The Gallery ABQ Has a Brand New Look!

Note from the Director

February 2022

by Patricia Cream

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make MISTAKES. Art is knowing which ones to keep. You have to let yourself go to be creative" —Scott Adams.

Time to Start Anew!

The Gallery ABQ  has a new fresh look—new carpet, new paint, new art. We will be re-opening on February 1, 2022. Hours and days remain the same: Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery will have a new salon show, a new Featured Artist, and new art. This is a great way to start 2022. We hope our faithful supporters, customers, and collectors will come in to check out the new look.

First Friday, February 4th, 5:00-8:00 pm. We are strictly following all of the State's directives for NM Safe Guidelines for COVID. You can enjoy shopping in a safe environment.

The salon  show—“Share the Love,”—will run from February 4 through 24. We will be celebrating the loves in our lives, including  pets or humans or any activity or hobby that brings joy and happiness. Artists will be bringing in their art for acceptance on January 28th from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. You can get a prospectus and Artist Entry Form for this show on our website: https://www.thegalleryabq.com/events

Our Featured Artist for February is Greg Lujan. I am excited to see the growth that Greg has developed. I still remember meeting him at the Range Café to discuss the possibility of his joining the gallery. I love his skill with metal and  various types of wood. He puts an original  spin on working with wood and metal. One of my favorites is a large  round disk on which he put a beautiful bronze stain and shimmer that was a stunning mixture.

Our newest artist is Carla Forrest, acrylics and oil. Carla is known for being a first-generation Russian American who is inspired by contemporary Russian impressionism and the pointillists’ method of placing two colors side by side to let them blend into another color. We are looking forward to Carla's joining the gallery.

Call for Artists: If you are a local artist looking for a Contemporary Fine Arts Gallery to show your art, please go to our website to get more information about our gallery. The application is online.  If you are interested, please send in your application and we can set up a jury date.

Photos of the new carpet before hanging the wall art!

In the Salon in February

Share the Love

Open Show

February Featured Artist

Greg Lujan

Greg Lujan (wood and metal art)

by Linda Weiss

Greg Lujan is the February Featured Artist at The Gallery ABQ. The First Friday reception is on February 4, 2022, from 5 – 8 pm. Greg’s media are a mixture of wood and metal to create the original art that you will see on the walls at the gallery.

Greg uses either laminated, colored wood veneer, or exotic woods, which he mounts on ground (shiny) steel, to amplify the colors in the wood. His aim is to create visual excitement using the tension of the warmth of the wood and the coolness of the metal. His art is a demonstration of light absorption and refraction.

Greg studied art history at the University of New Mexico. He finds inspiration fabricating furniture for his house, learning to use new tools, techniques and media. He also loves taking inspiration from 20th century American artists. Coloring the wood reveals beautiful layers. Greg has been using, and building on, these media and techniques for the last 7 years.

When asked, “What do you like most about your art,” Greg says that he is happy to offer the world something unique. He would like people to see his art as noticeable, and not ordinary. I believe that Greg has achieved this goal, and I look forward to seeing more of his art as his media, tools, and techniques advance.

Introducing a New Artist to The Gallery ABQ

Carla Forrest

photo, above, by Steve Larese Media

Biography

Award-winning contemporary artist Carla Forrest paints the New West in her spectral luminescent works, inspired by direct observation of nature and life. Forrest attributes her love of impasto painting to her undergraduate study of sculpture and modernism. She is a first-generation Russian American who is inspired by contemporary Russian impressionism and the Pointillists' method of placing two colors side by side to let the eye blend them into another color.

See Carla's full biography and artist's statement on The Gallery ABQ website and her personal website, links below.

A portion of her artwork sale proceeds is donated to nonprofit environmental organizations that align with her personal artistic mission, which integrates awareness of environmental conservation, community connectivity, and creativity.

"Life’s most persistent and urgent question is,

What are you doing for others?"

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.