Day: May 24, 2021

This article could appear to be a little biased, as it covers yet another exhibition at the Kondor Art Centre, operated and curated by Hermes Kondor. The centre is a place that I’ve been popping into a lot of late – but that’s because Hermes is hosting some really eye-catching exhibitions by artists from across Second Life; as such, it’s a natural destination for me.

Take the Kondor Main Gallery for example, for the next several weeks this is home to an untitled exhibition of 2D art by Thus Yootz.

For those unfamiliar with Thus, she is an artist based in Greece who has been active in Second Life for over 12 years as a creator, region designer, SL wedding planner, photographer and artist. With a MA in art, her physical world art encompassing drawing, painting, etching, sculpture, photography, and has been publicly exhibited.

In this exhibition, Thus presents a selection of her work that demonstrates the breadth of her artistic range. Within the pieces offered are some that have been composed  using images captured in Second Life (such as Magic at Home & Garden Expo, Mischievous Centaurs, Some Days You Feel You Could Fly, and Soft, Unspoken Love Words), some that apparently inspired by places in the physical world (such as Summer landscape at Oniro Beach), and those that pay homage to styles of art (e.g. Crazy Diamonds with its nod to surrealism and René Magritte, and the etching-like Open Heavens), and more.

Equally these are all pieces that carry a depth of narrative and richness of emotion that cannot fail to touch those who see them. This richness comes through a variety of elements – the image itself, its title, the use of colour – which all perfectly and gorgeously combine to hold our attention and release our imaginations.

Just take Crepuscular Creature of Plume and Don’t Fear, for example. In the former we have a marvellous flight of fantasy that wraps so much into it: what is the twilight creature, and where is the world behind it? Are we looking upon an alien being of the interstellar void that has happened upon a distant world or barren rock whilst seeking a home?

Or is it simply a trick of the camera and light that has rendered an Earthly insect as an exotic creature, a deceptive use of foreshortening turning our otherwise familiar Moon into a distant place about re witness the arrival of a gigantic alien… Meanwhile, in Don’t Fear might be found so many stories revolving around Death, the river Styx and its famous ferryman (or in this case ferrywoman?) and heroes, heroines and quests.

And then there is The Dragon, which stands as a literal suggestion of the Chinese idiom Hua Long Dian Jing – painting the Dragon’s eye – with the idiom itself expressing the perfection bound in each of the pieces in this collection.

SLurl Details

• Kondor Main Gallery (Waka, rated Moderate)