Photo gallery and video: Inside Eye Tunes at Kettle Art gallery

The venue was a veritable imaginarium, spilling with visions that didn’t quite make it on stage.

Eye Tunes exhibit opening at Kettle Art (July 10)

Photos by Andrew Tolentino

DEEP ELLUM — Crammed with creative forces, Kettle Art Gallery’s Eye Tunes exhibit opened on Saturday night. Showcasing the visual creations of the musically inclined and work created by professionals who lend their craft to the music scene, Deep Ellum’s “little gallery that could” was a regular Renaissance fair, with merging artists instead of dueling knights.

Gallery owner Frank Campagna noted, “I just think that there is an awful lot of incredible talent in this city … in both cases, so it just made sense.” Considering the lineup that reads more like a Dallas music awards ballot, it also made sense that the venue was a veritable imaginarium, spilling with visions that didn’t quite make it on stage.

Sure, photographer Jason Janik and Somebody’s Darling front woman Amber Farris may have occupied the same space, playing their respective roles as shooter and singer. However, the sight of their artwork hanging on the same walls offers a context of creative symbiosis and respect that seems to nourish locally grown culture, particularly in places like Deep Ellum where music and art are beats of the heart. Established artist and former member of Brutal Juice, Richard Ross, explained, “A show like Eye Tunes is a good example of what Deep Ellum is about … The show expresses the neighborhood’s desire to have a voice like its artists by showcasing a dialogue of its artists.”

Recognizing the struggle to define oneself creatively, Campagna recalled, “Hell, when I was a kid … I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a musician or an artist.” While the artists featured in Eye Tunes have predominantly established themselves in various mediums, Campagna hopes that the exhibit “validates them in another form.” By challenging the tradition of who normally gets to display on pristine white walls, Campagna contextualized a credible playground for all artists to play as artists.

If you don’t mind a little gravel in your shoes, the Eye Tunes playground is on display (free of charge) at Kettle Art Gallery at 2714 Elm Street through Saturday, July 24.

Click here to see a video of the artist drop-off last week. Or, check out this short video of Saturday night's debut: