Joseph Nease Gallery Opens "Color and Pattern" Show and Holiday Pop-Up Super Shop Today

Dramatic photo by Raissa Venables

Yesterday I stopped in at Joseph Nease Gallery to catch a glimpse of the new work that is on display. This weekend JNG is celebrating a new opening with work by three artists along with a special pop-up gallery featuring smaller scale affordable works by local artists. The opening for this New Exhibition and Holiday Pop-Up Super Shop is this afternoon with an artist reception on December 21. Next Friday will be the official Anniversary Celebration during the Downtown Art Crawl.

Photograph by Raissa Venables

The primary exhibition in the Main Gallery Space is titled Color and Pattern, featuring three mid-career artists from around the U.S.: photographer, Raissa Venables (Vermont), and painters, Marcus Cain (Kansas City, MO), and Eric Sall (Tulsa, OK). Each is a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, and they know each other, though they work separately in different areas of the country, pursuing different subject matter and employing different processes to create their work. All three explore color and pattern in unique and stimulating ways; yet there are surprising visual intersections among the work they produce, which become apparent when these works are displayed together.

Raissa Venables' photography is distinctive and strong. Thematically her lens seems drawn to ornate, vivid textures with a central focal point that implies infinity and light. The images are always intriguing and captivating. Michael Cain and Eric Salls' paintings are equally engaging.

The “Holiday Pop-Up Super Shop” can be found in the Northwest corner of the gallery where you'll see a variety of pieces to fit most any gift-giving budget. These one of a kind, art pieces will be curated by the gallery with a rotating display of new works from week to week. There is more there than initially meets the eye. Be sure to rummage through the drawers of the cabinet.

To see what’s coming up each week, Follow @josephneasegallery on Facebook. Talk with one of the  gallery curators to find those meaningful and perfect gifts for the special people in your life!

Finally, November 30, be sure to join us at the gallery during the Downtown Duluth Arts Walk for a slice of birthday cake as we celebrate our One Year Anniversary of being open to the public!


Dates to remember:
“Color and Pattern” opens this afternoon with a special Artist’s Reception event with artist Marcus Cain on December 21, 5 to 8 PM during the Downtown Arts Walk.

“JNG Super Shop” also opens this afternoon with a selection of affordable, curated, one of a kind art, perfect for gift-giving and refreshed on a weekly basis.

One Year Anniversary Celebration, November 30, 5 to 8 PM in conjunction with this month’s Downtown Duluth Arts Walk.

About the artists in “Color and Pattern”:

Raissa Venables’ photographs are experiential visions of our environments, whether they are interior or exterior, mundane or opulent. At first glance they may seem to be realistic images or even entrances into existing places. Upon further investigation, a surreal and magical narrative unfolds with unpredictable nuances, distortions, twists and turns, all without a human presence.

Whether talking metaphorically within a painting's acknowledgment of the seemingly endless scale of the prairie or vast beauty of the empty desert, or literally referencing patterns and designs found in more urban environments, both street culture and the natural environment with all its grand vistas play a huge part of Eric Sall's upbringing and inspiration.

Marcus Cain paints with ceramic tools that he has specially modified in order to create patterns of distinct, opaque marks with a continuous hard edge. In his paintings, he creates layer, upon layer of these patterns, giving each 2D work a sense of greater depth as the viewer gazes into the spaces between each layer.

Kirsten Aune Designs

Artists participating in JNG Super Shop: Marie Rose Adams (gouache paintings), Alison Aune (acrylic mixed media paintings), Kirsten Aune (limited edition handbags and scarves), Tara Austin (Rosmaling works), James Brinsfield (oil paintings), Marcus Cain (acrylic paintings), Cary Esser (ceramic sculpture), Peter Granados (Marker drawings), Rachel Hayes (Instagram collages), Matthew Kluber (gouache paintings), Don Kottman (ink and colored pencil drawings), Adam McCauley (acrylic and Latex paintings), Kathy McTavish (print journals), Karen Owsley Nease (oil paintings), Heidi Pollard (gouache paintings), Warren Rosser (oil paintings and prints), Tim White (photographs), James Woodfill (mixed media drawings and collages).

Joseph Nease Gallery is located on the corner of First Avenue East and First Street.

Gallery Manager Amanda Hunter in the Pop-Up Su.per Shop 

There's more to see than initially meets the eye.

Meantime art goes on all around you. Get into it.