Previewing Men in Focus in Second Life

Men in Focus is a new gallery opening on Thursday, November 1st, 2018. Owned and sponsored by Men in Motion, a team of male choreographers and dancers promoting men’s mental and physical health in cooperation with the Movember Foundation. The gallery is curated by JMB Balogh, who invited me to preview the first exhibition at the gallery.

“The gallery features photography and 3D artworks of men at work or play in SL by male artists,” Jo informed me, adding, “There are hundreds of art galleries in Second Life but few, if any, that focus exclusively on the art of men.”

The primary aim of the gallery is to showcase 2D art; however for the opening exhibition Jo has brought together both 2D and 3D artists, with works displayed across the multi-level gallery space that offers plenty of room for it to be appreciated. Those participating in this inaugural exhibition comprise:

• 2D artists: Hikaru Enimo, Slayer Tanaka, Kavika Lowgun (lowgun1), Alex Avion and one of my all-time favourite male artists, Darkyn Dover, whose story-in-a-picture art rarely fails to capture my eye.
• The 3D artists include a number whose work I admire, namely: Mistero Hifeng, nessuno Myoo, Toysoldier Thor and Silas Merlin, together with Reycharles, Arken Soothsayer and Jⓞhan Lionheart (AndreJohan) – the latter two represented by Mindless and Gemini respectively, pieces from the private collection of Sebastain Bourne, the listed owner of the gallery.

The opening of the exhibition, set for 18:00 SLT on Thursday, November 1st, 2018, will be the kick-off event for the 2018 11-day Movember fund-raiser hosted by Men in Motion, and which will culminate in a spectacular dance show highlighting their choreography skills.

The schedule of events for the November fund-raiser comprises (at the time of writing and all time SLT):

• Thursday, November 1st, 18:00: Men In Focus gallery opening, with music by DJ Ame
• Friday, November 2nd: 20:00: Ladies Night with M@N
• Saturday, November 3rd:
  • 09:00-11:00 – DJ Hanku
  • 12:00 noon-13:00 – Men In Motion dancer auction
  • 14:00-16:00 – DJ Chopper
  • 20:00-22:00 – DJ Aryanna Draken
• Saturday, November 10th, 15:00-16:30 – Men In Motion Show
• Sunday, November 11th, 13:00-15:00 – closing with DJ Cara.

All funds raised during the event will be donated to the Movember Foundation.

About the Movember Foundation

The Movember Foundation is a multinational charity raising awareness of, and money for, men’s health and welfare, with a focus on cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. Its titular and widely known campaign is Movember, which encourages men to grow moustaches during the month of November. The foundation partners annually with the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride to also raise money for men’s health.

Founded in 2003, in Melbourne, Australia by Adam Garone, Travis Garone, Luke Slattery, and Justin Coghlan, the organisation attained registered charity status in 2006, and as of 2014, has raised over US $580m in charitable donations used to fund more than 800 programmes focusing on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, poor mental health, men’s health awareness and healthy lifestyles. It is active in 21 countries and has a global workforce of 130 people. In addition, Movember coincides with International Men’s Day (November 19th), which among its aims, shares the goal of promoting the health and well-being of men and boys.

SLurl and URLs

• Men In Focus Gallery (Wicked, rated Adult)
• Men in Motion blog
• Men In Motion on Facebook
• Movember Foundation