Shameless!

Opening Reception: Friday, December 5 at 5:00 p.m.
Exhibit remains through December 28, 2014
Burnett Gallery & Jacob Foyer
Gualala Arts Center

If the 2013 Gualala Arts Center exhibit Art for Art's Sake was all about the excellence in art itself, regardless of salability, SHAMELESS! is all about art as a product, a commodity, a thing that can be sold. Artists will step away from the idea that art is some special human endeavor that should not be tainted by the market place and to embrace the idea that artists want to produce work that people are willing to pay for to possess.

The exhibit is expected to feature innovative new work, breakthroughs in concept and design, pieces that explore the idea of art as a salable product that satisfies some basic human need. That's our serious explanation for what the theme of this show is all about. But feel free, as always, to interpret it any way you like.

Artist could, for example, forget the "PURITY" of their artistic statement and get in touch with their COMMERCIAL side - the secret side that delights when anything they've made actually sells, that WANTS to appeal to the masses, THAT WANTS TO SELL!

Or, they could embrace the aesthetic of what appeals to the broadest audience, whether that's Norman Rockwell, Walter Keane or Charlie Schultz.

Or artists could dabble in questionable media normally forbidden to serious artists, like painting on black velvet, or plaster cast wall decorations like those plaster keys, or functional ceramics.

Or, they may cast all sensibility aside, and SHAMELESSLY dive directly into KITSCH! Find the kewpie doll in the artistic soul and exploit it mercilessly to the masses for fame and profit! Dogs playing poker! Pink flamingos! Elvis doing anything! The possibilities are endless!

Whether the artists are serious or tongue in cheek in their approach to this show, come and see what they've got! This show is all about the artists and what THEY think is or is not ART!

And what more serious judge to separate the quick and the dead, the sheep and the goats, or the artists from the pretenders, than Don Endemann, the owner of Mendocino County's longest continuous running gallery - The Stewart Kummer Gallery - now in its 32nd year?

Stewart-Kummer Gallery specializes in both two- and three-dimensional works, and is filled, both inside and out, with works in many different media. Along with the requisite works of beautiful art, many of the pieces in the Stewart-Kummer Gallery are quite provocative, a true testament to the fact that Don Endemann is willing to be on the cutting edge of the art world. There is a clear sense of whimsy in the gallery, showcasing the idea that although there are many important topics to be seriously addressed in life, there must be a balance.

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.