr.com/mariateicher

Photography by Jacob Klensin...http://www.jacobklensinphotography.com

Prints by Jim Howart...http://www.jimhorwat.com

Sculptures by...David "Tom Sevo" Kindler...http://www.flickr.com/photos/kindlercolabs/collections/

The show will also include a film screening during the closing party on the 24th of April, curated by Adam Paradis from Boston, and including new works by small format filmakers.

Opening is this Saturday the 10th from 5-10pm.
Film screenings on the 24th will start at 7pm.

Come stop by and support your local talent and gallery.


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We would also like to mention that this show was co-curated and put together by the amazing Jacob Klensin (one of the artists contributing). He has been a joy to work with and the number 1 reason this show is going up and will be a wonderful success. We would like to publicly thank him for all his hard work and dedication to art, our small loving space, and our mission. Jacob is one of a kind and we hope you enjoy his work (curatorial and photographically) as much as we do.

Thank you Jacob again, you're truly an amazing talent and friend.

As I start this project of making this blog more about art in general and not JUST our gallery.. I'm thinking this little internet space needs a make-over. Hmm..

Guess I'll get to work on that tonight!

So much to do! And I love all the blogs and etsy shops people have been sending me to look at. It makes my "hunting" job for this project a whole lot easier. Thank you all so much! Already focusing on a few that I've had my eye on for quite some time.

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As far as our opening.. well, it was raining here in Philadelphia but we still had QUITE the turn-out. 3 of our featured artists showed up and we sold a few photography prints to be able to donate $50 to vday.org. We're pretty excited to be able to help out and even $10 would've been great, so this was a lovely surprise. -We're gearing up to get some of these pieces on etsy so our shop should be up in the next week or so. There's always a lot to do and with only two of us.. it's a large work-load. We're loving every minute of it though.

Way too long..

I can't believe it's been this long since we've written. We are in the progress of many things and that's where time has been mostly spent. As many of you know, we are definitely artists running this small gallery; for artists by artists. Sometimes our own work has to compete with our space's ideas. Maria (myself) has been working, getting ready to apply for grad school and Brian is near completion on Proof and Proving's first release (and DAMN does it sound amazing).

A little update:
Our December show (Inspired by Sound) was truly amazing. Opening night we were privileged enough to share our space with an acoustic set by Astpai. It was beyond wonderful to have such talented musicians and friends from so far away (Austria) see our space and play. Pictures are to come in the next few days. -As it goes, we loved the show too much and couldn't bare to take it down in January. -The snow has kept our doors closed quite a bit this month considering we currently rely heavily on foot traffic (other than our openings). Our March show is a group show of all donated works to help benefit vday.org. We look forward to our opening on March 13th and are excited to see who stops by.

Our April show is dedicated to art inspired by film. We are co-curating our space with artist/photographer Jacob Klensin. We are meeting with him tomorrow to set dates and get ready for it's awesomeness. There's much in store for this one and we couldn't thank him enough for his support and help. It's going to be truly amazing. Keep yourselves in the loop and make sure to fan us on facebook for more reliable updates.

In some other fun news.. our website is currently being developed. It will be pretty simple but we're excited to have one and get this going on a bit more of a professional level. We know we're about as "DIY" as it comes, and being as we're two punk rock kids.. it does fit, but even the smallest punk bands have websites. We're making it work. :) In addition to a basic website we'll have our paypal account activated so we can start on a few fun-for-all projects.

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Our space is currently dedicated to our small family and community, but we are trying to reach out a little further. In the next up and coming weeks, we will have this blog reaching further than our own artists. We will be posting fun etsy shops and pieces that we love, awesome articles we find, shows coming up in the area, etc. We feel that to truly make our space a "community" we have to include those that are not necessarily in our city, gallery, and social circle. I want to expand this simple blog to show more than just US. We hope it becomes a great place to explore new artists and great art of all kinds.

Until next time.. We love you all.

-The Art Is Not Dead