Antieau Gallery

I always visit here when I come to NOLA. Amazing outsider art every time. It’s free. Check it out.

Loved this gallery do much that I went every day that we were in New Orleans. You could find something you missed in every picture with each visit. The story about James Brown’s legs and art work to go along with it was fabulous. Each time I went there were different people working. They were all extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the artist and her artwork. Loved it. My only question would be about the taxidermy of the protected and endangered animals. How did you swing that?

The art scene in New Orleans is so different from the one in NYC. I never really got that into art. I think we need it, it’s important, but it’s not something that I ever really went out of my way to embrace. In NOLA art is more accessible, less elitist, and I chatted with one of the gallery organizers about that when I stumbled in here.
The pieces here just floored me. I was lured in my James Browns Legs out front, and went straight to the quilt depicting the story. I had no idea any of that had happened, and Chris’s work conveyed such an entertaining sense of humor and sarcasm, not to mention it was lovely work to look at. A lot of those tones come through in her pieces.

I wish I could give this gallery a negative rating, but one is the lowest number of stars I can give it. I owned a piece of Chris Robers Antieau’s art purchased many years ago at an art fair in Michigan, where the artist claimed to be from. Earlier this year, I traveled to New Orleans and was excited to see the Antieau Gallery. Unfortunately, I saw an exact replica of the «one of a kind» piece of art that I had bought, both identical fabric appliqué pictures. In talking to the woman in the gallery, I found out that these are not one-​of-​a-​kind at all, but are mass-​produced and aren’t even sewn by Chris Antieau herself. In complete disbelief, I sold my art for $ 25 at a yard sale, all that it is worth. She misrepresents herself grossly.

Um. Wow. Was all I was left with (that and the wish to have a few grand lying around to purchase one of these incredible pieces of art).
Just stop by for yourself and take a look, it’s worth it.

So glad to have found this gallery while wandering the French Quarter. Simply put, this place makes me happy. Such wonderful fabric artwork with a touch of humor & an understanding of human nature. The gallery staff seemed to enjoy being there to share our experience. The whole space was filled with the quirky vibe of the artist, and it rubbed off on us. From the giant Christmas bell light fixtures and the waves up above, to the cool shadow box and James Brown’s legs. Thought we were just going to duck in, and ended up spending quite a good while in this great place.

Art is an escape. When life becomes overwhelming and my soul just needs a little break to look at something beautiful and inspiring this is where I go. This is my favorite gallery in New Orleans.

While many of us are well aware of the swaying shotguns in heavy acrylics or vibrant watercolors, or a certain blue dog or celebrities superimposed into swamp scenes as the pinnacles of the art scene here, New Orleans has so much more to offer in the way of putting pen, needle, brush to canvas and really all it takes is a walk in the French Quarter. I think as a local sometimes we don’t value a jaunt in the oldest part of our city as much as visitors do because we see it as a novelty or a hackneyed pastime that we’d rather spend enjoying a Bloody Mary in our neighborhood bar.
I was dropping off a package to a friend on Royal when I nearly passed Antieau Gallery, but decided the window was cheeky enough for me to venture inside. My biggest peeve is to walk into a gallery and immediately have someone attempting to hit you up with a sale with the, «where are you from?» and «are you familiar with the artist?» Here, there was none of that. In fact, the gallery assistant was extremely approachable, only really answering my questions and thanking me for coming in with a warm, genuine smile.
It’s hard to describe the artwork because it’s just so unique and fantabulous, and you need to see it, but I’ll do my best… The gallery is named for the artist, Chris Roberts Antieau who has a knack for sewing and a sense of humor that could fill a trillion thimbles. It’s quilted artwork that I think Wes Anderson would hang above his mantle. I feel like while Chris sews, she giggles to herself, and could give two shits if someone buys or likes her stuff because she loves it so much. It’s a little folksy, vintage (I’m not sure quilting is as popular as it was in the hey-​dey though I’m sure their are quilting meetups somewhere listed online), and incredibly humorous. There was one piece seemingly broken down into cartoon frames of the bad things dogs do. I think she likes dogs. There was also one of a mermaid that I would love to put next to the slender portrayal of sultry mermaids, and imagine her saying…“yeah, this is what we really look like, and my name is Marge. I eat oysters on the half shell all day.“
I didn’t take any pictures, I should’ve asked if I could but I hope to go back soon and reverberate the giggle that I think Chris sews into every stitch of her quilt art. Check out her site to get a better understanding of how funny this artist is, but you must go in to get the true craftsmanship of her work.

Walked by here one night on my way to dinner and made a mental note that I wanted to check it out. A few nights later I was walking down Royal and a band was playing in the gallery. I stopped in and listened to their set and checked out all the AWESOME quilts and oddities. This is one of my favorite galleries in New Orleans. Definitely a worthwhile stop.