After engaging our community through art (and expanding our minds on the definition of graffiti) for the past four years, Salem on the Edge is hosting its last exhibit. The downtown gallery will close its doors September 28.
The final featured artist is David George Andersen (1960-2017), who “created politically charged, irreverent mixed media assemblages that address the many hypocrisies of modern American life.” He was also gallery owner Melanie Weston’s husband.
“If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have had a gallery,” said Melanie.
“We were both working artists our whole marriage. His career was with museums, as a preparator, which brought us to Salem.” David worked at Seattle’s Frye Art Museum and Spokane’s Cheney Cowles Museum prior to becoming the Exhibition Designer and Chief Preparator at Salem’s Hallie Ford Museum of Art in 2007.
“I learned to paint, patch and pack working alongside Dave. I learned the tools from him to take care of a gallery,” Melanie said.
Opening and running Salem on the Edge fine art gallery has been a rewarding experience, said Melanie. During its four years, she curated 49 shows and worked with more than 180 artists. A bonus along the way— the people she met through her gallery, many of whom became friends.
And for Melanie, the fitting way to wrap this chapter (which is taking her to California), is for the artist she honors in her final show to be her late husband, especially on the heels of our upcoming election. “It’s a good show for this fall.”
Salem on the Edge
No No Bounds by David George Andersen
September 4 through 28
David George Andersen: Word Play
David George Andersen’s meticulously crafted assemblages merge found objects, innovative photographic techniques, mechanical components, and cast elements to create surreal and whimsical social commentaries. He described his work as having a stream of conscious narrative that invites the viewer to consider the relationships between sometimes disparate images. The resulting work often conveys its message through humor; in some instances the message is clear and direct, in others, more cryptic.
Woven throughout much of Andersen’s work is a critique of power within American culture. Religion and politics are frequent targets. He uses historical, art historical, religious, and pop culture references to illuminate an increasingly disturbing American reality where fact is called fiction, proven science is ignored, and corporate agendas rule. — Jonathan Bucci, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University
Final Reception
During First Friday, 5 to 8 p.m. Sept 6, the gallery will serve Old Fashioned cocktails and lemonade.
Salem on the Edge
David George Andersen, “Stercus Accidit” Photography, mixed media, 36” round x 5”
David George Andersen, “Stercus Accidit” Photography, mixed media, 36” round x 5”