Latest / philly has heART / Paradigm Gallery + Studio feat. gallerist and visual artist, Jason Chen

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Paradigm Gallery + Studio feat. gallerist and visual artist, Jason Chen · philly has heART

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Greetings. This is Robert Marsh, and you're listening
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to Philly Has Hard podcast. In this podcast,
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we sit down with the artists, gallerists, educators,
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curators, and other creatives who comprise the
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Philadelphia art world to discuss upcoming performances,
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exhibits, and other events and initiatives that
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are not to be missed. The art scene in Philadelphia
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is so rich that it can seem daunting. Consider
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this your weekend cultural recommendation. With
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me always is my producer, Lucinda Dagerland.
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Hey. And today we have Jason Chen, visual artist
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and co -owner of Paradigm Gallery. Thank you
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so much for joining us. Thank you so much for
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having me. Yes, yes. So Jason, we want to kind
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of hear about your journey, right? We tend to
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ask our guests if they knew what they were going
1:00
to pursue through an arts program or how they
1:05
got into their art. How would you start your
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journey? how far back do you want me to go? Let's
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go back. Let's go back. Okay, so when I first
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come out of, no, I'm kidding. So as a Chinese
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immigrant, my whole family is from China. Pursuing
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art is not really like a thing in the family,
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obviously. It's not like looked down upon, but
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it's also just, well, you know, it's a lot of
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uncertainties, you know, when you're talking
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about. Want you to play it safe. Yeah, yeah,
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yeah. I mean, you know, also, We're talking about
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like 25 years ago, that's when I first come to
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America. So when I was in China, academic is
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everything. Like that's what my family is like
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focused on. Art is always kind of like in a back
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burner. It's always treated as a hobby and it's
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not really like a career choice at the time.
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Not that my parent doesn't encourage me to do
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so, but it's also kind of just like... He gets
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to do whatever he wants as long as it's something
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that can lend him a stable job, right? And then
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when I was in the fourth grade, I wanted to do
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more extracurricular, and then a lot of my friends
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are taking this private lesson at night. in the
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school that we go to, like all of my friends.
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I also happen to live right across the street
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from my primary school. Convenient. Yeah, very
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convenient. So it was just like I get up and
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I just walk across the street for school. It
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was great. And then they were taking this private
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lesson like once a week at our school where they
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learn how to do pencil drawings and watercolor.
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And it was like, seems like a great time to just
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spend like an hour or two just doing extracurricular.
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And so my parents signed me up for it. And it
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was one of those things that's like my first
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real experience with art. And to me at the time,
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it wasn't even art. It was just like something
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that I get to play that I don't have to really
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use my brain, like looking at numbers or looking
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at literature. I'm like, oh, my God. Like to
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me, it was a brick. And that kind of like started
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my journey in experiencing art for the first
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time. But, you know, growing up with TVs and
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things like that, so I watched a lot of animations
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and that kind of, you know, spoiler alert, that's
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how I eventually got into animation. Like TV
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was also like the first art form that I have
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touched on that I was exposed to because, you
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know, color, movement, and all of like just imagery.
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And I find out later that I'm a very visual learner,
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even when I'm like... Listening in class, like,
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I just could not take in the information unless
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I have something that I can read along with it.
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And, like, math is also, like, sometimes it's
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easy because I just get to look at the numbers
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and it kind of makes sense. But, you know. Nowhere
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saying that I'm good at math. I'm really not.
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I'm okay. But education in China was a lot of,
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like, drilling, you know? So a lot of the math
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is, like, you do worksheets and worksheets of
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just very simple modifications, additions, subtractions,
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and divisions. It's, like, worksheet after worksheet
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after worksheet. It's drilled into you. So, like,
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you're now, like, the timetables are... You got
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it down. I got it down. I got it down, but, you
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know. Sorry for running. No, it's okay. Rambling.
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So when I got to America, I barely speak the
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language. Like, we're talking about, like, my
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favorite word is excuse me. And hello. Like,
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those two. But beyond that, I don't know what
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to say. It's like, you go to French and be like,
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bonjour, and then they start talking to you,
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and you're like, actually, I'm American. I can't
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really speak that language. It's kind of like
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that. I couldn't communicate with people in school.
