Lisa Sette Gallery

For some reason my review did not transfer with the new location, but I just love this little gallery too much not to share.
This beloved gallery has left the sea of Southwest in Old Town Scottsdale for their new, incredibly hip Midtown digs.
Can I just say, I am obsessed? Building designed by Al Beadle. Super cool branding with the new «Hello, Midtown» logo in the entry. Soft light from high windows. It’s a great space.
I went to the opening and fell in love with a few photos that, coincidentally were also the most affordable thing in the place. Yay, me! I have decided, I haven’t made it until I’ve purchased art from the Lisa Sette Gallery. It’s gonna happen one of these days!

A few years ago I wrote a review recommending Lisa Sette Gallery as one of the best in Scottsdale… now I must revise that to read the best in PHOENIX! LSG recently moved to midtown Phoenix, to an amazing building designed by Al Beadle. Go if only to see the new space, which is broad and low-​lying and wrapped in a massive scrim of white fabric that reflects the bright light of the Phoenix sun.
Plus, now there’s parking!
Inside, the space is bigger and better than the Scottsdale location but still a cool, clean, locally-​owned gallery and a bastion of sophistication in the desert. I love the way Sette selects her artists among both wunderkind grad students and art-​scene luminaries from all over the world. I love how, when interviewed about the move, Sette seemed almost as excited by the bigger kitchen as she did about the incredible new building.
The gallery’s been in operation for over 25 years, and it’s clear Sette knows what she’s doing; whether in the dry summer months or in season, LSG can be relied upon to fascinate and enchant. I’m always impressed by how so much of the work I see here can be both exquisitely lovely and, simultaneously, challenging and new. Gallery artists are both established names and emerging stars, and they come from all over (including a healthy representation of contemporary artists working in the Southern Hemisphere). Whether exhibiting local or international artists, somehow Sette always manages to strike the right aesthetic balance, so if you’re in the area it’s always worth checking out what’s on show. It helps, of course, that the gallery staff is competent and personable.
In addition to painting/​sculpture/​installatio­n, Sette represents a remarkable roster of photographers – If you want to check out the photographs documenting James Turell’s massive Roden Crater project in northern Arizona, Sette is the place to go. Ditto if you’re in the market for some Starn brothers. Or, even, you know, if you want a good recommendation for a local restaurant.