By Raine Blunk
Gallery Le Snoot is hidden behind the cupcake counters of The Cupcake Emporium at 6 East State Street. The building shares a view of Wright Square, but Le Snoot doesn’t catch much sun tucked behind the back wall. It might seem unrealistic, but this cave of a gallery might be the best new spot to see work by Savannah’s up-and-coming digital print artists.
The studio just opened last October, but founders are already preparing for the gallery’s fourth exhibition. Later this month, “The Big Bad Print and Poster Show,” will feature large-format work of all mediums. Accepted entries will be printed by Le Snoot on high quality archival paper — something that Le Snoot does for all of its shows, including a solo show this opening Friday, “A Creature Fix.”
But how can Gallery Le Snoot afford to do all that high quality printing for free?
“Any money we do make here we put right back into the space,” says Logan McDonald, one of the gallery’s founders. “We’re illustrators, and we don’t know a lot of people who have their own solo shows. We wanted to take the whole process [of exhibition] and make it insanely simple for artists.”
It’s as ‘easy’ as making good art to get your work featured in the gallery. Blake Bradley, the artist behind Friday’s exhibition “A Creature Fix,” caught Le Snoot’s attention only after submitting work for “The Big Bad Print and Poster Show.”
“When I brought my work in to show them in person they all seemed pretty pumped,” says Bradley. Although the artist admits he wishes he’d pushed himself further in his work, he is looking forward to showcasing his stylized illustrations of enchanting yet irrational “creatures.”
Bradley says his inspiration is drawn from “an intense desire to make the unimaginable seem like reality” — a reality which, he feels, lives somewhere inside himself. He views Friday’s show as the beginning of life for many of the characters featured and agrees his experience with Gallery Le Snoot has inspired him to keep moving forward.
Matt Jackson, another Le Snoot founder, says one of the most rewarding parts about working at the gallery is giving a chance to artists who haven’t yet exhibited their work. For Blake Bradley and his resplendent creations, Friday’s show could be the opportunity of a lifetime.
“A Creature Fix” opening reception will be from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Friday night. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page.
