SoFA Gallery highlights 'One Moment'

By bringing images of moments in time to the School of Fine Arts Gallery, Thomas Robertello, a Jacobs School of Music flute professor and owner/director of Thomas Robertello Gallery, plans to inspire more than fleeting attention during the “One Moment” exhibition scheduled for Oct. 17.

“The real idea of ‘One Moment’ is for people, when they see these pieces, to be compelled to stop in their tracks and experience one moment,” Robertello said. “There is no time limit for the definition of a moment. A moment could be a second or it could be a millennium.”

Betsy Stirrat, director of the SoFA Gallery, said she created the show by working with Robertello.

“I think people gloss over things,” Stirrat said. “We are all so busy now; we hardly stop and think. The idea is to take a moment to look and appreciate things more, before moving on to the next thing.”

“One Moment” will feature works by painter Bob Jones, painter Grant Schexnider, time-based media artist Cayetano Ferrer, photographer Adam Ekberg, mixed-media installation artist Noelle Mason and painter Stephanie Serpick.

Serpick said the idea for “a moment” related to her paintings also represents the reality
of one moment in her history or her memory.

“My work is different on some level because it represents my own mood, feelings or experiences,” Serpick said. “I get inspiration from sources all over. Things like patterns, contemporary art sources, tattoos, doilies, graffiti. The content of my work shows the darker or more melancholy side, if anything. It is, on a basic level, abstract, so people must spend more time figuring it out.”

Robertello said Serpick’s and the other artists’ works span many different mediums.  

“They’re arresting and compelling for very different reasons,” Robertello said. “Adam (Ekberg) works with simple, spiritual gestures, like a balloon in a room or a bubble resting on the grass. These little things end up being personified in some ways and in the end are like quasi-self portraits.”

Ekberg’s photos, Robertello said, are not only some of the most beautiful he has ever seen, but they are also the work of Ekberg as a spiritual creator.

“However small, minimal or humble the subject, the grandiosity of the endeavor is gigantic,” he said.

While Robertello said he is happy for the talents of the artists he discovered to be seen in another venue, Stirrat said she is excited to see  new work by the artists because it will be a new experience for IU students.  

“Many people are not exposed to these new forms of art,” Stirrat said. “People just have to come see.”  

Robertello’s five steps to getting your work in a gallery
1. Create a body of work
“Don’t be impatient, though,” said Thomas Robertello, owner/director of Thomas Robertello Gallery in Chicago. “You could create tons of things that aren’t that great, or you could spend a year creating four pieces that are amazing.”

2. Create a visible Web site for your work
“It is really inexpensive,” Robertello said. “Some artists I know have used otherpeoplespixels.com or artcat.com to start their own online portfolio.”

3. Do your research, and find the galleries that fit your style
“This is what Grant Schexnider, whose stuff is going to be in the show, did,” Robertello said. “He found a few galleries that worked for him.”

4. E-mail a brief letter with a link to your Web site to those galleries
“I prefer to be contacted by e-mail,” Robertello said. “Grant Schexnider actually e-mailed me a link to four images of his work. I took a look, and responded within an hour. I said something like, ‘Hey, Grant. Thanks for e-mailing me. These are really hot. We should definitely meet.’ After that initial e-mail, and of course seeing his studio, we decided to work together.”

5. Network among your peers
“I have found that artists tend to travel in groups,” Robertello said. “Generally, people are happy when they are able to work with their friends and colleagues, whom they hold in high esteem.”