The VALISE Gallery turns 5 this month and will celebrate with a reunion show of current and former members. The show opens on Friday.
Over its past 60 shows, the gallery that first announced itself as Zamfir’s Pay Day Loan and Pawn Shop — the off-beat artistic brainchild of founding member Vic Monchego — has exhibited installations such as artist Heather Timken’s 50 pounds of bread dough with suspended crystal stemware and tattoo artist Paco Rollins’ tattoo art, relics and tools. It even maxed the tiny space with a museum-grade show called “Eccentric Visions: Outsider Art from the Collection of MIA Gallery,” curated by the late Mia McEldowney.
Going forward, VALISE’s mission of innovation means the artists’ collective plans to invite Vashon artists whose work is “daring, unexpected and emergent” to join, said founding member Jiji Saunders. And being true to its other goal of social engagement — VALISE stands for Vashon Artists Linked In Social Engagement — it plans to hold its fifth annual All Island May Show, for which everyone on Vashon is encouraged to submit a piece of their visual, sound or performance art.
The VALISE Reunion Show opens on Friday and runs through the month.