ILLE Arts Gallery’s “Eleven Under Thirty” Celebrating Up-And-Coming Artists

This spring, ILLE Arts Gallery in Amagansett will highlight the works of eleven rising art world stars during Eleven under Thirty. The group show will debut on Saturday, April 8 and remain on view through Monday, May 1.

“My assistant at the Gallery is an artist, and she’s 26-years-old. I’ve always thought I’d like to have a younger persons show because so many of the artists out here are older,” explained ILLE Arts Gallery owner Sara DeLuca. “With Brianna, we put our thinking caps together and she reached out to her graduate school friends and I reached out to artists who are also teachers in graduate school programs and we put together these 11 artists that now make this show.”

Through the outreach, DeLuca found Brianna Ashe, Amanda Brown, Glorimar Garcia, Evan Halter, Clair Hentschker, Adam Jonah, Burleigh Morton, Kevin Pomerleau, Sara Salaway, Morgana Tetherow-Keller, and Ella Wearing, the Eleven under Thirty featured artists.

“A couple of them are from the East End, but most are from the City or still in school. What inspired me was I wanted to give an opportunity for young people to have a forum in a gallery on the East End – to have a show,” she noted.

“Their energy and their enthusiasm and how fresh and appreciative their approach to working together – seeing how enthusiastic these young people are about having a show,” was what DeLuca said attracted her to the artists.

The art show will encompass nearly every medium, from video installation to prints to paintings to interactive projects to photography to sculpture. “We wanted to show the full spectrum of what we considered to be new and interesting,” she noted.

The exhibit will also mark the return of 18-year-old Adam Jonah, who is the youngest artist to ever exhibit at ILLE.

DeLuca felt an instant connect with Jonah. “Adam and I met last summer when he came into the Gallery with his mom. I fell in love with the guy immediately. He’s the nicest, most interesting, well-spoken, talented young artist,” she raved. “He was very enthusiastic about his work. He was very appreciative about me wanting to see his work. Apparently he had gotten a series of rejections at other places he had tried to show his work at, and I encouraged him to bring it in and show it to me.”

Jonah’s persistence paid off as his first showing at the Gallery was a success. “I put him in the first holiday show that we had. He submitted a bunch of pieces and he sold a couple of pieces at the show,” she explained.

Eleven under Thirty will serve as the debut for Jonah’s United Imagination Project. “We’ve been in touch ever since and I’m very supportive of this new project of his, which has a philanthropic side to it – a community based side to it.”

Through the interactive mixed media, ink on original photograph, art installations, Jonah hopes to inspire gallerygoer’s imaginative exploration by encouraging them to leave their mark on the installation. For each installation sold, Jonah will donate one of his installations to a charity of the buyer’s choice.

“It’s a great idea and he’s very special. He’s so much about putting karma and putting good things into the universe and having good things come to you as a result, and about helping others. It’s really who he is. It’s not just a way to get attention. He sold a couple of pieces already and a couple of pieces were donated to a school and to a children’s hospital,” she noted. “We hope he can continue. He’s open to donating the work to any organization of the buyer’s choice, but he would like the organization to lineup with his philosophy of improving people’s life and encouraging creativity through art.”

An opening reception for Eleven under Thirty will take place on Saturday, April 8, from 5 to 8 p.m.

ILLE Arts is located at 171 Main Street in Amagansett. For more information, call 631-905-9894 or visit illearts.com.