Three artists take the stage in a collaborative show of huge proportions at PhilaMOCA. David McShane, Willis Nomo and Paul Downie mostly display pieces of their individual work, but also join forces for a big three triptych of sorts, which dominates the front of the gallery space. While all of the artists have very distinct styles and themes, the show as a whole takes a trip into more psychedelic pastures.

McShane, who you may have heard of via his upcoming eight-story Phillies mural at 24^th and Walnut, creates irregularly shaped canvases composed of mismatched rectangular sections. The boxes connect, although the images themselves do not always line up. Pop-cultural portraits of musicians, writers and athletes dot these paintings alongside bits of recycled cardboard from consumer goods, like empty candy containers or boxes of crackers. In “Jokes Are No Joke,” a football player stands divided by a traditionally drawn nude and two very different faces connect to form a freaky hybrid on the right. To the left is the cotton candy-pink face of Frank Zappa. Ever the prankster and parodist, the title of this painting is something Zappa almost surely would have uttered.

Speaking of musicians, Nomo also pays homage to three greats with a series of headshots: Bob Marley, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. The faces in these pieces twist and turn with patterns of paisley and contoured spirals that trace their cheekbones. There is a certain electric vitality to these portraits that comes from their bright, deep hues and meandering ornamentation. “Coltrane,” in particular, draws in the viewer as the cigarette poking out of his mouth seems to send wispy, fractal smoke clouds around his head.

Mandalas and movement are Downie’s focus. His renditions of spiritual geometry complement the other two artists by providing a non-objective sounding board. In the series “Rotation,” Downie explores the process by which one of his mandala forms appears to spin and change. His series “Growth” shows green, shapes emerging upward like plants reaching toward the sun. His “Seed Mandala” paintings are flowerlike circles of bright radial petals.

At the front of it all are three tall paintings done in collaboration. Each one was started by one of the artists and then passed on to the other two to finish. When the faces and forms of all the individual artists come together, the true power of this show is felt. Although the work is not a traditional triptych, as the paintings are all separate, the collective skill of all three painters shines through with mind-bending clarity.

PhilaMOCA is located at 531 N. 12th St.; 267-519-9651.