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And what age are we at now? I was at 13. I came
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here when I was 13. And so barely able to speak
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the language. I might have taken, like, maybe
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one semester of, like, very basic English. Like,
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I still struggle with grammar now. I'd never
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properly learned grammar. And I'm like, I have
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other things to deal with now. People understand
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me, so you're doing okay. Thank you. So I started
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to kind of just retreat because I don't have
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anybody to talk to. I don't understand what they're
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saying. You know when they make fun of you, even
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when you don't speak the language, right? So
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it's a lot of that. So I kind of just like, okay,
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I'll just do my own thing. I just need to do
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my own thing. And this is a funny thing. I speak
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three languages. And none of them is learned
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by choice. I speak Cantonese. That's my native
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tongue. I have to learn Mandarin because school
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in China requires it. And then English. I have
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to learn English because I have to survive here.
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A lot of it is like, yeah, didn't learn any of
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my language by choice. It was kind of funny.
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So when I was in school in America, because I
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can't even read the book. I opened the book.
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I have to use my little, like, translator, and
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almost every letter that's just on, every word's
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on the book. I have to use my translator, and
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it's not like Google Translate these things.
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Right. That strings a sentence for you. So I
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have to, like, actually interpret the word, and
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then, like, in context, it's different when it's
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in context. So it's like, okay, I give up. I
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just, like, okay, I'm not learning anything here
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at this point. I started to just, like, I remember
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drawing. I'd just start sketching on my book.
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And I would use a lot of these animated shows
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that I watch here and there as reference, just
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learn by copying. Again, that's how I learned.
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And at the time, I wasn't even learning to draw.
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It was just me spending the time to make myself
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feel more useful. Like I'm at least doing something,
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right? After a while, people started coming up
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to me and started talking to me about what I
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do. And it kind of became a language that I would
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share with others. Like, oh, this is what I draw.
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I would start drawing people, like my friends
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and things like that. They're not good drawings,
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but they were like, oh, my God, that's so cool.
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Conversation starter. Exactly. And it became
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that, became something that, and I'm like the
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go -to guy to make like. banners and posters
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for class. So it was like, cool. I found my role.
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I can do this. Yes. I'm no longer the kid that
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can't speak English. I mean, I still am, but
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different label now. So when I got to high school
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is when I really start looking into art as something
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I wanted to learn because it's one, again. We're
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talking about just two years after I got here.
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High school is so brutal, man. High school is
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brutal. Kids are awful. Yes. And so I was like,
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okay, maybe I need to lean into what I'm good
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at. So art was that one thing. So I took an art
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class. And Simona Joseon was my high school art
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teacher. And she is a fantastic artist herself.
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And I took three years of art. with her. She's
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the one that really pushed me and helped me get
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my portfolio together and like really encouraged
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me to like apply to art school. Cause like at
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first I was, I'm still in that mentality where
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I'm like, I need to find it. I need to go to
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college where I can do more, you know, learn
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more skills and have a major that land me a stable
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job. You know, like that was always the mentality,
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you know, it drew into me. And she's just, like,
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such a great teacher. I'm able to, like, talk
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to her. Like, I spend most of my time in the
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studio, in the art studio, where she would, like,
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just give me assignments that's outside of class.
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Be like, hey, will you try this? Like, instead
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of copying something, just do something that's
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yours. Do something completely different. Like,
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I was just staring at a blank canvas for, like,
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this for, like, 15 minutes. And she just came
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in and just grabbed a charcoal and just, like,
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smeared on it. Made a big smear. I was like...
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What is happening? She was like, oh, no, you
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can start. Branch off from there. I ended up,
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like, spending 10 hours on that piece. It was
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fantastic. It was one of the best things I have
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felt doing in high school was that piece. And
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then she was like, yeah, I mean, if you want
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to do this, you want to give it your best. Like,
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why not go to a school that actually is going
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to teach you the best? Like, you never know.
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And so she really encouraged me to apply for
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UArts and I did. I'm very happy that I did because
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it got me here. So first I was like, okay, maybe
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I'll check out the graphic design department.
