Where does art live? Usually in the sterile atmosphere of the museum or gallery, set aside from the rest of the environment we live in, affixed to the wall like dead butterflies on stick pins—fragile and untouchable.
Local artist qi peng—curator of the recently defunct IAO Projects Gallery—has long had unconventional ideas about where art lives. At IAO Projects, he was instrumental in promoting that gallery’s artists online and traveling to where the audience was, like September’s Beyond the Border Art Fair in San Diego.
But then, IAO Projects didn’t have much choice, with a 10x10-foot office space downtown. The Livingroom is what its name suggests—a livingroom in a Holladay home, giving the art space to breathe and feel at home on the wall, less constantly in transit. Livingroom Co-Director Julie Dunker, herself an abstract painter, has transformed part of her home into a place to see art in a more comfortable setting.
Some of the artists at the gallery are carryovers from IAO Projects: abstract urbanist Jon Coffelt (work pictured), German collage artist Sibyll Kalff, Polish watercolorist Rafal Karcz, vintage text manipulator Kay Tuttle and qi peng, with his conceptual art. Joining them are Brooklyn minimalist Vincent Como, Weber State University professor Matthew Choberka, Texas artist Emilie Duval, minimal abstractionist Charles Fresquez and Dunker herself. The mix of Utah and international artists is intended to create a cosmopolitan roster that our locale can find a place in and not feel marginalized.
The Livingroom Grand Opening @ 2105 Fardown Ave, 505-228-1268, Friday, Dec. 4, 3–8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; or by appointment through Dec. 19.
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