Art Histories: John Singletary

 
 
 

ARTIST: JOHN SINGLETARY


Art Histories are highly curated presentations of an artists’ life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come.


 

John Singletary is a photographer and multimedia artist whose work uniquely combines black and white photography, performance, and technology in a manner that is both intimate and spellbinding. His prints, illuminated OLED panels, and installations invite the viewer to engage in dynamic and enveloping experiences. Referencing ancient mysticism and our shared humanity, Singletary’s artistry is deeply felt in the aesthetics of his imagery, the technical prowess of presentation, and the treatment of universal concepts at play.

Singletary’s work has been collected by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Center for Fine Art Photography, as well as other institutional and private collections. He has exhibited at the Pennsylvania State Museum, LG Tripp Gallery, James Oliver Gallery, Sol Mednick Gallery, and The Delaware Contemporary Museum. His work has been reviewed and/or featured in Lenscratch Magazine, L’Oeil de la Photographie, the Od Review, Movers and Makers (WHYY) and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Singletary is also a contributing writer for The Photo Review Journal and was the featured lecturer at Atlanta Celebrates Photography in 2021 in collaboration with Emory University.

“I want the narratives to be open enough for the viewer to find themselves and their own deeply personal stories in the images. I hope our spaces transport the viewer and inspire a sense of wonder. The most I could hope is that someone walks out of a show feeling a little less alone.”
— John Singletary
 
 

COLLECTION: TRACES

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Artist Statement
The imagery and vignettes in this ongoing multimedia work use video, digital and stop motion animation, historical footage, and audio to depict the extraordinary light and darkness in the human condition and life events such as the genesis of our existence, and the purpose we serve to each other and ourselves.

The familiar and unpredictable illustrate the cycles of life across cultural barriers. Surveying the myriad and disjointed experiences that make up a life, Traces explores the way we construct our internal narratives and create meaning from experience. The audio component consists of a series of anonymously conducted interviews with a range of participants. The perspectives chosen reveal the universality and individuality of values, the intersectionality of symbolism across cultures, our lineages, and the perpetual cycles of life.

 

Book Cover Image, TRACES by John Singletary © John Singletary 2024

PUBLICATION

TRACES by John Singletary

Published by Daylight Books, 2024
ISBN-13: 9781954119338112

Click here to purchase the book.

 

COLLECTION: ANAHATA

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Artist Statement
Anahata is a photography-based multimedia project, presented as an immersive installation on OLED electronic canvases, as well as traditional print photographs. These images are the result of an intimate collaboration between performers, choreographers, costume designers, makeup artists and technicians in which I acted as photographer and director. Choreographed movement was captured with an open-spectrum camera in a purpose-built, UV light studio where dancers performed in handcrafted costumes. The pictures are not the product of digital editing, but rather a novel photographic process that produces images true to moments in time.

Sanskrit for “unhurt” or “unbroken,” the word Anahata corresponds to the energy of the heart, the “unstruck sound” and harmonic resonance with the celestial realm. Dream-like imagery steeped in archetypal symbolism, mythology and mysticism directs a narrative that transports the viewer to an ancient, eternal place. Abstract but familiar, this place exists within every one of us. It is the provenance of dreams, devotion, prayer, dance, music and silence. This cocoon-like web connects us through our stories, journeys, compassion and grace. Anahata explores human relationships and their connection to the divine. Whether experienced as a sanctuary or celebration of diversity in relationships, the images in Anahata attempt to connect to a universal and ageless divinity. When modern society is becoming precariously polarized and divided by sanctimonious tribal ideologies, I hope that my work can bridge some of the divides in our innate connection.

 

Anahata - A Photography Based Installation on OLED Panels
Click the video to watch the full segment featuring John Singletary’s series, Anahata.
Shot by Antoine Antsis and Andrey Kolyada/Edited by John Singletary

 
 

SOUND INSTALLATION

John Singletary’s (S), OLED/Sound Installation
4’ x 2.5’, Total length 6:45


Click the video to listen.

