Category: Reviews

Recently opened in Second Life is Gallery Demy Ansar, an exhibition space created by Demy Ansar to primarily display her Second Life photography and art, and to which I received a personal invitation. I say “primarily” here, because while the focus is very much on Demy’s work, space is also given over to the work of her Second Life partner, Liliana Darwinian, and to a small display of 3D art by noted 3D artists and sculptors, as collected by Liliana.

Occupying a clean, modern building, the gallery can be divided into four principal areas: the two levels given over to Demy’s art, a further hall on the lower of these levels currently devoted to Liliana’s art, and a rooftop sculpture area which is joined to the rest of the exhibition spaces by a staircase to one side of the building.

Demy describes herself as someone who took up photography in the physical world at a very early age – including developing her own images. This latter point allowed her opportunities to experiment with light and dark and exposure, and generally develop an eye for what works within any given image she has captured. As with many of us, the demands of life eventually came between her and her passion for photography, but with Second Life and the availability of digital tools for image manipulation and processing, she found a new outlet for her talent.

Within the gallery, Demy’s work is displayed over two levels, as noted. The lower, reached via steps running down from the landing point, features her landscape studies, with the floor above it devoted to her avatar studies, some of which might be be described as not suitable for work, involving as they do various degrees of nudity. But whether landscape of avatar focused, each an every image contains within it a balance and use of colour and tone that adds an engaging depth of life to it.

As is common among landscape artists in Second Life, many of the images on the lower level are processed such that they have the feel of having been painted rather than imaged. However, the deftness of touch within them gives each a level of “realness” that, were one not aware of their origins, easily lead the mind to conclude they are representations of scenes encountered in the physical world.

On the upper level, the avatar studies similarly have about them that sense of realism. While this is not uncommon within avatar photography as a who as many artists strive to bring as much realism to their portraits as possible, Demy’s work is more subtle, her use of light and tone pose and camera angle working to offer a human naturalness to the images to present a sense of intimacy and realism that suggests they are personal pictures, taken within the bounds of a relationship between subject and camera holder, rather than artificially framed pieces involving a model and studio photographer.

Occupying their own hall, Liliana’s pieces are altogether different in presentation, but no less engaging. Taken from around Second Life, they are presented mostly in warm and / or vibrant colours that evoke a sense of life and vitality. And while I may be incorrect for saying so, they would also appear to encompass an evolving style: several of he pieces seem to exude a deftness of touch that hints of a growing confidence in post-processing and a mastering of the subtle intricacies of layering and blending.

I’ve not idea how frequently the works on offer will change: the hall in which Liliana’s work is displayed is referred to as the “exhibition room”, suggesting displays here may change on a regular or semi-regular basis. Within her areas of the gallery, Demy notes she’ll change things whenever she feels she had something worth showing –  which given the richness of her work, could be fairly frequently!

But, however frequently (or infrequently!) things change, I’m grateful to have had the invitation to familiarise myself with two artistic talents I’ve previously managed to overlook, and I will be making return visits to Gallery Demy Ansar to see what else may be offered for our enjoyment in the future.

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• Gallery Demy Ansar (Firepaw, rated Adult)

Summer Vibes is the title of an exhibition of art by Mareea Farrasco that is open through until the start of October 2021 at the Eulennest Gallery, and which I dropped into over the weekend.

Mareea is both the owner / curator of IMAGO Land and the IMAGO Land Gallery, and she is also an accomplished art in Second Life, producing both landscape images and avatar studies with a deft hand and eye for detail. As the name might suggest, Summer Vibes is a selection of Mareea’s art focused on summer scenes.

Created in Second Life, the 14 images presented at Eulennest present summertime scenes, many with a coastal theme, and all of which have a strong focus on nature and flowers. Most of the pieces are finished as watercolours, their tone light and airy, reflective of the scenes they present, with some also finished in colour choices that give them a captivating, dream-like quality  – take Lavender Sky and Oblivion… as examples of the latter.

One of the things I love about Mareea’s is the manner in which she brings the sky to life. Whilst summer days can have clear blue skies, and remain bright under white rivers of clouds, so too can the summer sky carry with it the omens of weather to come. These are aspects that Mareea perfectly captures  – again, take On the Beach, Enjoying the Moment and Beach Grass; each offers a summer scene, time on the beach, the opportunity to relax on a wooden pier – but the sky of each has a brooding presence, the hint or promise that as the day draws to a close, so might the weather be on the change.

