paintings by Anna Breininger
September 3 – October 16, 2010

Painted Bride Art Center Café Gallery
230 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA
First Friday receptions: September 3 and October 1, 5 - 7 pm

...if this your mother knew is an exhibition of paintings exploring the relationships between heirlooms, domestic memories, and the decaying effects time. Anna Breininger’s work is made through a process of layering materials then peeling away at the final surface. Destructive effects of time and exposure to the elements are built in, allowing for the exploration of the imperfect relationship we have with these precious things.

Pennsylvania German motifs are used as a starting point to explore the lines between spiritually significant gestures and pure decoration. These paintings draw inspiration from handmade items such as hex signs, quilts and fraktur. Though this imagery is specific it, like the symbols of so many cultures, shifts identities between defining genuine heritage and existing as a purely kitschy commodity. Much like a handed down story these images are shaped and distilled gradually through their retelling.