Tag: Art 2017

Now open at Club LA and Gallery, curated by Fuyuko ‘冬子’ Amano (Wintergeist) is The Way I Feel a selection of images from the portfolio of MisaKaory. I’m actually getting to this review a little late, as the invitation got buried in my inventory, and so offer apologies to Misa and Fuyuko;  but I do recommend a visit before it draws to a close.

“Photography gives me a lot of emotions,” Misa says of her work. “Sometimes it is too exhausting, when you can not sleep at night because you keep thinking of some idea for a photo. It seems the idea came and you get it all together and press the shutter, but you are still dissatisfied. So you keep looking through the viewfinder to find the right angle, lighting, waiting for the moment… And then suddenly, here it is! Often it is a completely random person that you have caught in the frame, a bird or a gust of wind. The feeling that you get after taking the photo you like is just wonderful! The world that we see is infinite, but we remember only some moments that have given us a strong impression.”

Impression is certainly the word I would use with the images she has selected for exhibition here. There are all powerfully emotive and rich in story. A total of 19 pieces are displayed, ranging from black-and-white through monochrome shades to colour, with multi-panel images are  mixed with individual pieces (note that some at the back which might be considered NSFW). The result is an exhibit which demonstrates not only the range of Misa’s photography, but also her sense of art and balance in putting an exhibition together; even the positioning of the sofas and cloth-draped table has been carefully considered.

The emotional impact of these pieces hits you as soon as you enter the gallery, thanks to the mirrored pairing of babe asleep and bald woman lying with eyes closed (seen at the top of this article). So much is conveyed by the two: the indelible link between a mother and her baby; the innocence of new birth reflected in the bald pate and unlined face of the woman; the echo of that subtle, womb-like feeling we get when caught on the divide between wakefulness and sleep. And then there is the eye casually held under the woman’s hand; a subtle note that we are perhaps voyeurs encroaching on the private worlds of woman and babe.

Facing these two images is a line of four pieces running from black-and-white through monochrome shades back to black and white. They are all extraordinary in the depth of feeling they imbue as we are instantly drawn into the stories they tell. The desire to shout a warning  to the girl sitting against the tree in the first one is almost palpable, such is the sense of menace conjured by the shadowy male form coming towards her. The remaining three evoke equally powerful responses.

I could write a lot more, but this really is an exhibition deserving to be seen, not described. The Way I Feel presents images which are both intensely personal but because of their emotional content, are immediately empathic. We can immediately identify with the hope, passion, love, fear, loneliness, regret, joy and more captured within them; the impression they make is almost palpable, remaining with us after we leave the gallery space.

Another highly recommended exhibition.

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•   Club LA and Gallery (Amaro, rated: Moderate)

Journey of Life is the title of a new exhibition of art by Satus Voltz (satus9), which opened at the Paris METRO Art Gallery on Saturday, March 18th. In terms of broad theme, it in some ways continues and extends the examination of life seen in the previous exhibition at the gallery, Life Is A Journey by Elin Egoyan (which you can read about here). However, where Elin considered our physical lives in her exhibition, Satus here considers time and travels through Second Life.

Twenty-three pieces of art are offered for display. They offer both an intriguing presentation of evocative individual pieces and a finely balanced collection when taken as whole, bringing together a number of subtle pairings, from the balance between monochrome and colour in the landscapes, through the use of either anticipation or pensiveness as an emotional driver in the avatar studies or the subtle mixing of purely 2D images with those with a 3D aspect; all the way through to the mix of landscapes and avatar-focused  images. In short, this is a richly diverse collection of pieces which are not only encapsulated within the overall theme, they beautifully demonstrate Satus’ artistry and expression.

The use of 3D elements with a 2D art display perhaps isn’t new. Several artists  – notably Molly Brown – have incorporated 2D and 3D art into a single whole in the past; and on entering the gallery to encounter Shattered (in the foreground of the banner image at the top of this piece), I was immediately put in mind of her work. However, the sheer dynamism and narrative in Shattered is breathtaking. Elsewhere, the use of a 3D element is more subtle but no less emotive and effective; from starlight filtering through the fan of branches of distant trees, to the fall of rain or the use of dandelion seeds and dust motes drifting through the air.

Then there is balance between monochrome and colour in the landscape pieces, which brings a certain harmonic tension to them. We are at once drawn towards the three black-and-white images sitting among their more numerous colour companions, but at the same time, they encourage is to consider the use of colour as well as light and shade within the colour pieces.  A similar tension can be found within the more avatar focused studies. Within these, the pensiveness within pieces like Departure, Burning House (both of which are shown below), and I Don’t Wanna Live Forever, is countered by the depth of anticipation evidenced in Silent Awakening, Polar Express and Confetti of The Sky, with both emotions perfectly brought together in  Can’t Take You With Me.

