GALEX 54 NATIONAL COMPETITION & EXHIBITION

March 6 - April 4, 2020

OF NOTE:

Due to COVID-19, the opening reception for GALEX 54, scheduled for March 13, was canceled. We thank our artists, supporters, and volunteers for their understanding, as we absolutely know the effort put into and anticipation for this exhibition! We have temporarily CLOSED the galleries to support our community in the fight against COVID-19, please view the individual works and installation views below.

GALEX is comprised of the words "Galesburg" and "Exhibit" What began as a regional competition has grown into a national juried competition and exhibition, now in its 54th year. This year's exhibition includes 73 pieces by artists from around the country. This year's Juror, Rose Frantzen, awarded over $2,500 in cash prizes. Rose Frantzen, a native of Maquoketa, Iowa, has gained national and international acclaim for her oil paintings from life that bring contemporary perspectives to a traditional alla prima approach. In addition to landscapes, still lifes, and figurative works, Frantzen creates serial and allegorical works that incorporate diverse stylistic elements along with gilding, stained glass, and mosaic.  Her work has shown at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the Butler Institute of American Art, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the Denver Historical Museum, and as an award winner in the Portrait Society of America’s International Portrait Competition.  Her work is in the permanent collections of the Figge Art Museum, the Dubuque Museum of Art, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the Brunnier Art Museum, the USDA, and the World Food Prize. Frantzen studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, the Palette & Chisel Academy with Richard Schmid, and at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, studying anatomy with the late Deane G. Keller. Rose Frantzen has an established history as a working artist, is collected internationally, is a frequent demonstrator, workshop instructor, guest lecturer, and panelist discussing art and the artist’s life in the 21st century at museums and national art conventions. 

Juror’s Comments

“This was a tough selection process – first making a round of selections from 941 entries, and then whittling it down from 150 to just 73 pieces for the exhibition. When meeting the pieces in person, I first went through and tagged the top tier (I wish I could give 15 awards, instead of just six!).

The conditions I thought about, were what the piece was saying, appreciating the skill, and finally checking which had left a trace in my memory from a month ago. A lot of times for me as a painter, artist, fellow creator, I find the ones that left a trace may connect with my own bias – but they must have a good message, great skill, and stick, and, for me and my bias, I expect to see some sort of hand, knowing that the person who made it is a human being, that it passed through the body in some way. Everyone in this show satisfied the conditions in part, enough for me to choose it. Any pieces that appeared way too computer generated, dropped right off, those were disappointments – print your thing out and scribble on it, just give me some of your own gesture without having to go through a machine or an algorithm. I mean, we are going to get there fast enough as a species! That may seem unfair to photographers; however, there were some photography pieces that made my top 15.

I wanted to encourage effort, and reward stickiness - that thing that I can walk away with as another creator and still learn from you, means something to me. You have given something to me that I haven’t been able to express, you are giving that to me as a viewer. “I hadn’t thought about the world like this, a new surprise.” — Rose Frantzen

INSTALLATION VIEWS:

We certainly would have loved to go ahead with the opening reception and remained open, but the safety and health of our visitors, artists, members, volunteers, and staff is incredibly important to us and the evolution of COVID-19 concerning- and that is why we chose to temporarily close. It was a beautiful show, please enjoy some of our installation views:

INDIVIDUAL WORKS: