galleries.baltimoresun.comGalleries: Artfully under the radar – Baltimore Sun

All Sections Subscribe Now 67°F Tuesday, May 14th 2024 Baltimore Sun eNewspaper Home PageSubscriber Services Manage Subscription EZ Pay Vacation Stop eNewspaper Daily Sun Evening Edition Carroll County Times Capital Gazette The Aegis Howard County Times Advertise with Us Advertise Classified Homes Jobs Special Sections News News Latest Crime and Public Safety Education Elections Environment Health Lottery Marijuana Nation Politics Sun Investigates World Carroll County Times Carroll County Times eNewspaper Education High School Sports News Opinion Obituaries Submit News The Aegis The Aegis eNewspaper Aegis Opinion Aegis Sports Harford Magazine Local News Local News Maryland Anne Arundel County Baltimore City Baltimore County Carroll County Times Harford County – The Aegis Howard County Eastern Shore Sports Sports Baltimore Orioles Baltimore Ravens High School Sports College Sports Terps Horse Racing Business Business Autos Best Reviews Real Estate Top Workplaces Opinion Opinion Editorials Opinion Columnists Dan Rodricks Op-Ed Readers Respond Submit Letter to the Editor Submit Op-Ed News Obituaries News Obituaries Death Notices How to submit a death notice Things To Do Things To Do Arts Entertainment Events Food and Drink Home and Garden Horoscopes Fun and Games Movies Music Branded Content Paid Partner Content Advertising by Ascend Paid Content by BrandpointSign up for email newsletters Sign Up Galleries: Artfully under the radar Share this: Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Subscribe Login Account Settings Contact Us Log Out Spoof a user Sign up for email newsletters Sign Up Subscribe Login Search 67°F Tuesday, May 14th 2024 Baltimore Sun eNewspaper eNewspaper Latest Headlines Sports News Obituaries Death Notices Things To Do Opinion Weather Trending: ?? Voter guide ? Preakness coverage ? Reader poll: City schools ? Key Bridge collapse coverage ?️ KAL’s view: Editorial cartoons ? Send question to ‘Ask the Vet’ Breaking News Maryland primary live coverage: Some Baltimore polling stations open late; morning voters trickle in May 14, 2024 at 11:30 am Things To Do Entertainment Galleries: Artfully under the radar Share this: Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) By Tim Smith PUBLISHED: November 12, 2010 at 7:01 a.m. | UPDATED: December 23, 2018 at 4:20 p.m. Beyond the mighty Baltimore Museum of Art and Walters Art Museum, beyond such long-established, up-market spaces as C. Grimaldis Gallery and Thomas Segal Gallery , a world of artistic enterprise thrives — some of it off the radar or almost literally underground. Baltimore has its share of artist-run, DIY spaces where the emphasis is more on encouraging and showing new work than selling it, as well as others that are very much in the commercial trade. Some venues are a little hard to find, located in low-foot-traffic areas and in buildings that, at first glance, might be mistaken as abandoned; others occupy inviting, street-level spots. Some keep regular or quasi-regular hours; others are best visited by appointment or on reception nights. All of them are worth a look. And if there’s one thing all of these places could use, it’s more people looking. A common observation heard in this grass-roots community is that Baltimore has plenty of creators but not a lot of collectors. Here’s a sampling of places where fresh art is the order of the day, including painting, sculpture and video installations, and where the common thread is the cutting edge. Current Space Gallery 421 N. Howard St., currentspace.com Flanked by boarded-up spaces on a block of Howard Street ripe for renewal, Current Space’s current space couldn’t look more underground if it tried. The storefront gallery, which moved here in May after six years on Calvert Street (the spot was sought by developers), needs some TLC. But the pioneering artist-run enterprise has been churning along in its new digs. Wrapping up this weekend is an in-your-face show, Force: On the Culture of Rape.” Created by Rebecca Nagle and Hannah Brancato, the installation includes eclectic, often graphic videos by several artists, running on TV monitors. For the finale, a kind of performance art called Darb TV” will be presented; it’s an imaginary kids’ show dealing explicitly with sexual trauma and abuse. We’re open to all formats, genres and styles,” said Monique Crabb, one of Current Space’s three directors. A future project will turn the gallery into a kind of grocery store/mini-mart. The art will mimic products that would be sold at a store. There will be aisles and shelves, shopping baskets and a cash register,” Crabb said. There are plans to build studios in the basement, which would provide some income from artists renting them — and give Current Space a literally underground vibe. Force: On the Culture of Rape” will be on view from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday; performances of Darb TV” will be at 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Jordan Faye Contemporary 1401 Light St., 443-955-1547, jordanfaye.com. Since opening 14 months ago in an 1880s Federal Hill building, this gallery has presented no less than 18 shows. Technically, it’s an artist-run space — owner Jordan Faye Block is herself an artist and lives there — but it’s a commercial establishment aimed at showcasing a varied sampling of local talent and getting work into the hands of collectors. Opening Friday and running through Sunday is No. 7 in the gallery’s Salon Series, featuring a dozen artists of different ages, backgrounds and artistic styles. (Disclosure: The lineup includes work by a Baltimore Sun employee, news and sports designer Scott Ponemone.) Block puts out an open call for submissions to the Salon Series; selected artists choose what they want to exhibit. I help them with marketing,” Block said. And I bring in a visiting artist to give input, to mentor the emerging artists.” Scheduled in December is Small Wonders,” a show featuring modest-size, modest-price works by about two dozen artists. I think everyone should have art,” Block said, and this show offers very affordable art. My motto is ‘Your collection begins here.’” Salon Series No. 7 is on display noon to 9 p.m. Friday (with a reception 6-9 p.m.); noon to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Positron Gallery 210 W. Read St., 551-697-3790, positrongallery.com. Elise Siegal takes the DIY philosophy to heart. The young art collector (and chemist by day) turned the first floor of her Mount Vernon rowhouse into an intimate gallery about a year and a half ago. I just wanted to have a place for artists to show their work,” she said. Adding a twist, Siegel typically picks a theme and invites artists she admires to create fresh works inspired by that theme. She focuses on 3-D, mixed-media works, guaranteeing a heightened sense of texture for her shows. The next Siegel-generated show is due next month. Meanwhile, Positron offers Eschatology II,” curated by Cheri Landry, creator of a business called Divergence Fine Art that specializes in cutting-edge work. Eschatology II,” offering works by artists from Baltimore and beyond, includes a pair of haunting pieces by Jordan Eagles that use animal blood — procured from slaughterhouses — to create a kind of abstract memorial on Plexiglas. On a lighter note is Emil Alzamora’s sly Plank,” an 8-inch sculpture of a man wearing a business suited, on a plank in the about-to-jump mode. Count on finding Landry’s curatorial work elsewhere around town. Since her former base, Gallery Imperato in Locust Point, closed, she’s spearheading what she calls pop-up” galleries. I’m just popping up wherever I can,” she said. As long as there’s track lighting, I’m ready.” Eschatology II” is on display Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Nov. 20. H&H building 405 W. Franklin St. The H & H Building gives no outward sign of the activity teeming inside, where several artists have studio and living spaces....