Valentines Day is just two days away. For many, the holiday comes as a joyous celebration of romantic love. For others, a time to appreciate self-love. For a large number of visitors to and residents of the greater Ketchum area, Friday night will be a time to celebrate a different kind of lovea love of art.

Between 5 and 8 p.m. on Friday, the Sun Valley Gallery Association will host its premiere Gallery Walk of 2020. The first iteration of the organizations primary offering will see, as usual, numerous galleries around town open their doors, modestly portion out complimentary wine and welcome art-lovers to view their wares at leisure.

The attached map exhibits a fairly comprehensive catalogue of the participating galleries. Keep reading to learn about the offerings of a select few featured galleries in Ketchum.

Learn more about Gallery Walk, the Sun Valley Gallery Association and its members at svgalleries.org.

Sun Valley Museum of Art transcends standards

Walden (Surface/depth) by Spencer Finch, rope, cloth, twine and watercolors, at Sun Valley Museum of Art

There may be a new name, a new logo and a slight reshuffling of future objectives at the former Sun Valley Center for the Arts, but little else has changed at the valleys premier arts nonprofit, including the current exhibition.

Part of a Big Idea project of the same name that launched last month, The Bottomlessness of a Pond: Transcendentalism, Nature and Spirit zeroes in on the philosophies and writings of 19th-century American transcendentalists, such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller.

Aggregating the works of six contemporary artists, Bottomlessness of a Pond seeks to illuminate the enduring legacy of transcendentalist thinking on American art and philosophy, and consider the lessons one might learn by studying these luminaries and their ideas.

Visitors to the museum will enjoy a widely diverse exhibition of artworks, both in terms of creative style and media.

The Big Idea project displays sculptures, paintings, photography, collages, film and more. Some artists take a deep dive into Thoreaus famed Walden Pond; others consider poetry of contemporaneous authors who flirted with transcendentalism before rejecting it. One aims its lens at the potential to pervert such values, as Ted Kaczynski (aka the Unabomber) did.

All these different artists and works displayed alongside each other inspire critical thought and conversation elaborated upon in the museums ongoing Big Idea programming through March 11.

The Sun Valley Museum of Art is located at 191 Fifth St. E. in Ketchum. Visit svmoa.org to learn about what has changed and what has remained the same at the former Center.

Gail Severn Gallery sets its sights due west

Over the course of a year, an art lover can find a little bit of just about everything hanging on the walls at Gail Severn Gallery. Traditional landscapes, nightmarish sculptures, postmodern abstractionsit all gets its turn at Gail Severn, sometimes simultaneously.

That is not to imply that the curators at this popular Ketchum arts hub lack focus, but rather that their definition of quality holds no stylistic biases. Simply put, good is good, no matter the medium, the artist or the genre.

Last year saw a delightfully diverse array of works on display at Gail Severn. From polar bears with octopus hats to a wall of snouts to recycled books to vibrantly eye-catching, shapeless blasts of color, the gallery hosted pretty much everything.

The first Gallery Walk of 2020 will see a solo exhibition by Michael Gregory. His series True West consists of photorealistic paintings depicting iconic Western American scenes.

With horizon lines often placed below the halfway point on the canvas, these images use the vastness of the sky to imply the enormity of the landscape in a manner evocative of John Fords influential cinematography.

In other works, mountains tower high, dwarfing ramshackle farmsteads. All this serves as an important reminder of humanitys place in the grand scheme of nature.

Remarkably, considering how strikingly realistic his paintings are, Gregory generally works from memory and imagination, not from photographs. The casual onlooker, certainly one only glancing or catching a glimpse, could easily mistake any of his paintings for photographs.

Gregorys works will remain on display through March 10. On Saturday, Feb. 15, at 10 a.m.the morning after Gallery WalkGail Severn will host an artist chat event with Gregory for anyone hoping to speak with the artist about his works and process.

Gail Severn Galley is located at 400 First Ave. N. in Ketchum. Visit gailseverngalley.com to learn more.

Gilman Contemporary journeys from the celestial to the intimately human

Ventura by John Westmark, mixed media and vintage sewing patterns on canvas, at Gilman Contemporary

A typical Gallery Walk features the old and the new of art, plus everything in between. A handy cross-section of the past and present, with glimpses toward the future, descends upon Ketchum for three hours on Friday night every so often throughout the year.

As far as the cutting-edge present and misty future are concerned, few galleries can match the clear-eyed view provided by Gilman Contemporary Gallery.

True to the second word in its name, Gilman keeps up to date with all the innovations, trends and ideas sweeping the current art world.

