NoName Gallery presents TOUCH, a solo exhibition by Brandon Dominguez, which opens Friday, November 6, from 6 to 10 PM in Chestnut Hill and stays on view through December 27. Dominguez works under the name Brandon Always Creates, and the show grew out of something small at home: his young son learning the difference between taking something and simply touching it.

Brandon Dominguez’sTOUCH Opens November 6 in Chestnut Hill

The opening reception is at NoName Gallery, 8127 Germantown Avenue, and it is free and open to the public. The gallery describes itself as a contemporary space focused on accessible original art, and its own site carries the tagline “Original Art for Real People.” After opening night it keeps Thursday through Saturday hours from noon to 5 PM and Sunday hours from noon to 4 PM. The gallery’s site also lists an RSVP option for the evening.

Anyone who has followed the Chestnut Hill art scene will know the room. NoName hosted Morgan Overton’s America: 500 in June and the More Than Words exhibit in 2024, and this solo show adds an Allentown artist to that run.

TOUCH Follows a Busy October at the Gallery

The gallery’s own calendar fills the weeks before the opening. It lists the Philly Open Studio Tour on October 10 and 11 and a Sip & Paint evening on October 24, both ahead of the November 6 reception. Neighborhood programming helps too, since Chestnut Hill already draws evening crowds for events like Night of Lights, which is back for a ninth year.

TOUCH and the Difference Between Taking and Touching

The idea comes from a child’s lesson. Taking something means you leave with it, and touching it means you meet it and leave it where it is. Adults tend to blur that line somewhere between childhood and the first time they own something worth protecting, so a father watching his son sort it out in real time is a decent reason to build an exhibition.

It also puts a small provocation in the title. A gallery is a room where visitors are usually told to keep their hands to themselves, so a show called TOUCH starts with a tension before anyone looks at a canvas. Dominguez describes his work on his own website as an exploration of his connections with objects and people, which is the same subject from another angle.

^{Left: “PROFOUNDNESS” Acrylic and spray paint on canvas. 48 x 48 inches.
Right: “TOUCH” Spray paint on canvas. 16 x 20 inches.}

TOUCH: Brandon Dominguez and His Characters

Dominguez was born in Mexico and is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. His website calls him a contemporary pop artist, and the release lists painting, street art, 3D work, augmented reality and collectible art toys among his mediums. The common thread across all of it is a cast of characters he keeps coming back to.

Brian the Brain, Moonie and Paulie the Daisy are the ones he names, along with a few more. He says he made them to help him make sense of existence through their expressiveness. A cast like that gives a show about physical contact something to hold onto, because characters invite a reaction in a way a still life rarely does.

Brandon Dominguez also co-founded the Lehigh Valley Artist Meetups, and he says art “is for everyone, should be experienced, explored.” That is a working philosophy, and it fits the gallery that is hanging the show. An artist who wants his work experienced and a room that wants art within reach are an easy pairing.

A child learns that touching is fine and taking is not. Brandon Dominguez has built a show on that rule, and a gallery that calls its art accessible is a sensible room in which to find out how far it stretches.

Images: Courtesy of Brandon Dominguez

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Allan Lane

Philadelphia born and bred, Allan Lane is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of digital magazines. He launched his first publication, SportBikes Inc Magazine in 2010, followed by dosage MAGAZINE in 2019. Recently, Allan launched his third online publication, Club For Man. As a journalist, Allan covers fashion, lifestyle, culture, art, and motorcycles.

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