Showing posts with label Sam Weller's Gallery on the Mezzanine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sam Weller's Gallery on the Mezzanine. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Dos Oestes pics are up

Dos Oestes "Two Wests," works by Brittany Ann Edmiston and Ben Kilbourne. This has proved to be one of my favorite shows yet. Thanks to the artists for their amazing work. Check out our flickr page, but come down to the bookstore to really see them. Excepting one of Kilbourne's pieces that is NFS, and two of his that sold at opening, all works are for sale at reasonable prices. Contact us for availability and pricing .

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Video Show pics are up








































For those who missed our opening reception for the video show last month, there is now documentation of the event on our flickr account. The installation components of the show were a one-night-only engagement: Brian Patterson's video projection of "The Watch, The Wait" onto the wall of our lower stairwell, Shantel Bennett's video projection of "mesh" onto a blank canvas hung on our upper stairwell, and Milad Mozari's video projection onto an impressive bookstack built on the dance floor in the basement. The overall effect of the projections in the bookstore was magical and strange. While in our last art show, ANALOGUE island, the bookstore was energized with vibrations of sound, this time it was activated with waves of flickering light.While the projections are no longer running, you can still view the artist's video works on monitors we have installed down the length of the mezzanine.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

An 80 year old bookstore is an ANALOGUE island

There are too many things to talk about right now. There are too many things that haven't been discussed on our blog yet. Our 80 year history, the exciting possibilities of the big move, this old space and how we've used it in so many ways to create a fruitful, fluid, dynamic place to experience the written word and art. In curating shows for our gallery on the mezzanine, in creating displays for the front window and throughout the store, we have used both the physical relics of our history and the intangible presence of it to spin something new. Shari Zollinger and I have pursued artists for many of our past exhibitions and challenged them to respond to this place or a certain idea, but artists in the community have also come to us with their own projects. In all cases, this place has carried some magnetic force or gravitational pull for creative people. Of course, when we find the new perfect location, we will continue with this exploration. I just want to address this building and give a tribute to the things we've been cultivating here for the last few years. Forward thinking, beginning with retrospection.
That said, our ANALOGUE island exhibition has been the most experimental of the art shows we have put on here. We brought in sound-based projects, a performance art piece, and works that the viewers could actively engage with. The opening reception was truly a consideration of "the analogue in sound, vision, and human gesture." In looking over the photos of the opening, folks are moving, interacting with art and each other. The whole store was integrated in a sonic way with the sounds created by people activating Trent Alvey's sculptures and Mathieu Ruhlmann's sound installation. People on the street were drawn in by the gestures happening in the front window between Michael Handley and Brandon Garcia. Henry Jones's ongoing site-specific project, Tales on Tape, surprised the viewer in the midst of our fiction section. The recording booth truly embodies an "analogue island" concept, as it stands there a plexi-glass enclosure/display with two tape decks inside -one to play back, and one to record your own story. ANALOGUE island runs through May 8th, so come down and check it out! For more images of the show, please go to our flickr album. There you will also find sets of our past exhibitions and events.
Read more about Tales on Tape in this interview, or go: talesontape.org
To download Mathieu Ruhlmann's sound piece, go here or to learn more about his impressive body of work, visit woodenspinebox.com
We are a non-traditional gallery exhibiting work in all media by emerging and established artists. For more information on our future exhibitions, or directions on how to submit your work or show proposals, please email me at stephanie@samwellers.com

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Call For Entries: The Video Show

In our further exploration of the bookstore as a non-traditional artspace, we are calling out now to all video artists (of any part in the spectrum) for an exhibition scheduled to open gallery stroll May 15th. The possibilities are pretty open: we will be accepting proposals for video displayed on tv monitors -to be placed throughout our gallery space on the mezzanine, as well as potential installation areas throughout the store. video projection is also a possibility, but combating the overhead lighting in the store may be a difficulty. We are willing to experiment with many formats and options, making this a dynamic and engaging show. All entries must be submitted for review by Saturday, April 3rd.
If you are interested in participating, please start out by emailing the following information: Submissions must include the following:
1. Your name and contact information
2. Proposal of project (description or artist statement)
3. Video file (quicktime is preferred). This can be a video link. If you don't have video online, please bring in a quicktime video file to Sam Weller's Bookstore Attn: Stephanie + Shari. If you are working solely through VHS, please let us know in email, and we can make arrangements to view your video.
email to stephanie@samwellers.com &
shari@samwellers.com
Please email us with questions, or call us at 801.328.2586
We want this to be a diverse show, so don't hesitate to enter your submission. Or, if you know video artists, send this call for entries their way.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Cult of the Book pics are up

The ghastly inversion out here has fogged my synapses at the moment, so, In lieu of saying something enlightening and clever about our ever-growing art gallery, I will simply now post a link to a vast reservoir of images of the opening reception and complete works of our most recent exhibition, cult of the book. There you will also find sets of our previous shows and events. Do take a gawk and a gander..