Lynch moved into Fisk’s tiny apartment at 13th and Wood, sharing the corner with a greasy spoon diner, the Heid Building (home of an accordion-fold-envelope manufacturer) and the old city morgue. Lynch would stare out the window at the bodies being dropped off, or the body bags being hosed down outside; after a while, he received invitations to go inside the morgue and see the bodies up close.

…Both Reavey and Samuelson noticed a shift in Lynch’s early paintings, from bright colors to grays and blacks and darker narratives. Samuelson thinks the constant apprehension Lynch felt living in the city may have played a part in that. “You can’t help but have your environment influence you,” he says, noting that at the time he also lived in a somewhat rough part of Philly, about five blocks from Lynch. “A lot of my work has been dark and grey and distorted figures. One of the art critics described my work as grotesque and violent. David got that, too.”

[Mural creation of local artist Evan Cairo.]

 It looks like the new developers’ preference for calling the area “Callowhill” may catch on, if only because it doesn’t evoke images of squalling mutant babies. But PhilaMOCA, a few blocks away from Lynch’s former digs, is reacting to the seeming inevitability of neighborhood rebranding with a new Eraserhood mural, Jack Nance’s hair poking proudly over the top of the building. The party for its unveiling involves more art, live music from Void Vision and Full Blown Cherry and curiosity-piquing sets of Lynch-themed sketch comedy and burlesque. 

Fri., July 13, 8:30 p.m., $10, PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., 267-519-9651, philamoca.org.

(via Welcome to the Eraserhood | Philadelphia City Paper | 07/12/2012)

The Church of the Assumption, a building on the city’s Historic Register that had been the focus of court fights over its possible demolition, was sold on July 5 to a real-estate developer.

The new owner is John Wei, of JI Investments LLC, said Cathy McGuire, executive director of Siloam, a nonprofit that provides counseling for people HIV/AIDS and other services. The organization had won permission to demolish the church from the Philadelphia Historical Commission but stiff community opposition scuttled that plan.

(via Assumption church is sold, may be saved from demolition – Philly.com)