Category: Reviews

I recently received an invitation from Vally Ericson (Valium Lavender), owner of the ValiumSL regions in Second Life, to visit a new exhibition of images now on display at the Art Street Gallery, located in the air above the Valium regions. Entitled The Eternal Leave, the exhibition is devoted to the striking avatar studies of Gianmario Masala, an artist whose work I cannot remember previously encountering – which, having spent time viewing The Eternal Leave, I cannot help but regret.

Multi-talented, Gianmario received a Master of arts in Architecture after studying in Milan, and is also recognised as a musician and a motion picture set designer. In particular, he is an accomplished photographer, his work having been displayed in several collective exhibitions in Milan, Turin and Naples. In addition he has also mounted solo exhibitions, including Il parco agricolo sud Milano (“The agricultural park south of Milan”), displayed in Milan, Vigevano and  Naples; and Harmonia, exhibited in Finland.

Having entered Second Life in 2007, he was quickly drawn to the potential of photography within our virtual world, and started exhibiting his work in 2008. In 2010, his series Women Portraits was displayed on the metro stations of Milan as a part of a collaboration involving the Italian community of Arte Libera/2Lei in Second Life and the Brera Academy of Milan.

In both the physical world and within Second Life Gianmario’s art covers both landscape images and portraiture / avatar studies. His work involves considerable experimentation with a range of techniques from long duration exposures through to the skilled application of post-processing techniques and tools.

I try to create artistic images through post-production, giving them the aspect of a painted artwork. Through the variety of texture layering as a background, together with use of colour and focus, I try to give give the sensation of paintings of past centuries. In highlighting elements by fractured textures, I invite a sense of uneasiness, putting “beauty” up for discussion in order to reach a more deep sense of “truth”.

– Gianmario Masala on his art.

For The Eternal Leave, Gianmario offers a selection of his avatar studies that bring together all of this in the most engaging of exhibitions spread throughout the various levels of the gallery. Mixing colour images with those in monochrome tones and / or black and white, these images are extraordinary in their richness of presentation and depth of narrative.

As a photographer, Gianmario notes he is influenced by some of the greatest painters down through the ages through to some of the most noted cinematographers and directors of the 20th and 21st centuries. This is also much in evidence through the images offered within this exhibition. The narratives, drawn as they are from classical art and from the central inspiration of music by English electronic band Massive Attack, are presented through the mix of subject, pose, colour, tone, camera angle and post-processing, whilst also opening the door on that discussion as the the nature of beauty and it truth.

With the holiday period upon us, we’ll all possibly have more time for our SL explorations and travels, and when it come to art exhibitions, I can think of none better to visit for its breadth of presentation of avatar studies and portraiture than The Eternal Leave.

SLurl Details

• Art Street Gallery (ValiumSL 1, rated Moderate)

Update, June 27th, 2022: Art Korner has Closed.

Yes, this exhibition is me. Me, the explorer in SL, who travels from light to dark, from colour to monochrome, depending on the mood and moment.

Each of my works expresses a moment with a different mood. Sometimes visible and sometimes hidden. But do not try to look for hidden meanings and symbolism behind the images, because there is none.is none. All my images represent an aspect of me/show a part of who I am.

– Mihailsk in Ego, his latest exhibition

I first encountered the photography of Mihailsk in July 2021, at his very first public exhibition. Despite being active in SL for several years, he had only relatively recently entered the world of SL photography and artistic creation, and his first exhibition came as a result of encouragement on the part of Dido Haas, who hosted that exhibition – and indeed, Mihailsk’s second exhibition – at her Nitroglobus Roof Gallery(see: Mihailsk’s Baptism of Fire in Second Life and Mihailsk’s Red Sky at Nitroglobus in Second Life).

From the start, I was captivated by his approach to Second Life photography; whilst avatar-centric, his work is not precisely focused on his avatar as a subject for / of study in the manner of many SL photographers; rather he utilises his avatar as part of a larger canvas, one that brings together both avatar and location (as in region, rather than constructed studio setting) to offer an expression of a moment, a mood; something reflective of his own mood at the time the image was created. And I’m not alone in finding his work captivating.

Further appreciation of his work can currently be gained at Art Korner Gallery II, curated by Frank Atisso., where Mihailsk presented his largest exhibition to date. Comprising more than 30 pieces specifically produced for it, Ego is a remarkable journey through the art and mind of the artist. And by “journey”, I am not just talking metaphorically; the pieces again represent the artist’s explorations of many popular places in Second Life, and have also been arranged in a manner that takes us on a journey through them, as we pass through seven rooms within the gallery space, each one offering at least 5 images.

The images in each room carry a theme, defined by the use of a selected colour. The colours used include green (nature, and our relationship with the natural world), yellow (the Sun, life, warm (of feel, touch, etc.)), blue: tranquillity and coolness (of thought and emotions) and monochrome (purity/ clarity of thought and emotion – as in seeing everything in black and white). Each room also includes a quote or passage by a writer or poet, the majority of whom hail from Mihailsk’s native Greece, although in the first room is a piece by George Gordon Byron, better known as Lord Byron, that might be taken as an exhortation of how to live life, and which can also be seen as a code by which Mihailsk approaches his art.