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So I took an elective class. Oh my God, I hated
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it. I hated it so much. It was like... I have
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to learn how to do kerning by actually pasting
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letters, actual letters that are like the font
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of maybe like four or five, just to learn spacing.
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And I was like, oh, God, I'm not doing that right.
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I cannot. This is beyond me. And so I was like,
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hey, okay. I was between animation and graphic
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design at that time anyway. So I was like, okay,
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I'll try animation. And then it was just one
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thing after another. It was like a lot of like
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really just learning the principles of animation
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and learning like the different styles of animation.
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I was like, oh, my God, there are so many. And
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then it became a style of filmmaking because
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I was also doing film at the time. So and that
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kind of led to me having to take a photography
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elective. And that's how I actually got into
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photography. 101. Photography 101. Shooting black
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and white film. When I was developing my first
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roll of film, it felt like magic. Wow. Staying
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in a dark room, just watching the image just
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appear, I was like, what is this alchemy? I mean,
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it is alchemy. It is absolutely alchemy, but
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it's like magic to me. And I was like... Oh my
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God, this is incredible. I need more of this.
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So I start developing my passion for photography.
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And then one thing led to another. I am the technical
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guy that handles the camera. When I started to
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work... on group projects and things. My friend
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Ian Marina are my best friends that we met in
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college and that's actually how we found Juggling
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Wolf at the time. Well, at the time and then
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afterwards became more of a business thing. But
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besides that. So I was always the camera guy
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framing the shots, doing the lighting and then
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they would be doing the animation and editing
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and then I would go back and do... Color correction
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and all of that. So everything related to the
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camera and the photography and the finishing
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of the look, that's my part. That was a long
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way. Thank you. A notion of time as the fourth
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dimension is a theme across your mediums. Touching
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on animation, can you tell us about Juggling
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Wolf and how did that start? We worked really
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well together, my friend Ian and Marina. We worked
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on several collaborative projects for school,
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and then we just really clicked as a team. After
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school, we were all doing our own thing, but
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we also wanted to continue working together.
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So we formally formed Juggling Wolf. It's an
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animation collective. We have worked on a lot
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of commercials. When I say commercial, I meant
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like as like a paid gig as opposed to passion
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projects. Even though we will get together all
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the time and just shoot passion projects here
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and there. And, you know, and those kind of things
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that kind of triggers a brand new style for us.
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And then we would apply to the next job when
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it's allowed. So we end up sourcing a lot of
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like public domain. and already existed footage.
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We will translate them into single photos. We
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print them out and we hand cut them. And it's
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already animated for us. And we just have to
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reanimate it as a style. It's just like an experimental
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project turned into a style at a time that actually
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happened in a couple projects. That's always
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us. are like this scrappy team that just finding
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fun things that we do together and then think
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about how can we apply this to the next thing
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that we do. And that's actually kind of how I
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am as an artist as well. Your photography is
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the medium that you're most known for, at least
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from Lucinda's perspective. How many years in
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were you working in photography before you were
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inspired to work with the fourth dimension of
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time and began weaving for photographs? I think
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this is also a not intentional, no pun intended.
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All of my practices kind of evolve into each
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other because I draw inspiration from everything
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that I do. learn skills that I would like try
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to apply to different things so that kind of
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photography work I've been doing since college
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and my focus was in fashion editorial I'm still
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doing that and I still wanted to get into more
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of like the commercial side of photography so
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portraits yeah portraits are relatively common
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in what I shoot. I love working with people.
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I love having a subject that I could actually
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pose and compose in a way that I like. So I'm
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not using a camera like how most photographers
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use a camera to capture the moment. But I'm using
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my camera as a paintbrush. That I'm using it
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as a tool to create the image that I like. That's
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a learned skill from animation because nothing
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can happen just like an accident in animation.
