5x5x(5): Small Works Exhibition

Target Gallery offering innovative and conceptual approach for visitors to be a part of the exhibition, 5x5x(5).

Target Gallery presents a small works exhibition 5x5x(5). This show opens on December 11 with a reception to meet the artists and the juror, Elaine Levin from 6-8pm. Elaine Levin will provide a brief gallery talk at 7pm. All of the work in the exhibition measures at five inches or less. The show will consist of all media, from painting, sculpture, ceramic, jewelry, fiber and so on. With close to 250 art works on exhibit, there is definitely something for everyone.

This exhibition however will not be your usual small works exhibit. This exhibition, in celebration of the holiday season, will allow patrons who make a purchase from the show, to take the piece immediately home with them in exchange for a photo of them holding their new possession. This photo will then go on exhibit in place of the artwork just purchased. If all goes well, the exhibition in the end will be a small photo show of our very appreciated patrons to the gallery. Having this kind of exhibition provides the opportunity for our visitors to collect small, unique, works of art; and allows the visitor to be a part of the gallery experience, literally. This is also a fun way for us to say thank you to all of our gallery patrons.

The juror for this exhibition, Elaine Levin, from Northridge, California had her work cut out for her. She had over 650 artworks to choose from and in the end chose close to 250 to be in the exhibition. The artists represented in this exhibition are local, regional, national and international artists. Levin is an independent contemporary art curator, art historian, guest lecturer, and widely published writer.

The Target Gallery, national exhibition space of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, is located on the waterfront in Old Town Alexandria, VA. The gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday 12-6pm and Thursdays 12-8pm. The exhibition will be online at www.torpedofactory.org/galleries/target_current.htm by December 9.

Travis Graves: Finding Equilibrium

November 13, 6-8pm: Reception for Artist

7pm Artist Talk : Travis Graves will be on hand to discuss his intriguing process.

Please join us as we honor our 2008 Open Exhibition winner, Travis Graves.

Also, the Torpedo Factory Art Center has a lot of fun things going on . This reception is during our monthly Second Thursday art night with the theme "Naked November Nights".

Travis Graves: Finding Equilibrium

Target Gallery's upcoming exhibition with Travis Graves makes a statement about society's relationship with the natural world and our ongoing struggle and effort of finding a balance between the two. The gallery will be producing a catalog and poster for this exhibition that will be printed through enviromentally friendly means using the ecoprinter; Youprintgreen.com.

As a society we are constantly asked and are increasingly curious about ways that we can make a difference in the environment by reducing our carbon footprint. How do we do this? There are lots of ways, we have supplied a link below and to the right under our Links list that will take you to a website that provides tips and education on how to reduce your carbon footprint. As we come across more useful sites we will add their links as well.

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/

Travis Graves: Finding Equilibrium

This year's open exhibition winner, Tennessee artist, Travis Graves will be presenting a selection of his sculptures in the gallery from October 22- November 23. His work seeks to engage questions of how we view the environment and identify our relationship to the world in which we exist.

Graves states, " Sometimes our relationships are even, consistent, harmonious, and balanced. At other times it becomes more irregular, setting us off balance with ourselves and putting in motion consequences."

A reception for the artist is planned for November 13, from 6-8pm during our Second Thursday Art Night. The artist will be providing an artist talk at 7pm during the reception to discuss his work. There will be a catalog for sale to accompany this exhibition.

The entire exhibition will be online by October 22.

Aftermath:Disasters Happen. Artists React.

Exhibition Dates: September 3-October 12
Reception: September 11, 6-8pm

Special Guest Speakers: 7pm Shanti Norris, from Smith Farm Center for the Arts and Healing
and President for Gifts in Kind, Richard Wong
Candlelight Vigil: 8:30pm

Disasters Happen and Artists React: Target Gallery’s upcoming exhibition Aftermath takes a hard look at artists’ interpretations and reactions to natural and manmade disasters.

Target Gallery’s exhibition opens to the public on September 3 with a special reception on September 11 from 6-8pm and a candlelight vigil beginning at 8:30pm. Aftermath includes a wide range of artists and their work that represent a great cross section of our country to include a few local and international artists as well. They speak through their art about the effects that traumatic events from natural and manmade disasters has had on them personally and on their work. As our juror, Laurel Reuter, Founder and Chief Curator of the North Dakota Museum of Art states, “Today’s artists are not asked to record the definitive history of their times but instead to give their contemporary audiences the means to understand their own times. Ours is not a contemplative society; artists often are. For some artists, like some writers, assume the role of moral compass.”
Ms. Reuter had over 500 entries to sort through, many of which were powerful and outstanding works, out of those entries close to 40 works made the cut. The media spans traditional painting and printmaking to more new media such as video and site specific installations. The work responds to all kinds of disaster whether literally through a photograph or a video or in a conceptual and abstract way by the means of painting or by thousands of tiny bandages wrapping a gallery wall.
The work seeks to create and stir a dialogue with the viewer; some of the work will strike at the innermost chords of our being exposing the vulnerability that exists. It exposes our weaknesses and our imperfect nature. No matter how prepared or powerful we may feel, a disaster has a profound way of bringing us back to earth and to the realization that anything can happen and that our time here is very precious and fleeting. The exhibition also provides a glimpse of the power of art and its unique way of helping people and communities heal, come together and attempt to understand the chaotic nature that exists when disaster strikes.