Local artist Betty Liang says it's hard to put a label on her art. She has an art show at Venus Envy until March 31. She says she landed her show at the sex shop and feminist bookstore by accident after shop owner Shelley Taylor saw posters advertising Liang’s show at La Petite Mort Gallery on Cumberland Street.
Liang describes her art as contemporary pop art if she had to explain it.
"That sounds pretentious," says Liang. "It sounds like I’m trying to be Andy Warhol."
Her style is cartoonist and often features wide-eyed girls in a Wonderland setting. One piece features a green-eyed young woman with a snake sitting at a table filled with ant infested pastries. Her art features soft images interspersed with quirky additions.
Liang says her artistic style doesn’t fit in with all galleries but that Venus Envy was a great fit for her art.
Artist-friendly shops and cafés like Venus Envy are popping up around the city, providing new spaces for artists like Liang to show their work while creating an opportunity for businesses to bring in new customers.
Taylor has been supporting local artists for years. She says it’s been a part of her business from its beginning in Halifax in 1998.
"It’s a way to support the arts, and especially folks who are just starting out," she says. "We reap the benefit of having different walls every month."
Taylor says hosting art shows is not only good for the artists but also good for her business.
"Of course we like attracting new folks to the store, and think that the art shows are a good way to reach different people," says Taylor.
Venus Envy isn’t the only Centretown business that also runs as a gallery. The Daily Grind, an artist café on Somerset Street, has local artwork available for purchase displayed on its walls.
Krissy White, owner of The Daily Grind, says the idea of running an artist-friendly restaurant has been on her mind since she founded the café in 2011.
She says she’d like to see more businesses following the same pattern.
"It’s nice to see that there’s a community trying to support us, and it’d be nice if there were more of it," she says.