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Photography by Kirsten Beckerman
Got art? Baltimore’s sophisticated gallery scene is the perfect market for buyers looking to start a collection or complete it. We take you on a tour of the best independent galleries in the city. Feast your eyes and make your all-important art buys here.
C. Grimaldis Gallery
Among art cognoscenti Constantine Grimaldis’s gallery is known as the only place in Baltimore to purchase art. Costas, who opened the gallery 30 years ago, and assistant director Erin Cluely, who holds an MFA in painting from MICA, maintain an impressive stable of both local and national artists at the mid-career level and beyond. World-famous abstract expressionist painter Grace Hartigan and renowned British sculptor Anthony Caro call Grimaldis home. Other featured artists include painters Henry Coe and Eugene Leake, the masterful Raoul Middleman and many others. In early fall, Betty Rosen’s “Wishes” photo exhibit captures male to female transgender subjects shot in Thai nightclub scenes. 523 N. Charles St., 410.539.1080, http://www.cgrimaldisgallery.com
Goya Contemporary Gallery
Founded 12 years ago by Martha Macky, Goya’s original focus was limited edition art prints. Now Macky and director Amy Eva Raehse bring the work of advanced career visual artists to Baltimore and also service art-buying clients the world over. Acting as agents as well as curators, Martha and Amy produce six shows annually and also travel their prized artists’ work continuously. They have placed pieces in MoMA, the Met, the New York Public Library and the BMA. The impressive Goya stable includes D.C.-based Madeleine Keesing, whose meticulous oil on canvas panels, “Daylight” and “Cooling,” dictate the easy energy of the room, Baltimore-based Timothy App, whose heavily geometric compositions, he says, balance somewhere “between reason and intuition,” and NY-based Sean Scully. The gallery also stocks work by modern masters David Hockney, Robert Motherwell and Kiki Smith. A room toward the back is set aside for client/director meetings. Call for an appointment, and the entire afternoon is yours. Mill Center, 3000 Chestnut Ave., Studio 214, 410.366.2001, http://www.goyagirl.com
Gallery Imperato
When director Cheri Landry came on board last year, the longstanding aesthetic at Gallery Imperato shifted from a celebration of hip MICA-grown talent to one of global sophistication. Cheri’s ambitious plan is to showcase national and international artists and bring to Baltimore the very best art she can find. Her fall lineup includes work by Tung Lo, a Hong Kong native who lives and works in Paris, and Cara Ober, who creates collage-y paintings pricked with clever text, followed by Alyssa Dennis, a MICA graduate whose graphite and pigment compositions are illustrative and quite dark, and Dana Reifler, who works on clay-coated paper. What is Cheri’s aesthetic vision? “I can’t really pinpoint a style,” she says. “It’s art of the time. I’m looking for something I haven’t seen before, unique processes, nontraditional media.” Foundry on Fort, 921 E. Fort Ave., Ste. 120, 443.257.4166, http://www.galleryimperato.com
Sub-Basement Artist Studios
Jeffrey Kent launched Sub-Basement in 2003 to support undiscovered talent and inspiring mid-career artists. Sub-Basement boasts frenzied, colorful walls and bustling activity. It is one-half tall-walled gallery, one-half studio space. Kent, who grew up in Baltimore, maintains a workspace filled with his bright, bold works. He’s in the midst of painting comic-book superheroes cast in vulnerable positions. Terry Thompson, David Lambard and Kelli Ryan also paint as resident artists. Lambard’s darkly humorous works are often one-of-a-kind waterscapes with horrific demons popping into view. In the first half of September, “Anonymous Rage,” curated by Justin Gershwyn, features striking street art. Terry Thompson’s color-intense abstracts and Don Griffin’s installations arrive September 15. The Atrium at Market Center, 118 Market St., 410.659.6950, http://www.subbasementartiststudios.com
Art sales to benefit local charities
The Valleys Planning Council and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society will hold art sales featuring local artists on the weekend of Oct. 19 - 21. Both the VPC’s “Art for Land’s Sake” and the BCAS’s “Beaux Arts Fair” kick off with opening night parties on Friday, Oct. 19. For more information visit http://www.thevpc.org or http://www.baltimorechoralarts.org.