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Everything is kind of planned because everything
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is single frame. You have to figure out where
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things are going, how things are moving, so lighting,
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composition. It has to lock down before it starts
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animating. So that skill kind of shared with
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how I treat my photography in a way. And then
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the timing and movement in film and animation
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also makes me think about how can I transfer
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that skill into my photography work. And in the
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beginning, I really like photography as... well,
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my photography anyway, my photography, I really
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enjoy doing surface alterations. So it means
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that a photograph can only exist once rather
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than repeat it in the same way. There are ways
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that you can repeat them, obviously, but it will
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have my grubby hands on it, all over it. Because
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I would learn to use different types of medium
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to destroy the image and just see how to make
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image. Making images. And naturally, I went the
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film and chemical route when I first finished
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college. My first practice was actually in tintype.
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Oh, wow. Yeah, so dry plate tintype. I applied
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my digital skill into the practice because everything
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is shot digitally. It's manipulated in Photoshop
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and then printed out onto film. And then the
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chemical process is that I would coat the plate
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by hand, expose it in dark room, develop it just
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like how we develop photographs. And that becomes
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the final piece. So tintype is one of the earliest
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process to capture, like to make photograph,
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right? One of the earliest. So like it was intended
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to be capturing the moment faster than painting.
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But now I'm using it. As a painting. That has
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always been my philosophy about art making. I'm
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not really, in a way, yes, I'm a photographer,
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but in other sense, I'm more of an artist because
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I treat my photograph as pieces that I get to
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sculpt, I get to paint using. the technology
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right and then after a while I kind of got really
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burned out on just making tintype because it
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started to just not have the same effect on me
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and I was kind of in a slump a little bit and
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at the time I was working at UArts in the imaging
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lab so my job is to to run prints for students
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and uh and faculties and whatever so like I managed
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the lab during the summer I have to I have to
19:20
maintenance all of the machines and everything.
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So there's a period of time where I have to make
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a lot of prints just to test the machines and
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making sure everything's running smoothly and
19:32
everything. So one day, I finished all my work.
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I'm just kind of sitting around being like, I'm
19:37
bored. And then I'm looking at the pile of prints
19:41
that I have. And obviously, those are my files.
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I'm not using anyone else's files. So I was just
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looking at my photos. I was like, oh. Okay, well,
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let me see what I can do with them. I just started
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laying them out and looking at them. I was like,
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I'm going to cut them. And then I was like, what
20:00
is the most tedious thing that I can do to cut
20:04
a photograph? So I started to like measuring
20:07
them. in like small increments, I start cutting
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them by, you know, using just like straight edges
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and knife cutting them. And then I finished the
20:16
first piece. I was like, oh, this looks cool.
20:17
I picked it up. It looks like a curtain. And
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it does like really like fun things at a time
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when I was looking and I was like, oh, this is
20:23
really fun. This is cool. So I started cutting
20:26
the other ones. But I was like, oh, what if I
20:28
cut it the other directions? So vertical and
20:32
horizontal. Now I have two that's looking like
20:35
that. And I was like. And I just put them down.
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They overlay each other. They started to just
20:41
did this like weird, like just kind of cross.
20:43
I was like, oh, what if I weave them together
20:46
like a basket? I've never done that. I've never
20:49
done anything like that, like on that level of
20:52
craft. I'm like, yeah, I'll figure it out, whatever.
20:54
The first piece is like a 13 by 19 took me like
20:57
a whole week. It took me a whole week. Oh, my
21:00
gosh. I was like, oh, jeez, this is crazy. But,
21:04
like, I would sit there and just, like, kind
21:07
of just, like, doing what I think it's supposed
21:09
to be doing. Two hours later, I'm like, did I
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just do, like, five? Wow, crazy. Okay, all right.
21:17
But this is looking fun, though. This is great.
21:19
The image itself started looking crazy. I was
21:22
like, oh, okay, I need to see this through. So
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a week later, I got this piece. I'm staring.
21:27
I'll be like. oh my God, I think I find something
21:30
new that I wanted to do. Wow. So I started to
21:34
do that. And then I've been doing that since
21:39
2012. Yeah. Wow. 2012. And I've been weaving
21:43
since. And I'm just finding, I still find new
21:48
ways to do fun things with paper and the images
21:52
because any small detail, I make changes. Yeah.