 

© John Singletary, The Dance of Hades, 5 ’x 3’ OLED Installation, 34” x 44”

INTERVIEW

John Singletary /Anahata
Interviewed by Daniel Pateman of Photomonitor


“On the post-production and exhibition design end of things we wanted to create an exhibition space that was filled with the same sense of energetic charge and stillness that one might feel when entering a monastery or cathedral, a sense of meditative quiet that immerses the senses completely.” -John Singletary

Click here to read the full interview.

 
 

Collection: SYNTHESIS

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Artist Statement
Synthesis is a series of images produced by creating mixtures of traditional darkroom chemistry, pigments, dyes and other substances in solution and using a 4x5 view camera to photograph the reactions that unfold over a period of weeks. From this interaction of chemical and material elements come textural forms and fractal-like patterns that are reminiscent of the endlessly repeating structures that exist in nature on multiple scale levels ranging from the microscopic to the universal; an illustration of the complex architecture of our world.

 
 

PRESS

 

© John Singletary, Clarise, 8’ x 8’ OLED Installation, 60” x 60”

Amie Potsic interviewed John Singletary about his works in the series, Anahata.

 
 

Highlights Include:

 

Last Call for “Anahata”

 
 

John Singletary:
The Making of Anahata - Movers & Makers
Philadelphia photographer and mixed-media artist John Singletary discusses the making of Anahata, a collaboration between dancers, choreographers, costume designers, makeup artists and technicians.

 
 


Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP)
Lecture Series Presents: John Singletary

 
 

John Singletary: Anahata
Written by Aline Smithson

© John Singletary, Providence (Left Panel), 30’x3’ OLED Installation/Pigment Print

 
 

John Singletary’s beautiful unique works featured by Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Written by Sharon Garbe

© John Singletary, installation view of Anahata. Photographic imagery on synchronized OLED electronic canvases. Image courtesy of the artist.

 

© John Singletary, The Dance of Hades, 5 ’x 3’ OLED Installation, Pigment Print 34” x 44”

 
 

To acquire artwork from John Singletary’s collection: visit our Advisory Showroom.

Click here to download John Singletary’s CV.

To learn more about the artist: www.johnsingletaryimaging.com.

 
 

CREATE HISTORY NOW

Our Art Histories program features highly curated presentations of an artist’s life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come. Creating your own art history is an important opportunity for artists to shape their own legacy.

By documenting, exhibiting, and publishing their artwork as well as placing works with institutions and collections, we help artists give the gift of creativity now and tomorrow.  To learn more about Legacy Planning, contact us directly to schedule a consultation.

 
 

Art Histories: Michelle Soslau

 
 
 

ARTIST: MICHELLE SOSLAU



Art Histories are highly curated presentations of an artists’ life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come.


 

Michelle Soslau's career as a visual artist and art educator included an extensive exhibition record and faculty positions with museum, college, and community programs. To date, Soslau has had ten solo exhibitions in the Philadelphia/Central New Jersey area including the Ellarslie Museum in Trenton, NJ, the Cerulean Gallery in Philadelphia, PA, Artist House, a Philadelphia gallery known for featuring graduates of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) from where Soslau holds an MFA. Her work has been included in over twenty juried exhibitions and reviewed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Princeton Weekly Newspaper, and Packet on Line.

In addition to the inclusion of her work in private collections along the East coast of the United States, Soslau's work is also included in the corporate collections of the Bell Atlantic Telephone Company and the Safeguard Corporation in Wayne, PA and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Print Collection. Soslau served on the faculty of the Guggenheim Museum's Learning Through Art Program, Women's Studio Workshop in New York, La Salle University, Holy Family College, and the Philadelphia Cultural Program. In addition to earning her MFA from PAFA, Michelle studied for several years at the Barnes Foundation courtesy of the Violet de Mazia Trust and earned a BFA from Arcadia University and an MS in Education at the NY State University at Brockport.

