Dean Rosenzweig aka SWag, pop artist/painter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA and now residing in Berlin, Germany. SWag art is a mix of latex and oil paint on canvas. He combines abstract art with strong text, lines and heavy plates. SWag is influenced by the 80's pop art explosion. Basquiat, Warhol, Clemente and Twombly are a few of his favorites. After six years of painting in Philadelphia, SWag rose to the major galleries in Philadelphia and New York and made a name for himself as a respected artist. After getting a grant from the government, he took his art abroad to Europe and settled in Berlin, Germany.

In the three years the artist has been living in Berlin, he has made more than 100 paintings and has participated in several solo and group exhibitions. His new surroundings have taken his art to a new level.

2002/01/ Rocco's Gallery / Philadelphia
2002/09/ Gallery La Verde / Philadelphia
2003/05/ Gallerie Le Bombchelle / Philadelphia
2004/03/ Bar Noir (Permanent Installation) / Philadelphia
2004/03/ Wachovia Center (Private Show for David Bowie) / Philadephia
2004/03/ Tower Theater (Private Show for for Bob Dylan) / Philadelphia
2004/06/ Gallery North / Philadelphia
2004/09/ Bar Noir (2nd Permanent Installation) / Philadelphia
2005/01/ Gallery 237 / Philadelphia
2005/06/ Gallerie 24 / Berlin
2005/08/ Gallerie 24 / Berlin
2005/10/ Party Arty Gallerie at Lovelite / Berlin
2006/09/ Party Arty Gallerie at Festsaal / Berlin
2006/09/ West Germany Artshow / Berlin
2007/02/ Gallerie Tristesse / Berlin
2007/12/ 103 Club Group Show / Berlin

http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2004-03-25/artpicks.shtml

Dean Rosenzweig installation

by A.D. Amorosi

To some, Dean Rosenzweig is a singer-lyricist for the druggy, cranky metal of Cream Chargers with guitarist Debbie O'Mara. To others, he's the guitarist alongside Ethan Kairer, Mark Boyce and Jamie Mahon for his pop-tuned Catnip. Yet those who know Rosenzweig know well his violent but playful acrylic-and-oil-stick paintings. Laced with nervous drawings (photocopied and pasted), his paintings have been compared to the Manhattan school of the early '80s -- the broken lines, plates and heavy text of Julian Schnabel, Francesco Clemente and, most particularly, Jean-Michel Basquiat. "I don't mind the comparison," says Rosenzweig, pointing at paintings named Matilde (Basquiat's mom's name) and homages slathered with crowns and the word "Samo" (Basquiat's "tags" for his work). Rosenzweig also seeks Basquiat-like communion for his large-scale exhibition. "Basquiat and Warhol collaborated with Clemente on the most beautiful paintings. That kind of collaboration is missing in Philadelphia, one where artists from different backgrounds work on one project together," he says. Rather than hang only his own Gabby, Milk (named after his cats) or an autobiographical Swag (his nickname), Rosenzweig will paint over the full-room "Cave" installation laid down by political cartoonist John Overmyer throughout the entirety of Bar Noir, leaving a large block of Overmyer's shocking red cave etchings in an homage to that artist's hard work and aesthetic. Rosenzweig then will paint within the wall paintings and scribblings of artist-Cream Charger bassist J. Elberson on top of projections from lurid photographer Tony Ward. "We'll project Tony's pictures, trace them with paint, then "dozenswag' them," says Rosenzweig, nicknaming his installation's final coat of Basquiat-like scribble-scrabble.

/CITYPAPER PHILADELPHIA

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At Union 237, three artists showed three very different bodies of work. Self-taught artist Dean Rosenzweig showed jittery, intense paintings filled with words and lines and ADHD; Sheila M. Brown, the only one of the three with a fine arts education--BFA cum laude from Moore College--put up a suite of bold, empowered nudes; and Kristin Brandt had a series of what I'd call ancestor paintings.

Rosenzweig had me poring over his words and incantations, his sketchy outlines, his surprising divisions of the canvas into swatches of color. He used some of his incantatory phrases in more than one painting. And he has copyright symbols all over the place. He acknowledges Basquiat, Warhol and Clemente as inspirations, although it's the Basquiat that comes through in what I saw (right, "Mad Cow").

If the work looks familiar to you, he did the interiors of Bar Noir.

I don't really know what I think of this work, yet, but I'm looking and thinking, and that already is a plus. If I walk out without thinking, the work has bored me. I'm going to try to keep him in my sights.

/ARTBLOG