NAESS GALLERY (formerly known as Fringe Gallery)

The NAESS GALLERY's irregularity of space is a wonder in its non-commercial form. The heart of the gallery is the room itself - artists are encouraged to draw inspiration from it to create work that embraces the room and that the room will embrace. The gallery is not a pristine, clinical space; it is rough and has the feel of a space that remembers decades long past. It’s a raw space that is unapologetic in its simplicity. This is part of its charm.

Located within The Paint Spot, The NAESS GALLERY is not a place one goes to see pretty things to hang on a wall; it is a place to experience art. The work shown is often controversial, always engaging and not always politically correct. The artists chosen are exceptional talents, passionate about their work and articulate in expressing themselves. Work that you will see here is sometimes for sale but for the most part the original non-commercial concept is very much still honoured, expression above all else is the focus. It is a zone where artists can come to be inspired. It serves the public with art that is engaging and challenging.

Sidsel Naess Bradley, the founding curator, feels that the gallery's basement location allows for a silence that "inspires a different privacy that cannot be found above ground". She does not want to see it turn into anything commercial.

The Paint Spot is proud to play host to a yearlong continuum of artists booked on a monthly basis. We believe there is a special aesthetic that is being nurtured. Regardless of its semi-normal structural appearance, the NAESS GALLERY has not abandoned its renegade quality.

The NAESS GALLERY is run by a group of Edmonton artists without funding from any government institution; serving the community since 1985.