Art About Town

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 13, 2008 8:26PM

At this point, most of us have graduated from decorating the walls of our humble abodes with the typical college posters of yesteryear. The dilemma then becomes a matter of how to display our personal sense of artistic style without succumbing to the availability of “artwork” sold at places like Bed Bath & Beyond, and without dropping vast amounts of money at the River North galleries or the summertime street art festivals.

Enter David van Alphen, whose DvA Gallery helps to express and fulfill his personal motto: Art should be affordable. Well, “affordable” is always relative, but we think art should certainly be reasonable. DvA Gallery is stocked with contemporary and modern original artwork including photography, stationary, and handbags, and has frequent shows which showcase the work of individual artists. The gallery also loans artwork to local businesses like Intelligentsia, that benefit from the ambiance added to the location and, in turn, helps to get additional exposure for the artists.

On a related note, might as well take advantage of the free admission to the Art Institute the entire month of February. Two noteworthy exhibitions are opening this Saturday, Feb 16: Edward Hopper, and Watercolors by Winslow Homer. These exhibitions are ticketed events so bring along some extra dough and get there early.

Got any other favorite places to buy or view cool art? Let us know in the comments!

DvA Gallery’s upcoming show is Saturday, Feb 16, from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m.
The Art Institute’s Edward Hopper and Winslow Homer exhibitions run from February 16 through March 10.

Story by: Amy Mikel
"The Vengeance of Mt. Tiki" by Davey Wong courtesy of the DvA online store