21:57
the image would look completely different. I
22:00
shouldn't say that because I actually just finished
22:02
a residency where I had to make an edition of
22:07
34 of the same image. Okay. Weaving the same
22:12
image. That was a challenge because I've never
22:14
done an edition before. All of my pieces are
22:18
one -off. And so that particular one, I was like...
22:21
Okay. I need to sit down and figure out the first
22:25
one, how I'm going to do it, and see if I can
22:27
actually replicate it. And I was able to do that
22:29
34 times. Question. How are you doing? Is carpal
22:34
tunnel going to be an issue for you? It hasn't
22:40
been. So I'm grateful for that. But my back is
22:43
killing me. A lot of hunch over, cutting, and
22:48
weaving. A lot of that. But I honestly enjoy
22:52
every moment of that. Also, it's because both
22:56
images are taken by me. Usually it's like between
22:59
seconds or minutes of each other. So like I'm
23:03
capturing time. I'm capturing the duration of
23:05
time instead of like the split seconds of the
23:08
moment. And going back to how animation affected
23:12
my work, it's like... I have done hand -drawn
23:15
animations, you know, and like every keyframe
23:18
I have to flip through. Like, I don't know if
23:21
you've seen animators have done that on paper.
23:24
So we would have to draw keyframes. So like,
23:28
let's just say from like point A to point B,
23:30
that's 24 frames per second. So if I want to
23:33
move my hand from here to here for like one second,
23:36
that means it's 24 drawings. And there are keyframes
23:39
on like different poses, like where the hands
23:42
stop. Like it doesn't just like, if it's just
23:44
one swoop motion, then it's the two keyframes.
23:46
But if there's like doing like up and down movement,
23:49
then you would have one, two, three, three keyframes.
23:52
And then in between, you just have to figure
23:54
it out. Like the math, it's like. half a second
23:56
over here half a second over here or it's a split
23:59
second over here and then like more to here so
24:02
it's a lot of different like so there's an in
24:03
-between i'm like you divide it though yes you
24:06
math if you yeah exactly exactly like it if you
24:11
are doing equal distance or timing wise then
24:14
yes it will be the same but it's not necessarily
24:16
equal exactly so that's like part of the that's
24:19
part of the animation right and but by doing
24:22
keyframes sometimes you have to like Flip through
24:25
them so I would like have papers on in my fingers
24:28
I have a flip through them to see if the movement
24:30
looks correct, right and That feels like how
24:34
I would choose my images like I would I would
24:36
do that Well for weaving I would like flip through
24:40
them to see what like how they move in in the
24:43
sense of like what the first image looks like
24:45
what the second image looks like and I will see
24:48
if those would work together like I'm applying
24:51
that subconsciously I didn't even know I was
24:55
doing that until like recently I was looking
24:57
at it again I was like oh wait that feels very
25:00
much like how I would do when I was doing drawings
25:03
and stuff like that so that was fun to recognize
25:06
I don't want us to miss that you know your boredom
25:11
has entered into this new phase of your art but
25:16
your boredom also entered you into your art right
25:19
yeah yeah having that extra time to then go to
25:23
those drawing classes after school was all driven
25:26
I have to do something yeah absolutely I think
25:30
that's also like if I can give artists One advice,
25:36
I have several, but the one advice is just, like,
25:40
let yourself play. Let yourself be bored and
25:43
just do whatever you feel like. Ignore what the
25:47
final outcome, because you never know. Right.
25:49
We just had Val Rossman, who is currently, as
25:55
of the time of this episode dropping, she has
25:58
a show at News Gallery. She also teaches, and
26:02
she... said last week when she recorded with
26:05
us that she advises her students to just play
26:10
and have fun. Yeah. I mean, you usually discover
26:13
something new either about yourself or about
26:15
what you're doing with the things that's in front
26:18
of you or something completely unexpected. And
26:23
that's, like, very cool in the art world. Yes,
26:29
yes. For those outside of Philadelphia or those
26:32
living under a rock in Philadelphia, could you
26:35
tell us about the origin of Paradigm Gallery?
