October 29, 2009

Silent Auction Benefits ‘Walk Unafraid’ Art Project

Filed under: Gallery Announcements & Notices — kurt @ 3:45 pm

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June 4, 2007

How the Arts Can Boost an Area’s Economy

Filed under: Commentary & Discussions — kurt @ 2:54 pm

May 31, 2007

Creating Critical Mass

Filed under: Media Coverage — kurt @ 11:54 am

Gallery owner pursues dream in artful partnerships

May 29, 2007

Kurt Kolok stands in his gallery in the Windsor Mill in North Adams, which has been open for a year. Photo: Gillian Jones/North Adams Transcript

Tuesday, May 29

NORTH ADAMS — A year ago, Kurt Kolok had a dream of helping to bridge a gap between artists, the community at large and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art with his fledgling gallery in the Windsor Mill.With the links he’s made with local galleries, restaurants and residents, Kolok is confident that he’s well on his way to that goal.

The Kolok Gallery celebrated the beginning of its second year Saturday with about 150 guests. Its first show of the season, “Second Coming,” features dozen or so artists — from as close as Berkshire County and as far away as Paris.

“I think we’re doing it more and more all of the time,” Kolok said Monday afternoon at the gallery of making connections. “It’s difficult to get anyone into a retail shop that’s off the beaten path. Union Street is Route 2, but it’s not Main Street. I’ve had a number of people — who are going to pick something up at Beck’s Printing or to Skyboro Studio — get led in by a child. The kids sort of crane their necks in because they are drawn in by the colors. I had a father and his child in here the other day for about 10 minutes.”

But a few drop-ins won’t keep a gallery in business

— so Kolok has been busy networking during its first year, forging partnerships with restaurants and other galleries.

“This area has become an ‘Arts Mile,’ starting with the Beaver Mill, and then there is the Eclipse Mill Gallery, the Brill Gallery at the Eclipse Mill, us, Widgets on Eagle Street, (MCLA’s) Gallery 51 and MoCA,” he said. “There’s a lot of art going on in this single corridor. It just kind of naturally happened.”

It’s also an opportunity for creating the critical mass needed to develop a sustainable creative economy, he said

“People are always amazed to see all of the galleries working together,” Kolok said. “People get this sense that galleries don’t want to work together. We understand that in order to develop critical mass, you have to get people to go to the galleries, eat in the restaurants and shop in the downtown.”

Coordinated openings

To do that, he’s coordinated his gallery openings with those at the Eclipse Mill, in hopes that two gallery openings will be an even bigger draw for visitors.

“People will drive out here for an opening,” he said. “On Saturday, two of my friends from Boston, who I haven’t seen in a long time, saw an invitation for the opening. They rented a car and drove out here. They stayed in town for two hours. People will definitely drive out more frequently if we give them a reason to spend the day or the weekend. They’ll come for the galleries, do dinner, shop and take in a show at MoCA. It creates a whole event.”

As part of his mission to create that critical mass, Kolok is on several local arts and events boards, including the steering committee of Open Studios Weekend.

“Last year, a small group of people spearheaded the organization of the show and pulled it together in about two months,” he said. “There was a huge turnout — we had about 400 people in the gallery that weekend. The restaurants went crazy. I don’t think we were really ready for what hit. We planned ahead this year.”

A “rack card” advertising the October event is headed to the printers in the next week and will be on the local brochure stands all summer.

“As a business person who is completely reliant on the creative economy, I feel I must be involved whether with Open Studios, as a board member for the Northern Berkshire Creative Arts or for the Storefront Artist Project in Pittsfield,” he said.

Kolok is also spreading his gallery’s artwork around the area, curating shows at Mezze Restaurant in Williamstown, Cafe Latino in North Adams and Allium, which recently opened in Great Barrington.

“The response in just the last two weeks from the Great Barrington crowd is just amazing,” he said. “They love the art and are surprised that the stuff this contemporary and edgy is actually happening in North Adams.”

He said the partnership with Nancy Thomas, who owns all three restaurants, not only gets the paintings seen, but also allows for people to find his gallery.

“The first few years of any new business, you have to brand an identity and let people know you exist,” Kolok said. “It’s all about communication and consistency. You need to make sure that everything you show is of quality, interesting and remains true to your identity.”