“It is through these narratives and formal investigations that I am expressing my thoughts on social issues and reflections on personal experiences. ”
— Michelle Soslau
 
 

COLLECTION: BOATS

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Artist Statement
The content of my work is autobiographical with a concentration on social injustice. Figures are often held in place by atmospheric abstraction. Painting is my means of communicating what can not be expressed in any other medium. When closely considered, the subjects reveal themselves and can raise our consciousness and understanding. It is through these narratives and formal investigations that I am expressing my thoughts on social issues and reflections on personal experiences.

Creating in an intuitive manner, I have continually explored four motifs: The Falling Men, The Mourners, Boats, and I and Thou. Addressing the emotional, personal, and political, these series are subtly intertwined. The Falling Men series is a response to 9-11 and has now grown into representations of social justice and the insidious racism we are experiencing. The Mourners was inspired by a Courbet painting seen many years ago, which I later incorporated into my reflections on a family member falling ill. The Lady in I and Thou appears in my work pointing to issues of poverty and aloneness, issues especially salient in our times. My Boats series offers a metaphor for my own journey through life.

I was always struck by the expansive structure of old European church ceilings with its functional ribs sliding up the curved sides, meeting on the ceiling, supporting the roof. If you visualize the ceiling upside down, the ceiling is the same formal structure as a boat, with its ribs meeting at the base of the boat. While I am not certain why this became a point of departure for me, it has serviced me well. I have used many images of boats to show a conveyance of time and in some cases a memory. As a metaphor, boats travel back and forth carrying the stuff of living, then emptied out and return for another journey.

 
 

Collection: The MOURNERS

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Collection: NEW WORK 2023

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Collection: I and THOU

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Artist Statement

The series title, I and Thou, is inspired by the book of the same name by Martin Buber that suggests humans create meaning through relationships with others. Consciously, I elevate the Lady’s status by painting her as subject matter into more well-known and beloved historical paintings of the 19th and 20th centuries. Inspired by Impressionists Édouard Manet and Mary Cassatt, I paint the Lady into beautiful, peaceful, paintings of modern life in the late 1800s. Like contemporary painter Celia Paul, I explore the ideas of memory, family, and the inner lives of women. This series quietly asks, can we appreciate beauty as well as contradiction? How do individuals make a meaningful impression through time and history? How can we look at modern life and not see the unfortunate consequences of what that modernity has produced?

 
 

Collection: FALLING MEN

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Collection: BOXES

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Collection: DRAWINGS

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Collection: PAINT ON PAPER

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PRESS

 

Artist Michelle Soslau, The Bag Lady Series
Click the video to watch the full segment featuring Michelle Soslau
Video and interview by John Thornton

 
 

Highlights Include:

 

An Artist's Journey
Solo exhibition Video at Cerulean Gallery in Philadelphia
Video by John Thornton

 
 

Alumni artists show their work
Written by John Fey

© Michelle Soslau, Ocean Pearl of Light, Collage and acrylic on board, 15 x 30 inches, 2017

 
 

Featured Guest Artist: Michelle Soslau
Written by Diane Podolsky

© Michelle Soslau, Saying Goodbye to My Buddy, Oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches, 2020

 
 

Looking At the Work of Joan Mitchell and Mark Rothko
An online conversation with artist and teacher Michelle Soslau who compare and contrast the works of artistic trailblazers Joan Mitchell and Mark Rothko.
Video by The Plastic Club

 

© Michelle Soslau, Two Boats, Oil on linen, 18 x 24 inches, 2015

 
 

To acquire artwork from Michelle Soslau’s collection, email info@amiepotsicartadvisory.com.

Click here to download Michelle Soslau’s CV.

To learn more about the artist: https://michellesoslau.artspan.com/.

 
 

CREATE HISTORY NOW

Our Art Histories program features highly curated presentations of an artist’s life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come. Creating your own art history is an important opportunity for artists to shape their own legacy.

By documenting, exhibiting, and publishing their artwork as well as placing works with institutions and collections, we help artists give the gift of creativity now and tomorrow.  To learn more about Legacy Planning, contact us directly to schedule a consultation.

 
 

Art Histories: Simone Spicer

 
 
 

ARTIST: SIMONE SPICER



Art Histories are highly curated presentations of an artists’ life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come.


