Mia Kaplan and AMMO
By Christina Ghubril
Mia Kaplan is one of those amazing individuals whose superstar status is inspiring on many levels. Mother, artist, vendor and supporter of local New Orleans artists, she runs AMMO, a contemporary art gallery on Royal Street.
Several years ago, she moved back to New Orleans and began working in local galleries as well as continued developing her own work. She soon fell in love with the storefront at 938 Royal Street. She and her partner, Cedric Angeles, inquired about the shop and turned the old candy store into a hip, modern gallery space where they now showcase new work from developing artists.
AMMO's Courtyard
One of Mia’s favorite attributes of the gallery is the courtyard out back. Open to the sky and surrounded by neighboring buildings, an intimate sanctuary of a space can be found behind the gallery office, complete with a fountain and wrought iron benches. It is quite peaceful and Mia uses that space to celebrate the openings of her artist’s shows.
Her desire is to showcase work that stirs an audience to feel something. Feel angry, feel moved, feel inspired, feel offended—she is OK if not all visitors love every piece of art she brings in but she’s not satisfied if you walk in and walk out without experiencing anything. Art is meant to affect its audiences and Mia looks specifically for work that moves her, trusting it will also move others. In doing so, she does not stick to one kind of artist or medium but trusts her gut to make clear to her what work is significant and right for her space. This makes frequent visits to AMMO a must for any art lover, in order to keep up with all of the work she brings in!
As far as her own work is concerned, Mia is interested in the ways that perspective can change our experiences of something. She has focused on developing paintings–that are beautiful in their own right–and then using origami techniques to transform the flat images into something all together new and beautiful. In these folded pieces, we can see glimpses of the original painting yet witness it as an entirely different entity than what it would have been pre-transformation.
Her young daughter often joins her while working in the studio and paints alongside of her mama. In one show, Mia even included a flower, made from a painting that her daughter made, in a series of origami flowers. It was aesthetically beautiful but also meaningful to know of this mother/daughter collaboration. In addition, it highlights Mia’s ability to find inspiration from many sources and reflects her openness as an artist to organically follow where her art might take her.
Focusing on one artist at a time, AMMO is a great space to come and explore a series of work from a particular artist and not grow overwhelmed by the scope of work that is often crammed into one space. Come, enjoy the work of spectacular artists, be moved and inspired, and see what is happening in the New Orleans art scene!
Mia Kaplan in AMMO
