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Lisa Congdon, Ode to Kyoto, 2023.

Lisa Congdon: Ode to Kyoto
October 6 – October 29, 2023

Paradigm Gallery + Studio is pleased to present Ode to Kyoto, a solo exhibition of colorful paintings and printed textiles by celebrated artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon. Her debut solo exhibition with Paradigm marks the culmination of her collaboration with The Jaunt, a curatorial project founded in 2013 by Jeroen Smeets with the goal of helping artists gain new inspiration through travel. Each artist’s “jaunt” is funded by the presale of a limited edition silkscreen print, purchased sight unseen by collectors and supporters of The Jaunt’s mission. Congdon’s new body of work was sparked by her inspiring trip to Japan, made possible by The Jaunt community. Lisa Congdon: Ode to Kyoto will be on view at Paradigm Gallery from October 6 – 29, 2023. An opening reception will be held on October 6 from 6:00pm to 8:00 pm during Old City District’s First Fridays.

Congdon’s vibrant exhibition pays homage to her own memorable experiences in Kyoto and Osaka, Japan, while honoring the rich cultural heritage of the place and its people. The artist combines her signature, lighthearted style of saturated, graphic illustration with visual motifs from an eclectic range of sources — iconic Kyoto street foods, patterned kimono silks, kokeshi dolls, matchboxes, and other snippets from her mind’s eye — to render her personal perspective and engagement within each city.

Upon entering the second-floor gallery space, visitors will encounter a billowing mixed-media installation, featuring large swaths of linen sourced from Japan and printed in limited editions with Congdon’s original designs. Complementing the textile works, the exhibition will include two large, never-before-seen paintings, a selection of screen-printed textile panels, and an organic arrangement of small, brightly colored paintings, which play off one another to create a dazzling visual collage. Two travel-inspired posters produced in partnership with The Jaunt, “Ode to Kyoto” and “Sanjo Dori Street”, will also be on view.

Lisa Congdon: Ode to Kyoto exemplifies the unique potential of Paradigm’s collaborative and community-driven gallery model, as well as the breadth of its expanded curatorial program. The gallery’s range extends beyond the traditional bounds of contemporary fine art, incorporating multi-hyphenate and interdisciplinary practices that intersect with design, craft, and other adjacent arts. In keeping with this ethos, Paradigm is pleased to introduce Congdon’s category-defying work to the Philadelphia art community and to support The Jaunt’s program and similarly aligned mission.

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Lisa Congdon is an internationally known fine artist, illustrator, and bestselling author. She makes art for clients around the globe, including Target, Amazon, Google, Schwinn, Madewell, Rumpl, The Library of Congress, Brooks Running, Warby Parker, Method, Comme des Garcons, REI, and MoMA, among many others. She is the author of ten books, including Art Inc: The Essential Guide to Building Your Career as an Artist and Find your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic. She exhibits internationally, including solo shows at Saint Mary's College Museum of Art (California), Chefas Projects (Oregon), and Paradigm Gallery (Philadelphia), along with group shows at Hashimoto Contemporary in Los Angeles, Museum of Design Atlanta, and The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Lisa is self-taught and didn’t achieve momentum in her career until she was nearly 40 years old. Despite her untraditional path, Lisa has achieved recognition, not just as an artist, but as a leader in the industry for her work in social justice, knowledge sharing, mentoring, and teaching. In March of 2021, she was named “One of the 50 Most Inspiring People and Companies According to Industry Creatives” published by AdWeek. When she's not making art, you can find her racing bikes. She lives, cycles, and works in Portland, Oregon.

About The Jaunt
The Jaunt creates unique opportunities and possibilities for artists. The project allows artists to travel the world and find inspiration – a lasting inspiration that potentially permeates their creative process. The Jaunt’s mission is to catalyse progress and feed fresh insight into the artistic practice of our artists. The first step in this process is taking the artist out of their comfort zone and allowing them to experience completely new surroundings. The concept is simple: send an artist on a trip to find inspiration. Jeroen Smeets founded The Jaunt and acts as the project’s curator and travel planner. With a background in art ranging from Editor-In-Chief to agent and gallery owner – and a variety of jobs in between – Jeroen started The Jaunt in early 2013 after talking to artists and hearing their repeated desire to travel the world. With The Jaunt he has found a way to fulfill their dreams.

About Paradigm Gallery
Paradigm Gallery + Studio® was established in 2010 by co-founders and curators, Jason Chen and Sara McCorriston. The gallery exhibits meaningful, process-intense contemporary artwork by emerging and mid-career artists from around the world. In 2022, Paradigm announced the opening of its new 5-story, 7,000 sq. ft. home, The Paradigm Arts Building, in Old City, Philadelphia. Now open to the public, the building boasts multiple floors of exhibition space, integrated in-house design and printmaking, a dedicated events floor, and art advisory offices. With this, Chen and McCorriston expanded their vision for the greater Philadelphia arts community. The gallery is at the heart of this vision, anchoring Paradigm’s overall mission of increasing access to the commercial art world, supporting artists and advancing their careers, and collaborating with like-minded partners to build a more equitable, sustainable arts