Free Utopian Projects

Free Utopian Projects
2809 MacArthur Blvd
Oakland, CA 94602

The Free Gallery

Annual Exhibition Call Selection

Pro Arts, Oakland, CA

February 26 to March 29, 2013

www.proartsgallery.org

First Week before Opening Night

One Week after Opening Night

Second Installation

Last Day

photo credit: Tressa Pack www.tressapack.com

"The Free Gallery By Free Utopian Projects | Exhibition Call Selection 2013

The Free Gallery, by Free Utopian Projects, is a new exhibition presenting free artwork, found objects and art ephemera to the public. It is both an interactive experience of an alternative art economy, as well as a study of art as a consumer product. Who makes art? Who exhibits art? Who buys art? The Free Gallery explores the collapse of these distinctions by offering a subverted gallery experience where not only admission is free, the art is too.

Participating artists donate work to the exhibition to be presented salon-style in a continually evolving cycle of giving and taking art. A 'Preview' will be held from Tuesday, February 26 to Friday, March 1 to allow viewers an exclusive preview of items that will be available free to the public from the Artists' Reception onwards. A practice of taking one work per person will be encouraged. The project proprietor Jocelyn Meggait will be onsite most gallery hours to discuss the project with visitors, coordinate artwork, and document the selection experience.

The Free Gallery brings a distinctly Bay Area tradition of free community happenings - from The Digger's Free Shops in the 1960's to thriving First Friday's in Oakland - to an exhibition experience. By embracing the potential for visual chaos and participatory mayhem, The Free Gallery seeks to highlight alternative routes for accessing, valuing and experiencing art."