It is this breath of life, of familiarity in her scenes that makes Mareea’s art instantly attractive, and this is added to by the décor Mareea has added to the gallery space, the flowers inviting us further into summertime as this blend with her images to present a sense of presence as you explore the art.

An engaging and delightful exhibition, well worth visiting.

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• Mareea Farrasco at Eulennest Art Gallery (Novatron, rated General)

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

Recently opened at the Main Gallery spaces within Frank Atisso’s Art Korner, is a quintet of exhibitions that together make for an engaging visit, offering as they do a cross-section of styles and subject matter, and which form the focus of the first part of this review. They feature the work of Carisa Franizzi, Alexandro Hurricane, Apollo Scribe, Syn Huntress and Blayze Benoir.

Carisa Franizzi is not new to Second Life, having been involved in the platform for more than a decade. However, she is relatively new to the world of SL art, having taken the plunge just a couple of years ago. Nevertheless, she is proving herself an adept landscape photographer. Her presence at Art Korner marks my second exposure to her work, the first being in late 2020, when I had the pleasure of seeing a selection of her black-and-white images at IMAGOLand.

Here she presents 9 colour and a single monochrome image, each with its own little tale to tell. All are going to capture and hold the eye, but I admit it was the lone monochrome Falling on Hard Times that really moved me.

Across the hall from Carisa’s exhibit is that of Alexandro Hurricane, who is the only artist in this group to present his physical world art through Second Life.

So far as I am aware, this is the first time I’ve witnessed Alexandro’s work, and I have found myself completely smitten;  His eye for detail is just incredible, the focus of his painting completely unique, and his willingness to share his sense of humour with his audience so readily apparent through the likes of Photographer, with its nod-and-wink towards the idea of self-portrait, Teddy Airman, and This is Love. Alongside of these, his pieces focused on flowers and household items and nothing short of exquisite.

Apollo Scribe really need no introduction; his avatar studies are some of the most enticing examples of single-frame narrative to be found within Second Life. What is particular engaging about his work is that he is one of a small handful of SL photography exponents who largely eschew PhotoShop and GIMP, preferring to produce their masterpieces purely through the viewer (possibly with some pre-processing thanks to the likes of Reshade).

At Art Korner, Apollo presents a collection of four studies of the female avatar face, each offering a pose and view that demonstrates just how powerfully emotions can be transmitted through the avatar’s face.

Located out in the two buildings that flank the main gallery building are exhibitions by two artists who are again relatively new to the SL art scene, although they are not necessarily new to SL as whole. Their exhibitions offer a sense of balance as they face each other across the lawns, one being entirely avatar-centric and in colour, and the other being largely landscape focused and presented in black-and-white.

The artists are Syn Huntress (avatar studies) and Blayze Benoir(landscape with some avatar pieces). Both offer works that capture the attention with their style and presentation. Syn’s work mostly clearly offers tales in which her avatar is the protagonist or central character, while Blayze presents pieces that perfectly encapsulate the term landscape as art.

Art Korner has been my first exposure to the work of both of these artists, and I look forward to witnessing more in the future.

There is a further exhibition currently underway at Art Korner that I want to draw attention to here. Immersion sits within a skybox overhead the main gallery spaces, and is a tour de force in monochrome photography, with the majority of the images presented in black and white or sepia, while those offered in colour do so in a beautifully light touch.

Produced and presented by BethBridget – an artist whose work I do not recall seeing in Second Life prior to this exhibition (which is not to say she hasn’t exhibited elsewhere) – Immersion is presented as a walk-through in which visitors can literally immerse themselves in Beth’s work thanks to the perfectly minimalist environment comprising a number of rooms arranged around the landing point such that one started and end with it. When visiting, please ensure you utilise the Shared Environment.

Still images these may be, but captured through the medium of Second Life, each and every picture found within the rooms of the exhibition space has a story to tell. What’s more, the use of certain motifs – birds, clouds, skyline, silhouette – serve to offer interconnecting threads that pass through the individual images, offering opportunities to see them as a large tapestry and  tale, a factor further assisted by the presence of props within the various rooms.

In this way, Immersion presents not only some of the most captivating images of Second Life’s many landscapes and settings I’ve had the pleasure to see, it also presents us with a story, a graphic novel, if you will, where the characters are moods and emotions, and the story is the interplay of light and dark, and the relationship bird, sky and setting that is beautiful in its subliminal power.

Six very different artists brought together through two exhibitions both of which will remain open though until late August 2021 and which should not be missed.

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Deju is rated Moderate

• Art Korner Main Gallery
• Immersion