Evocative, emotive, beautifully (and naturally) composed, the images in this exhibition are utterly entrancing and perfectly set within an environment accented by Satus. Absolutely not to be missed.

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• Journey of Life, Paris METRO Art Gallery (Paris Couture, rated: Moderate)

In February 2017 I wrote about The Photo Game, an intimate exhibition of art hosted at Boudicca Amat’s An Uncertain Destiny (which you can read about here). It formed the in-world continuation of an idea Boudicca and fellow artist Ricco Saenz started on Flickr in the latter part of 2016, where they would each choose two on one another’s compositions and comment on them.

In-world, The Photo Game has expanded to three images apiece for each pair of invited artists, and for the inaugural February event, Bou and Ricco took to the stage. For March / April, the spotlight has shifted to two more artist / photographers, one of whom has the last name of “Pey” …

To be honest I was thrilled, surprised and apprehensive about things when the invitation arrived – and apprehension turned to a feeling akin to panic when Bou revealed I have been paired with Proph (burningprophets); a man with a talent for weaving a tale with his images, and an eye for composition and framing which far surpasses my own.

I was instantly drawn to the three pieces I’ve selected from Proph’s portfolio both because I was instantly attracted to them and because they all encapsulate his skills so beautifully. The three are: Never Hide Your Heart, Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful and If You Miss the Train I’m On. I’m not going to comment further on them here, as I have already written a fair essay on each, but all three are genuinely remarkable pieces, and well worth contemplating – so I do encourage you to go along as see them for yourself.

Speaking as someone still finding my way with images, photographs and illustrations – I see my work far more as illustrations for this blog than as being in any way “art” – I’d like to thank Proph for his feedback on the pieces he chose; hearing another frame one’s own work in words and  reflect the few nuances within a piece that were intentional, was reassuring and a boost to confidence that I’m actually starting to understand the medium I’m dabbling in.

My thank, as well to Bou and Ricco for the invitation to participate so early on in the Game, I loom forward to reading thoughts and feeling from other on all six of the pieces on display at An Uncertain Destiny.

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• The Photo Game (An Uncertain Destiny, rated: Adult – run as PG)

Wild Lost Line, now open at MetaLES, curated by Ux Hax and Romy Nayar, is a new art / sound installation by artist and musician Morlita Quan, a physical world artist hailing from Spain and working under the name. Her artistic expression covers 2D and 3D art and music, and all three are very much reflected in her Second Life presence.

The installation should be be viewed with the viewer’s Advanced Lighting Model enabled and local sounds turned on, with local time set to midnight. There is a recommendation to set Shadows to Sun/Moon + Projectors, but given the time-of-day setting and the fact that Shadows can result in a sizeable performance hit for some, I would suggest this isn’t so vital a requirement. I would, however, recommend using headphones to get the full stereo effect of the aural environment. Once you are set-up, touch the teleport board at the MetaLES landing point to jump to the installation.

This comprises a path through a series of halls and rooms in which Mori’s art is displayed, the route through them indicated by black or white arrows on floors and walls. The art itself is offered on a huge scale, from drape-like hangings you must walk through, to pieces forming floors and ceilings, as well a those hanging on walls. They are, perhaps, a little too huge – but I’ll come back to that.

The final part of the exhibit takes you along the top of the walls separating the various rooms, allowing you another view of the art on display. at the end of this, a teleport drops you to a 3D element, a flower-like structure surrounded by floating cubes. Touch a white cube at the base of “stem” of this, and you’ll be seated within the “petals”, where touching the surrounding ring  of coloured triangles and the small spheres below them will allow you to play various notes and tones. From here, a ramp leads you back into the installation while a teleport board takes you back the MetaLES landing point.

Quantifying Wild Lost Line is difficult. I find Mori’s work to be its most captivating when a piece can be seen in its entirety. This allows one to fully appreciate its complex beauty, the use of line, colour, shade and pattern to present something deeply organic yet also clearly geometrically defined. Such is the overwhelming size of the pieces present in Wild Lost Line, my deeper appreciation born of this appreciation of complexity and form was lost amidst the technicalities of camera juggling and an inability to easily encompass all of a single piece comfortably in my view. Thus, I found myself conflicted in touring the installation.

However, you may see things differently – so why not pay a visit?

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• MetaLES landing point (MetaLES, rated: Moderate)