GALLERY HISTORY

In 1978 Arthur Roger opened his gallery at 3005 Magazine Street in New Orleans' Garden District. A year earlier the Contemporary Arts Center had opened in downtown New Orleans. The artistic scene in the city was beginning to burgeon. The Arthur Roger Gallery moved to the forefront of galleries in the city. The gallery attracted a number of New Orleans' most prominent artists including Robert Gordy and Ida Kohlmeyer.

As interest grew rapidly in the galleries in uptown Arthur Roger played a leading role in forming the New Orleans Gallery Association and in arranging the remarkably successful coordinated exhibition openings which would transform the art scene in New Orleans. The gallery was selected to assist in assembling several major corporate collections including the Hotel Inter-Continental in New Orleans, the Pan-American Life Insurance Company and the Aquarium of the Americas. By 1984 the gallery was gaining national recognition and was selected for participation in the Chicago International Art Exposition where it has continued to exhibit each year. The gallery has also been included in the Los Angeles, Miami and Seattle Art Fairs. In 1984 the Arthur Roger Gallery played a central role in arranging the large Louisiana Arts exhibition at the World's Fair in New Orleans. The exhibit was regarded as one of the most successful at the Exposition. In 1985 the Arthur Roger Gallery presented a successful month long group show in New York at the Exhibition Space at 112 Greene St. in SoHo.

In 1988 the Arthur Roger Gallery moved to a new carefully planned 5,100 square foot space with three separate exhibition areas in the historic Warehouse District in downtown New Orleans. The space, designed by architect Wellington Reiter, one of the gallery's artists, was described by the Times-Picayune art critic as "establishing a world class standard of excellence for new art galleries in New Orleans." A tribute to the new gallery was published in Architecture and the gallery also received an Alpha Group Award for excellence in interior design. In both 1988 and 1989 the Arthur Roger Gallery originated and hosted the Art Against AIDS Ornament Exhibition, which in its first year became one of the top ten fundraisers in New Orleans. The Ornament show received the 1991 Mayor's Arts Award.

Arthur Roger opened a New York Gallery from 1991 until 1994. Artists from Louisiana who received their first New York exhibit included Douglas Bourgeois, George Dureau, Gene Koss and Ersy Schwartz. Willie Birch, Clyde Connell, James Drake and Richard Jolley also exhibited at the Arthur Roger Gallery in New York. The gallery continues to present curated exhibitions. One of the most successful past exhibits, "Fear of Painting," was curated by Dan Cameron and featured the works of Lee Gordon, Jane Hammond, Deborah Kass, Marilla Palmer, Lari Pittman, Archie Rand, Alexis Rockman, David Sandlin, Megan Williams and Sue Williams.

In the early 90's artists receiving one person exhibitions at the Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans included Charles Arnoldi, Derek Boshier, Roger Brown, Robert Colescott, R. M. Fisher, Peter Halley, Robert Hull, Leonard Koscianski, Clarence Laughlin, Peter Saul, James Surls, Bruce Weber, Joel-Peter Witkin and Philip Wofford. Throughout its history the gallery has presented several superb photography exhibitions including in recent years Debbie Fleming Caffery, Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, Tom Bianchi, Joel-Peter Witkin, and John Dugdale. In both 1997 and 1998 the Arthur Roger Gallery was selected for inclusion in Richard Polsky's Art Market Guide as one of the 36 most influential galleries in the contemporary American art market. The author of the guide who is a contemporary art dealer in San Francisco described the Arthur Roger Gallery as striking, "just the right balance between showing local artists and artists of national repute." Polsky referred to the gallery as anchoring the New Orleans art scene.

Especially successful exhibits of John Waters' photography were presented twice in the last three years. Recently through close collaboration with the House of Blues Foundation the Gallery has expanded its art education work in the community. In conjunction with the Contemporary Arts Center a major retrospective of Douglas Bourgeois' work is being arranged for January, 2003. The retrospective will be exhibited in five different cities and will be accompanied by a major book publication from Hudson Hill Press.

Exhibitions in 2004-2005 season include Luis Cruz Azaceta, Willie Birch, Jacqueline Bishop, Blake Boyd, Debbie Fleming Caffery, Dale Chihuly, Stephen Paul Day, Lin Emery, Elemore Morgan, Francis Pavy, John Scott, Allison Stewart and John Waters.

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