{"id":38007,"date":"2017-09-12T22:18:21","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T04:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=38007"},"modified":"2025-11-12T20:30:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T03:30:25","slug":"kramer-vs-controversy-a-profile-of-writ-vision-gallerist-brad-kramer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/kramer-vs-controversy-a-profile-of-writ-vision-gallerist-brad-kramer\/","title":{"rendered":"Kramer vs. Controversy: A Profile of Writ & Vision Gallerist Brad Kramer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nI<\/span>n 2016, gallerist Brad Kramer decided to display a painting by J. Kirk Richards depicting the biblical Eve as African. The ensuing controversy came from an unexpected source. Not from the prudish, objecting to the depiction of her naked breasts (Kramer\u2019s gallery is in Provo and his audience is largely LDS), nor from the traditionalists, wishing to keep Eve Caucasian; but from the progressives, objecting that a white man had depicted a black Eve and had stumbled, however unwittingly, into thorny issues of cultural and sexual exploitation. When you open a contemporary art gallery in Provo, you have to be ready for almost anything.<\/h4>\n

That controversy, which was hashed out in\u00a0local newspapers<\/a>\u00a0and on the internet, didn\u2019t dissuade Kramer from staging a full exhibition by Richards this month in which Adam and Eve, as well as a heavenly mother and father, are depicted with dark skin. \u201cKirk\u2019s work is subversive and also hyper literal. Subversive for the depictions of gendered gods, race, and the African setting, but hyper literal because you can see the rib literally being taken from Adam\u2019s side to create Eve,\u201d Kramer says of the current exhibition.<\/h4>\n

Brad Kramer is approachable, friendly. In his late 30\u2019s, with buzzed salt-and-pepper hair, glasses and a few days stubble, he sits comfortably in the upstairs section of his gallery making small vertical gestures with his hands while he talks, organizing his thoughts. He is extremely well educated, with two bachelor\u2019s degrees, one in Russian and the other in history, a master\u2019s in American history, and a Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology. His dissertation focused on taboos and how highly spiritual and highly sinful subjects are treated with a similar taboo in Mormon culture \u2014 one can imagine Richards\u2019 paintings providing the illustrations.<\/h4>\n

From his educational background, it is hard to image how Kramer became a gallerist. His interest in the art market started out as something casual but grew into a career when his former partner in the bookstore now known as Writ & Vision moved to Manti. Kramer had already experimented with art in the gallery, hanging a few pieces, including works by Richards, in the back space. \u201cAfter my friend, Ryan Roos, moved down to Manti, [Kirk and I] talked about the possibility of making an actual art gallery out of the back room and [Kirk] was so excited and enthusiastic. It really seemed like it could happen.\u201d<\/h4>\n

After taking over the business from Roos and deciding to pursue the idea of gallery and bookstore, Kramer visited Glen Nelson, founder of the Mormon Artists Group in New York City. \u201cGlen took me around to different art galleries in New York and helped me to set the foundation of what I would need to make Writ & Vision a success. In a way, it is almost as much his gallery as it is mine, but for him it has been completely a labor of love,\u201d Kramer says. Writ & Vision opened in April of 2015 and has been building momentum ever since. \u201cIt fills a need in the Provo art community,\u201d Kramer says.<\/h4>\n
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Since beginning Writ & Vision, Kramer has been involved in a balancing act. Though he admits that over 90 percent of his revenue comes from fine art sales, he still believes the bookstore part of Writ & Vision is essential for the atmosphere he is trying to create. \u201cGalleries can be intimidating for some people,\u201d Kramer says. \u201cBookstores, however, are very inviting spaces. People like to come into bookstores and browse. When you walk through the front door it doesn\u2019t look like an art gallery. It\u2019s a warm, inviting space. You have to walk through that space before you get to the actual gallery.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Another balancing act Kramer is involved in comes from what sort of art he represents. \u201cThere\u2019s a balance I\u2019m looking for between representing art that I know there is a market for and including art that challenges and stretches viewers,\u201d he says.<\/h4>\n

\u201cIn part you could say that we\u2019re very consciously trying to appeal to Mormons who want to buy fine art and are not satisfied with what they can buy at Deseret Book,\u201d Kramer says. \u201cMany of my patrons are LDS and supporting good LDS fine art is an important part of their patronage. I want this to be a non-combative space where all Mormons \u2013 rank-and-file Mormons, Progressive Mormons, ex-Mormons, Feminist Mormons, etc. \u2013 can feel at home.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Writ & Vision has exhibited a wide variety of contemporary art from oil on canvas to conceptual sculpture. Recently, Kramer has curated the work of CUAC director Adam Bateman, Utah painter Laura Erekson Atkinson, and David and Sara Lindsay, who reside in Lubbock, Texas. On the bookstore side, Kramer has hosted a number of book readings and lectures, focusing on Mormon history, literature and cultural issues.<\/h4>\n
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J. Kirk Richards\u2019 \u201cBreath of Life,\u201d 18\u2033 x 26\u2033<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For the most part, Kramer\u2019s efforts in bringing in art that is both accessible and challenging have been well met by the public, with only the recent J. Kirk Richards\u2019 show bringing up major controversy. I am inclined to believe that Richards\u2019 paintings of the creation are sympathetic and beautiful. He illustrates a purity of the Garden of Eden focused on the act of creation, rather than an all-powerful white god. Through his paintings, Richards depicts the absolute and powerful innocence that was a driving force behind the experiences of Adam and Eve in the garden. Others could object that Richards\u2019 work is an example of cultural and sexual appropriation by a white, Christian male converting black figures to the Christian narrative and using the black female body for financial gain. But without a place like Writ & Vision, we wouldn\u2019t even be having the conversation.<\/h4>\n
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In 2016, gallerist Brad Kramer decided to display a painting by J. Kirk Richards depicting the biblical Eve as African. The ensuing controversy came from an unexpected source. Not from the prudish, objecting to the depiction of her naked breasts (Kramer\u2019s gallery is in Provo and his audience […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1567,"featured_media":38008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,21,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art_professional_spotlight","category-organization_spotlight","category-visual_arts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/56e0c58512319.image_.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 02:10:21","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1567"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38007"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98588,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38007\/revisions\/98588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}