GUNNAR NORDSTROM GALLERY
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Celebrating 37 Years in Business

Exhibitions

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Join us for A VERNISSAGE every Month for a New Exhibit and Artist Reception. With Covid still a concern for many we monitor our openings to suit our exhibiting artist, so keep your eyes open for times and dates to be announced.

Be sure to check our website or get on our mailing list for Special Events that are on a little more personal level. It is a great time…come on out!

Meet the Artist events when a reception is planned as of now are scheduled for the 2nd Saturday of each month at 2 pm - 6 pm.
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Exhibitions
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Miscellaneous News

Why Art Galleries Are Important
By Jason Landry

“Merde! I absolutely detest all openings and parties! They’re commercial, political and everybody talks too much. They get on my tits!”
~Joan Miró

The gallery model, as we know it, is flawed. Dramatic changes have affected how we view, experience and acquire art. Does anyone else see this, and if so, are you concerned with it?

People used to get excited to go to a gallery, meet an artist in person and experience a work of art. Now, with almost every image an artist makes available on the internet, more people can view the work online and decide if they like it enough to leave their house to visit the gallery, or attend the opening reception, or just stay in to watch another night of reality television. I guess there is also the flip side: maybe the artist sees marketing the work to a critical mass over the web beneficial to their career. Or maybe it’s the collector who would like to see the work online first to get a sense of what they might want to acquire. What’s really driving this art market — artists, collectors, galleries? We’ll save the answer to that question for another post.

Artists and dealers know that art must be experienced in person to truly get a sense of its magnitude — it’s the outsiders who don’t get that. This is another benefit of visiting an art gallery. Viewing artwork on the Internet is like walking by a gallery on a rainy night and wiping the fog from the glass to get a peek. You think you can see the art but there is a barrier obscuring your vision — distance from the actual art piece can distort your perception, and not being able to see how a work of art hangs or is displayed next to or near other works of art — that can be an issue too. We’d hate for you to finally take delivery of your newest conversation piece just to find out it doesn’t fit where you wanted it, or the color clashes too much with your chartreuse drapes. Most art is non-refundable.

The gallery used to be a place to go to meet up with friends and exchange ideas and build community. Patrons and students alike would come to see a show and then talk about it with their peers the next day. The arts community has grown to be less real and more superficial because of things like social media and sites like Facebook. With all the good that social media does as a marketing tool for galleries, artists and the arts as a whole, it also removes something from the art world equation: community.

Galleries are one such place to build a community — a real, true social network — your art ecosystem, and that is important. It’s been this way forever. Warm body introductions are important. Social networks on the internet are okay to rack up followers or friends, but a great quote that I read in the book The Start-Up of You by Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn states, “There is a big difference between being the most connected person and being the best connected person.” My network came from the schools that I attended, but also through the artists, collectors, patrons, mentors, educators, curators and publishers that I bumped into at gallery openings and other art-related events along the way. Now that I am an art dealer, I don’t get out to openings like I did in the past. When I happened to go to a recent First Friday’s gallery event in Boston, it was great to run into old friends. It reminded me of what I love about the arts and I will stress it here again: the community.

Fact: There is definitely a different experience meeting someone in person, rather than just looking at their photograph on a website. Just ask the thousands who think they have found their soul mate on sites like Match.com, and then realize they look nothing like their picture when they finally meet up for a date. The same goes true for looking at and experiencing a piece of art in a gallery. Before you click that ‘buy’ button on one of those online websites that sell art, go visit and support your local art galleries and experience what can happen. You may just be surprised at what you see, whom you meet, and what you will learn.

Follow Jason Landry on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Lanrod
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Congratulations

Congratulations to Jaime Ellsworth for her inclusion into "100 Artists of the Northwest" by E. Ashely Rooney.

The works of 100 contemporary artists interpret and provide a fresh look at the artistic vibrancy of the Northwest region of the United States. The states of Oregon and Washington are rich with artists, having become vital art scenes in the past several decades. Using sculpture, glass, oil, clay, wood, and other contemporary mediums, as well as paint, these 21st century artists combine, redesign, and transform their materials into pieces of works that change the way we perceive both the regions of the Northwest and the world. With a guide to galleries, sculpture parks, museums, and schools, this book is a wonderful resource for lovers of all art mediums

E. Ashley Rooney, of Lexington, Massachusetts, has written several art books; this is her fifth in the "100 Artists" series. She has established a solid reputation for her architectural, design, and historical works.


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See You In The Funny Papers


My mother always said “see you in the funny papers” and alas, she finally saw me there. On Mother’s Day May 13, 2001, The Gunnar Nordstrom Gallery appeared nationally in a wonderful 3 panel Sunday edition of the comic strip Ziggy by Tom Wilson. In the title panel, Ziggy is looking up at his home’s blank walls with his dog, exclaiming “Our house is lacking artistic ambience” In the next panel, Ziggy says “… We need some art in here”  “…art is one of the essentials of life!”  “FOOD, WATER, SHELTER and ART” he exclaims with arms waving. The third panel has a very distinguished art dealer standing in a gallery talking to Ziggy “…Welcome to the Gunnar Nordstrom Gallery…is there anything I can show you?” Ziggy answers “…yes, I’d like to see something in a paisley to match my sofa!!” The very distinguished art dealer only sighs and of course finds Ziggy exactly what he was looking for. We are never too stuffy to help you find exactly what you are looking for.

Ziggy has a new book out as of November 2003, Ziggy Goes Hollywood features many of his most recent successful comic strips....and yes....we made the cut. Read the Gallery comic on page 114. Wouldn't that make a great gift?

Many thanks for that great plug to our friend Tom Wilson and Tom II for their support and great comic strip.
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The Gallery Mistress is back!

While “Matisse” the mistress of the gallery during the 1990's was sold back in the 2002, a new "Mistress" took her place in 2018. Located  only a stones throw from the gallery, she proudly calls
The Homeport Marina in downtown Kirkland home. She will be the beauty flying a Cougar flag prior to the Apple Cup.

"Sien", named for Vincent Van Gogh's mistress in the 1880's, is a sleek, fast and beautiful 1969 30’ Shields daysailer. She saw a lot of use this past summer of 2022 as it lingered so beautifully well into the middle of October. Capt'n Duffy (our gallery pooch) was often on board lounging on deck and barking orders even took his first swim in the lake (life jacket clad) and seemed to enjoy himself. Duffy has often been a pampered pooch, but has enjoyed getting his paws dirty working on Sien.
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