Thousands of stoplight-red, grass-green, sunflower-yellow and ocean-blue disks explode from the carnation-pink wall. Shiny beads, shimmering rhinestones and sparkling gold stars adorn the round disks, garnished with ordinary flower prints, postcard clippings and belt buckles.
The disks — 2,016 in all — sit glued one below another on yardsticks, dozens of which are hung vertically alongside each other.
This is Chicago artist Janet Bloch’s “Sticks & Disks” creation on display in the new “Nesting” exhibition at Gallery Mornea, 602 Davis St. Bloch describes her artwork as “cute and pretty, glitzy and fun,” the quintessential ode to her inner adolescence.
The exhibit also features paintings from two other Chicago artists, Elaine Pawlowicz and Pamela Callahan. Sunday night’s opening reception, attended by about 225 people, was the first exhibit in the Gallery Mornea’s new location, just down the block from its previous location.
Bloch started making her unique disks about a year ago after making similar ones to use as magnets.
“I really just like making them,” Bloch said. “After I made a few hundred of them, I was like, ‘How am I ever going to get rid of them?'”
The creation soon turned into a serious project as she visualized a larger plan. People gave her small, sentimental things for her disks, and Bloch also integrated tiny objects she found in the streets into her artwork.
“The objects became about memory and pleasure,” she said. “It really became a homage to my inner 14-year-old.”
Evanston resident Linda Martin said she enjoyed seeing Bloch’s artwork.
“I love this, the design, the idea,” she said. “It doesn’t take someone who can draw or paint. It just takes an artistic vision, looking at the whole picture.”
Martin also said the new location is an improvement on the gallery’s former home.
“The new gallery space is open and light,” Martin said. “They’ve put paintings in the windows that really draw you in.”
Visitors to Gallery Mornea’s previous location first climbed a flight of stairs before entering the second-floor gallery. With no street-level window space, the gallery was limited to a sign on the sidewalk, gallery manager Richard Davis said.
Michael Monar, gallery director, first looked at the new space about two months ago. The past six weeks were spent preparing the site –which occupies about 4,000 square feet — for the gallery’s new exhibit.
“I wanted an improved gallery space at street level,” Monar said. “It’s a much more suitable space for displaying art.”
The one-level gallery boasts a well-lit main room with three rooms down a hallway. Monar said he is considering renting out space in the basement as art studios.
Davis said he hopes the gallery creates a presence in Evanston.
“This represents something of a gamble to be big enough of an art gallery in Evanston to pay our bills,” Davis said. “The real crux of the success or failure is going to be after the opening and if we can draw people on a daily basis.”
“Nesting” will be on exhibit at Gallery Mornea until April 21. The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday by appointment.
