Local Art Seen: PLYS With Purpose @ the PROVE and a Call For Art

While downtown Tuesday eve I stopped in at the PROVE to check out their current show PLYS With Purpose, a silent auction of skateboards crafter by local and international artists. All proceeds directly benefiting the Gary New Duluth Skate Park. The artists in this show were selected not only for their art skills but also for their impact on skateboard communities or the influence of skateboard culture on their lives.

The skateboard decks are always impressive. It's also impressive how they've incorporated online opportunities into the auction mix. (Visit www.32auctions.com/plyswithpurpose2019)

The architect for the new skateboard park is Mark Leski, a nationally recognized skate park design known as "The Wizard."

THIS SHOW RUNS THROUGH JUNE 21
MORE PLYS BELOW THIS CALL FOR ART

CALL FOR ART

You Don’t Know Me

an exhibition about epic personal stories

You Don’t Know Me is an exhibition whose theme is inspired in part by the concept of “sonder,” a term invented by writer John Koenig and defined in his Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows as “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as complex as your own.” These lives--“populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness”-- continuously swirl around us as “epic stories,” that we move in and out of as we navigate the world around us.

Whether spoken in delight, anger, sadness, or as a simple matter-of-fact, “you don’t know me” is a statement that suggests the confrontation of humans’ inner and outer lives: what we do and do not know about the people around us, what we choose to reveal to others, and what we keep inside. At a time when the distance between human connections can seem exacerbated by technology, social differences, and our current political climate, Prøve Gallery invites artists to submit works of art that visualize--through representational, symbolic, and/or conceptual means--complex lives and epic stories in relation to, intersecting with, or distinct from your own. Show us what we may not know about you.

Selected artworks may explore (but are not limited to):
* Explorations of self & personal narratives or mythologies
* Human interconnectedness
* Empathy, understanding, & trust
* Connections & encounters among strangers or friends
* Isolation & distance
* Misconceptions
* Secrets & revelations

Specifications:
Open to all subjects and/or styles.
Open to all media that can be wall mounted. All works should be completed in a ready-to-hang format.
There are no size requirements or limitations beyond practical considerations of space (must fit through conventional door).

Submission
Deadline for submission is July 1, 2019 (midnight, central time).

HOW TO SUBMIT
Please email all submissions to info@provegallery.com with subject line: You Don't Know Me

Please submit (in one PDF document):

* Image(s) of Work

* Didactics [titles, medium, size, & price (if for sale)]

* A brief artist statement that answers the following question: How does your artistic work visualize, reveal, or even conceal the “epic story” of your life and its relationship to the epic lives that are playing out all around you?

All artists will be notified upon acceptance with a deadline of July 3, 2019.
Selected artwork is to be dropped off, or mailed in by Saturday, July 13, 2019.
Opening reception Friday, July 19, 2019.

All submission materials must be written in English.
All work is shown at the artist's own risk.
All work shipped to Prøve Gallery must be sent with return shipping or be picked up by the artist or an artist's representative.
--
Dr. Jamie L. Ratliff
she/her/hers

Board Member, Prøve Gallery
21 N Lake Ave
Duluth, MN 55802

jamie@provegallery.com

* * * *

Flashback Friday: PRØVE Gallery Inaugural Exhibition Proves Art Can Be Exciting

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

18 November 2011
Last night I had the privilege of being able to attend the pre-opening of Duluth’s newest art phenomenon, the PRØVE Gallery. The collaborative project with a one-year commitment to its current location promises to bring still more excitement to an emerging Twin Ports arts scene.

The PRØVE Gallery mission is to become a conduit of powerful ideas and diverse viewpoints as well as fostering a greater appreciation of the modern arts, expanding community and providing cultural exchange. The gallery’s ambitious aims include presenting monthly shows, collaborating with like-minded arts organizations and create networking opportunities that benefit the arts retail environment.

My first impression upon arriving at the gallery was a huge “Ah, seriously interesting.”

The gallery is located in the heart of downtown, half a block up from the intersection of Lake Avenue and Superior Street. According to Richard Hansen, who serves with Sound Unseen, promoters of the Duluth International Film Festival, explained just how much work was involved is preparing the space for this event. “We didn’t even have a floor,” he said.

The artists are young, enthusiastic and serious about their work while simultaneously enjoying this opportunity to display. Justin Iverson’s Malignant Neoplasm on Steel is richly illuminated to produce a suitable vigor for those who stop to engage it. A vibrant variation on abstract expressionism, there is a fascinating assortment of colorations as a result of the application of salt, water and vinegar onto the surfaces of steel.

Nikolas Monson’s 5:30 PM in the rear of the gallery created interesting visuals due to the shadows and lighting. Monson explained the source of the title. It’s the color of sunset in October here in the Northland. Equally mysterious, based on viewer position, the piece is intended to create “the illusion of something more.”

Steven Read’s Showdown with Agassiz (below right) is designed to distort perceived space and adjust viewers’ relationship with objects in the environment. The name of the piece, along with the names of all these works, is both playful and cerebrally entertaining. I enjoyed taking numerous photos of gallery visitors engaged in conversation beneath the rubric of linear abstraction.

Anthony Zappa’s dynamic Tilt stretches into the interior of the gallery, serving as both wall and window to the space and designs within. The linear elements are wide enough apart to tempt viewers to barge through the piece but narrow enough to restrict such imposition.

Galleries like the PRØVE could not exist without the support of sponsors. And it really is great to see so many companies stepping up to support the arts locally. PRØVE Gallery sponsors include the New Scenic Café, Sherwin Williams, Sound Unseen, Lake Avenue Café and the Twin Ports Gallery. (As an aside, my father was a chemist who worked in the development of latex paints, and once was employed by Sherwin Williams in Cleveland way back when.) Thank you to all sponsors of the arts.

Tonight is the grand opening of the PRØVE Collective's newest art gallery. It is my earnest belief that anyone half-interested in the arts would be well served to pay attention to this new space, and if at all possible drop in tonight and check it out.

* * * *
17 November 2017

Tonight, the Prøve Gallery is conducting it's fourth annual exhibition and silent auction of 30 crafted skateboard decks by local, national, and international artists all sharing one purpose: building skateboard parks in our communities. The event is titled Plys with Purpose. Proceeds from the silent auction will be donated to the Gary New Duluth Development Alliance for their ongoing efforts to build a public, state-of-the-art skateboard park in Gary New Duluth.

Designed by nationally recognized skate park designer, Mark Leski, aka “The Wizard”. The skateboard park will not only give the local youth a new facility, it will bring new businesses and prosperity to the Gary New Duluth community. For more information and donations to the GND progress, please visit http://gnd.community/   For more info on tonight's event visit the Plys with Purpose Facebook page.  Afterparty at The Rex.