Experimental Art Gallery Opens at Quadrant

The painting showed -- as the Arts Community of Easton's Susan Huxley put it—"the typical comic book style woman," pointing a gun.

But in the wake of a 2012 that brought us story after story of mass gun murders, someone wanted it covered up.

That painting, she said, would have a home in ACE's new gallery space on the second floor of the Quadrant Book Mart.

The space has its first big show Saturday afternoon with the premiere of "You're Not Invited, which—to quote its news release "explores the obsession with censorship and an amusing mockery of the highbrow art world."

Curated by Brandon Wunder and Rob Riegel, ACE members and the owners of Allentown's The Alternative Gallery, "You're Not Invited" contains "controversial or taboo material which are not normally accepted into an art show," according to a news release.

But isn't just about shock value, organizers argue.

"The point of the show isn't to intentionally offend, but to remind the viewer that art contains different ideas and explores themes not everyone is comfortable with," organizers wrote on their Facebook invite. "We want to remind the viewer that it's fine to dislike something and simply continue on with your life without starting a witch hunt."

The point of the new gallery, meanwhile, is to give local artists a place to get started, Huxley said. 

"It's hard to break into the gallery scene," she said. "The ACE space gives them the chance to get their feet wet. They have that on their resume.”

It's also a less formal sort of gallery, added Huxley—who works with textiles—meaning that artists can have more freedom to try new things.

“If I went into a gallery and said ‘Here’s what im doing now,’ they might say 'No I'd rather much you’d stick with your textiles,'" she said.

Saturday's opening runs from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., but the exhibit will be in place until March 27. Given the nature of the show, parents should think long and hard before bringing kids.