Contemporary Art Matters is pleased to present Linda Gall: Mostly Flotsam and Some Jetsam Animal Series. The exhibition is on view in the viewing room for the month of May 2025.

We are excited to present a group of small paintings from Linda Gall’s Mostly Flotsam and Some Jetsam Animal Series, which are individual panels depicting a porcelain figurine resting on the beach, seemingly cast ashore by the surf, landing in a pattern of sea foam deckling the sand. These treasures appear like glistening shells but represent a culture and time unacknowledged by the sea. Some sit upright while others are tipped on their sides revealing the maker's marks on their bases. Gall’s spare painting style uses the blond wood it is painted upon as a color element in the composition. Transparent washes of paint and nuanced line delineate the animal characters, one can imagine the delight in discovering these decorative artifacts strewn like tidal bounty.

Juxtaposing the natural forces of the sea with the fragile nature of the keepsakes continues a prominent theme in Gall’s work: that of the time worn, which she presents with humor and wit. In her paintings It’s Just Lust and Dream Lovers, she gives the figurines a more pronounced narrative role, staging playful dramas beneath the pier’s pylons, where splashing water animates their imagined desires.

A cherished figure in the Columbus art scene, Linda Gall (b. 1949, Columbus, OH) has remained a respected artist and mentor throughout her career, playing a key role in the early years of the Ohio Art League and working for galleries and institutions like the Pizzuti Collection. Gall has exhibited extensively throughout the U.S., participating in group shows and more than 20 solo exhibitions. Most recently, in 2024, her work was the subject of the solo exhibition Life is Funny at the Sarah Gormley Gallery in Columbus, OH. She has been awarded residencies at the Robert M. McNamara Foundation in Westport, Maine, and the OAC’s residency at the Art Center/South Florida in Miami Beach, FL. Gall’s work can be found in numerous public and private collections, including the Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH; Zanesville Museum of Art, Zanesville, OH; and the Atlanta Empowerment Zone, Atlanta, GA. In 1979, Gall received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Livingston College, Rutgers University, and in 1981, her Master of Fine Arts from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. She lives and works in Zanesville, OH.