Blink and you’ll miss the arrival some new additions to our
city’s ever-growing art scene. JGK Galleries, located at 10 Vick Park A, is a
gorgeous space comprised of three smallish rooms divided neatly while
maintaining the feeling of a hip, open loft. The space has been open for about
a year and seven months, focusing from the beginning on mostly West Coast-based
artists whose work Managing Director Maria Lauriello-Klein
and her husband had collected and followed for years. These “permanent artists”
represented by JGK include diverse works such as the paintings and lovely
bronze figurative statuettes of Brittany Ryan, the vibrantly
hued landscape and building paintings of Richard Lang Chandler, the mesmerizing
digital prints of the 3D animation work of Murray Kruger, and many others. The
work shown is a combination of Lauriello-Klein’s
personal inventory and works on consignment.
JGK changed things up a bit with its current show, “Art Roc
Show 2013 Showcase,” which remains on view through February 28. Lauriello-Klein has lived in Rochester for roughly six
years now, and has spent time getting to know the art scene, she says. She
wanted to include local and regional artists in the mix, so she recently put
out a call for local artists through various social media channels and chose 12
from those who responded to showcase in half of the three galleries. The rest
of the room remains dedicated to the permanent artists, some of whom have had
solo shows at JGK and collaborated with local poets or the Rochester City
Ballet for events held there.
“Art Roc Show” includes glossy landscapes by enamel artist
Alejandro Gutierrez, who is based in Buffalo; a metal tree sculpture and
accompanying poem by Mike Fitzsimmons; encaustic-on-tarpaper portraits of homeless
people by Buffalo artist Gary L. Wolfe; watercolors by RIT professor Alan Singer
and by Stu Chait; a fiber work diptych by Jeanne Raffer Beck; and oil-on-canvas works that resemble idyllic stained-glass
landscapes by Renee Simone-Lee, among others. Lauriello-Klein
intends to add a local artist to the gallery’s collection as well.
A closing party will be held on February 28. The event
requires tickets, which are $10, and can be reserved by emailing
info@jgkgalleries.com. At the event, visitors will have the opportunity to fill
out a ballot to guess who they think will win best work in the show (which will
be chosen by Lauriello-Klein and a small group of
others). Ballots will be entered for a drawing to win $100, which the winner
may put toward the purchase of an artwork.
Coming up, JGK will feature Operation P.H.O.T.O. on March 1,
a photo exhibit by city youth involved in an empowerment program that captures
and documents people doing good deeds. Further down the line, Lauriello-Klein has planned a Western NY 2013 Student
Showcase, and a graduate student show featuring Allyson Klopp.
JGK Galleries is located at 10 Vick Park A and is open
Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday 11 a.m.-3 p.m., and for special events. For more
information, call 734-6581 or visit jgkgalleries.com.
This article appears in Feb 20-26, 2013.
