In November 2023, I wrote about the redevelopment of Subcutan Art Gallery, both an art hub for the work of Sophie de Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010) and a mix of public spaces designed by Sophie and her SL partner, Dex (Dexter Kharg). It was a location I’d been watching as it developed for several months before blogging about it, simply because of the mix of spaces it provided and the care being put into the overall design.
Well, a year is a long time in Second Life, and since then, Subcutan has relocated and altered somewhat in nature and size. Now occupying just shy of one quarter of a Full private region (one leveraging the Land Capacity bonus), it now forms home for Sophie’s gallery spaces and the Japanese Garden from the previous iteration, but with the loss of some of the other public spaces; instead, the ground-level gallery with its Landing Point and adjoining gardens are now bracketed by private / rental space to either side. However, given the latter are well separated from the public spaces, there is no risk of accidental invasion of privacy.
The gallery itself comprises the ground-level hall, currently displaying Atramentum, with a number of sky halls featuring further installations by Sophie, all of which are reached via the teleport board just outside the ground-level gallery and alongside the Landing Point. Note also that this teleporter also provides access to Sophie’s Ninfa and Inspiration Ice installations, both of which are being hosted by other gallery spaces.
Atramentum presents a series of inks studies of the nude female body by Sophie. Rendered as fine mesh forms using identifiable poses and gestures intended to visualise the sensitivity, tension and longing of the psyche, with Sophie noting:
The resolution of the upper half of the head and that of the extremities speak to freedom, imagination and mobility – while dark areas conceal or hint at discretion, secrets and deep subconscious impulses [and] The torso, with its hard, torn edges, shows confrontation with brutal reality. Here the net is usually darker and wants to embody breathing in the tank.
– Sophie e Saint Phalle on Atramentum
It is a fascinating display of the human form, both physically and emotively, the individual pieces beautiful drawn with Sophie’s usual skill.
Within the sky areas, Sophie presents two somewhat “related” exhibitions in terms of their use of a primary colour – Red Impressions and Yellow Impressions. The latter is a further marvellous collection of studies of the female form, whilst Red Impressions is a rich mix of pieces, both studies and abstract.
Meanwhile, Escape bridges the virtual world of art with the physical and demonstrate Sophie’s work as a experimentalist artist. It presents a collection of intense black-and-white photographs taken during a physical work art performance. Again, to let Sophie explain:
I put a big canvas (4×12 metres) on a stage and painted it in front of the visitors. Behind the canvas 10 professional dancers were waiting to cut the canvas and force their bodies through the openings to symbolize the escape from suppression, humiliation, brutality, disrespect and most of all the escape from indifference. At the end of the performance the canvas was cut into strips and sold.
– Sophie e Saint Phalle on Escape
The performance piece and the resulting photographs offer a visual essay on the human condition in a stark form, the environment in which Escape is presented serving to emphasis this in a manner that draws the visitor into the exhibition.
Within the Light, Gold and Water galleries visitor can find broader selections of Sophie’s portfolio, further demonstrating the richness of her work. What is additionally engaging with these galleries is how Sophie again uses the form and presentation of the the physical spaces – style, colour, openness, etc., to compliment her art.
Within Genesis, Sophie offers another “colour” themed collections, this focusing on gold, with Sophie noting:
Gold gives me the opportunity to use a form of expression that lives in warmth and light, shines and has a high value. My great respect for creation, its ethics and aesthetics, its diversity and perfection always fascinates me. I would love to dip the whole universe in gold and decorate it with ornaments. Symbolic, of course, so to speak, a grateful homage, a mythical act. With my gold I am just trying to show the high value of life and to convey a positive world of thought.
– Sophie e Saint Phalle on Genesis
All of these are, I believe semi-permanent exhibitions, having been present that the iteration of Subcutan I visited in November 2023 – but it possible some may change / be replaced as Sophie makes way for her more recent exhibitions such as Ninfa, and Inspiration Ice.
Inspiration Ice (which, at the time of writing was also available at both Frank Atisso’s Artsville art hub, and at @Back Music Club and Galleries) features nude drawings set against icy backgrounds and within an ice-like environment,. Through the use of a sense of ice and cold within the images and the icy environment in which the exhibition with its broken surface indicate of the dangers of ice breaking underfoot, all symbolise the hardness and coldness that be be present in multiple aspects of life, and our vulnerability to being hurt by them. At the same time the poses used to represent the nudes suggest resilience and strength, representing our ability to face such hostility and move beyond it.
Ninfa offers something of a physical journey through several alienesque levels and featuring an expansion of her Gold work; however the emphasis within it is not the images per se; it is about making the journey.
When visiting Sophie’s art at Subcutan Art Gallery or her hosted exhibitions, I do recommend using the shared EEP environment at each location and – if you are using a non-PBR viewer – to have Advanced Lighting Model enabled. And be assured that, whether visiting any of Sophie’s exhibitions, you’re assured an engaging and highly visual time.
SLurl Details
- Subcutan Art Gallery main landing (updated Sept 2024 – Cobain Lane, rated Moderate)
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