The underground gallery House of Venus was a must-see hidden gem in the SoWa Art & Design District that enchants gallery-goers with a colorful display of artwork by fresh, young artists. 

The gallery, which ran until Oct. 16, featured many works of art of a variety of media such as fashion and fabrics, sculptures, paintings, mixed medium works and even an array of handmade clocks, illustrating the multifaceted talents of the artists shown. 

The exhibit is the first professional pop-up gallery produced by young founders Kaylee Hennessey, a gallerist who is the assistant director at the Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, and Abby Oullette, a mixed-media illustrator. 

But while this is their first professional gallery, the two founders have truly brought to life an exhibit that embodies bright, vivid color and the true meaning of bringing ideas and dreams into “fruition” for young artists. 

Any gallery-goer would be left with a memorable experience of a rich, eye-catching display of pastels and different colors that leapt from all the various media that were arranged. Overall, the works of art manifested a sense of “freshness” and “newness” that seemed to personify the excited, experimental spirit of young artists. 

From every wall, the vibrant, heartfelt designs and artworks were arranged aesthetically pleasing to the eye, making it easy for even inexperienced gallery-goers to sense the strong vitality that seemed to radiate from the art mounted in the quiet, white-walled exhibit. 

Savanna Nelson, a freelance art handler who helped facilitate the gallery, discussed the vision the founders’ had for the exhibit. 

 “We wanted to be loud, exciting, eye-popping, and bold. It kind of goes along with the idea of ‘making a splash’ since at the beginning of your career you’re trying to make a big splash and I think that makes sense for a lot of these artists and what we’re trying to do as a gallery,” Nelson said. 

The featured artists were mostly college students at the end of their college or postgraduate career. Nelson discussed how difficult it can be especially for young artists after graduating school to get a head start in their field. 

“It’s such a ladder you have to climb and there’s a bunch of hoops you have to jump through,” Nelson said. “So it’s really nice, especially being a young artist myself, to be involved with something that’s really trying to plug young artists.”

The exhibit’s theme of “fruition” perfectly captured the energy of the young artists as they begin their careers. Nelson continued on about how most of the artists are beginning their journey in the practice of bringing their ideas and expressions to life. 

Thankfully, the artists have been fortunate to have the chance of being featured in the gallery.

“Abby and I had dreamed of bringing our roster of artists to the public eye and providing them with as many opportunities as possible,” Hennessey said. “Over the course of our SoWa pop-up, ‘The Color of Fruition,’ we’ve been able to sell works for the first time and bring more attention to the artists involved.” 

Typically when picking featured artists to work with, founders Hennessy and Oullette said they set out a juried call over social media. However, for this exhibit they were more particular with the art they wanted. 

“We wanted a mixture of people we had and had not yet worked with, a lot of color and a lot of different media to make House of Venus a more experiential gallery,” Hennessey said. 

The exhibit not only offered a chance for young artists to start their career in the world by getting their name out and selling some work, but also to inspire them further on their path to success. 

“When you leave art school, because art school is such a strong artist community, it’s important to maintain that once you leave so I think this exhibit tries to keep the juices flowing for other young artists,” Nelson said. 

The self-described “domestic, avant garde, and revolutionary exhibition experience” truly delivered an incredible outlet for young artists to spearhead their careers and form the bridge between post-grad and beyond. While the featured artists have found success, Hennessey and Nelson also discussed the positive feedback that the gallery received. 

“It’s something we can now celebrate with all of the artists,” Nelson said. “That’s what is impor

tant.”

The exhibit brings a valuable new addition of fresh, new talent to the artistic and bubbling SoWa district and hopefully there will be more galleries as memorable as this, brought into “fruition.”

View the gallery below to see some of the art from the exhibit.

Follow Jasmine on Twitter @JFrancoeur18.

Gallery • 6 Photos

Jasmine Francoeur