26:38
Like I said, everything kind of connects to everything
26:42
that I do. So when I was in school, I was taking
26:46
this fashion editorial class. I met Sarah, my
26:49
business partner. She was in the theater department.
26:54
She does technical design. and with like lightings
26:58
and makeup so she can do all of the things that
27:01
i cannot do and i was like oh my god do you want
27:06
to work on a project together because i need
27:08
someone that can do that so she she helped me
27:12
with costumes and makeup and sometimes lighting
27:16
which is like you know incredible so we just
27:19
work really well together and then after school
27:21
and we were just like hanging out having dinner
27:24
here and there and i was like and she was like
27:26
um i need to like move out of my current studio
27:29
and like find something closer and then um i
27:33
was like oh yeah i'm also looking for like a
27:34
studio space where i could like actually take
27:36
photograph like make it a photo studio i was
27:39
like oh man it would be great if like When we're
27:42
not actually using the studio, maybe we'll turn
27:44
it into a gallery where we could showcase our
27:48
work. And maybe even some of our friends' work.
27:51
At the time, just right on Broad Street, there
27:53
are at least three, four, four, three, four,
27:59
four art institutes where there are a ton of
28:03
artists that are just pumping out artists, talented
28:07
people on a daily basis. Why are we not? Showing
28:13
their work. Why are we losing them to New York?
28:15
I said all of that. Sarah was like, that sounds
28:18
like a great idea. And then like about a week
28:20
later, she was like, hey, found a space. Where
28:25
was the first space? The first space is actually
28:28
in 2020 South Street. We moved four times. And
28:32
each time we moved is because the building sold.
28:37
Because we made it better. You know, when we
28:41
were young and scrappy, the first space we would
28:45
negotiate our rent to be kept low. And we were
28:50
like, we will renovate the space for you. So
28:53
me and my friend Ian, we would go there after
28:57
work. We would start pulling things off the wall.
29:01
It was a hat store for church ladies. So it was
29:06
like... Yes! The whole wall, like all of the
29:09
walls are lined with those peg bar boards. And
29:13
for some reason, there are like just thousands
29:16
and thousands of staples on the wall. Oh no!
29:22
So we end up pulling, like spending so much time
29:25
pulling staples off the wall. 16 years later,
29:29
we're in a different spot. Okay, where are you
29:32
at now, for those who don't know? We are now
29:35
on 12 North 3rd Street, Old City. And it's still
29:41
feeling crazy to me because when we first opened
29:43
Paradigm 16 years ago, if you tell me, like,
29:46
you're going to be in Old City one day, and we
29:48
were like, you're funny. That's funny because
29:51
that's, you know, at the time, it's where all
29:54
the big galleries are. And we go there for First
29:57
Friday to be inspired. Never really dreamt of
30:00
one day we'll be there. Now it just feels crazy.
30:03
Yeah. Now it's like, of course we're here. And
30:06
ask Alex, what do you and your co -founder Sarah
30:08
look for in an artist? We look for process. We're
30:13
a very process -driven type of curator. Like
30:17
my work, myself, we also look for artists that
30:21
has the same aesthetic, that loves working with
30:25
their hands. The making of the art, that's what
30:28
we're usually drawn to. be able to figure out
30:32
how much time this artist spent on the piece
30:34
just by looking. And don't get me wrong. I like
30:38
conceptual work when it's done well. But if I
30:43
have to walk into a museum and question if, right
30:46
or not, this is art, it's a little daunting to
30:49
me. So no bananas on the wall for you. Kind of.
30:52
Well, I recently read about something that people
30:54
were talking about that particular piece and
30:57
was, like, talking about why that... was art
31:01
and it kind of made me understand like okay all
31:04
right i i guess that's yeah i guess that is that
31:08
is also a form that should exist because everything
31:12
can be art if you give it a reason and and you
31:17
know what i found out is that the artists actually
31:19
made sure if the banana like started turn color
31:22
they need to replace it and it would put the
31:26
tape exactly the way it is i'm like Okay. They
31:31
put thoughts into it. What is a piece of intel
31:34
about life as an artist and gallerist that you
31:38
wish people knew? It's not as glamorous as you
31:42
think. It's scrappy. Yes, yes. It's when you
31:50
don't have a patron that the Da Vinci's or like
31:54
the Michelangelo's, you have to... do everything
31:59
you can to, one, survive, and to be able to find
32:06
the time to do the work. And I often tell students
32:10
that are just graduating, find yourself a full
32:13
-time job. You don't have to care what you do
32:16
because that's not what you care. You care about
32:19
your art. Then let yourself be taken care of.