Juried show

Two of the artists he’s featured in shows are coming to North Adams to create new art, he said, and there’s also an international juried show coming up this summer at the gallery.

“We’ve received inquiries and submissions from India, all over Europe, Japan and throughout the United States,” Kolok said.

Parisian artist Jean Noelle Chazelle, who is featured in “Second Coming,” will visit the city to create new pieces out of Plexiglas and ink for a show in September. Shuli Sade, who was in two of the gallery’s shows last year, will feature the city in an upcoming exhibition in New Jersey. The Israeli-born artist creates “tar-works” — silver gelatin photographic images unveiled by the removal of tar applications — which feature abandoned or decaying industrial sites from around the world.

“She’s coming next month to shoot some of the industrial spaces in North Adams,” Kolok said. “The work will go to a museum show in New Jersey and then it will be shown here at the gallery next summer. I think that’s another way I’m bridging the gap — bringing in artists, learning from them. It’s exciting for me; I’m helping to bring a more international flair to the area.”

The Kolok Gallery is at 121 Union St., in the historic Windsor Mill. Hours are Wednesday through Friday noon to 6, Saturday noon to 5, and Sunday noon to 4. For more information: www.kolokgallery.com or (413) 664-7381.



	

Summer Arts Season Launched in the Berkshires

Filed under: Media Coverage — kurt @ 11:18 am

Memorial Day Openings at Mass MoCA, Kolok Gallery, Brill Gallery, and Eclipse Gallery

Images and Article By Charles Giuliano - 2007-05-30 taken from www.berkshirefinearts.com

During the Memorial Day weekend there was a tight schedule of overlapping events and openings. We started the run with a nibble of cheese at the first anniversary group exhibition of Kolok Gallery, then dashed to Mass MoCA to toss off a couple of dry martinis with installation artist, Spencer Finch, and brought it all back home with the two person show of Rick Harlow and Kelly Lee in the gallery of the Eclipse Mill. That was three openings in roughly three hours, with the bulk of it at Mass MoCA, but all within the easy drive in North Adams hopping from one parking lot to the next. The summer art season has been launched with a vengeance and will be flat out from now through Labor Day.Kurt Kolok was upbeat about launching his second season. The first offering is a group show of abstract and figurative artists displaying the range of the gallery and what will be seen this season. But he asserted that he is scaling back from having new shows every two weeks as he did last summer. That is too grueling a pace. Similarly, Ralph Brill, who has a gallery in the Eclipse Mill, which is currently showing Eve Sonneman, plans to keep shows up even longer ideally having four per year. He is still showing a group of works by the late photographer Leonard Freed which he hopes to sell, as the artist intended, as a portfolio.

There was a mob of people at Mass MoCA particularly at the bar. We first spotted Stuart Chase, director of the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield. The museum is in the midst of a $9 million development and renovation. He was balancing a colorful cocktail glass and directed me to where I might also find one. Chatting with him was Scott Langoneur, director of Gallery Boreas, which operates out of a garage in his home in Lenox as well as space in Pittsfield. Details about his venue for his third season there was a bit sketchy but he was excited about plans with the Storefront Artists group, the Leslie Ferrin Gallery, which will have a space in Pittsfield in addition to the one in Lenox, and the Berkshire Museum to take out a full page ad, including his Gallery Boreas, in an upcoming issue of Art Forum. Which puts Pittsfield on the map so to speak. Scott also discussed plans to lead a group of arts people to his second home in Iceland in November. He has worked a lot with Icelandic artists and is trying to organize a visit around events that will be happening in the fall.

When we caught up with Mass MoCA director, Joe Thompson, he was more interested in celebrating the Finch opening that discussing the controversial Christoph Buchel issues. It was widely thought among those attending the opening that we would get to see the Buchel show “Training Ground for Democracy” which has been “Cancelled.” The museum has gone to court to get permission to take the tarps off and allow the public to view the detritus of the now terminated project with the Swiss installation artist. I asked if it were possible to see the Buchel space, tarps and all that night, but Thompson seemed surprised by the question, and insisted that the only scheduled event was the opening and celebration for Spencer Finch “What Time Is It On the Sun?” which occupies less than a third of the museum’s space. A little under a third is now filled with the large exhibition “The Believers” with a single smaller gallery for work by Eric von Lieshout “And the angel then says, Tolerance” and the hastily assembled documentary show “Made in Mass MoCA” which claims a slice of the vast Buchel space.

