The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Noelke Gallery: Mixing up art’s context
TORRINGTON — The Noelke Gallery at 15 Water St. is now, not only one of downtown’s places to discover abstract art, but also a hub for live music and beat poetry readings.
The gallery’s new programming began last fall when gallery owner and abstract artist John Noelke sat outside the gallery, playing guitar. He met Rana Justice, who was walking along Water Street, and who suggested holding live music shows at the venue. She brought many connections in the Connecticut music scene with her.
The first music event at the Gallery, a coat drive supported by a hip-hop concert kicked off the partnership, followed by other charity events. The Dec. 21 coat drive attracted 120 people and raised $1,000 cash for local soup kitchens and for Torrington High School, said Justice. “The word spread by word-ofmouth and social media,” Justice added.
Noelke said, “Rana talks a lot about cross-pollination. Music is an accessible bridge and is not something galleries typically do. There is participation from Café 38 and other local businesses.” Café 38 is a neighbor of the Gallery at 38 Main Street.
“Rana has been such a boost,” Noelke added. “Art is visceral and she gets that. I can’t give her enough credit.”
The New Year brought several live music dates to the Gallery at a suggestion donation of $5. The shows included Jan. 3’s live music performances by the local bands Woozles; William Arthur McGovern; and The Knife Kickers. A comedy
routine featured Pratima Devini.
“The show on January 3rd was pretty fun,” stated Justice, who grew up in Litchfield. “A group of musicians are all on tour together and our venue was their second stop.”
Noelke said the events are a way of playing with perception of fine art. “Having a rocking band surrounded by abstract paintings is different. Sometimes galleries are too neat and clean. We are trying to mix up the context. It is risky but an enlivening thing to do.”
Noelke and Justice exhibited a recent ongoing collaborative work, “Silent Spring (Environmentalist Bed),” which consists of an abandoned box spring mattress decorated with items pulled from the nearby Naugatuck River (such as a corroded flip cellphone; a book on venture capitalism; and a diary) and named after Rachel Carson’s 1962 famous book about environmental conservation.
“We get visitors of all types,” Noelke said. “Recently I had a New York art dealer who was ready to buy it. At another time, a homeless man who visited took offense and said the piece was making fun of homelessness. The reactions are various.”
“It is an awesome atmosphere for the arts,” he said of the Gallery. “It is where we can display ‘Silent Spring’ and can also bring a piece of ice into the gallery.”
To explain, lying nearby on a white pedestal was a small tree branch, that Noelke had also retrieved from the Naugatuck River that afternoon. The branch’s buds were encased by ice, resembled crystal chandelier drops. It brought a new meaning to the street sign he had placed outside the Gallery that read “Art for a Colder Climate.”
Previously there was a piece called “Kavanaugh,” which was simply a beer can with a special-edition U.S.-flag label, that was placed precariously near the edge of a pedestal. The work referred to the controversial confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, the U.S. Supreme Court justice who had been accused of hard drinking and sexual misconduct.
He said, “We are not a traditional gallery. My gallery is a working gallery. Degas would go into a gallery where he was showing and work on the pieces,” referring to French Impressionist Edgar Degas.
Many of Noelke’s recent abstract paintings are political. One up on the Gallery’s wall, “Dollar Store,” featured a dollar bill in the middle of a bright yellow background, with a faded white picket from a fence. “Yellow is typically the color of anxiety,” he said of the yellow house paint covering the canvas. “Much of my art is visceral. I analyze it later.”
“Torrington is a working class town,” he said of other pieces that deal with depressed economic scenarios. “We are trying to shed light on the situation.”
Other arts and artists flourish at the Gallery. On a recent Saturday, amongst Noelke’s displayed abstract work, newlyweds Matt Stoner and his wife Cassandra, both of Torrington, practiced the Ma ori performance art poi — which involves swinging tethered, shining-light weights through a variety of rhythmical and geometric patterns — and hoop dance. Noelke explained, “They are the official couple of Noelke Gallery.”
Between rounds of performing poi, Matt Stoner said, “It is a nice place for inspiration.”
Cassandra Stoner, who also models as a ballet dancer for Noelke’s in-progress eight-foot plastalina-clay sculpture work on the Gallery floor, added, “The Gallery is a place for people who seek all kinds of creativity and art.”
Justice added that Stoner is also a photographer who invites clients to partake in photo shoots around the city of Torrington.
Regular visitor Karl Urso of Torrington, who displays at local galleries his mostlyacrylic abstract art, influenced by Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso, said he participates in the Gallery poetry readings. “I am a supporter and a fellow artist,” Urso said.
Justice said the rest of this winter is filled with events at the Gallery. On Jan. 25 he will feature an album release party for American Amnesia, with live music from the same band, as well as local groups Yankee Blues, Living Weary and Sophic Bloom. On Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. a music concert showcases the local bands Feeny and Shoes Nude. On March 30 the Gallery presents a GJK Fest 2019 fundraiser for the annual music festival held in the Northern Catskills.
Justice stated that regular Thursday nights at the Gallery include open-mic jams and a songwriting workshop with local musician Amelia Ellis. The shows are open to the public and anyone can bring their instrument and join in. Justice mentioned that Fridays and Saturdays at the Gallery are open for music booking opportunities. Justice said as a multiinstrumentalist who likes to jam, her aim is to get people who never play music to participate.
Another staple of the Noelke Gallery is the annual National Beat Poetry Festival that runs each September. The verse of writer Jack Kerouac and other Beats are read by local poets over a span of three days at the Gallery.
Also at the Gallery was an entry box for the Haiku Contest and a manual typewriter in which visitors could type out messages. One entitled “Beautiful” from a local high school student, read: “i want to know if you would go so far as to touch the centre of your own sorrow so you could pull me from mine.”
Noelke said his aim for the Gallery is to remove any elitist discernment of contemporary art. When he opened the Gallery in 2013, Noelke, who hails from West Texas, wanted to curate “an approachable gallery.” He has described Torrington as “a community in the midst of an economic revival driven by art.”
He credited the art-gallery-neighbor Five Points Gallery at 33 Main Street for paving the way. “They unabashedly brought art and talks about art into the community,” he added.
Noelke received his Master of Fine Arts from Tufts University. He has had his work featured in The Standard-Times (of New Bedford, Mass.), Nutmeg Chatter, and The Republican American. Noelke, who was a finalist for the Lady in Blue National Sculpture Competition, also recently had a sculpture piece commissioned for the town of New Hartford.
“The Gallery itself is a conceptual art project,” explained Noelke about the space’s various facets and evolving programs. “We can change from day to day. Every day is a reinvention.”
The Noelke Gallery is located at 15 Water Street in Torrington. The hours are Thursday to Sunday, 12 to 5 p.m. The Gallery can be contacted at 860-738-9585 or www.noelkegallery.com/.