By: Izabella Hotz and Destiny Cannon
January 18, 2020
The opening night for the 2020 West Schaaf Gallery, owned by Mike Gutierrez (the artist and art lover), was a major success. He has many paintings of his own, but he also displays and sells art of many other local artists like Celeste Stauber and Eileen Dorsey.
The opening was Saturday, January 18, with the newest display being a work by local artist, Celeste Stauber.
The atmosphere was relaxed and casual, but the buzz of passion was definitely present. Although the gallery is on the smaller side, there were still plenty of things to look at, and the layout was fantastic.
Gutierrez shared some of his thoughts on his most recent collection of paintings.
“It means I’m healing, it means that I’m better now… it means I’m choosing to care about how I feel and what I’m doing… my well-being instead of masking it or blinding it, or trying to just cope.”
We asked Gutierrez why he chose such a tucked-away gallery spot, and he told us, “… You’d be surprised at how many artists live in Old Brooklyn and show in other places, so the creative center is in this area…”
A few of his paintings are below.
The art that was shown in this gallery was incredibly diverse, from oil and acrylic paintings to lacquer and poured paintings to even wooden paintings that were done entirely with wood stain.
The whole experience was super fun, and we even interviewed one of the showing artists, Jon, a featured artist who creates cloth works using photosensitive dye and various objects and even people.
We asked what his work meant to him and he told us, “They are experiences I can look at, and they’re tactile, and they really relate to different periods of my life, and I have started to realize I have been working more with light… I think it’s about fun and the human connection.”
This gallery is a fun place to go to experience many different types of art in a smaller venue. it also possesses many talented artists and a ton of good messages.
Stop by; you won’t regret it!
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 