Although unfinished, which is at best a relative term, it was widely anticipated among guests during the opening that there would be a ruling on the court case that would allow visitors to catch a glimpse of all the junk gathered for the Buchel exhibition which may or may not be art anyway. So, what the heck difference does it make whether or not it is actually seen by the public? Which may be a moot art point but is a colossal headache for Thompson whose modestly budgeted museum, with an enormous space and overhead, doubled its original budget and shelled out some $320,000 on this expensive project with nothing to show for it. What a huge mess. Particularly coming into the Summer season with the largest space and biggest draw, literally, under wraps. It is now in the hands of the courts to sort out. I asked Thompson if he had a contract with the artist. Again, he seemed taken aback by the question but I was just asking for comment on what has been reported in the media.

Thompson responded that the court case might take some time and there was no projection on when a decision would be handed down. It is also expected that the $320,000 spent so far, as reported in the media, is not the end of expenses for the failed project. One would assume legal costs even if the lawyers are on retainer and work pro bono. What if a motion goes for the artist and against the museum? Will there be damages and further legal fees? Also the museum is responsible for hauling away the mass of material now in the gallery. Like a house, trucks, an airplane fuselage, the lobby of the old North Adams Cinema, and stuff like that. Where does that junk go from here?

If the courts rule against showing the Buchel fiasco as a kind of found object failed experiment, then what? The artist through his attorneys maintains that the museum does not have the right to show unfinished work. In this tug of war who has the moral and legal momentum? The artist to show the work as he intended, or the museum to end his seemingly outrageous demands and expectations? What obligations does the museum have to inform the public? Clearly, the curiosity factor has great drawing power. Thompson assured me that there is a list of artists lined up for projects with the museum. Some in the loop suggest that this mess is exactly what the artist intended all along as a kind of conceptual work pointing to issues in the art world. Other works and projects by the artist entail similar strategies but never before on this magnitude. Some observers ask if the museum had exercised due diligence in exploring all of the contingencies prior to agreeing to a project with an artist with a reputation for being demanding and difficult. The interesting issue is what impact this has on the career of the artist. Will the next museum director think twice or will there be a waiting list now that the artist has gotten free global publicity? This may be clever marketing and publicity for Buchel but it is doubtful that this controversial squandering of precious time, space, and resources enhances Thompson’s resume.

We asked if there was any chance the gallery will be cleared in time to show that next artist at some point during the current season? Not really was the answer for “logistical” reasons. Part of the strategy of Mass MoCA is to leave its shows up for a very long time. The Buchel show was intended to open back in December so it may well be not until late fall before the museum cuts its losses and cleans up the mess.

Even with a third of its space off line Mass MoCA is still one of the largest contemporary art museums in North America. With the exception of its greatest rival, Dia Beacon, a couple of hours away in New York State. The question is whether, with a third of its drawing power non functional, Mass Moca will have enough critical mass and momentum to pull through the peak of the season. It is during the next three months that cultural institutions in the Berkshires have to make their nut. Jacob’s Pillow and Tanglewood, as well as several theatre companies, end their seasons by Labor Day.

Will the witty, but rather Bud Light, Spencer Finch installation prove to be less filling or taste great without the original programming of paring it with the over the top Christoph Buchel exhibition? It is interesting that both artists work in a ratcheted up aspect of Marcel Duchamp’s concepts of the Found Object, Readymade and Assisted Readymade; but in a more high octane 21st century mode. Perhaps the curators intended that Buchel would be the Yang to Finch’s Yin. So how this plays remains to be seen. And we will return to look in greater depth than is possible at an opening. Particularly with a couple of Martinis in the mix. But even under social circumstances the audience was upbeat and receptive. Tellingly, Finch, in opening remarks, revealed that the galleries had been open while he was installing so he got to listen in anonymously to conversations about his work. For the most part, he conveyed that it had been interesting and productive. Thompson has stated that this kind of hands on lab or workshop approach is part of the signature of Mass MoCA projects. But it was just this that Buchel so objected to. It seems that every art person I have spoken to, at one time or another, got to see the Buchel installation in progress.

