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It is our mission to show work that is often overlooked by the mainstream art world. Work that is exciting, insightful, technically exceptional and sometimes just fun. From Lowbrow to landscape, Fantasy to figurative, Pin Up, Illustration and everything inbetween.
Founded in 2001, the iO gallery is located on scenic Route 7 in Cornwall Bridge just 2 miles north of Kent Falls. We have a large display space for our current shows, an inventory space to show some work from our represented artists, a few acres of sculpture gardens and coming soon, our lowbrow room. We are the first gallery in Connecticut to show Pop Surrealist and Underground, and we will continue to bring on new artists and showcase this exciting art movement in the years to come. "Lowbrow is a widespread populist art movement with origins in the underground comix world, punk music, hot-rod street culture, and other California subcultures." Some day soon the existing art world will realize that Lowbrow is the sign of our times and the voice of our generation of artists. The movement continues to grow from its LA roots to encompass the globe. This fresh new pop culture relevant art is starting to come into the mainstream thanks to small galleries around the world and magazines like Juxtaposed and High Fructose.
We are also dedicated to the amazing talent found in the illustration field. Some of the most talented painters and artist working today can be found on science fiction and thriller book covers or gracing the pages of an elite fashion magazine. Since the rise of digital photography and Photoshop, the call for illustration has exploded. Brands and original IP, intellectual property, are all looking to differentiate themselves in a very media savvy world. Illustrators have the ability to make images that can't be replicated by the masses. Images that have impact. Is it any less art? We think not.
Thanks to the a highly connected global workspace and the reliance on images rather than words, it is hard to classify or label artwork created in this day and age. Artist like James Jean, Boris Vellejo and Julie Bell do fine art as well as work for Nike, Prada and DC Comics. They all share a similar touch and perspective, their signature style. They all represent his body of work and they are all relevant. Sheppard Fairy, an amazing graphic designer, street artist and creator of Obey is producing huge works of art that used to get him arrested. Now he sells out NY and LA gallery shows. One of the world most renouwned fantasy illustrators, Michael Whelan is now doing vast surrealist visionscapes that absolutely take your breath away in person. The attention to detail and technical mastery with a very challenging medium are second to none. He will be the Rembrant or Carvaggio of our time. Is it illustration or art? An Advertisement or art? People want to collect artwork that effects them personally and that will continue to increase in value over time. Regardless of intended purpose, the work speaks for itself.
The iO gallery began life with a passionate interest in Outsider art and the colorful cast of characters that create the art. Not just untrained, but often uneducated and isolated, Outsider artist are obsessively compelled to create. Messages for God or Coca-Cola can be just as important. Paint can be made with dirt and anything can be a canvas. It is about their voice and having something that they believe in. Something that they believe needs to be heard.
I started falling in love with Outsider Art in 1978 while helping facilitate art at the Mary Short Foundation in Sacramento, California, a rehabilitation facility for mentally impaired people. Mary had an amazing notion that people could speak through art!? This is just standard practice today, but back then it was a completely new outlook.
While working at the foundation I met the most amazing artists and learned that honest art comes from somewhere deep and untouched and pure within you. The art always told a story and always touched people’s lives. It left an impression on my that ha stayed with me to this day.
I found renewed passion for outsider art about twelve years ago when I came across this strange art from the South. I started learning everything I could about Outsider Art and buying it as often as I could. I got so into it, in fact, that I began to seek out the artists to meet them in person. I had the opportunity to meet Jimmy Lee Sudduth, RA Miller, Reverend Howard Finster, Missionary Mary Proctor, Eric Legge, Mose Tolliver and so many more while building a huge collection little by little. Eventually I opened a gallery in Litchfield, CT and created website to seel the work direct online and help educate the world to this incredibly visionary artwork.
Since then, I have been asked to speak about Outsider Art by The New Britain Museum of Fine art in CT. and The Kent Informal Club, in Kent, CT.
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