The Cooperative Gallery 213 is featuring a unique family collaboration, as MaryRose, Judy Salton, and their granddaughter Karissa explore different themes, including art and politics. The exhibits open First Friday September 4th, 2020 and continues through September 26th every Saturday from 11 am- 3 pm and by appointment with the artists (call 607 7243462 or email cooperativegallery213@gmail.com).
Judy Salton has created “Games Politicians Play” an political satire, leaning heavily to the left, which is meant to entertain, inform and provoke people’s reactions. The work is based on popular games such as Chess & Checkers (Putin & Trump), Trumpopoly, Dominos (the wall), Cards, Risk, Scrabble, and “What’s My Lyin’.” Salton features the Black Lives Matter movement in a collage as well as a Scrabble game.
“The concept and execution of the political games is really well done,” commented Peg Johnston of the Cooperative Gallery. “It is a timely show, deftly done, and it should get the attention it deserves.” View a video of the show here.
Karissa Salton has created “The Celestial Bodies Series” with photo collages. She previously exhibited a series called “Women 
as Forces of Nature” in 2018. In this series she depicts women as celestial beings based on real objects in space. See video here.
MaryRose presents “Inspired” a collection of paintings she created during the COVID shut down as part of an artists’ challenge in response to the isolation imposed by the COVID-19 Pandemic. According to MaryRose, “Judy and I invited all Exhibiting Gallery Members to participate in a challenge. It was loosely based on “The Gossip Game” where each participating artist submitted a piece of their art to an assigned artist. That artist, in turn, used it to inspire a new piece of work, which at the end of one week was passed on to another artist, thus creating an ongoing circle.” That circle of 10 artists became the “Challenge Circle: Creating In Place, Keeping in Touch, and Supporting Each Other”, resulting in 100 pieces of art over 10 weeks. They were asked to repeat the challenge and expanded the invitation to include Supporting Artists, creating two 7 week circles resulting in another group of 98 pieces of art. “I have selected 17 pieces of my art that were inspired by those that I received, hence the title of the show “Inspired.”
The Cooperative Gallery at 213 State St. Binghamton is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and was one of the first galleries to open under NYS COVID guidelines. The gallery is a popular stop on the First Friday Art Walk and is a focal point for visual artists in the community. Supporting memberships are available for $35 and the gallery sponsors regular Life Drawing, an all member show in December and occasional workshops. Sign up for the mailing list on the website or on the Facebook page Cooperative Gallery 213. The gallery’s NYS plan for re-opening is posted at the gallery and can be accessed www.cooperativegallery.com.