About the Exhibition
Opening reception: Sunday, July 13, noon - 3 pm
85% New: Paintings & Collages by John Graham will feature the Philadelphia artist, with artwork in various media and styles by members of the Manayunk Artists’ Co-Op. Philadelphia native John Graham’s artwork invites the viewer into a surreal world that is by turns mysterious, edgy and rambunctious. Above all, it is colorful.
Graham, now 85, began painting at age 69 but has been involved with art for most of his life. More than two decades ago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art selected three of his etchings, a cardboard print, and a color woodcut for its Print Collection. In years past, he worked with these media in a studio in the garage behind the Mount Airy home that he and his wife, Susan, have shared for more than 50 years. Now, he paints and creates collages mostly in his second-floor studio.
He cites the German Expressionists --- particularly Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Caspar David Friedrich, as well as the American-born Surrealist Odilon Redon --- as artistic influences. These influences manifest themselves through the prism of Graham’s individual aesthetic sense. Among the approximately 30 acrylic paintings that he will exhibit, Sunset Rock is Graham’s abstracted interpretation of a view of Twin Lakes in the Poconos. He recalls staying at a boys’ camp on this spot in 1928, and his favorite activity which was “gunneling”, i.e.: races in which one boy propelled each canoe from a standing position on the “gunnel” (gunwale) in the back of the vessel.
Graham will also exhibit a dozen 8” by 10” collages that explore planes, lines and the spatial relationships of these within the frame of the picture. Entering the Grahams’ Victorian house feels a bit like a visit to a relaxed, intimate art gallery. John’s paintings, woodcuts and collages hang throughout the house but there is also a parlor devoted to Susan’s watercolors – many of them detailed, subtly-colored seascapes. She has exhibited her work at the Woodmere Museum, winning a prize in a show there. John’s paintings have previously been featured at the Manayunk Art Center in a solo exhibit in 2005 and in a dual show with the work of fellow MAC Co-Op member John Hagarty in 2006. He has exhibited his woodcuts and marker sketches in solo shows at Edinboro State Teachers’ College (now Edinboro University), Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science (now Philadelphia University), the Allens Lane Art Center in Mt. Airy, and at Clivedon, a historic house in Germantown.
Graham currently holds the position of Education Development Officer at the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks. His career comprises a remarkable journey in positions as varied as executive director, educator, administrator, writer and fundraiser for some of Philadelphia’s best-known cultural and scientific institutions. These have included the Awbury Arboretum, the Wagner Free Institute of Science, the Academy of the Natural Sciences, and Philadelphia College of Art.
Contending with dyslexia, he dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Army in 1940, expecting to serve for one year. However, when the United States entered World War II, the Artillery private’s Army service extended to five years, during which he earned five campaign stars. The campaigns were in Naples-Foggia, Rome Arno. Southern France, Rheinland, and Central Europe. “For five months in Italy we were surrounded by Germans, on the Anzio beachhead,” relates Graham, “our foxholes were connected so we did a lot of socializing, visiting each other and playing poker, that kind of thing.” Graham has written and illustrated a manuscript about his military experience.
When his military service ended, Graham attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art (which became the Philadelphia College of Art, and is now the College of Art and Design of the University of the Arts). He found classes considerably easier than he did in high school, “because I was older … and I had learned how to study,” he says. He graduated in 1951.
Graham’s “manual dexterity” and ability to imagine in three dimensions led him to a position at the Aero Service Corp. where he worked for 17 years. With funding from NASA, he designed navigation charts used in the landing simulator by the first astronauts to reach the moon. He also supervised the creation of pilot training devices. “The work was top secret, and my division made relief maps for training pilots that were created from overhead photographs of enemy territory.” Graham eventually decided to seek employment elsewhere because of his growing antiwar convictions. He taught Product Development in the night school at Philadelphia College of Art. This involved the three-dimensional design of things such as models of household appliances. Then, he landed a job at the Academy of the Natural Sciences which began his successful career in nonprofit organizations.
Today, Graham divides his time between painting and fundraising for four historic house museums. He sees a parallel between painting and fundraising. “When you paint, you have to imagine what you want to do. Rough it out and it’s like a chess game. Writing grants is like that, too. When you apply for a grant, you create something. In the end, you have a finished product, just like a painting.”
About the Gallery
Manayunk Art Center, MAC, is a non-profit educational institution. Founded in 1953, MAC has been at its present location, a two story brick 19th century brick stable since 1962. MAC is a membership organization operated by a volunteer Board of Directors. MAC offers a full complement of creative educational services to families, individuals and artists in the Roxborough/Manayunk community as well as the greater Philadelphia area. At present, there are approximately 100 active members and 25-35 local artists who contribute to MAC in various volunteer capacities.
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