Doreen sits down with three prominent artists in the Philadelphia area and talks about their passion for art, their inspiration and where their love for art came from.
Philadelphia native ALLOYIUS MCILWAINE is a self-taught artist that has been creating art since he was a child. At the early age of three, he discovered a love for art, and began to develop a talent for drawing by attempting to duplicate comic book images. As he got older, Alloyius began to study various different forms of art…including traditional art, comic book art, graffiti, abstract and more. Soon, the seed was planted for the creation of Cultures Clothing Company, when Alloyius began to develop sketches of his art on clothing. Cultures Clothing was then founded in the year 2000 as a t-shirt company, creating hand-painted, customized t-shirt designs. Alloyius started the company as a way to make some extra money while attending Neumann University, but as time passed, Alloyius’ love for fashion grew. He soon began to appreciate fashion design as another form of art. Alloyius began to study all different types of fashion, from high fashion to urban to art couture, and he used this knowledge to expand the clothing line into what it is today.
After establishing his clothing brand, Alloyius began to further develop his art style, and experimented with various different techniques. In 2012, Alloyius decided to experiment with freestyle abstract art. Freestyle art is art that is improvised on the spot…without any predefined concept or idea or rules. The art that is manifested on the canvas is serendipitous in nature, and influenced by the artist’s mood and emotion. Alloyius learned many things about himself and his style during this period, and has incorporated these things to create his latest series of paintings. Alloyius’ latest series focuses on beautiful women, and incorporates aspects of graffiti, street art, comic book art, traditional art, and abstract art into the paintings. Read more about Alloyius HERE.
PERRY MILOU is arguably one of the nation’s foremost recognized Pop artists. Critics and collectors have hailed his bold, vibrant palette over the past 30 years. Considered a talented forward-thinker with diversified inspirations, Milou’s work has often been described as “alluring”, “brilliant”, “fresh”, and “glamorous”.
Milou ever evolving style creates a blend of pop culture contemporary art that is frequently a tribute to global icons, Americana, and celebrities. His A-list of clients include Sophia Loren, President Joe Biden, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Petty, Robert Hergavec, Taylor Swift, Willie Nelson, Lady Gaga ,and Allen Iverson Milou’s 2022 roster of works include ,Queen Elizabeth, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Actress Kelly Reilly ( Beth Dutton ) , Elon Musk, Eddie Van Halen, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Deepak Chopra, Jimi Hendrix, and Cento Tomatoes. Additionally in 2022 Milou’s profilc open and limited edition collections have lannded the artist licensing deals with Icanvas, Met Colors and Eathan Allen. His latest venture ‘ SPREAD YOUR LOVE’’ is a 5000 genesis NFT project slated to mint later this year.
In 2016 Milou licensed his iconic painting of Pope Francis to The World Meeting Of Families and was recognized as the official portrait artist of The Papal visit to America. Milou employs a rich palette to create vibrant representational works coined “FINE- POP“. Read more about Perry HERE
PAUL GRATZ, the owner and head conservator, has been buying, selling, and conserving paintings for more than 35 years. His formal training began at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. There, he studied under Louis B. Sloane, Joseph Amarotico, and Arthur DeCosta. Paul continued to hone his ability through apprenticeships with a number of the nation’s most revered conservators, including Gustav Berger, a recognized art conservation pioneer.
Paul is an authority on work by the New Hope Circle of painters. Today, he leads a staff of skilled conservators at the Gratz Conservation Studio, which is housed next to the gallery and is open for private tours. Read more about Paul HERE