Gallery Stroll – January 2009

For those new to the Gallery Stroll concept, galleries stay open late the third Friday of the month to provide the public with extended hours and artists receptions. This evening acts as a signature event for the local art community drawing crowds of Utahns.

SLUG has made a name for itself in finding the sub-culture within the back alleys and basements of Salt Lake City. Finding the underground and uncovering Utah’s finest artists, SLUG presents highlights for January’s Gallery Stroll.

IAO: Projects is a relatively new gallery founded in 2008 by Shadna Sieger and Albert Wang. Their goal is “to discover untapped and innovative talent throughout the world which have not had the opportunity to be presented to the public at large.”

IAO currently has two exhibit spaces, the first location at 925 East 900 South Suite 40 and the second at Acme Burger Company (ABC) at 275 South 200 West. Beginning Jan. 16, the 9th & 9th location will host New York artist Jeff Faerber’s solo show “Bush and Cronies, Inc.” Just in time to kiss George W. goodbye forever. Faerber, an illustrator for magazines and books, captures the essence of the departing president and the aftermath he leaves behind. Phrases like “No Child Left Behind,” “WMD” and “Lies” are positioned in the background just as they are in his legacy.

In the IAO: ABC Gallery, Rafal Piotr Karcz proves that watercolors can be more than a pretty mountain-scapes or water lilies. His Show, “Various/ Similar Similar/Various,” is a series of paintings focusing on various icons of American culture and European history. For example he examines Baader Meinhof’s actions in an American pop culture and SLC’s own Phillips Gallery directors Hadley Rampton and Meri DeCaria.

No Brow Coffee and Art Gallery presents Tyrone Davies. Davies is the curator and founder of Lost Media Footage or LMF and a current master’s student at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. His recent endeavors include the 2007 Select Media Festival in Chicago and the 2008 Sego Festival in Provo. Davies has been heavily involved in the video artist evolution and continues to curate exhibits at the Trasa Pickle Factory and the OUT/EX program. Opening Jan. 16 just in time for the Gallery Stroll and a reprise from Sundance. No Brow is located at 315 E. 300 S.

Utah Arts Alliance presents Earth People, a continuation in the evolution of Derek Dyers popular photographic series that spans over a decade. In his newest work, he explores the connection humans have their environment using such elements as salt, sand, soil, leaves, flowers, fire and water. “The subject is covered in the earthy elements that surround them. Through this process, the people become earth people”, Dyer explains.

The opening reception will be held Jan. 9 from 6-10 p.m. at the Utah Arts Alliance Gallery 127 South Main Street.