The evening was winding down when we made the Eclipse Mill Gallery the last stop. The artists Rick Harlow and Kelly Lee were pleased overall with the steady flow of traffic. It’s tough when so much is happening all at the same time. Their show is really terrific. A couple of Rick’s paintings were in a solo show I organized earlier this year at the New England School of Art & Design. It was great to see them again in a different setting. The surprise was a huge psychedelic panorama from the 1980s which he says was last shown in a Boston Now show at the ICA. The painted panoramas of Harlow are much in synch with the photo panoramas of the Berkshires by Lee. He stitches them together with Photoshop. More surprising were a couple of Lee’s paintings, an aspect of the work I was less familiar with, but also photo based. One presents a school of needlefish (so I am told) while the other depicts a cavorting group of seals. Again this is work that requires more careful attention.

For now. Let the games begin.

Kurt Kolok is excited about launching his second season in North Adams.
Kurt Kolok is excited about launching his second season in North Adams.
Work on display at Kolok Gallery.
Work on display at Kolok Gallery.
Guests enjoying the Kolok Gallery opening.
Guests enjoying the Kolok Gallery opening.

May 30, 2007

What The Arts Teach Us About Business and Life

Filed under: Commentary & Discussions — kurt @ 11:10 pm

We found this great article on the May 29, 2007 edition of the Fast Company Blog about the value of arts education. It was written by Ruth Sherman, and just begged to be reprinted. Thank you to Ms. Sherman and Fast Company:

There is a lot of talk these days about education, what we should be teaching our children so they will be successful. A consensus seems to have arisen that math and science should be more rigorously taught and that the United States stands to lose its business leadership role as a result. There is never, ever any talk about the arts – music, the visual arts, drama, writing – and what their place is in the education of our youth. Maybe that’s because knowledge of and prowess in the arts are not included in any of the plethora of standardized tests that schools administer.

As a result, most people have tacitly accepted that if it’s not tested, it’s not taught or taught very little and never at the expense of another, “academic” subject. In the schools where the arts are a component of a well-rounded education, they tend to be worth only a small fraction of the credits that accumulate toward graduation, relegated to extra-curricular activities, take second-place to other curricula or are delivered privately, paid for by parents, if they can afford it.

According to Elliott W. Eisner, Professor of Education at Stanford, this presents a problem for business:

“The problems of life are much more like the problems encountered in the arts. They are problems that seldom have a single correct solution; they are problems that are often subtle, occasionally ambiguous, and sometimes dilemma-like. One would think that schools that wanted to prepare students for life would employ tasks and problems similar to those found outside of schools. This is hardly the case. Life outside of school is seldom like school assignments–and hardly ever like a multiple-choice test.”*

Eisner cautions that the ways schools teach today robs students of their innate ability to think and solve problems creatively and flexibly, something arts education excels at.

“Creative thinking abhors routine. Routines may be good for the assembly line, where surprise is the last thing you want.”*

Perhaps most importantly, the arts teach that qualitative evaluations can be as valid as quantitative evaluations. Questions such as: Is the work good? How do you know if there are no rules for judging it, or “correct” answers? are easily addressed by artists. Arts also teach about teamwork (think choral singing, band, orchestra, drama and other forms of group performing) and appreciating the different talents and strengths that others bring.

The arts provide opportunities for us to express ourselves through our feelings in media other than words or numbers. And it is such opportunity for expression that plays such a compelling part in our communication. Eisner says

“Neither words nor numbers define the limits of our cognition; we know more than we can tell. There are many experiences and a multitude of occasions in which we need art forms to say what literal language cannot say. When we marry and when we bury, we appeal to the arts to express what numbers and literal language cannot. Reflect on 9/11 and recall the shrines that were created by those who lost their loved ones — and those who didn’t. The arts can provide forms of communication that convey to others what is ineffable.”*

Most importantly, I think, the arts teach us how to play and thus, are about expressing joy. At work, we want to be around other people who can express their joy or at least their happiness or contentment.

But what kind of a message does it send when a company gives a standardized test to potential new hires, as if a test can give a company a full or even fair picture of a candidate? It’s the same message the schools send when they test and teach certain subjects to the exclusion of others: that no matter how accomplished or talented you may be, some pursuits are not worthwhile, meaningless in life and in the world of business where only hard facts and the bottom line matter. Thus, you need not apply.

