MYTHS, MACHINES, METAVERSE
January 31 - February 28, 2009
OPENING: SATURDAY JANUARY 31 AT 6 PM
Join us for a mixed reality art exhibition by local artists Charles Win, Steven
deFilippi, Jeffrey Lipsky, David Barton, Eyeformation, and Sandra
Burbul. On exhibition will be paintings, drawings, metal sculptures,
3D virtual artworks, Avatar art, and installation art that relate to
the themes of myths, industrial by-products, and virtual
reality.
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE SHOW IN SECOND LIFE!
Live music provided by Audio Park Productions:
6:30 - 7pm The Rebels of Art
7 - 7:45pm Beneath the Sheets
8 - 8:30 pm Komuso Tokugawa
9 - 9:45 pm Bearstronaut
10 - 10:45 pm Baylock
Requested donations of $5
On
Saturday January 31, CounterpART Gallery at 128 Merrimack St in
Lowell Massachusetts presents “Myths, Machines, Metaverse” a
mixed reality art exhibition by local artists Charles Win, Steven
deFilippi, Jeffrey Lipsky, David Barton, Eyeformation, and Sandra
Burbul. On exhibition will be paintings, drawings, metal sculptures,
3D virtual artworks, Avatar art, and installation art that relate to
the themes of myths, industrial and recycled bi-products, and virtual
reality.
Artist's
David Barton and Eyeformation are "The Myth Makers". Watch
as they combine their artistic talents to create a full-room
installation, blurring the line between myth and reality. Both, David
Barton and Eyeformation work from the Western Avenue Studios in the
City of Lowell. David incorporates found objects in the creation of
eclectic sculptures. Eyeformation works in a variety of mediums that
range from murals to limited edition products. Together, they hope to
entertain spectators with a visual journey that will leave a lasting
impression.
Jeffrey
Lipsky uses an abstract narrative style and expressionistic
application of paints and pastels to express phenomena in his real
and virtual life. His artworks on display will range from
representational portrait paintings to reflections of local
landscapes mixed with 3D virtual world symbology. His paintings and
drawings often interpret and document the cultures, places, and
people from social networking world's like Second Life®
and Facebook. Lipsky also uses an avatar, Filthy Fluno, to connect
with artists, audiences, collectors, and galleries from around the
world. On the night of the opening, he will be demonstrating the
concepts of “counterpART” and his online art community
“Artropolis” with use of the gallery's multimedia system.
Charles
Win has been painting for over 25 years. He took first place in
Union Oil 76 Emerging Artist and Art Gild of the Canjo Valley,
California. Back in 1985 Charles moved to Boston to study art. He
attended U Mass Boston and went to Lesley University finishing his
Masters degree in Art Therapy. Charles
has also worked as an art therapist for the past 10 years. “After 8
years of listening to people’s stories, reactions and long term
responses to the 9-11 event, he decided to take it on as a subject
matter in his own therapeutic process, as a collective catharsis, and
as reflections of the social barometer. This current body of
paintings comes from working with concepts in monochromatic
structural forms, clear to chaotic abstract imagery and shows the
sequence of 9-11's dramatic events. It also represent the spectrum
of people’s approaches in dealing with tragedy.” Charles' studio
is in the historic Fort Point Co-operative building in Boston, MA.
Steve
deFilippi, metal sculptor, has been welding car parts together for
over10 years. They range from abstract assemblage wall hangings to
larger than life depictions of religious icons. The pieces on
display at CounterpART examine the ideas of urban mythology as well
as embrace the tactile qualities of aging industrial waste.
Sandra
Burbul has been a professional
tattoo artist for 10 yrs. During which time, she has also
produced paintings, mixed media
arts, and a healthy smattering of film and digital
photography. It is only recently that the art world of Second Life®
has come to her attention. In it, she has found a whole new
realm...using a blend of many different skills to create a new kind
of artistic expression. Currently, Sandra (aka Bella Renfold) is
doing 3D digital sculptures using a combination of sculpted geometry,
handmade and found textures, and Photoshop. Her art will be on
display via CounterpART's multimedia system.
Contact Jeff at 781-541-0470 for more details or stop by the gallery at 128 Merrimack St in Lowell on the second floor.
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"FIGURES AND FORCES" OCTOBER 6 - 31, 2008
"ipasteur" 4 x 5 ft oil painting on canvas by Jeffrey Lipsky in 2008. click to zoom in.
CounterpArt Gallery in Lowell MA presents "Figures and Forces,"
paintings and drawings by Calvin Thomas and
Jeffrey Lipsky (aka Filthy Fluno). The pieces in this show range from Thomas' female figures in
motion to Lipsky's interpretations of people (avatars) from online
virtual worlds like Second Life (tm). The figures in all of the
artworks for this show are in constant interaction with natural and
synthetic forces. On the gallery's mulitemedia system will be the
interactive artworks and music of select artists from the metaverse.
Calvin Thomas is a painter from Lowell MA who's painting style is
reminiscent of Degas, Michaelangelo and Klimt. An old school painter
who mixes his own tempera paints, Thomas' recent works focus on female
figures in motion. He has exhibited his paintings throughout
Massachusetts and is one of Lowell's most popular contemporary artists.
Jeffrey Lipsky lives in Tyngsboro MA and has a BFA in Fine Arts from
Montserrat College of Art. His style has been compared to Basquiat,
Picasso and Kline. His use of online virtual worlds to inspire and
exhibit his artwork has caught the attention of collectors and curators
from around the world. His abstract avatar portrait paintings in this
show demonstrate a stylistic growth in Lipsky's pastel drawings from
his last few exhibitions.
