Count Backwards from 10
Back in 2007, before business-run art galleries became a PR norm, sprouting up shamelessly in IT companies, BMW dealerships and chiropractic offices, siblings Mark and Alyssa Fox opened a showroom in what would seem to be the most bloodless, art-averse environment imaginable: a tax-planning office. But the Gallery at Fox Tax soon became a legit force. It had a knack for party throwing, an always surprising eye for art we would grow to consider quintessentially Minneapolitan — the gallery was an early champion of design-y painters Garrett Perry, Jennifer Davis and John Grider — and generally operated with sincerity and taste, when it easily could have pandered and fished for clients. (Its bread-and-butter is "to make an art out of your business," i.e., tax prep for creatives.) Saturday's opening is an anniversary (10 years), a retrospective (group show of 20 gallery alumni) and also a tentative farewell: With Fox Tax relocating this summer, the gallery "in its current form" is slated to close in April. Sad. (Free opening reception 6-10 p.m. Sat., Fox Tax, 503 1st Av. NE., Mpls. foxtaxservice.com/gallery)
GREGORY J. SCOTT