Is this the kind of world we want?

*Eisner, Elliot W. “Three Rs Are Essential, but Don’t Forget the A — the Arts” Los Angeles Times, January 3, 2005 Commentary

Ruth Sherman is CEO of Ruth Sherman Associates, LLC, Greenwich, CT.

Berkshire Art Tour, the Anti-Biennale

Filed under: Gallery Press Releases, Gallery Exhibitions — kurt @ 3:19 pm

It’s the contemporary art world’s equivalent of a perfect storm. Starting with the Venice Biennale (labiennale.org), which opens on June 10th, several major international contemporary art fairs are set to begin next month in Europe, including Art Basel, opening June 13th (artbasel.com), and Documenta (documenta12.de) and the Münster Sculpture Project (skulptur-projekte.de), both opening June 16th.

These fairs consider themselves so important that they have joined together to adopt a collective name, “The Grand Tour,” in reference to the grand tours of the Gilded Age, when the rich and famous made a circuit of Europe’s largest cultural events. (grandtour2007.com)

It’s a week of high-octane culture, for sure. But what do you do if you don’t have the time or resources to join Europe’s contemporary art cattle drive? We at Kolok Gallery suggest that you spend the week in the Berkshires, which promises its own summer-long world-class roster of contemporary art and cultural events. Compared to the European fairs, we’re much more laid back and informal, our art is just as cutting-edge, and you’ll have such a good time you may even forget the word “Biennale.”

In this spirit, Kolok Gallery has assembled its own suggested day-by-day alternative itinerary to the “Grand Tour.” It is contemporary art and culture, Berkshires-style:

June 10th: In the morning, catch the last day of the Warhol and Ezawa exhibitions at the Williams College Museum of Art (wcma.org).
simpson2_sm.jpg

In the afternoon, take in the Tennessee Williams classic “The Glass Menagerie” at the Berkshire Theatre Festival.

June 11th: Stroll the idyllic grounds of the Berkshire Botanical gardens, and stop to admire the garden ornaments exhibit, certainly the antithesis of the “Sprockets”-like furor across the pond. If there is time left, visit the Mount, the stunningly designed and restored home and gardens of Pulitzer Prize-winner Edith Wharton.
gardenhouse-summer.jpg

June 12th: Head back to the Williams College Museum of Art to check out “The Moon is Broken: Photography from Poetry, Poetry from Photography”. In this exhibition, regional poets curated photographs from the museum’s collection and wrote original poems, creating lyrical arrangements that explore how image and text resonate. The exhibition, and its accompanying interpretative programming, is an invitation to reconsider and respond to photography and poetry.

June 13th: If the body itself is indeed a work of art, then consider a day trip to the nearby Cranwell Resort, where you can have their experts do some serious conservation work on your own canvas and frame, bringing it back to its former glory (or at least make it look better with the right lighting). Later that afternoon, pay a visit to us here at Kolok Gallery, and we will give you a personal tour of our current group exhibition “Second Coming”, with works from emerging and established artists such as Jean Noel Chazelle, Debi Pendell, Ben Potter, Brandon Graving, Joshua Field and DNA.

June 14th: In the afternoon, stop by the ClarK Art Institute to see the film “Van Gogh.” Later that evening, choose between “Herringbone,” starring B.D. Wong at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, or “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Shakespear & Co.

June 15th: Head over to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art to take in “Spencer Fitch: What Time is it on the Sun?”, a landmark exhibition that explores the mechanics and mysteries of perception. “Sun” includes over 40 works, comprising more than 160 pastels, 62 photographs, 6 major sculptural installations, and a 30-foot long drawing.
Spencer FitchAfterwards, stay for MoCA’s NL Opening Party, a dance party where Dutch DJ/VJ Micah Klein will spin the night away in celebration of the opening of the Berkshires-wide, season-long examination of Dutch art and culture everyone here is calling “NL: A Season of Dutch Arts in the Berkshires.”

