By Simply Looking: The Art of Observation

By Simply Looking: The Art of Observation, curated by InLiquid and on view at Park Towne Place from January 30 to May 12, 2026, invites viewers to rediscover the profound power of unmediated perception in an era dominated by digital filters and AI-generated illusions. The exhibition's core concept centers on realism as a defiant act of attention, delving into the accuracy of detail and the depiction of the mundane rendered raw, frank, and ultimately human. Featuring InLiquid members Jean Broden, Daniel Dallmann, Mary Henderson, Darla Jackson, Constance McBride, Emily Selvin, and Eric van der Vlugt, the show spans traditional realism, superrealism, photorealism, and hyperrealism, where artists capture every nuance with unflinching precision. This curatorial premise posits realism not as mere replication but as a vital counterpoint to technology's blurring of real and engineered realities, urging audiences to find truth through the artist's lens amid the relentless skim of modern life.

Specific works and techniques illuminate the exhibition's diversity and depth. Jean Broden's oil paintings on canvas, such as Delancey after Dark, evoke Philadelphia's urban landscapes and still lifes bathed in soft sunlight on old brick buildings, transforming treasured memories of modest, storied places into poignant visual narratives. Mary Henderson's detailed portraits draw from intimate daily moments—like backstage nerves at a ballet recital or undercover giggles at a sleepover—infusing familial scenes with emotional immediacy. Daniel Dallmann and Eric van der Vlugt excel in figure painting and still lifes, rendering people and objects with intense, hyper-detailed scrutiny that demands prolonged gaze. Constance McBride's clay sculptures probe aging and gender through tactile forms, while Emily Selvin honors perished small beings in works that memorialize fragile lives, and Darla Jackson employs animal forms to metaphorically explore human emotions, bridging the organic and the anthropomorphic in evocative mixed-media expressions.

Art-historically, the exhibition traces realism's evolution from Caravaggio's stark departure from Romantic ideals toward unvarnished truth, through photorealism's mimicry of photography in alternative mediums, to hyperrealism's vivid reinterpretations that push perceptual boundaries. This lineage underscores a constant negotiation of 'real' in art, positioning the featured works as contemporary heirs who prioritize observation over embellishment. In Philadelphia's ever-reinventing cultural fabric, the show reframes the city's magic as hiding in plain sight—the everyday textures and fleeting moments usually overlooked.

Each artist's broader practice distinguishes their contribution through personal rigor and thematic obsession. Broden, a lifelong Philadelphian with degrees from Moore College of Art & Design and Arcadia University, plus training at Studio Incamminati, paints subjects tied to family history and local inspiration, celebrating the humble narratives of objects and places with past lives. Henderson distills motherhood's quiet dramas into portraits of unflagging authenticity, while Dallmann and van der Vlugt's seasoned approaches to the figure yield works that compel active viewer engagement. McBride's sculptural inquiries into corporeality, Selvin's reverent tributes to the ephemeral, and Jackson's emotive bestiaries all share a commitment to observation as revelation, making their collective voice a clarion call to truly see.