IX Information

Imaginative Realism

Images of the unknown and the fantastic lurk deep in the hidden recesses of all of our brains. Monsters and demons, wizards and warriors, robots and spaceships are all a part of our world because they are all a part of each one of us living in the 21st century.

Imaginative Realists bring those images out of our ids and into the light of day, where we can see them, share them, and marvel at their narrative impact, brought to life by some of the most technically skilled painters in the world.

These images require no explanation, no crib sheet, no critical analysis to highlight exactly what they should mean and what we should think of them. They are not anti-art; they are anti-critic, marvelous visual linguists who speak to each viewer without the need for a translator. Some may view these works and say “I don’t like them,” but no one will ever say “I don’t understand them,” because they present the concepts that personify the 20th and 21st centuries – exploration, wonder, and an increasingly clear idea that our world – and what we consider “reality” – is just one scenario out of an infinite number of possibilities.

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main show Artists

Artists are selected from submissions each year by a rotating panel of judges. This is a traditional media exhibition, featuring over 90 artists showing their work across 18,000 square feet and three floors of the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts.