#ui-intermediaconcepts-iowa

[sarahshoemakerphoto-blog]

I clicked on the Yellow Door Gallery link simply out of curiosity because yellow is one of my favorite colors. When I got to their website I read the homepage and was instantly intrigued because it’s held in a private home. It seems so simple and I love that!  After exploring the website a little more, I learned that they put on salons. This is something I never heard of before and they explained it to be “as a place and forum that brings people together through shared experiences with visual, aural and performance art”. 

[phantomintermedia-blog]

Honestly, I’m bias. I love PS1. They come through every time. Last minute desperate need for a space? PS1. Class project where you need to get into the space at 1am? PS1.  Wanna see the Sisterhood of Traveling Clowns? P S 1. The people who work there are amazing humans and deserve everything good in the world. And the space is so amazing and easy to manipulate and there’s a lot of it! Go to PS1. Use PS1. Donate. Love the space.

[monetcantbuymelove]

SAHM (above) and Quiet Party (below) by Allison Reimus

Recently exhibited at Des Moines Yellow Door Gallery. 

Reimus’ work echos the aesthetic pictured in SAHM and Quiet Party. One of monochomaticity fighting a droll battle with strange splashes of color. Most of her work is small in size and relatively flat, done on paper or canvas.

Whenever I see an artist stick so closely to a certain style and look it makes me think that there must be some theme that the artist is obsessively trying to discuss. 

I think that’s why I was racking my brain for a big and mysterious theme that fit with her work. Is Reimus criticizing our modern day views of happiness? Is it an exploration of color in a vacuum? Is it a discussion on the mediums used in traditional painting? Maybe, but I think the theme is a little smaller than that.

What I mean is that this work seems to be more like a diary entry than a critique or an exploration of a huge human mystery. Maybe diary isn’t the right word though, it’s more like a journal scrapbook of her daily life. 

Take a look at SAHM, (what I assume stands for Stay At Home Mom) at the mundane yet festive deflated balloons, the darkened walls that your husband insisted be painted a light charcoal because he couldn’t stand bright garish colors. But you couldn’t help but play that small cheeky little trick at the next kid’s birthday. And when he walked in, to see your clean charcoal kitchen haphazardly colored with a parade of awkward colors, he smiled. And you smiled, the two of you having an entire hilarious conversation in a glance.

And of course there is no reason that this interpretation is any less valid than any other, no reason that what looks like a slap-dash art project at first glance can’t be a poetic recreation of one birthday snapshot, taken years ago.

[iowa-keanureeves-blog]

I decided I wanted to talk about the Yellow Door Gallery link. First off, I love their name. Second, I am interested in the fact that it is located in a private home. This gallery offers a space for not only artists, but collectors to explore installations, salons, concerts and even afternoon tea. I found some of their pictures and saw one that was simply 16, black balloons tied together, that had floated up to the ceiling in the corner of a white room. What an odd piece. It seems like something that could happen in someone’s house after their goth son had a birthday party. But somehow it is considered art. I love it! I looked at their upcoming events and found one called Sunday Session with The Mimzees. At first I wondered why they would have a seemingly normal band come play. But then I read that their songs bring poetry to life. I then found out that the salon only serves 65 people max so I wondered if that simply meant that the space was kind of small, or if it was so popular that they had to stop people from pilling in from the streets. (I couldn’t find this out, but I’m guessing it’s the latter). Although considering this is someone’s actual house, that is still pretty impressive. The Yellow Door is located in Des Moines, IA and most events just have suggested donations, so I could definitely go sometime.

[flezner]

http://www.yellowdoordsm.com

Yellow Door Gallery is a gallery space inside of a residential home in Des Moines, Iowa. I was drawn to this gallery space first by the name. I absolutely love the color yellow and any gallery with a yellow door is my kind of gallery! Once I looked around their website more, I was drawn to the work featured and the space that housed them. The environment is relaxed and personal, making it seem like visiting a friend’s house rather than a stuffy or prestigious art gallery, which I love.

The art throughout the museum changes periodically and features artists of different mediums. This winter, they have two exhibitions being showcased. The first is “Inter/Veil”, works by Saulaman Schlegel and Spivey Knapik. This exhibition will be displayed 01/13/18–02/11/18. I was drawn to their work (pictured below) for the minimalist and simplistic nature of them. The start contrast of black and white really stuck out to me, as well as the fact that both of the pieces featured on the website preview are titled “Untitled”. Yellow Door will have another exhibition 03/24/18–04/21/18 titled “Hold it Here”, works by Douglas Degges and Laurel Far. 

Lastly, I love that they host events in the space. At first I thought it would be a bad location for a concert or poetry reading, but after seeing some photos of Yellow Door full with people, I changed my mind. Sitting on the ground in the living room gives it that personal and homey vibe that can make a reading or concert extremely inviting. I would love to stop by Yellow Door the next time I am in Des Moines to get a feel of what it’s like to actually be there!

[sha-zap]

Image from PS1′s & the Center for Afrofuturist Studies’ website

I wish I could write an essay about everything that Public Space One means to me. It’s a place where I hold many fond memories watching performances, participating in workshops, and viewing galleries. I’ve tired becoming an active member (one summer I helped paint the walls of the Press Co-op) but alas being a student has been more or less of a demanding lifestyle.

Nevertheless, I love the space despite my inabilities to currently contribute to it. The people heading it are so determined to put ART out there, and host artists, and their dedication to other fellow artists has helped make Iowa City a little more accessible to those looking for an art center.

I hope at some point I can actually spend some time volunteering at PS1, but for now I’ll be supporting their events as a patron. It will be a place I will greatly miss upon graduation, but hopefully it won’t slip my grasp too easily.

[shangxiaban]

All of these works made by Eric Adjetey Anang, that he focus on Fantasy Coffins. when people think coffins, can not image that will be fantasy and powerful and bring feeling of warm to us.

his works are more focus on still-life, made a lot of daily life things,such as red pepper. when people see this feel cute and lovely. 

[asacroweintermedia-blog]

I wanted to see if the local arts association closest to where I grew up/about 10 miles away from my rural home/high school even has a website.  It turns out it does, but it looks kind of like something made in the late 90s to early 00s.  It’s the first one pictured, The Fort Madison Area Arts Association, with the Des Moines Art Center’s below as an example of a more modern, interactive, updated website.  This kind of brought me down a little bit, since I know how many cool pieces are displayed there with no documentation online, but maybe I could reach out to them and see if I could connect them with help to improve their web presence.   Also in Iowa arts, I can foresee the Arts & Culture Jobs page of the Iowa Arts Council website being helpful in the near future.  The only current listings are Executive Director, Bricker-Price Block Restoration Coporation in Earlham, IA and Executive Director, Levitt at the Falls in Sioux Falls, SD, both of which are obviously out of my league.