 

Simone Spicer is a sculptor from the Philadelphia area whose work made from our culture’s unprecedented waste materials comments on our precarious relationship with the natural world. Her education includes a BFA in Sculpture from the Maine College of Art, an MFA in sculpture from the University of North Carolina, and she received a full scholarship to attend The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. “Simone Spicer recombines familiar objects, post-consumer goods, in unexpected ways; playfully revealing the innocence of humanity, while addressing our dire need for change.” Spicer’s recent works in recycled materials have been shown at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Seaport Museum, the Woodmere Museum of Art, and in the Philadelphia International Airport, exhibiting her installation titled, “Plastic Galactic”.

Much of Spicer’s work has been in partnership with other artist-activists in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York, informing the public about climate change through events such as “Art in The Open” in Philadelphia and “Fear Environmental Mayhem Ahead”, at the IceBox Project Space in Philadelphia. She is currently participating in a traveling exhibit on view at Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music and the ‘Peace Boat’ docked in Chelsea, NY. She has served on many panels with artists and scientists reporting on climate change, and addressing how artists are handling our predicament. Simone believes her work to be a message of hope for humanity in our time.

“I have used empty containers as a metaphor to suggest emptying the mind in meditation while also embodying the ability to hold space for humanity in their hollowness. I set out to spiritualize our waste materials, ‘re-purposing’ in the most deeply meaningful way I possibly can. ”
— Simone Spicer
 
 

COLLECTION: WORKS IN recycled PLASTICS

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© Simone Spicer, Pumped, Motorized work, single use water bottles, fleece fabric, satin upholstery, 15 x 40 x 40 inches, 2011

© Simone Spicer, Fountain; Life Support System for a Collapsed Economy II (Installation view in Exhibition, FEMA: Fear Environmental Mayhem Ahead, presented at Icebox Project Space in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2020), shopping cart, plastic containers, motorized pump, water, 50 x 52 x 36 inches, 2020


Artist Statement
I build sculptures made from plastic single use containers and corrugated boxes, because I am endlessly fascinated by the symbolism the empty container, or vessel, with its ability to hold, offers. Containers serve as metaphor for the body and for the home and sustenance. My inspiration has always come from the materials I choose, and from the richness these particular materials bring forward in describing our culture and time in history. I view the disposable water bottles, Tide bottles, pill bottles, empty corrugated boxes and such as contemporary cultural iconography. Using our offal as building material enhances my images, as my work speaks of our relationship to nature, to each other, and to our collective past, present and future.

I often borrow subject matter and concepts from great art of the past. Using this framework elevates my materials and connects my images and our time to all of human history, despite the unprecedented impact humankind is having on our world today. In my figurative sculptures of familiar deities from different cultures, I have used empty containers as a metaphor to suggest emptying the mind in meditation while also embodying the ability to hold space for humanity in their hollowness. I set out to spiritualize our waste materials, ‘re-purposing’ in the most deeply meaningful way I possibly can.

In other works, like “Trash Talk”, a bust of Donald Trump, I use the symbolism of the waste materials to reinforce the lack of value inherent in the subject of the work. Conversely, in my works like “African American Youth”, “Fallen Hero”, and a series of “Street People”, I have used the waste materials to express society’s wrongly perceived lack of value of certain segments of our population.

My works in single use plastics has inspired me to take deep dives into the research of plastics in our natural environment and in our bodies. I show regularly with artists/activists and honor the passionate environmentalists and scientists I have worked with who study, monitor and inform the public about pollution and the subsequent climate change we are facing. Their knowledge and information they make available to us has inspired me to think deeply about change and transformation as being the essence of nature. At the heart, my work is about resiliency and the notion that we are part of nature and nothing we create can be separate from nature. I want my sculpture to remind viewers that we are all connected and to inspire appreciation for the beauty and mystery of life.

