Tag Archive: Minneapolis Art

  1. Uniquely Dark

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    To kick off programming for 2016, the gallery welcomes a collection of works from Minneapolis-based, veteran artist and iconic figure, Scott Seekins and emerging artist Aleister White. Laced with ancient symbolism and Louisiana Voodoo, Uniquely Dark sets out to showcase the couple’s “darkest” creations, incorporating individual work, new and collaborative pieces. Though an exhibition featuring a real-life romantic pair opening Valentine’s weekend, the artists encourage viewers to contemplate their work as separate entities, including pieces which compliment each other at times, and counter during at others. Their intent is to highlight the dark and unconventional sides to love and art.

    Notoriously known throughout Minneapolis by his seasonally adorned black and white suits, (black in the winter; white in the summer), Seekins has established a memorable, albeit elusive persona for himself locally, built both around his aberrant aesthetic and his signature pop culture-influenced artwork, full of comic book style self-portraits and Britney Spears-obsessed paintings, among a variety of other idiosyncratic series. For this exhibit, using mixed media, acrylic and oil-based paints, Seekins employs Sgraffito or a scratch art technique on canvas allowing for a vibrant, layered background to his paintings.

    After studying studio painting at the University of Houston, Aleister White was inspired by her time spent in NOLA and cites a deep respect for Yoruban traditions of Vodou and Santeria which she conveys in her drawings. Influenced by Mistress Erzulie-Freda (Haitian Lwa of Love, Passion, Beauty and Prosperity), the occult and animal symbolism, White’s micron and prisma pencil drawings are purposefully caliginous, with vague elements of absurdity and pagan elements hidden within every intricately etched line. Through recurring animal motifs, Seekins and White use symbolism to represent stigmatized aspects of race, religion, war and culture.

    UPCOMING EVENTS

    Uniquely Dark Opening Reception
    Saturday, Feb. 13th, 7-11pm
    Featuring champagne and chocolates; plus an industrial, goth and darkwave soundtrack from DJ Juleana Enright. Click here for Facebook event

    CoLab Art Night: Speed Dating Canvases
    Thursday, Feb. 18th, 7-11pm
    $10 admission includes materials, refreshments, music and fun!
    An art party where you can have a brief encounter with a variety of art forms.

    Exhibit Open Hours Through February 26th:
    Thursday & Friday 3-7pm
    Saturday 1-7pm

  2. Middle Class Aspirations Exhibit Finale with Carnage!

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    Join us this Thursday for your last chance to see the Middle Class Aspirations exhibit in person. But this isn’t just any ol’ exhibit finale – it’s our last in this space! We will open our doors beginning at 2pm for viewing, then at 6pm we will shift gears into celebration and kick off the finale party. Around 8pm we will pass the mic to some friends of Gamut to toast to the good times, then Carnage The Executioner will bring it home with his signature vocal stylings.

     

  3. Speed Dating Canvases

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    Have you ever fallen for a canvas, just to follow your heart back to the drawing board?

    Gallery’s “Speed Dating Canvases,” is an art party where you can have a brief encounter with a variety of art forms. Connect with each genre as live music sets the mood, but when the beat stops… we rotate to the next creation station!

    Don’t worry about picking up the masterpieces left behind. As each genre is visited by a series of eligible experimenters, a roomful of collaborative artwork takes shape.

    Set upstairs in the gallery with the backdrop of Common Oasis, you are sure to feel the creative spirit!

    Witness the hilarious, the clever and the surprisingly evocative works that are created by a community looking for a canvas to love.

    Singles, couples, artists, beginners; it all adds up to a wild affair.
    $10 admission includes materials, refreshments, music and fun!

  4. C4W:2014

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    Minneapolis – Friday, October 24, 2014, 7:00 – 11:00 p.m. – opening reception for Gamut Gallery’s third annual “C4W: Call 4 Works” juried art exhibition. The show features work from twenty-three regional and international artists; it runs through November 22. Kristoffer Knutson curates the exhibit, focusing a contemporary curator’s eye to the diverse array of submissions.

    Knutson has built experience promoting and engaging artistic communities in Minneapolis while running the design store “ROBOTlove” from 2005-2012 as well as through his partnership in the local arts calendar mplsart.com. This will be his first experience as the sole juror of an open call for works. He describes the process as challenging given the breadth of media, content, and artistry of the submissions – but this variety is exactly what Gamut was hoping for as a reflection of their mission. He invites those familiar with his place in the Twin Cities art community to view the show as something “they might not expect to see” from him. Knutson selected finalists whose submitted work shared a common thread – identity and the projection of self – along with a number of pieces that offer moments of inner reflection. Through the curation of this exhibit he explores a two-fold reality where our projected identity and experience perhaps differ from an outsider’s perspective.

    This is the first collaboration between Knutson and Gamut Gallery — a gallery he describes as “young, open and relevant, the kind of place where accessible art can be fostered.” Gallery director Jade Patrick has a parallel affinity for Knutson’s contribution towards expanding a market for and knowledge of Minneapolis’ street and poster art scenes.

    Featured Artists: Maryam Hosseinnia, Vadim Gershman, Justine Di Fiore, Diane Katsiaficas, Caleb Timmerman, Claire Victoria, Kelsey Henderson, Kaija Wahlquist, Kyle And, Joseph Loeffler, Russ White, Timothy P. Ojile, Evan Ishmael, Mieko Yamazaki, Samuel Bjorgum, Nodjadong Boonprasert, Joshua McGarvey, Morgan Mercer, Kyle Quinn, Christopher Sorenson, Leah Edelman-Brier, Darius Homayounpour, Adam White, and Frank Heatley

  5. Post Mo’ Bills: Finale

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    Minneapolis – Saturday July 26, 2014, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. – Grand finale of Gamut Gallery’s “Post Mo’ Bills.” This event brings to close a one-month exhibition of prolific local street and poster artists. “Post Mo’ Bills” will be on view at Gamut Gallery every Thursday and Saturday from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. through July 26th.

