The ThinkSmall12 exhibition currently at ArtSpace arguably offers the most art per square inch anywhere in Richmond. More than 340 pieces adorn the gallery’s walls, submitted by 166 artists.
Those numbers conjure an image of a gallery space as expansive as the VMFA but ThinkSmall, as the name implies, challenges artists to squeeze their creativity into a tiny space.
“For most of the time that ThinkSmall has been in existence, the limit has been 3 inches in any direction,” explains Dana Frostick, ArtSpace’s treasurer. “This past year, we expanded it to 4 inches. Most people don’t work in miniature so we felt like that would give them a little more room.”
ArtSpace has put on ThinkSmall every other year since 2001 and the exhibit is very popular among artists. “We put out the call for submissions in the spring and a lot of artists are waiting for it,” says Frostick. “Many have already started their work.”
Based on the crowd packing the opening reception this past Friday, the exhibition draws in loads of patrons as well. “Visitors love it because there’s just so many different things to look at,” says Ed Holten, ArtSpace’s president. “It also provides a price point and a size point for purchasing which aligns really well with the amount of gift giving going on at this time of year.”
A walk through the exhibit reveals the explosion of inspiration that can come from enforced limitations. Representational works, whether cityscapes by Natalie Colleen Gates or music venue scenes by Catherine Venable, capture striking details on the smallest of canvases. Gates calls her oil painting of Richmond during a thunderstorm “the tiniest painting I’ve ever done” but it ends up as evocative as any image five times as large.
Photographers use multiple methods to increase the impact of their limited frame of reference. Min Enghauser offers a contemplative set of images in a three-piece series called “The Evolution of a Cloud,” while Alan D. Entin layers multiple vivid scenes in one piece, ”Necropolis Cristobal Colon, La Habana, Cuba, 2019.”
Lewis Bailes adds a twist to force patrons to linger a while amongst the huge variety of easily scannable pieces. His untitled set of two silver prints are mounted with companion stereo view glasses that, when aligned correctly, mash the images together, creating an overlay 3D effect for the viewer.
Holten, who earned his MFA through VCU’s sculpture program, calls out a number of small sculptural pieces, like Lee Hazelgrove’s mounted ceramics or Brooksie Neer’s framed mixed media piece, “Book Light.” “I think the three-dimensional art is the best I’ve seen at ThinkSmall,” he says. “Expanding to 4 inches gave folks a little more leeway to be creative.”
The success of ThinkSmall reinforces the wisdom of ArtSpace’s 2021 move to Stratford Hills from Plant Zero, says Frostick. “We had something like 15 artist members and, since we moved in here, we are almost at 50 artist members,” she says. “That alone is phenomenal.”
“Add in the community connections we’ve made where people just walk in – at Plant Zero we were so hidden – and this is a boon as far as I’m concerned.”
The biennial ThinkSmall12 Exhibition runs through Dec. 16 at ArtSpace, 2833-A Hathaway Rd. More information available at https://www.artspacegallery.org/.
