Musically artistic. For years, John Dowell has been one of Philadelphia’s most respected artists and musicians. " Heartsongs", his aptly named exhibition of works on paper at the ArtJaz Gallery, splendidly reinforces this reputation.
In his lithographs and watercolors, Dowell displays a distinctive ability to make visual expression melodic and musical impulses visual. The two aspects of his thinking blend effortlessly. Many of his images involve hearts, which Dowell uses as a symbolic icon and also as a central compositional device. The hearts, in his lithographs function as window, showing the viewer fragments of images, such as the ocean, which trigger pleasant memories or suggest an overarching spirituality.

First impressions are most important. What a pleasure it is to walk into an art gallery that looks and sounds like an institution specializing in African American culture. Hearing Kind of Blue was both sign and symbol. Could it not be a sign of the time? There is one gallery in Philadelphia that reminds you of Big Maybelle. ArtJaz Gallery, located on North Second Street, is the embodiment of Little Jimmy Scott’s Faith in Time. And like Jimmy Scott, it has the moral fortitude to survive and represent artist fairly.

" Only a Dream" by Richard Watson is on display at ArtJaz. Loose composition and sparse collaging make for a strong piece.

Richard J. Watson, Artist
"Survival songs" speaks to the artist’s interpretation of the trials and tribulations of African American sin particular. The impetus for much of his current work in its various creative configurations is his attempt and desire to address folksong as a paradigm. In so doing, he often employs found objects, which he refers to as "discarded histories", as a medium for recounting his parables. Accumulated objects and histories, collaged and interwoven within the artist’s own sensibilities and personal experience, set the stage for the individual " story capsules" Watson creates.

G. Farrel Kellum. Artist
The sheer uplifting joie de vivre in the abstract mixed media work of G. Farrel Kellum is guaranteed to reverse anyone’s opinion about the glass being half-empty " Existence Digitale".
This work is all about the interface between form and color, and which yields one to the other is impossible to ascertain.
The palette runs to flowing cascades of light, with various designs coursing throughout. Leaving this work a sequence that builds a kinetic momentum from one painting to the next. Though these are boldly abstract, that doesn’t rule out Kellum’s take on "representation" which must indeed remain in quotes. Up to the minute, the antecedents and referents are not occluded but rather nodded to, as historic icons. Miro and Tanguy and even a touch of Stuart Davis run through here, while the concentration of bright colors brings Mondrian in from the cold.