A Rockford art gallery highlights two local artists who are making colorful waves in the community. The opening reception for “WINNERS” took place Friday at 317 Art Collective.
Laura Gomel is the director of the gallery. She said when planning the show, she tried to think of a common ground between two artists. The first person she thought of was Graphic Artist and Screen Printer Joe Tallman.
“He's really hot right now, too,” she said. “I mean, he just got that Pabst Blue Ribbon thing last year. Or was it this year, I don't even know anymore. But I've always liked his work.”
The other artist she chose was Judith Meyer. Meyer won the Best of Show in the Rockford Midwestern Biennial. Meyer explained the inspiration behind the painting that won, “Sandro Senses His Greatness.” She said it was supposed to be a landscape, but it took on a life of its own when she saw a crown in one of Sandro Botticelli’s paintings.
“It reminded me of a pool that might be in a quarry. I put this the crown over the pool,” Meyer explained. “And then I thought, well, what if Sandro was walking along that pool as a young man and all of a sudden he realized that he had this greatness?”
Jalynn McKenzie drove from Waukegan to see the Rockford exhibit. She met Meyer in New Mexico when she was a student of the artist. She said one painting at the exhibit called out to her.
“This really speaks to me -- the bird. But I'm really into birds,” she said. “I like almost everything that she does when she's catches nature. And she does catch nature.”
Matt Poulisse also came to the exhibit. He stood with a look of satisfaction on his face as he smiled holding two prints that he purchased from Tallman.
“So, he's got his Tom Segura poster,” he said, “which I thought he was fresh out of which I'm stoked that he wasn't but also his little free head kind of like the ‘Men in Black’, you know, they have the aliens controlling the guys.”
Tallman said he spent the last month preparing for the exhibit.
“And it all finally kind of started coming together this week,” he added. “I'd say when I got most of the pieces framed and packed up and started feeling good, like two days ago.”
He said he’s not sure if he will enter the Pabst Blue Ribbon contest again this year, but he is jumping into new creative ventures.
“I’m doing a mural for a local print company. I was asked to do another mural for local college,” Tallman said. “And that's kind of a new territory for me. So that'll be a fun, exciting kind of way to break into that.”
317 Art Collective has more shows coming up this year. Gomel said artists really need patronage for their work, especially following the industry’s financial losses due to COVID-19.
“We could really use people's support in buying local art. We have so many talented people here,” she said. “There's no reason to go to Home Goods and buy some art for your walls. Just get over here. You know, we've got new hotels opening, we got a new casino opening.”
The "WINNERS" exhibit will continue through the end of the month.
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
