LOOK & LISTEN: Three Walls Gallery owner finds peace in videos

MEDIA: Video, photography, installation

BEST KNOWN FOR: Owning and running the very hip Three Walls Gallery in the Blue Star Complex. Monseau also makes her own art, which for the past few years have been videos.

Monseau opened up her single room gallery in 1999 after finishing grad school. She curates the space, making studio visits and finding artists well-suited for Three Walls. Many of the artists are young in their career, and Monseau enjoys giving newer artists a chance to push out of their comfort zone. “Since it's a space based on the artist being on their own I encourage them to take risks,” Monseau said.

With the crammed schedule of running a gallery space, working on her own art, teaching classes and any personal time, Monseau's videos are a tranquil pause from everyday life. She received a travel grant from ArtPace in 2003, and exhibited her first video the following year. The videos have brought her to places such as Barcelona and Mexico City. “I like to get out into the world and make the work instead of being held up in the studio,” Monseau said.

Her “Gone Again II” videos feature people sleeping in front of monumental spaces such as Rome's Pantheon and Venetian cathedrals. The camera slowly drifts up and down to give a sense of floating. “It makes you lighter,” Monseau said.

The “Gone Again” title is taken from a Patti Smith song about a dead husband. But the videos are more tied to the waking life and drifting into slumber, coming to and leaving spaces that have been around for centuries and the ties between architectural and personal histories. “It's conceptually based in travel,” Monseau said.

“Gone Again II” and Monseau's videos move slowly. Piñatas slowly twirl with the wind in “Spin.” A swarm of animal-shaped balloons sway in the sky for “Float.” For moving objects, they barely budge. “Video actually captures stillness much better than a still photograph,” Monseau said.

With the chaos of life, Monseau said watching, waiting and drifting can have their benefits. “Our lives are very hectic,” Monseau said. “What are we losing as a result of that?”

CURRENTLY: Monseau's two-channel video piece “swingsong” is on exhibit at the McNay Art Museum. It features the horizon line between water and sky. The sound is layers of water, a standup bass feeding back into an amplifier, a humming voice and breathing. “The two shorelines almost crash into each other,” Monseau said. “It almost looks like a mountain.”