 
 

COLLECTION: WORKS IN CORRUGATED CARDBOARD

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COLLECTION: PAINTINGS

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PRESS

 

'Flow' Moves in at the Independence Seaport Museum
Interview with Simone Spicer
Live Segment with NBC10 Philadelphia

 

Studio Interview 2021: Simone Spicer
”Plastic Galactic” commissioned by the Philadelphia International Airport, 2021

 

ArtShow with Simone Spicer
Host Craig Stover interviews Simone Spicer about her artwork, September 2022

 
 

Highlights Include:

 

Water Atrocities
Written By Susan Hoffman Fishman

Installation view of FEMA: Fear Environmental Mayhem Ahead, Icebox Project Space in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2020 © Photo courtesy of Icebox Project Space

 
 

NY exhibit 'Earth on the Edge' weaves wonder, dread into mesmerizing art
Written by Jim McDermott

The End of the Age of Innocence on the Great Wave of Kanagawa by Simone Spicer © Photo by Jim McDermott

 
 

Embracing the Earth, Reflecting the Science
Written by Abby Luby

© Simone Spicer, Convergence Installation, Plastic gallon milk jugs, LED lights, motorized pump, water, 80 x 80 x 72 inches, 2019

 

© Simone Spicer, Bountiful Harvest Installation, Painted corrugated cardboard and plastic, fluorescent spray paint, popcorn, cheese curls, ruffles chips, 11 x 11 x 9 feet, 2012

 
 

To acquire artwork from Simone Spicer’s collection, email info@amiepotsicartadvisory.com.

Click here to download Simone Spicer’s CV.

To learn more about the artist: www.simonespicer.com.

Banner Image: © Simone Spicer, Igloo (detail), Plastic gallon milk jugs, LED lights, 51 x 60 x 60 inches, 2012
Installation at Woodmere Museum of Art, Philadelphia PA

 
 

CREATE HISTORY NOW

Our Art Histories program features highly curated presentations of an artist’s life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come. Creating your own art history is an important opportunity for artists to shape their own legacy.

By documenting, exhibiting, and publishing their artwork as well as placing works with institutions and collections, we help artists give the gift of creativity now and tomorrow.  To learn more about Legacy Planning, contact us directly to schedule a consultation.

 
 

Art Histories: Steven CW Taylor

 
 
 

ARTIST: STEVEN CW TAYLOR


Art Histories are highly curated presentations of an artists’ life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come.


 

Steven CW Taylor is a Gallerist and Contemporary Fine Art Photographer specializing in the documentation and archiving of Black Life during this time. He is the founding artist and curator of Ubuntu Fine Art -Philadelphia’s first and only Black-owned Fine Art Photography Gallery of a single artist.

Born and raised in the East Germantown section of Philadelphia, Taylor provides his community with access to Fine Art, music, and art education. Having traveled to 18 countries, and 4 US National Parks, it is important for Steven to share his photography intentionally with his community. Taylor’s current exhibition features his new work from Black Lives Matter protests and the close-knit community of Germantown. Taylor’s ability to bond with his subjects, dedication to sharing positive images of his contemporaries, and a commitment to technical innovation drive his artwork and gallery to excellence.

“Be it an animal, person, or place, the process is the same…I don’t take pictures, I feel the emotions of space and steal that time.”
— Steven CW Taylor
 
 

COLLECTION: Through The Lens of Witness

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Artist Statement
Under the alias "The Time Thief," I'm sharing "Through the Lens of Witness," a close look at the complex situations I experienced during the George Floyd protests in Philadelphia on May 30th, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis, sparked worldwide protests against police violence and systemic racism. As a photographer, I feel a duty to document my present contemporary experiences for future humans, taking inspiration from the iconic Gordon Parks and using photographic activism as my chosen form of artistic expression.

Deeply immersed in the protests, I was able to capture the raw emotions and energy of the people involved. Converting the sensory experiences of sight, sound, and smell into images that make you think, reveals the complicated relationship between law enforcement and protesters. These photographs, taken against the backdrop of Philadelphia's historic City Hall area, draw attention to the tension and challenges communities face while seeking justice and equality, and questioning the role of law enforcement in maintaining fairness. This photographic journey underlines the uncomfortable truth that prioritizing the protection of property can contribute to racial injustice and violence.

