Well , That Was Interesting !
BY RYAN TRAMONTE
While it makes my heart sing to listen to people ’ s stories about how being quarantined changed their lives and enlightened them about their diets , their marriages , and their affinity for positive affirmation YouTube videos ( insert eye roll here ), it really excites me to see the changes in the world of art that were a result of artists and gallerists witnessing an unsure , uncertain future staring them in the face . It ’ s not any specially kept secret that art has had it fair share of growth after global hysterics scared the mixed media out of us in the community . 2020 was no different . Artists trapped at home flooded the social media platforms with new and interesting creations , while gallerists bent over backwards , forwards , and did toe touches just to sell a painting that would have flown off the walls pre-lockdown .
Suddenly , the world was once again looking to artists to add some fun to this mess , and shed some light on where we were headed with our eyes wide shut . Galleries that followed strict rules for decades began to look in other directions for salvation , and artists began to not only visually document their stories and lives but began to take note of the things shaping them inside our ever-changing 2020 .
Perhaps no neighborhood in the city was impacted more noticeably than the French Quarter . With Bourbon Street normally teeming with boobies and Big A $$ Beers , suddenly videos of it teeming with rats and nothing else were circulating faster than misinformation about local testing centers ( another eye roll ). The world was enlightened by the belly of the beast and the New Orleans art world was about to enlighten others as to how to artistically survive a pandemic :
1 . Break the mold that made you : While galleries changed window art and brought as much attention to their New Orleans art as they could , Galerie Rue Royale shook it up enough to add cracks to the sidewalks . Breaking their international artist mold in favor of a virtual newbie American photographer , the company surrendered its “ we don ’ t represent photography ” philosophy with a smile that could light up Royal Street . Adding photographer Talor Stone to its much-adorned wall space at 541 Royal Street , this addition marks the company ’ s third American artist to join their roster , and the first photographer . Discovered at a Mississippi festival , Stone ’ s imagery is captivating on many levels . Traveling the globe capturing moments in time rather than images , Stone documents the parts of our world that lack human inhabitants , if you will . From towering icebergs emerging from celestial blue space , to the dancing hairs in the mane of a wild horse immersed in the green countryside , you are hard-pressed to find a