“Rox Gallery”

As we made way to the Rox Gallery, showcasing the “Delusions” exhibit, it’s great to think that any artist, whether small or large, can find a gallery to showcase their work. Tom Smith, who was the artist and our personal tour guide, showcased both the main floor and the basement of the Rox Gallery.

By far, this was one of the more “modern” galleries I have ever stepped into. Did I expect art with curse words to be hung behind the main counter? Or a naked man and woman posing with something over their heads? Or a man lying stark naked in the middle of a Russian main street? Of course not, and it was startling to see such exhibitions to be so proudly displayed on white walls.

The basement was just as crazy and loopy as the main floor. Huge pictures of different colors of leaves, body parts entangled, and just general confusion as you look on each piece.

For example, this picture of 4 limbs attacked to a central mass, if there even is a mass. What is the artist trying to display? As the Rox Gallery’s website describe, these photographs were intended to raise questions, to create metaphors through photographs or paintings. This creation of something that does not exist is a huge contrast to the realistic background. It’s the juxtaposition of something utterly bizarre onto something much more believable. I imagine this creation to be like a spider on a neglected house. Instead, the “spider” aspect is blown into human proportions that give us a very uncanny effect when we look upon it.

Stepping further into the gallery, there you can see Tom Smith’s work. A discordant array of colors that seem to be digitally made rather than made by artist, as Smith reveals. It was colors contrasted by textures contrasted by arrangements. The room that was displayed by the picture above seemed like something out of a color and furniture dystopian world. It really hits me how color makes this much more vibrant and thought provoking. If there wasn’t any coloring, the wires wouldn’t be as noticeable. The light bulb wouldn’t be distinct. Without color, this setting could have been easily mistaken as a room in an old and worn out building. Smith shows us how color can really impact what you see, how you see it, and why you see it.

Leaving the Rox Gallery, it’s really great to see different genres and categories of art being displayed. It really makes you think what defines art.