Kicking off 2020 with Gilman is British photographer Ellie Davies. England is, perhaps, not commonly considered a heavily forested area of the world, but Davies work dives headlong into the woods. She captures dark, misty, uncanny and almost magical visions of British forests that strike the beholder as scenes from a haunting fairy tale or ghost story.

Gilman will exhibit Davies Stars series, in which the artist merges photographs of woodlands with images from the Hubble Telescope. The result is a strangely ethereal series of photos, capturing a place halfway between earth and space.

In considerable aesthetic contrast to Davies works are those by American artist John Westmark.

Combining a wide array of materials, Westmark creates layered, textured mixed-media paintings embodying the strength and struggle inherent to feminist philosophy. The gallery will exhibit a collection of striking representations of powerful female figures, composed of vintage sewing patterns on canvas.

Gilman Contemporary Gallery is located out toward the eastern edge of town, at 661 Sun Valley Road, Ketchum. Visit gilmancontemporary.com to learn more about the space, its owner, artists and creative philosophies.

Kneeland Gallery likes to keep things fairly local

Gathering Storm by Steven Lee Adams, oil on canvas, at Kneeland Gallery.

Wandering around town during a typical Gallery Walk, one is likely to encounter pieces of art from all over the world and depicting all manner of subjects. While some galleries look far afield, others know that its difficult to find anything more beautiful than the natural landscape of the American West.

The Kneeland Gallery is one such establishment. Specializing in American impressionism and plein air, Kneeland often displays works that capture the beauty of the environment and wildlife.

During this Gallery Walk, Kneeland will exhibit works of Hailey native Caleb Meyer. From cityscapes and intimate cafes to sweeping landscapes, Meyer approaches all subject matters with the same deftness and aplomb.

Another artist, Silas Thompson, is among the youngest Kneeland has featured. Like Meyer, Thompsons love of the Western landscape knows no boundaries.

Thompsons images showcase his unique flair for the colors and personalities of the iconic natural landmarks that pepper the Western states. His innovative selections of subject and perspectives evoke a nostalgic sense of reminiscence and wonder.

Kneeland will also welcome back recurring client Steven Adams, whose haunting images focus on the more typically unseen minutia of life. Rather than capturing the sublimity of a towering mountain or the vast expanse of a mighty river, Adams directs the viewers attention to inherent memories embodied by a broken fence or the potential of a half-dug ditch.

These artists will run concurrently with works of Utah artist Shanna Kunz and Idahoan Carl Rowe, the Idaho Conservation Leagues 2019 artist-in-residence.

The Kneeland Gallery is at 271 First Ave. N. in Ketchum. To learn more about the gallery, its artists and its displays, visit kneelandgallery.com.

Frederic Boloix Fine Arts is a hotspot for international art

Owned and operated by multilingual renaissance man Frederic Boloix, the namesake gallery has cemented its position in Ketchum as a premier spot for fine artscontemporary and from throughout the past.

Boloix himself has had a presence in Sun Valley for 25 years, following years as a gallery director in San Francisco and, before that, more than a decade as a professional classical musician in Vienna and Munich.

His artistically rich and varied background has a heavy influence on the kinds of art that go on display at the gallery. From still-working postmodern innovators to 20th-century masters like Picasso and Matisse, the Frederic Boloix Fine Arts gallery works only with the best.

For this Gallery Walk, Boloix will feature a group exhibition of works by artists from Germany, Austria, Italy and Cuba.

Boloix likes to display classics alongside new pieces, but the work of contemporary Austrian artist Martin Herbst bridges the gaps between them. He explores paintings on various shapes, including convex mirrors.

In Renaissance Mirror, for instance, Herbst reimagines a Raphael masterpiece on a convex mirror, literally offering new perspectives on an iconic painting.

Lovers of fine art and rare pieces should make Boloix a priority stop along Fridays Gallery Walk. These eye-catching pieces are just a few from a vast collection of works on display.

Frederic Boloix Fine Arts is at 351 Leadville Ave. N. in Ketchum. To learn more about the gallery, its art and artists, visit boloix.com.

The above-listed galleries are but a smattering of all those opening their doors and taking part in Fridays Gallery Walk. Those hoping to squeeze in a little arts appreciation this Valentines Day can drop in at any time from 5-8 p.m., enjoy a small glass of something and a polite nibble of something else, and bask in some of Ketchums myriad visual artistic offerings.

Visit svgalleries.org for information on future Gallery Walks and to learn more about the Sun Valley Gallery Association and its nine members.

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First Gallery Walk of 2020 is Friday | Arts | mtexpress.com - Idaho Mountain Express and Guide