Artists would call it inspiration, others a spur-of-the-moment, but Al KohutB次元官网网址檚 decision to stop outside an Sidney store front with a B次元官网网址渂ig B次元官网网址榝or leaseB次元官网网址� signB次元官网网址� last month has opened a new gallery this month.
B次元官网网址淚 peaked in the window and I thought that would make a perfect gallery for photographers,B次元官网网址� he said. Weeks later, Kohut has opened the new photographers GALLERY in the 2400-block of Beacon Avenue in what used to be a menB次元官网网址檚 clothing store and an art gallery some 15 years ago.
KohutB次元官网网址檚 peak inside immediately revealed the advantages of the space. B次元官网网址淭his particular space is narrow,B次元官网网址� he said.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 like a shoe box, and it has three bays. So it lends itself to three featured artists. And because it is not a huge wide space, everything is visible from a reasonable distance.B次元官网网址�
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At the same time, each of the bays offers a level of seclusion that allows visitors to experience the art, he added.
B次元官网网址淢ost galleries are really intimidating. You canB次元官网网址檛 relax. There is a little bit more focus here.B次元官网网址�
What also drew Kohut to Sidney was the communityB次元官网网址檚 status as an artistic hub. B次元官网网址淭here are just a lot of opportunities here for artists,B次元官网网址� he said.
Kohut enters the gallery business without any prior experience in running a gallery, and by his own admission, with no grand design. B次元官网网址淭here is no plan,B次元官网网址� he said, jokingly.
But he has 50 years of photography under his belt. B次元官网网址淚 wasnB次元官网网址檛 a professional photographer by no means, B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚 was an amateur and then I started to sell my works and I became more professional. But that wasnB次元官网网址檛 my profession. I was a hydro-geologist and geologists take a lot of photos.B次元官网网址�
Kohut also has a deep knowledge and awareness of photography as an art form, and one of the goals of his gallery is to raise the profile of photography as an art form.
B次元官网网址淚 think there needs to be more education,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淧hotography can change the world.B次元官网网址�
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The nearby world of Vancouver Island is the focus of the first three photographers B次元官网网址� Karoline Cullen, Helen B. Watt and Peter L. Ramos B次元官网网址� showing at the gallery from now until Jan. 12. Cullen is showing Orcas swimming close to shore off Galiano Island, Watt presents her photos of the Inside Passage, as well as both coasts of Vancouver Island, while RamosB次元官网网址� work highlights the western coast.
The spring of 2020 promises to be a visual feast for music fans when the gallery will present selections from the work of US-born Gerry Dieter.
He died in Victoria in 2005 after an iconic career during which he shot the bed-in by then-Beatle John Lennon and his new wife Yoko Ono in Montreal in 1969. DieterB次元官网网址檚 pictures, famously, did not get a public showing until shortly before his death.
The gallery will also show photos by Douglas Gilbert, who accompanied Bob Dylan during his heydays as a New York folk hero before his decision to plug-in. LOOK Magazine rejected GilbertB次元官网网址檚 work because Dylan looked B次元官网网址渢oo scruffyB次元官网网址� for its readership.
B次元官网网址淭hese are two examples where two photographers were un-appreciated at the time,B次元官网网址� said Kohut, who sees himself as a facilitator between artists and audience, as someone who can inspire others to advance their own craft.
This point rings through in his comments when asked about the economics of starting and running a gallery for photographers in an age where anyone can take a picture practically anywhere.
B次元官网网址淕ood question,B次元官网网址� he replied. B次元官网网址淲hat are they? That is not the purpose at this point. Whatever happens is going to happen.B次元官网网址�
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