June 16th: End your Berkshires tour by going back to Mass MoCA to see “Made at MASS MoCA” a documentary project exploring the issues raised in the course of complex collaborative projects between artists and institutions. Your goal isn’t really to see this show, but instead to try to sneak a peak behind the blackout curtains at the now-canceled exhibition “Training Ground for Democracy,” a massive site installation that is the subject of litigation between the museum and the Swiss artist Christoph Büchel.
Training Ground

Before leaving town, come back once more to Kolok Gallery, and ask Director Kurt Kolok for an advanced private showing of some of the works set to be exhibited later this summer.
Memory's Vista by Debi Pendell

May 28, 2007

140 Guests Attend “Second Coming” Reception

Filed under: Gallery Announcements & Notices — kurt @ 11:10 pm

In addition to some of our faithful regulars, there were a number of first time visitors at Saturday night’s opening reception. Included among them were some friends from my Boston days–Robert Frye and Jay Calderin. Our hectic schedules have kept us from reconnecting since running into each other while each visiting Christo’s infamous saffron “Gates” in Central Park two years ago. I have to say, their surprise visit to North Adams made the one-year anniversary celebration that much more special. Robert and Jay had promised to make it to the Gallery at some point and at the last minute decided to rent a Zipcar and make a ‘quick’ trip to the Berkshires. Unfortunately, they were only able to stay for a brief visit since their car had to be back before midnight–hmmmm–wonder if Zipcar investor?!

Several of the “Second Coming” artists were on hand for the event. Carlo Vialu traveled from NYC, Ben Potter came down from Maine with family in tow, and our Berkshire-based artists were present in full force–Brandon Graving, Debi Pendell and Joshua Field. We received a great number of compliments on the artists and work shown. Personally, I think it’s one of our strongest shows to date…I’ll include a couple of images and let you decide for yourself.Kolok Gallery Second Coming Exhibition

May 24, 2007

Viva la revolucion!

Filed under: Interviews, Media Coverage — kurt @ 9:24 pm

Here is a full copy of the article “Contemporary Revolution: Kolok Gallery celebrates its first anniversary that appeared in the Thursday, May 24, 2007 print and online editions of the Advocate Weekly.
By Catherine Fahy

North Adams - Kurt Kolok considers running a contemporary art gallery well worth the effort on days when a child, following a parent on an errand to another business in the Windsor Mill, will pause at the door, captivated by the colorful artwork on the whitewashed walls.

“The kids will really react to the colors and the parents will ask if it’s OK to come in,” Kolok said.

Such encounters may not result in a sale, but that’s not always the point, Kolok said, if it means introducing contemporary art to someone.

The Kolok Gallery celebrates its first anniversary this weekend with Saturday’s opening of “Second Coming,” an exhibit of paintings, prints, photographs and sculptures by new and existing gallery artists, plus six more exhibits planned through the end of the year.

Kolok credits Mass MoCA with his transformation from a product of the dot-com generation to a gallery owner.

“I was really tired of Boston and I thought I’d move to New York until I went to an early Mass MoCA exhibit,” he said, mentioning the local documentary film “Downside UP,” about the area’s modern art metamorphis, as another influence on his decision to move here.

Now, Kolok is part of the contemporary arts revolution that has grown up around Mass MoCA in the past decade. With a degree in arts management and a background in sales and marketing, he was well-positioned to open a gallery. For now, he still pays the bills as a project manager for a technology company, but hopes the day is not far off when the gallery will sustain itself. Until then, he’ll keep up his 100-hour work weeks.

“It’s all about the business,” he said with a smile one recent afternoon behind the spare desk in his gallery.

Part of his workload comes from his determination to maintain regular gallery hours, even in the winter when he said he was surprised to make some of his best sales during snowstorms.

Kolok finds artists through word of mouth, generally through other artists, or through his own travels. He signed his first artist on a business trip to Australia.

“If I find a good artist, they know good artists but you have to look far and wide,” he said.

Among the artists he has signed for his 2007 shows are new emerging and established U.S. and European artists, including Massachusetts artists Dana Bergstrom, Lana Z Caplan, Joshua Field, and Debi Pendell; DNA (Delgado/Almendral) and Carlo Vialu from New York City; Laura Olear of Chicago; and Ben Potter of Maine, a 1993 Williams College graduate.

As the northern Berkshires’ only contemporary commercial gallery, Kolok’s clientele is also word-of-mouth, drawing mainly from New York and the Pioneer Valley region.

“I’m still surprised when people say they’ve heard of me,” Kolok said. “I’ve had curators come in and say this is more New York than New York.”

