Never Can Say Goodbye

NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE: How can you possibly bid farewell to the show that took us through the most tumultuous time of our lives? We posit that you really can't. ART IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS was exactly such a fixture in our lives—often far removed on our Wall behind a sheet of plexiglass or spied out of the corner of our eyes on the way to the bathroom inside Frank's. Consider this: the show will have been up 10 months to the day tomorrow...and Saturday will also be its day to, alas, depart from our lives. The feat of such a long-running exhibition would never have been possible without the generosity of spirit of two of our most recognizable, most renowned and most talented artists: BOB GORCHOV and NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD. And we are proud to say that their perseverance—with very few sales until we came back inside—has finally been rewarded. The tally as we tick off the final hours is 31 SALES total. (Or should we say thirty-wonderful sales? Not that we would turn back a 32nd!) Also a note of thanks for the patience of a number of buyers who volunteered to wait a chunk of this time to be connected to their art purchases. After this beautiful, courageous marathon, the next show will feel like a sprint to the finish. (More about that show, which opens this coming Thursday, tomorrow!) Natalie and Bob, it has been great having you “stay over” for all these months, and thank you also for continuing to offer art from this show on our true innovation from the pandemic: offthewallgallery.org. So instead of goodbye, let's just say au revoir....

Various works from ART IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS
[in the foreground]
BOB GORCHOV
”subject [defaced]”
mixed media on canvasette
265.

Call for Entries / Cause for Fireworks

We've traditionally announced our year-ending juried shows on the FOURTH OF JULY. We originally chose this date because we know almost everyone is reachable and in a celebratory mood. Sure, some of you might, in years past, have been bound for the Parkway or Penn's Landing to join throngs waiting for the fireworks, but on this date, we can easily gain the attention of our ever-expanding OFF THE WALL community of artists and art lovers.

By contrast, this year's announcement feels perfectly timed and meaningful. For once, the news is tantamount to a DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE...independence from masks and outdoor-only cafes and art kept far from our considered gazes—behind glass, across expanses of space, practically out of view.

Given our hunger to return to normalcy, the latest edition of our frequent UNDER $100 JURIED SHOW promises to be more popular than ever. Heck, we have collectively recaptured the FREEDOM TO EXHIBIT...something we pretty much took for granted, something we never want to let go of again.

Of course, there is decidedly more incentive than just the hard-won opportunity to show your art after so long a hiatus. We feature a guaranteed $600 IN CASH PRIZES, topped by the MARY-ROWE MEMORIAL JURY PRIZE. The funding for these prizes comes from the $10 PER PIECE HANGING FEE for accepted artists, in keeping with our streamlined process which no longer calls for entry fees for our year-ending juried shows.

Above is all you need to know before you EMAIL YOUR ART to offthewallgallery@gmail.com anytime between now and Thursday, October 7. And not to worry: we will send along reminders to make sure you don't miss out on your shot to be part of this renewal of our all-time top-selling juried theme, which always takes full advantage of the HOLIDAY SEASON to work its magic.

Please send any questions our way, and we look forward to seeing your work very soon!

Before the #Pride Passes by

Not that Pride is going anywhere at all — especially in our Gayborhood! — but this June was especially synergistic, with the pandemic regulations lifted and community celebrations reinstated. (Yes, come to DIRTY FRANK’S and OFF THE WALL, where life is truly back to normal!) While we feature here another of NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD’s original iconography drawings, paying tribute to activist Frank Kameny’s 1968 slogan (which in turn nods to #BlackIsBeautiful), it’s also worth glancing ahead to our first show back, coming in July, which may well include alumni from our popular Stonewall at 50 exhibition, BRICK BY BRICK. That show seems like an awful long time ago, but we say, “Forget last year...and party like it's 2019!”

NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD
“Gay Is Good”
hand-drawn illustration
ink on paper
145.
multiple unique originals available