"Through the Lens of Witness" incorporates the philosophy of Ubuntu, emphasizing our shared human connections, and aims to ignite ongoing conversations about our collective responsibility in building a kind and inclusive world. I encourage you to explore the bravery and diverse personal experiences of those who marched during the George Floyd protests in Philadelphia. Together, we create a visual story that captures the spirit of change and the quest for a more equitable society for the generations to come.

 

AWARD

Philadelphia Association of Black Jounalists
2023 Visual Journalist of the Year

Visionary Founder & Chief Curator Steven CW Taylor of Ubuntu Fine Art receives the 2023 Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists Visual Journalist of the Year Award for producing photography and art that captures the beauty, community, challenges, culture and love of the Black community.

 
 

COLLECTION: EAST MEETS WEST: A Visual Harmony on Washi

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Artist Statement
"East Meets West: A Visual Harmony on Washi" is a profoundly personal study of the separate but interconnected neighborhoods of East and West Germantown. I was born in East Germantown and now run my Ubuntu Fine Art gallery in West Germantown. My goal is to honor both areas with striking monochrome images, revealing their individual charm and the lively essence that binds them together. The display highlights their toughness, allure, and collective experiences as seen through the lives of their inhabitants.

The images are printed on handmade unryu washi paper from the famous Awagami Factory in Japan, a family-managed business with a history extending over three centuries. This extraordinary paper brings a delightful touch to the pictures, additionally emphasizing the essence of the Germantown communities. Motivated by my affection for Japanese anime, which merges profound regard for cultural heritage with advanced technology, the employment of unryu paper combines old and new aspects, symbolizing the ongoing cultural dialogue between East and West.

Adopting the Ubuntu philosophy, which stresses mutual dependence, kindness, and the conviction that our welfare is connected to others, "East Meets West" salutes Germantown's fortitude, charm, and variety. This display encourages visitors to immerse themselves in these neighborhoods' distinctive dynamics and collective experiences, deepening their insight via the viewpoint of their residents. By embodying the essence of Ubuntu, the display promotes a stronger sense of fellowship, understanding, and harmony among those who experience its visual symphony.

 
 

COLLECTION: THE TIME THIEF

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Artist Statement
"The Time Thief" Collection is Ubuntu Fine Art's inaugural exhibition, named after my moniker, Steven CW Taylor - The Time Thief. This global collection aims to showcase my versatility as a photographer and a storyteller, capturing moments that embody the spirit of Ubuntu - unity in diversity.

The collection is an expedition into culturally diverse environments from Abu Dhabi, Barbados, Brazil, Bali, Paris, Kenya to Horseshoe Bend and Lower Antelope Canyon in Arizona, Glacier National Park in Montana, National Harbor in Prince George's County, Maryland, and my beloved home, Philadelphia. Each locale offers a unique vista of human experience and the imprints of my time on these lands.

The exhibition comprises a variety of photographs that speak the universal language of visual expression, immortalizing moments in time that reflect the essence of these places. From architectural grandeur to vibrant human interaction, from picturesque natural landscapes to intricate cityscapes, every photo represents a chapter in our shared global story.

Taking inspiration from my journey across the world, this collection serves as a cultural crossroads, blending traditions with contemporary themes, and fostering dialogue that transcends geographical boundaries. It encourages unity, mutual admiration, and connection, resonating with the spirit of Ubuntu.

With "The Time Thief" Collection, I pay respect to the resilience and beauty of our diverse world, inviting viewers to step into the unique dynamics of each captured location. This exhibition enriches the understanding of these communities through the eye of the beholder, aligning with the Ubuntu philosophy of our shared human experience, and invites viewers to witness and partake in a visual symphony that spans the globe, redefining the perception of time and space.

 

The Time Thief - Trailer
Produced by K. Knox Production
Click the video to watch.

 
 

BEHIND THE SCENES

Featuring Steven CW Taylor’s,
The Time Thief

Directed by Kyra Knox and Simone Holland


Click the video to watch.

 

A DAY IN THE LIFE

Steven CW Taylor

“I document black life, in its entirety. Whether it’s Africa or Philadelphia, I like to photograph things through the eyes of black people” -Steven CW Taylor

Click the video to watch.