With moveable walls, Kolok’s gallery has a lot of flexibility to show a wide range of work, and he hopes to use the space for readings and art-related activities. For now, a small library of art books beneath one of the tall factory windows invites people to linger.

Kolok takes full advantage of contemporary art’s reputation to stretch boundaries, like Brooklyn painter Limor Gasko’s deceptively innocuous images of the conflict between animals and humans, or Tricia Zigmund’s eerie self-portraits. A new artist, Shuli Sade, overlays photographs of industrial architecture with tar then peels it off to reveal yellowed but still-recognizeable features. Kolok also shows sculpture by his uncle, Vermonter David Bradshaw, who has collaborated with Robert Rauschenberg and William S. Burroughs in the past and blasts steel with gunshot for his nephew’s gallery.

“I’m trying to go after art you don’t necessarily see in the Berkshires,” Kolok said.

Although North Adams is admittedly still struggling to reconcile its identity as a contemporary arts mecca, Kolok said he does not regret his decision to move there and he and his partner have bought a big old Victorian house in town.

Between Mass MoCA, the Eclipse Mill, Brill Gallery and others he hopes there is some sort of critical mass.

“You see things come and go, but I credit the area with trying new things,” he said. “It’s a great place to live.”

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“Second Coming” Opening Reception: May 26th

Filed under: Gallery Announcements & Notices, Gallery Exhibitions — kurt @ 9:09 pm

Kolok Gallery will celebrate its one-year anniversary on Saturday, May 26th with an opening reception for “Second Coming,” the first exhibition of its summer season. Starting at 5:30 PM, “Second Coming” is modeled on the Gallery’s May 2006 inaugural exhibition.

Second Coming Invitation
“Second Coming” presents works by some of Kolok Gallery’s artists in a group setting, and gives a sneak preview of artworks by newly signed artists. Artists exhibiting works in “Second Coming” include Dana Bergstrom, Lana Z Caplan, Joshua Field and Debi Pendell (all from Massachusetts); Paris, France based Jean Noel Chazelle; New York City artists DNA (Delgado/Almendral) and Carlo Vialu; Chicago’s Laura Olear, and Ben Potter, a resident of Maine and a 1993 Williams College graduate. “Second Coming” also includes works not previously shown by Gallery artists Limor Gasko, Brandon Graving, Jill Grimes and Ryan Scheidt.

“Second Coming” runs through June 19 and includes paintings, photography, works on paper, and sculpture.

While you’re at the opening reception, be sure to ask Kurt to show you some of the great new artworks in the Gallery’s flat files.

For Kolok Gallery, Summer ‘07 Starts Today!

Filed under: Interviews, Media Coverage, Gallery Exhibitions — kurt @ 8:31 pm

For the past week, we’ve been putting in some serious overtime to make sure Kolok Gallery is in top shape for the Saturday, May 26th opening of “Second Coming”, the first exhibition of our Summer 2007 season.

That’s why it was so nice to take a break today and open the local newspapers–and find not one but two great articles about the Gallery and the North Adams renaissance.

The first article was an interview with Gallery Director Kurt Kolok. It was published in the May 24, 2007 edition of the Advocate Weekly. We’ll upload it to the blog later on, but for now here is the picture Kurt that accompanied the article. Kurt is standing in front of an oil painting by Cathleen Daley.

20070524__inberkshire_55041_gallery.jpgPhoto by Catherine Fahy, 2007.

The second article was printed in the North Adams Transcript (May 24, 2007). Under the headline “North Adams Artapalooza,” The opening reception for “Second Coming” was listed in the paper’s “week’s best bets” column, along with openings at Mass MoCA (”Made at Mass MoCA” and “Spencer Finch: What Time Is It on the Sun?”) and the Eclipse Mill (”Landscapes and Visions”).

The “Landscapes and Visions” exhibition at Eclipse Mill features large-scale paintings by Rick Harlow that are in-spired by experiences in the Colombian Amazon and panoramic photographs of the Northern Berkshires by Kelly Lee.

Deb Pendell“Ephemeral” one of the works by artist Debi Pendell that will be part of the Second Coming exhibition at Kolok Gallery.

The Transcript also included a handy guide to the opening dates for all of our Summer-Fall 2007 exhibitions.
Limor Gasko“Elephants,” by Limor Gasko.

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