Arts & Entertainment

Philly Artist Combines Paint and Brew

Kevin Margitich exhibits at a Narberth gallery throughout the month. The opening reception is Friday evening.

Like many 30-year-old urban dwellers, Kevin Margitich is taken with quality art.

And like many of his peers, Margitich also enjoys a good brew.

Starting Friday evening, Margitich, a resident of Philadelphia’s Roxborough neighborhood, will combine his passion for both art and beer at the opening reception to his month-long exhibit at Narberth’s Sweet Mabel Folk Art and Fine Craft Gallery.

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“The Trail to Manatawny: An Evening of Art and Ale” will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, the start of Margitich’s first exhibit of 2011.

“I paint and brew beer,” Margitich said, explaining his decision to combine the two in a gallery exhibition. 

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Margitich, 30, a native of Scranton who moved to Philly in 2005, developed an appreciation for art after he started getting tattooed in his younger years. Today, he paints in all acrylic.

His paintings aren’t enough to keep him financially afloat–by day he works in the advertising department of the Delaware County Times newspaper–but it does serve as a nice supplemental income source.

For Margitich, he paints because he has a passion for it, and he enjoys sharing his visions with the world.

Margitich has done his share of shows in and around the region, including one called “A Ways Down to Ghost Town” last year at the Slingluff Gallery in Fishtown. Margitich is good friends with the owners, and he credited them with helping him to developer a wider audience in the Philadelphia area.

He has also shown his works at galleries in New Hampshire and Seattle, Washington.

With this month’s exhibit, however, Margitich stayed clear of a traditional gallery. The Sweet Mabel Folk Art and Fine Craft Gallery is not so much an art gallery, per se, he said, but rather a space that he described as more of a “folk art store.”

Margitich did a show at the store two years ago and was urged to return by former contacts there.

“I said, ‘that’s a good idea,’” he said in a phone interview Friday morning.  

Knowing his penchant for home brewing, store employees urged Margitich to do a show combining his love of paint and suds. He was happy to oblige, especially because he has had works exhibited at places like bars in the past.

“I’d show in bars,” he said. “I’d show in places that wanted art, that were into what I was doing.”

Margitich doesn’t come from a traditional art background; he studied English and journalism in college.

When he started getting tattooed in the 1990s, however, he started to appreciate art in all its forms.

Asked how he got into home brewing, Margitich simply said: “just loving craft beer.”

A friend of his from Manayunk will be creating some homemade beer that will be available for sampling at Friday’s opening reception.

As for his art, Margitich said he doesn’t paint large-scale–most of his pieces are on the small side–and he doesn’t charge an arm and a leg.

The reason: “I try to make it affordable for everybody.”

To learn more about Margitich and his art, check out his Web site.


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