 
 

Collection: SA BLUES’ - luxury coffee table book

Click on an image to expand or click here to purchase.


Artist Statement
SA Blues' was created with the intention that joy can be had even in the context of poverty.  We examine "Melissa's Letter" and use it as the contextual eyes through which we view SA Blues'. 

Our Wooden Coffee Table Book is hand-bound and printed on reinforced silk pages.

This book measures 12 x 12 inches, weighs over 10 lbs, and is sure to invoke thought and spark conversation.

One of our collectors had this to say about SA Blues', "...It's the material selection, the layout, the quality of the case.  Before you even get to the photography, it is a work of art!”

 
 

PRESS

 

© Steven CW Taylor, Bright Futures, 2023

Amie Potsic interviews photographer Steven CW Taylor about his current exhibition highlighting the African-American community in Germantown, his documentation of the Black Lives Matter protests, and the launch of new initiatives by his gallery Ubuntu Fine Art.

 
 

Click the video to watch the full tour.

Ubuntu Fine Art - You Oughta Know
A segment by PBS WHYY featuring Steven CW Taylor’s Fine Art Gallery

 
 

Click the video to watch the full tour.

Artist Steven Taylor gives a tour of Ubuntu Fine Art Gallery
Featuring an interview of Steven CW Taylor by Breland Moore of Fox 29 Philadelphia

 
 

Click the video to watch the full segment.

Ubuntu Fine Art Gallery Opens In Germantown
Featuring a segment by CBS News Philadelphia.

 
 

Highlights Include:

 

This new Germantown gallery offers gateways to the world
Written by Kevin Riordan

© Steven CW Taylor in front of his piece titled, Keyhole to the Majestic. Photo Credit: Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer of the Philadelphia Inquirer

 
 

Germantown’s new Black-owned photography gallery aims to be a portal away from the trauma of everyday life
Written by Layla A. Jones

Images of Ubuntu Fine Art Gallery in Germantown © Image courtesy of Ubuntu Fine Art Gallery owner, Steven CW Taylor

 
 

New Germantown art gallery embodies the spirit of Ubuntu
Written by Mina Llona, Tribune Correspondent

Steven CW Taylor © Image courtesy of Steven CW Taylor

 
 

Ubuntu Fine Art Gallery
Written by Mayleen P

© Steven CW Taylor artwork in The Ubuntu Fine Art Gallery
Photo credit: Dosage Magazine

 

© Steven CW Taylor, Subway Surfer, 2017, Color Photograph

 
 

To acquire artwork from Steven CW Taylor’s collection, email info@amiepotsicartadvisory.com.

Click here to download Steven CW Taylor’s CV.

To learn more about the artist: www.ubuntufa.com/.

 
 

CREATE HISTORY NOW

Our Art Histories program features highly curated presentations of an artist’s life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come. Creating your own art history is an important opportunity for artists to shape their own legacy.

By documenting, exhibiting, and publishing their artwork as well as placing works with institutions and collections, we help artists give the gift of creativity now and tomorrow.  To learn more about Legacy Planning, contact us directly to schedule a consultation.

 
 

Art Histories: John D. Woolsey

 
 
 

ARTIST: JOHN D. WOOLSEY



Art Histories are highly curated presentations of an artists’ life’s work provided for appreciators today, scholars of tomorrow, and generations to come.


 

John D. Woolsey grew up in southern Wisconsin where he spent much of his time exploring the rich natural world around him. At age thirteen, he started to paint from nature. As a teenager he was an avid bird-watcher and at age 16 had his first job as a scientific artist. His art has explored the natural world sense then, first painting the landscape broadly and then focusing on its myriad details. With the natural world as his subject, his work explores the themes of the scale of time, upheaval, dissolution and renewal.

Woolsey studied art and biology at the University of Wisconsin (BS, Art) and painting and at the University of Pennsylvania (BFA, MFA) where he studied with Neil Welliver, Alex Katz, Elaine de Kooning, Hitoshi Nakazato, James Brooks, Yvonne Jacquette, Rackstraw Downes and others.

