Washington Square Gallery Reopens with New Exhibit

A little over a year ago, Bridgette Mayer Gallery closed its doors to undergo a massive renovation. Mayer purchased the 709 Walnut St. property in 2006, which was a good fit for many years, but as business grew, so did the need for space. After searching unsuccessfully for a new venue, she hired Cecil Baker & Associates to work out the redesign and Hanson Construction to execute the project, which included converting a former first floor apartment and unused lower level into additional exhibit space, a client presentation room, offices and storage area. The result is a space that has nearly doubled in size.

The new gallery opened to the public on November 15 with Karmic Abstraction, highlighting 23 works by nationally- and internationally-renowned artists. The show’s title reflects Mayer’s “interest in the idea of the karmic cycle of an artist’s history of painting and ideas.” Each piece reveals “how, at a given moment in time, standing in front of a work of art, the viewer is faces with the multiple layers and concepts that create a painting as well as lifetime of ideas, actions and history that make up the career and art history of a contemporary artist,” Mayer says.

Featured artists include:

• Neil Anderson
• Radcliffe Bailey
• Arden Bendler Browning
• Charles Burwell
• Matthew Fischer
• Iva Gueorguieva
• Eemyun Kang
• Tim McFarlane
• Ryan McGuiness
• Tom Nozkowski
• Odili Donald Odita
• Nathan Pankratz
• Rebecca Rutstein
• Graeme Todd
• Leslie Wayne

Karmic Abstraction will run through December 31 and will be followed by a roster of shows booked through 2012. “Ten years ago, at 27-years-old, I opened the gallery as a way to curate and exhibit important work by young artists who I felt weren’t getting the exposure they deserved in Philadelphia,” says Mayer. “I dreamed that one day I would be at this point … I am very excited for the next ten years!”