Digital Artist
Esch Snoats (Todd Tevlin) also exhibits 3 pieces that
reflect on virtual world's culture and design. Tevlin is an artist from
St. Louis as well as designer of one of Second Life's premiere arts and
music communities,
Artropolis.
"Figures and Forces" will be on display by appointment from Oct 5 - 22
or stop by the gallery day or night and Jeff or Calvin might even be
there setting up the show. The opening reception from 7 - 11 pm on
Saturday October 25 will be a mixed reality mashup of fine art,
interactive digital creations, live music, wine, food and friends.
Call 781-541-0470 for more information
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counterpART Gallery, the first gallery to break through the virtual boundaries of Second Life and materialize in physical space, is pleased to announce that it will celebrate opening its doors to the public at 128 Merrimack Street in Lowell, MA on April 26th, 2008 with its first exhibition counterpart Identities. This exhibition features paintings, drawings, video works, and augmented reality mash-ups created specifically for Second Life by local, national and international artists. Each participating artist utilizes this new form of communication to explore concepts of virtual identity, space, open source collaboration, and the building of online communities over the Internet.
Tyngsboro MA based artist Filthy Fluno
explores ideas surrounding virtual and celebrity identity, and the possibilities inherent in online community building in his series of pastel and charcoal drawings, titled The Adventures of Filthy Fluno. Based on his daily interactions with others within the virtual world of Second Life, Fluno's works abstractly depict characters and events that tell a tale about the human condition and how the Internet and online communities can reshape the way we communicate with each other while allow artists to share their creative views and visions in a democratic nonhierarchical way.
Influenced by the experimental dance and choreography of Merce Cunningham, the chance operations of John Cage, and the colorful, conceptual spectacle of Matthew Barney, Dancoyote Antonellis’ ZeroG SkyDancers, are a new form of networked ensemble performers. They examine a particular quality of networked performance, while employing a variety of non-
narrative and narrative approaches to the traditional medium of dance within Second Life. The ZeroG SkyDancers re-examine the idea of 'the stage' as they fly around "dancing" while triggering audio samples in order to create performances within an ever changing reactive stage
that are a cross between water ballet and aerial acrobatics. The ZeroG SkyDancers will perform live through streaming audio and video technology on April 26th
In Hiding (pictured left) by St. Louis, Missouri artist, Todd Tevlin, as well as other artwork on display by the artist, focuses on the internal struggles that take place under the surface of consciousness. Aspects of yourself that you don't notice, or refuse to acknowledge, until you look inward. By creating this environment within his art, he attempts to bring a more cerebral point of view that is not just eye candy on a wall.
"Disintegration (#5)" by Gillian Frazier pictured to the right. This is a portrait of Frazier's sister who was struggling with depression and addiction issues. She created this portrait when she saw her spiraling to a possible death as a result of her self destructive tendencies.The artwork represented in this show are from a series of charcoals and mixed media experimentations based on relationships and events that personally affected her.
Vessel of a Female by Ekaterina Konovelova, shown on the left, combines a female figure with a vase, expressing the identity issues of woman being objectified in society.
Home Sweet Home: You Can't Live Here Any More by Lisa Anderson-Bisson. Pictured on the right, this encaustic on wood demonstrates the challenges for today's artist to find affordable space to live and make art.
Boogieman
The Boogieman comes out when we are just beginning to learn how to face the unknown world of the night on our own. This piece connects the avatar's fear of the new metaverse and unknown real life identities of avatars to the childhood nightmarish monster of the Boogiman.
Amberly's Room
The first abstract narrative artwork I made that deals with virtual identity. Pictured is a woman trying to stop the turning of the hands on clock by slashing them with a knife. She accidentally slashes her hair off and reveals she is balding from chemotherapy treatments due to her cancer. Other imagery represents measurement tools and a crying baby.
Open Source
Linden Labs, the creators of Second Life made a controversial decision to make the programming language open to the public domain much like HTML for the internet. Shortly after this decision, 1000's of SL'ers gathered in Chicago for the Second Life Community Convention. This drawing symbolizes the public gathering of people who mostly have never met each other. The black and white colors coagulate in the center of the composition as imagery of the foreign Linden scripting language scrolls throughout the bottom of the piece. Strong relationships were created and destroyed at the convention and it showed both the destructive and collaborative powers that the SL community can nurture.
Trash Now
Lipsky's first drawing inspired by a live virtual dj performance of my friend who lives in Portugal. Trash is the name of the club in Second Life where there were over 50 people from around the world dancing and socializing on Halloween. The techno style music and club's industrial visual style is expressed throughout the composition.
Chola
This oil painting (below) expresses the fierceness, power, and carefree attitude of the female mexican gangster otherwise known as "Chola." The composition is split up into smaller sections that call tribute to Haring, Monk, and comic book style text in bubbles. The colors, textures, and lines throughout the piece represent and tribute the chola
attitude, which was brought to my attention by a friend in Second Life.
Also included in the show are new media/video and audio works by Komuso
Tokugawa, Cezary Fish, Holly Hax, Juria Yoshikawa, Spider Mycron,and
paintings and drawings by Calvin Thomas, Dan Rocha, Gillian Frazier,
Ekaterina Konovelova, Elaine Seidel, Emile Cryotank and Lisa Anderson-Bisson.