    Please join us on July 26 for an evening of music, interactive art and live screen printing, beginning at 7:00 pm. Jackson Kenny of The Abstracted will be conducting live screen printing demonstrations throughout the night. Guests will have the opportunity to purchase a T-shirt featuring a commemorative print for ten dollars, or for five dollars, they may bring in any cotton garment to be printed on (even the shirts off their backs). Visitors to the gallery are also encouraged to post their own bills on the community collab wall, while The DJ Bob Marino delivers a 90’s musical history lesson with a decidedly urban tone. Marino’s signature mix of hip-hop and house will keep our community of artists and art lovers feeling upbeat.

    Gamut Gallery was transformed into a graphic communications hub through the display of editioned screen prints and wheat paste installations. The exhibit has issued a challenge to civil authorities’ warnings to “post no bills” – the criminalization of regular citizens posting messages or handbills in public space. Curators Erik Farseth and Jade Patrick ask: How is someone supposed to find their lost cat? How should political activists communicate their messages supporting social change? Where is the place for artists’ expression in the public space? Right now the answer is at Gamut Gallery.

    Featured Artists & Organizations: Burlesque of North America, TOOTH, Ruthann Godollei, Chuck U, WUNDR, Andrew Gramm, Biafra Inc., Boxy Mouse, Emily Janning, Erik Farseth, Gilpin Matthews, Heather Wayne, Jonas Criscoe, Lauren Schuppe, Maura K. Williams, Pseudo Manitou, Lizardman, The Abstracted

    Sponsored by: Pabst Blue Ribbon

    Gamut Gallery opened in 2012 with an official Northern Spark Festival location event that drew more than 500 people.  Since then, Gamut has exhibited a diverse array of regional and international artists, for which it has received local and national press coverage, including a 2013 nomination for “Best Art Gallery” and several A-listings in the Minneapolis City Pages.

  6. Colab Art Night

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    THIRD THURSDAYS…MAKE ART WITH US!

    All visual disciplines welcome: painting, drawing, sewing, projections, photography, design, sculpture, collage and more.

    Bring your own materials or work from our communal supplies.

    Work together, collaborate, or work solo.

    The creative energy in the air connects us all and inspires new ideas.

    WHAT: Open art night
    WHEN: Thursday, February 20th @ 9 PM – 1 AM
    WHERE: Gamut Gallery Basement Studio
    COST: $5

  7. If These Walls Could Talk: Finale

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    MINNEAPOLIS – May 31, 2014, 7:00 – 11:00 p.m. – Multi-media installation and spoken word performances complete the finale for current exhibit “If These Walls Could Talk.” This debut of photographer, Cameren Torgerud’s latest series chronicles his Urban Exploring adventures. He has just begun to explore the United States in pursuit of some of the rarest sights, documenting abandoned buildings that defy entrance by the average citizen – some since demolished. Gamut Gallery immediately realized the relevance of his work and devised a plan to sponsor his way to a frontline city on the dispute over urban decay. As Torgerud’s photographs of early and mid-century American ruins hang on the gallery walls, Gamut sends him to document Detroit’s tarnished gems before the wrecking ball strikes.

    From the earliest discussions of this exhibit, Gamut Gallery Director, Jade Patrick felt one city was missing. After enthusiastic responses to the idea of a travel sponsorship for this emerging artist, and after learning more details about Detroit’s current urban challenges, it became clear that Torgerud must go there. A group of architects that visited the gallery pointed out the time sensitivity of the project in the face of mass demolition. Further research into these shocking details were enough to convince the entire Gamut board that now is the time. With the final approval from Torgerud, plans were laid for an expedition within just a few weeks time.

    Every day in Detroit more “blighted” structures are torn down in a covertly controversial money grab for $100 million in Federal funds. According to Capitol Reporter Jonathan Oosting, the funds were diverted into blight demolition from a foreclosure relief TARP offshoot called the Hardest Hit Fund. Not even a fifth of the 500 million awarded to Detroit has actually gone to programs for struggling homeowners. Residents do welcome demolition of fire-prone, structurally unsafe, rat or criminal-filled properties that make children afraid to walk to school. However, there are a significant amount of buildings that neighbors are fighting to keep. Some of these structures exemplify the finest in early American architecture, yet lay vulnerable to vandalization as their historical landmark applications are held up in bureaucratic delay. Many controversial tear-downs are slated for demolition in months or weeks.

    Gamut member and videographer Caleb Timmerman will accompany Torgerud, collecting documentation and audio samples on site. The sounds of each unique location will be mixed into a musical composition by staff and students of Slam Academy: an electronic music school that shares space with Gamut Gallery. The resulting ambient soundscape will accompany projections of the photographs captured in Detroit. The installation will be shown for one night only in the Gamut Studio below the Gallery, during the exhibit finale. A limited number of prints of the projected works will be available for pre-order. Framed art may be taken at the end of the night or delivered.

    Spoken word artists have been invited to respond to the theme surrounding the current situation in Detroit and perform other original works. Featured artists include: Neil Hilborn, Crxo Apollo, Christopher Shillock, Nikolas Martell, Paul Canada & Oliver Renee Schminkey.

    This event and Cameren Torgerud’s travel to Detroit have been made possible by a generous sponsorship from the following companies: Green Rock Apartments  / Altus Architecture  / Isenberg + Associates  / Pabst Blue Ribbon