A SEA in the Desert Gallery: June 2014

June 19, 2014

We've been back from Europe a little over a week, enough time to recover from jet -lag, unpack, catch up with gallery business, gallery sit and get ready for the tourist season. So I can finally take time to write about the trip. Our main focus was the cruise from Amsterdam to Basil on the Rhine River. In past visits to Amsterdam we visited both the Rembrandt House and the Van Gogh Museum; we crossed the city to see the latter again, but lines of visiters were so long, we went to the beautiful park near by instead, where I enjoyed drawing the huge ancient trees. Having seen both artists so many times over 50 years, it was not a bad solution. I also skipped the Gerhard Richter exhibit outside Basil: it was very expensive and I don't agree that he is Germany's greatest painter as he is called (maybe all PR?); I saw a major exhibit in Hamburg a few years back and was not that exited. But I did discover a wonderful artist in Basil (actually from Munich) at an opening I just happened across in my wanderings. Friedrich Geier's paintings/drawings reminded my of the Australian Aborigines works, a similar all over design but with humans, animals, plants totally imbedded in the image; exquisite sense of color too. It would be wonderful to bring his work over here for a show. [to be continued]

About our Gallery

A Sea Gallery has gone through several stages over a 10 year period. A Sea stands for "Association of Socially Engaged Artists" which began about 2002 with meetings of artist discussing the state of art in Santa Fe as well as politics of the United States and the world at this time. Most of the artists either were or had been political activists, against war, corporate exploitation, empire, etc. and committed to honoring the earth. Over the years since that time I have thought a lot about the artists roll as mirror to a society, addressing social ills and aspirations. It seemed the Santa Fe ‘art scene’ had become increasingly commercial: ‘successful artists’ making a recognizable product for wealthy private collectors or corporations. Much of the art shown was about prestige and investment. The art I was drawn to in major art centers in the USA and in Europe was deeper and more challenging than that. While Santa Fe may have more art galleries than the current economy can support I felt there is room for one more: a gallery of challenging work supported by the artists themselves- a Collective (rather than a cooperative) as the structure is evolving. It’s aesthetic philosophy: Art is shown because of its merit rather than salability. It has an owner (Monika Steinhoff) but no profits are taken out of the gallery. Artists participate in paying expenses, gallery sitting and decisions about running the gallery. Proceeds from sales are between 50 and 70% to the artist, depending on artist involvement. The gallery is small and can have up to 10 members. It has existed at its present location in the Railyard since July 1st 2011.