32:24
First and foremost, you have to take care of
32:27
yourself. When you're in a good mindset, then
32:30
you can devote your creativity and devote your
32:35
energy into your art. But when you are trying
32:42
to make art to survive, and I'm not saying that
32:46
that's not viable. I'm just saying that when
32:48
you first get out, when you don't have a name
32:51
yet, if you already have a name, great. Go do
32:54
that. Take the chances, right? But if you are
32:58
like, let's just say if you just graduated and
33:01
you're struggling to pay rent, you might need
33:04
to find a better job to take care of yourself
33:06
first before you can make the best art. Because
33:10
you're not going to be able to make your best
33:13
work if you're not at 100%. If your needs are
33:16
not being met. Exactly. Like your priority is
33:20
somewhere else. We still have full -time jobs
33:22
too. Yeah. Jason, where can people find Paradigm
33:26
Gallery online? Well, if you do a very simple
33:28
Google search, Paradigm Gallery plus studio should
33:31
be the first thing that come out. Or go to www
33:34
.paradigmgallery .com. And that's our website.
33:38
And you can follow us on Instagram. Paradigm
33:41
GS stands for Gallery Studio. And what about
33:45
yourself? Are you online? You can find me on
33:47
Instagram at thatchinesekid or my website. And
33:51
I'll link those in the show notes. Excellent.
33:54
We'll be right back with rapid -fire questions.
34:03
And we're back with rapid -fire questions. Jason,
34:07
your favorite Philadelphia neighborhood? Chinatown.
34:10
Best food? Best restaurant in Chinatown. Oh,
34:14
my God. I have five. Well, so my family always
34:18
go to Ocean Harbor. Barbecue is a canto house.
34:23
or Lao Ki, or Ting Wong. Those three, I rotate.
34:27
And then I also really like Kent Seafood. Kent
34:31
Seafood? I think that's what the English name
34:34
is. And then there's also E Mei. It spells E
34:37
-M -E -I. It's the best Sichuan in Chinatown.
34:42
Favorite art fair? I... After many years of doing
34:49
art fair, I can't say I'm a huge fan of art fair.
34:52
But my favorite art fair would be Art on Paper
34:55
in New York during the Armory Week at Piers 36.
35:00
A lot of very, very talented artists that do
35:04
things with paper that I am fascinated by. Cheese
35:08
steaks with, with, or without? You know, I have
35:12
not had cheese steak in a very long time. I'm
35:15
going to say with. I'm going to say with. Nice.
35:17
Do you have a bucket list artist whose work you
35:20
would like to curate? I don't think it's a bucket
35:24
list because most artists that we're able to
35:26
curate with, maybe Amy Sherrill. I would love
35:32
to work with Amy Sherrill. I love her work so
35:38
much. Do you take commissions? Not really. Mainly
35:42
because... A lot of the time, I don't know what
35:46
my piece is going to look like, so I cannot guarantee
35:48
what it looks like for people. The mock -up can
35:52
only do so much, and I cannot make it look like
35:55
the mock -up. But, you know, if it's someone
35:58
very special to me, then yes, I would, and they
36:01
would just have to be okay with it. A line in
36:04
the contract saying that there has to be some
36:07
sort of... Margin of error. Yes. That needed
36:11
to be accepted. So, yeah. Well, Jason, thank
36:15
you so much for your time today. And everyone,
36:17
check out Paradigm Gallery. And That Chinese
36:21
Kid. Yeah. Thanks for tuning in to Philly Has
36:38
Heart, where we get to know the people at the
36:41
heart of Philadelphia culture. Follow us, share
36:45
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36:48
cultural update. Philly Has Heart. And art!