He taught at the University of the Arts and the Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. He had a long career as a scientific illustrator and a developer of art programs for many best-selling science texts, science animations, and interactive multimedia in the life sciences.

During his fine-art career, he has had over 20 one-person exhibitions and exhibited in may group shows throughout the US and internationally. His work is represented in many public and private collections.

Woolsey maintains a studio in Philadelphia and has had a summer studio in a small village in coastal Maine for many years.

“Thus, it is both the process of transformation and the multiple scales of time (human, historical, geological) that has been driving my current work forward.”
— John D. Woolsey
 
 

COLLECTION: SMALL PAINTED FANS

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Artist Statement
My work is inspired by a love nature and science, as it has been since I started painting as a teenager. It always begins with a visual experience that grabs me. I never begin with thoughts about societal or philosophical issues. Nevertheless, in looking back over my work of many years a central theme has emerged: the relativity of time.

Time, of course, is universal and everyone experiences time in different ways. Looking back, it is clear that the conscious theme of time started to come into focus during my career as a developer of art programs for science texts. Working closely with the authors — biologists, geologists and astronomers — I became keenly aware of, and interested in, the vast scales of time that inform our experience: light seen from stars millions of light years away, an almost incomprehensible period of time; or the almost instantaneous transduction of photons striking the retina into electrical signals sent to the visual cortex from fleeting flashes of light seen through trees.

For many years, my practice focused on landscape painting in the traditional sense. But viewed retrospectively, my work revealed a fascination in the different scales of time. I painted low-tide landscapes in Maine: a view that was revealed twice a day; I spent several years painting erratic boulders, dropped randomly on the land by glaciers 15,000 years ago, and now sitting in a forest that replaced a farm 100 years ago, gradually being broken down by acids from lichens, and freeze-thaw cycles; I painted canyons in the American west, that revealed layers of sediments laid down over may millions of years, and eroded to then end up as new sediments.

Recently my work has taken a new turn. It began with drawings of ancient trees in Japanese temple gardens with their twisted roots and branches. These drawings have been transformed into woodcuts, then painted, collaged, restructured and otherwise altered to create new works. These works reference changes that happen over time: how landscapes grow and mature, then are broken down and reformed. These pieces have become metaphors of time with motifs of, for example, annual growth rings, sedimentary layers and broken, breccia-like structures.

Thus, my current work examines concepts of breakdown, reordering and renewal. It speaks to multiple scales of time: human, historical and geological.

 

Artwork © John D. Woolsey, Catalog for Distant Visions, Zillman Art Museum, 2023

CATALOG


Distant Visions
Solo Exhibition 2023
Zillman Art Museum

 
 

Collection: RESTRUCTURED WOODCUTS

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Collection: PAINTED WOODCUTS

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Collection: PAINTED TONDOS

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Collection: COLLAGE PAINTINGS ON PANELS

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PRESS

 

The Printmaker's Dilemma: What Do You Do With All Those Multiples? 
A YouTube studio visit by Second State Press. Click the video to watch the full segment featuring Woolsey.

 
 

Highlights Include:

 

Distant Visions: John Woolsey
Written by Carl Little

© John D. Woolsey, Lazy S #1 (Mirrored), Restructured woodcut print on BFK rives, 45” x 25.5”, 2021

 

Heaven and Earth
A Virtual Exhibition catalog featuring work by John D. Woolsey, David Raymond, & John Wissemann

 
 

Records of Existence: “Marks and Tracks” at the L.C. Bates Museum
Written by Carl Little

© John D. Woolsey, Sandpit, pastel on paper, 34 x 26 in. (framed), 1983.

 
 

Catamaran
Summer 2021 Edition

 

© John D. Woolsey, Forest Floor #1, 2020, Oil and watercolor on paper mounted of wood panel, 18” x 18”

 
 

To acquire artwork from John D. Woolsey’s collection, email info@amiepotsicartadvisory.com.

Click here to download John D. Woolsey’s CV.

To learn more about the artist: www.jwoolsey.format.com.

 
 

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