Category: Art in Second Life

Starting on Monday November 2nd, and running through to the end of the month is a new exhibition at Dathúil Gallery, operated by Max Butoh and curated by Lυcy (LucyDiam0nd).

Moments features a series of images by Shurely Shan, who describes herself as a “Second Life erotic photographer and model, and all-around expert in messing around with stuff.”  given this, it should come as no surprise to visitors to Dathúil  will find Moments has more than a little bit of an erotic / NSFW touch.

“Over the past two years I have tried to explore intimacy, desire, emotion and passion through photography in Second Life,” Surely states. “Moments is a collection of some of my favourite shots. I hope you enjoy it.”

The result is a selection of images capturing intimate moments, which vary in style from an intimacy with just a hint of eroticism through to those which are both deeply intimate and very sexual in pose and content.

There is also a voyeuristic element to some of the images which gives them an additional twist. The naked woman caught sleeping, for example, is this a picture taken by a lover, capturing that intimate moment of sleep, to be shared with the sleeper when she awakes? Or is it a picture taken entirely in secret, and set to remain outside of the sleeper’s knowledge, thus shifting it into the realm of voyeurism?

And that is the power of each of the images on display; while it may be easy to feel somewhat titillated or offended by the subject matter, the fact is that each of these pictures tells a story, regardless of how much overt sexuality they each display; they are moments caught in time. Moments which can be seen to be deeply personal and involving to those caught within them, and also to the picture taker, whoever we imagine that might be.

This is the first exhibition to take place in the remodelled Dathúil Gallery, which now sports a tall brick build whilst still retaining the look and feel of a converted distillery. It’s a design that works well, offering a catwalk like upper floor which runs around the four walls of the building, and reached by wooden steps. With its slender brick pillars, overhanging first floor and the opportunity to divide the floorspace into distinct areas, there would appear to be a lot of flexibility in how the spaces within the gallery might be used in future exhibitions.

But right now there is Moments, a display of intensely intimate and beautifully framed scenes, something lovers of adult-themed art should definitely not miss.

SLurl Details

• Dathúil Gallery (Rated: Adult)

…Of Dreams and Nightmares is the title of the current art exhibition being held at the Broad Street Art Gallery, Crestwick Island.  As the title might suggest, the exhibition takes its theme from the time of year, and features the work of artists  .kiki, Cipherscape, Burk Bode, Senna Coronet, Harbor Galaxy, MM, Isa Messioptra, Mich Michabo, Maloe Vansant, William Weaver and Robin the Femboy Wonder.

Each artist presents a single piece in keeping with the theme, resulting in a rich diversity of images, which fully encompass dreaming, dreams, and nightmares, with touches of the surreal and of the erotic.

As with Not Yet Dark, which I reviewed back in July 2015, this is an incredibly charged exhibit ideally suited to the gallery’s cosy confines. Each piece carries its own story, some of which are quite complex and can be interpreted a number of ways, while others speak directly to our the fears we may escape during the day, but can loom large at night or in our sleep.

Take Harbor Galaxy’s Anxiety at 3:00am for example, which binds together a hint of a personal nightmare and a reference to the 3:00am myth, both of which speak to us subconsciously as we look at the piece. Alongside it, Maloe Vansant’s What Lies Beneath offers a similar duality:  the hidden things haunting our subconscious which come out as we sleep, and a reference, perhaps, to the fear that follows us from childhood that something nasty is lurking beneath us, under the bed.

But these aren’t all dark images; Senna Coronet offers a vision of the power of words to carry us away to dreams and imaginings that are neither dark nor threatening in her piece, Lines On a Page Carried Me Away. William Weaver, meanwhile, presents an altogether different view on the nature of dreams (or should that be fantasies?) in his Awakenings (do be sure to catch Isa Messioptra’s little take on this piece which sits just side the gallery’s door; it again offers a clever dual take on things).

All told, another superb exhibition, with all of the pieces available free of charge to visitors. Should you drop in to see them, do please consider a small donation at the door to help with covering the costs of running both the gallery and Crestwick Island.

SLurl Details and Related Links

• The Broad Street Art Gallery
• Crestwick Island (Rated: Moderate)
• My Crestwick Island review (June 2015)

Currently open at Tyne’s Fine Art Gallery, owned and curated by Drw (Drwyndwn Tyne), is an exhibition of paintings by the Dutch Masters who came to prominence during the Dutch Golden Age, and gave rise to important new genres in painting.

It can often be difficult to bring real-world art into Second Life and have it translate well enough to be fully appreciated, particularly when dealing with the works of artists like Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Ludolf Bakhuizen, Gerard van Honthorst, and so on, whose works are so well-known. However, this exhibition demonstrates that not only can it be done, but that if handled correctly, it can present a means of presenting masterpieces from all over the world in a single exhibit which might otherwise be next to impossible to achieve, and do so in a way that is entirely faithful to the originals.

Dutch Masters – Tyne’s Fine Art Gallery

Some 44 pieces are on display at the gallery, and care has been taken to ensure any copyrights held by the museums hosting the original pieces have not been violated. Each piece has also been reproduced in the precise aspect ration of the original, with an additional 15% added to allow for viewing in Second Life, thus adding to the authentic look of the pieces on display. The gallery itself beautifully reflects the look and feel of a classic physical world art gallery, with muted tones, and pictures all individually lit and presented with their own catalogue-style notes.

However, the power of this exhibition lies within the picture frames themselves. These have been scripted so that when clicked by a visitor, two options are displayed: Museum Card and Examine. The former will offer you a texture containing the notes accompanying the piece as presented by the gallery where it is displayed (and which matches the notes displayed under each of the pieces in Drw’s gallery).

Select Examine, however, and you’ll be invited to click the painting again. This will place your avatar in a seated hover position and focus your camera directly on the art (should your camera fail to orient itself after clicking the painting, tap ESC once to adjust it).

Thus, you are able to examine the painting in fine detail, almost as if standing before it in a physical world gallery.

The power of this method of presentation can be appreciated when viewing any of the pieces Drw has included in the exhibition. However, I would venture to suggest it particularly  comes into its own when looking at those in the selection which might be regarded as being very familiar to the observer, such as with Rembrandt’s self-portrait (shown on the right – click for full size), the original of which is hanging in the National Gallery of Art.

This is a truly outstanding exhibition, bringing together a magnificent selection of art from the Dutch Golden Age which would otherwise be impossible to see under a single roof in the physical world. As such, it is an exhibit not to be missed.

SLurl Details

• Tyne’s Fine Art Gallery