The use of the quotes within each each is particularly interesting, because while Mihailsk states that his images are not intended to carry “hidden” meaning or symbolism, the words nevertheless encourage us to a certain outlook  that cannot help but add a further layer of possible meaning or interpretation to the pieces in each room. At the same time, thy offer us insight into the artist’s thoughts and moods whilst capturing and processing each piece.

Expressive, vital, and beautiful in the manner in which they frame avatar (either Mihailsk or Dido) together with setting / background with little more than a pose (remember, these are not images that us purpose-built sets, but have been captured during Mihailsk’s travels through Second Life), Ego (the word in this instance being used in its purest sense: to mean “I”, or “me”) is a compelling exhibition, and will be available for people’s appreciation through the Christmas period. When visiting, done make sure you have your viewer set to Use Shared Environment (World → Environment) and have Advanced Lighting Model enabled (Preferences → Graphics).

SLurl Details

• Art Korner Gallery II (Deju, rated Moderate)

Morlita Quan is a multi-faceted artist I’ve long admired, having written about her art and installations within Second Life on numerous occasions within this blog. So when I received a request from her recently – of which more further down in this article – I decided to take an opportunity to hop over to Eskol, her mixed-media art and events region, and spend a little time there.

The first thing to note about Eskol is that it is far from your “normal” events-style region in Second Life. Nor, in bringing together music, art and sound, is it any kind of conventional “club”; rather, it is the embodiment of Morlita’s multi-faceted talents as an artist, designer and musician. Within the region are various locations, linked via a teleport HUD (look for the little robot HUD givers, click and accept, and then add the HUD), each of which is presented as a means of exploring those various facets.

As a musician, Morlita started playing the guitar at the age of eight, and by her mid-teens had discovered the magic of mixing decks and consoles, tools that allowed her to start experimenting with music as form of artistic expression, first as a DJ, then as a recording artists working independently and the via the Naïf record label. Within Second Life, Mori’s music has led her into numerous collaborations in the realms of music and film, working with the likes of Bsukmet Stormcrow in the former and providing compositional elements for machinima by the likes of Glaz Decuir, NicoleX Moonwall, Cherry Manga and Theda Tammas.

Give this, the music spaces found within Eskol aren’t intended to be considered “clubs” or dance venues per se; traffic and avatar counts are not a driving metric. Rather, the Eskol Main Stage area and Sound Scape locations are offered as places where different, minority / lesser-known styles of music can be presented and appreciated, although the aesthetics of both locations are very music in keeping with Mori’s approach to digital art and design.

As an artist, Mori has collaborated with other Second Life artists and with various universities and galleries both in her native Spain and around the world. Like her music, her art is very much experimental / abstract , carrying within it a natural fluidity that gives it its own form of life. This is achieved by Mori mixing classical painting with post graphic design processing, while always retaining a core inspirations drawn from Nature, and most often utilising geometry as a further expressive value.

This can most clearly be see within the gallery level at Eskol, where two wings of art displays might be found. the larger, single-level wing presents a broad range of Mori’s 2D art, whilst the smaller, 2-level gallery present her more recent works.

It is art – or photography – that formed the core of Morlita’s request I mentioned at the top of this article, and which prompted my visit.

Eskol is an evolving environment, offering facilities for fun and presentation, as duly noted in part in this piece. One of the current elements to be form within the region is that of the Eskol Photo Contest, of which Morlita graciously aske me to serve on the judging panel – a request I was delighted to accept.

Eskol 2021/2022 Photo Contest

General notes:

• Prize: L$5,000 single prize to the winner, as judged by the contest jury.
• Closing date for entries: January 1st, 2022.
• Maximum number of submissions per entrant: 2.
• Method of entry: e-mail submission.

How to Enter:

• Visit the Eskol Photo Contest area.
• Use any of the 6 supplied photo booths to take up to two photographs featuring your avatar(s)
  • You may invite additional models.
  • If you are submitting 2 images, you may use a different booth for each.
• You may post-process / crop / cut your image(s) as required.
• When you are satisfied, e-mail your entries to eskolsecondlife@gmail.com, together with your avatar name.
  • Note that only images submitted to this address with be accepted; submissions to the Eskol Facebook group, or in-world to Morlita Quan or via any other medium will be rejected.

Exhibition and Prize:

• After the closing date for submissions, all entries will be exhibited at ESKOL for a period of  one month.
• During this time, the entries will be subject to judging by the jury of Morlita Quan,  Lanjran Choche and Inara Pey.
  • Judging will be on the basis of aesthetics and originality.
  • The jury will select one image at the prize winner, and the artist will be awarded the L$5,000 prize.
• The winner will be officially announced during January via the Eskol in-world group, and the Eskol Facebook group (I will also review the exhibition of entries during January, and include details of the winner).

SLurl Details

• Eskol gallery landing point (Posidone, rated Adult)
• Eskol Photo Contest landing point