Hermes Kondor is keeping busy in his work in making the Kondor Art Centre a hub of artistic expression featuring 2D art from the physical world and 2D and 3D art from the the virtual. Over the course of the last month, three exhibitions have opened which, while I’ve visited all three, I’ve allowed to get stacked up within my backlog of blogging.
The longest-running of the three, and therefore the one I’ve getting to first – is another stunning exhibition of real world photography by Nils Urqhart. Famed for his photographs of the Alps and mountains of France, Nils here presents an engaging series entitled The Beauty of Moving Water, a collection of photographs featuring mountain streams, rapids and falls, all of which appear to have been taken in the spring months when winter meltwater was running free.
Still these images may be, but in keeping with the title of the exhibit, each carries a tremendous sense of motion, from the foam kicked-up by a waters in spate striking mid-stream rocks or the way in which sunlight reflects off of water in a pond and highlight the splash of moss colouring the flanks of rocks or enhances the plants lining the banks of streams.
And, of course there is a sense of life and motion present in every photo – from the afore mentioned above to the the rush and fall of water down sheer or steps faces of rock. It reminds us of both the importance of water to life here on the planet and also its power: water doesn’t just flow over rock, it shapes and sculpts it over time, smoothing rough and points edges to smooth curves, carving the land, allowing life to flourish around it. Thus through these pieces we witness the full beauty of nature.
Located in the Kondor White Gallery is another exhibition focused on motion – albeit it very different in content and design. Untitled, it focuses on digital art of a most hypnotic form, created by Aneli Abeyante, who might be better know for running her own gallery, La Maison d’Aneli, a place I’ve had the the privilege of visiting and writing about on many occasions.
However, Aneli is an accomplished artist in her own right – although the exhibition at the Kondor White Gallery is something of a departure for her, as she explains in her introduction to the exhibit:
I love geometry and mathematics. So after much practice, I managed to create structures and shapes.
– Aneli Abeyante
Thus we are presented with a series of images that hold within them a mathematical form and beauty that is captivating – and given an even greater sense of form through the use of animations that gives them their motion and life – and their rich hypnotic forms. These are pieces one can easily get lost within by following their lines and patterns and letting their shifting forms wash over thoughts.
They share the two levels of the gallery with static paintings that are equally marvellous digital abstractions. Whilst they don’t have the same physical motion as the animated works, they are still as engaging, drawing the eye to them.
There is something more here as well. In her art, she strives to achieve a harmony of ideas and an balance of expression – and this is perfectly exemplified in this series and then manner in which static and mobile pieces both counterpoint and synchronise together into a unified selection of expressive art.
The third exhibition I’m covering is by Hermes himself, and is to be found in the centre’s Into the Future Gallery.
The Explorers offers a three-part story of exploration and discovery utilising digital art. It starts on the ground floor and an unspecified point in the future, a time when humanity is clearly capable of exploring the realms beyond out Earth-Moon system in person – although looking at the style of their space suits, it is perhaps not a time too far into the future.
This story invites us to travel with a team of astronauts as they explore a moon or asteroid, discovering clear evidence of alien life as they do so. Each piece, beautiful rendered, allows us to share in their discovery of strange crystalline forms and what appear to be machines and – perhaps – a portal revealing an alien world.
The story continues on the gallery’s mid-level which can be reached via the teleport disk on the lower floor or the elevator at the back of the gallery space – the images in front of the doors are phantom, so you can pass through them. Here, we find the explorers appear to have used the portal and are now another place, one in which they encounter life in a variety of forms – strange growths, egg-like objects and what might be plants that use a form of photosynthesis and more.
On the upper level, again reached via teleport disk or elevator, we share with the travellers as they encounter life and civilisation directly – but in forms that are intriguing and recognisable: trees and humanoid forms – and a young child on a swing.
What we’re to make of this is down to our own imaginations; but perhaps it is a message that all life which may exist within the cosmos is connected to us and we to it, wherever we might come to find it and whatever form it might take.
Three very different exhibitions, all connected by threads of life, colour and motion. whether appreciated individually or in turn as part of a single visit to the Kondor Art Centre, these are three exhibitions by three superb artists that fully deserve our time and attention.
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