Beginning the New Year

A new year has arrived! We’ve got a number of exciting virtual exhibits planned for the start of this year. In Feb our curator, Leona Seufert, will have a virtual exhibit of her unique and delightful original jewelry (currently her pieces from the “Digital Gems” series are on display in the Garwood Library at 411 Third Ave, Garwood, NJ through mid February). In April, to celebrate National Poetry Month, we will have a virtual exhibit of poetry paired with photographs of jewelry titled “Poetry For the Body” and in May a virtual group exhibit of small pieces will be “Sculpture to Wear”. A Youtube channel is also in the works to be created by Leona hopefully premiering in June. So stay tuned, something exciting will always be in the works during this year.
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The Evolution Of The Virtual Art World

From Paintings of the Artist Studio, to the Laptop, to the Internet
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In pre digital times, the studio painting was the way an artist could let an audience see how he worked. Props and costumes, brushes and paints, all the accoutrements of the artist’s livelihood might find their way into the finished canvas.
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Today, with the proliferation of video and other media, the studio “painting” has changed radically to not only encompass showing how the artist creates but to provide a cost effective means to show and sell his work.
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After almost 2 years of virtual workshops, virtual exhibits, and virtual conferences, we seem to believe that the COVID-19 pandemic created this current “virtual” world. That is far from the truth. I created my first “virtual gallery” which was really my website, in 2006! I used it to get accepted into my first gallery exhibit, and continue to use it as a promotional tool. Almost every artist today has a website. Some sell their works from it so it becomes more than a “gallery” but also a “store front”. One can peruse the artworks just as if walking through a real gallery. Artists have also branched out to use Instagram and create Youtube videos (to give lectures, show how they work, etc).
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As the 2020 global pandemic descended upon the art world and closed down brick and mortar galleries, curators and gallery owners had to find a way to survive. However, at first they did not believe that a virtual gallery could take the place of a physical one. Within a year, they were proven wrong. Today, all physical galleries, whether they are still shuttered or slowly opening, post artists’ works online. Some galleries even experimented with 3D software to create “virtual walkthroughs”.
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We artists will always desire to have our works shown in a real space. The flat screen of a laptop, now matter how high quality the resolution, can never match what the eye sees in stereoscopic 3D. Also, being able to be in a physical space, talking to patrons, enjoying a reception, or experiencing the fullness of a piece of sculpture, is also lacking online. But virtual definitely has its place. It allows people with disabilities to see exhibits they’ve never been able to access before. It takes away limitations of time and space. Exhibits thousands of miles away can be visited, enjoyed by anyone. And as in the case of the Les Malamut Art Gallery, allows us to continue as a gallery even though our physical one no longer exists.