)
NOTE: Late in 2003, Charles Dix was forced to relocate his gallery due to flooding problems at the site, a result of over-development in the area. The following refers to "Moonwalk", the gallery Charles built and lived in for 32 years, until its demolition due to the town acquiring the flood-prone property. Charles' new gallery in nearby Genesee was still being completed when Charles died early in 2005.
When Charles Dix designed his house-studio and gallery he decided it must be adaptable to the crowds that would attend his openings as well as to small groups. The house he designed met their disparate requisites and the result is a study in simplicity.
The gallery (which Dix calls "Moonwalk") clings to a knoll situated in the Kettle Moraine of Delafield, Wisconsin.
The sand-colored structure is a composite of various cubes set on different planes. Shadows contrast with glowing surfaces as the cubes are exposed to direct sunlight. Floors are of concrete, broken by grids of 2 x 4's turned on edge.
Dix approached the design of the house in much the way that he might do a painting or a piece of sculpture. Actually, the house-gallery, in his mind, is a piece of sculpture by extension.
(View an article about the Charles Dix gallery printed in the June 2001 issue of "LifeStyle West" magazine. This feature article appeared in the center spread of the magazine. An additional article from "LifeStyle West" focusing on the Gardens is featured below.)
)
The white interior serves as a neutral backdrop for the artist's brightly-hued, abstract, acrylic and oil canvases and water colors. These, along with the oriental rugs scattered at random on the concrete floors, and several wood burning fireplaces, afford a warmth that is enhanced by the severity of the white walls.
The house-gallery was the solution to whether he would live in a gallery, or show his work at home. "One area ties to the next" Dix points out. " Yet when you are in it, you feel you are in a separate, private place. Then another space presents itself."
The lower gallery with 6'-8" ceiling draws the visitor in from the foyer, its intimacy contrasting with the 17 foot ceiling of the main gallery. Oak plank stairways lead between the four levels, where low and high-ceilinged rooms conform
to exterior proportions. A lounge overlooks the 18' by 38' main gallery. The variance in levels and the awareness of the inside and its sunlight is pleasing to Dix.
Tall windows and sliding doors are of bronzed glass, with mirror like qualities at night. They afford ready observance of the many songbirds by day. At night, indirect box lights on the floor cast a soft and intimate glow. Paintings are illuminated by small spotlights on tracks.
The private apartments focus on an inner wall fireplace, and look outward through the sliding bronze-glass doors to extensive gardens, also the creation of the artist. The private living room and the public gallery are back to back, separated by a fireplace wall. Skylight domes surprise the occasional visitor, brightening kitchen and dining areas. Above is a sequestered loft with areas accessible only by ladder, and with a breathtaking view of the gardens.
The studio, isolated on the second level, has a massive canted window, the only non-perpendicular plane in the house.
The Charles Dix Gallery
