Art in Second Life 2022 (42) “un.seen” by Catherine Nikolaidis @ Dixmix Gallery Lounge

06 May 2022 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , , ,

Tuesday, May 3rd, I got a message from Dixmix Source, who told me that he has a new place in SL, the Dixmix Gallery Lounge. Currently there’s an exhibition named “un.seen” by Catherine Nikolaidis. The exhibition was opened on April 30th.

Impressions of the Dixmix Gallery Lounge

The Dixmix Gallery Lounge is a place “where art meets hospitality” and “hospitality is an art“. It is an almost square building with an open roof through which you can look into the skies. The lounge offers countless opportunities to sit inside as well as outside. And you are surrounded by art. For example outside is a sculpture by Moki Yuitza named “gatto stiracchioso_dix” (stingy cat dix according to google translator). But also all the lights outside and the pictures inside add to the art experience at Dixmix Gallery Lounge. And for sure you can party at the lounge.

Impressions of “un.seen” by Catherine Nikolaidis @ Dixmix Gallery Lounge (1)

At least for right now the left side of the Dixmix Gallery Lounge building is used as an exhibition space for “un.seen” by Catherine Nikoladis . The exhibition consists of eight photographs in black&white, obviously taken in Second Life and processed with light and shadow effects into erotic art. All photographs show women in lingerie or naked, but never fully naked and always leaving enough room for the fantasies and stories of the spectator.
I saw Catherine Nikolaidis’ artful photographs when I visited “Soulportraits” at Itakos Art Gallery in March 2021 (read here). And I saw two exhibitions of her at DixMix Gallery in 2021 “Zwarwit” (read here) and “Quelqu’un” (read here).
The title “un.seen” could had two meanings. Firstly that the spectator sees new photographs never shown before, or secondly that the photographs themself show models or scenes where the model felt alone, not seen by anyone and able to be herself.

Impressions of “un.seen” by Catherine Nikolaidis @ Dixmix Gallery Lounge (2)

Catherine Nikolaidis was born in Greece and lives in the Netherlands. She joined Second Life in 2007 and photography is one of her passions. She writes about herself: “I believe strongly in sharing. I believe in communicating. I believe in creation and inspiration. I love black & white. I feel strongly for music.”
Catherine is a photographer, blogger & brand manager for several stores. She runs her own website and shares her work also on her flickr page.

I enjoyed my first visit to Dixmix Gallery Lounge, Dixmix’ new space for the art which is not only a gallery but also a place to for artists and art lovers to meet and to have fun. Thank you Dixmix and thank you Catherine for you art. And thank you Violet Boa, who does the PR work for the Dixmix Gallery Lounge and who is always helpful for me to gather information.

Landmark to Dixmix Gallery Lounge
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lawaii%20Myst/31/202/2254
Dixmix Gallery flickr
https://www.flickr.com/groups/dixmixgallery/
Catherine Nikolaidis flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cathnikol/
Catherine Nikolaidis own website
https://www.catherinenikolaidis.nl/

Art in Second Life 2021 (93) DixMix Gallery Anniversary Exhibtion

02 Oct 2021 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I got an invitation to attend the opening of the anniversary exhibtion at DixMix Gallery on September 18th. I visited the exhibtion the day after the opening.

DixMix Source features three exhibitions for the anniversary:

“Zwartwit” by Catherine Nikolaidis (opened until October 22nd) in room Amalfia, “Summer Vibes” by Lori Bailey (ishtara1) (opened until October 15th) in room Abby and “Cabaret” by Caly Applewhyte (Calypso Applewhyte) (opened until October 29th) in room Amona.

I started my visit with “Zwartwit” by Catherine Nikolaidis. Zwartwit is Dutch and translates to Black and White. Catherine’s pictures have a vintage touch. The exhibtion consists of 13 black&white photographs, photographs obviously taken in Second Life and processed with light and shadow effects into erotic art. All photographs show women in lingerie, sometimes only parts of a full body, sometimes focused on the face, never fully naked and always leaving enough room for the fantasies and stories of the spectator.

I saw Catherine Nikolaidis’ artful photographs already in May at DixMix Gallery when I visited her exhibition “Quelqu’un” (read here).
Catherine Nikolaidis was born in Greece and lives in the Netherlands. She joined Second Life in 2007 and photography is one of her passions. She writes about herself: “I believe strongly in sharing. I believe in communicating. I believe in creation and inspiration. I love black & white. I feel strongly for music.”
Catherine is a photographer, blogger & brand manager for several stores. She runs her own website and shares her work also on her flickr page.

The exhibition “Summer Vibes” by Lori Bailey (ishtara1) in room Abby is a real contrast. Lori’s pictures are very colourful and show beautiful landscapes and views, taken in Second Life. I had the impression that I have visited some of these places myself – yet I didn’t make such great pictures!

Lori Bailey (ishtara1) is in Second Life since 2013. She loves to explore new places and to take pictures of all the beauty Secondlife has to offer. She mostly makes pictures of landscapes, that’s her passion. It is the first time that I came across Lori Bailey and her artful pictures.
You can see more of Lori’s work at on her flickr page.

“Cabaret” by Caly Applewhyte (Calypso Applewhyte) is shown in room Amona. I have covered Caly’s artwork already a few times in this blog. “Cabaret” consists of 12 black and white pictures, originally taken in Second Life. Taking them must have been quite an effort. They all look to be from the 1920ies, show erotic studies of the female body in a typical “Cabaret” environment and dressed in lingerie of the time.

Caly (Calypso Applewhyte) is a SL Photographer from France, who joined SL in 2010. Her focus is the avatar itself as a means of expression to transport emotions. She processes her pictures with Photoshop. You can recognise her style, she has found her personal characteristic artistic style. Her pictures do tell stories, like good art has to do.
According to her profile Caly also blogs and has written articles for several magazines. And she also make portrait pictures of course. You can see her work also on her flickr account.

Happy anniversary, DixMix gallery! Thank you Dixmix for providing and curating the DixMix Gallery, thank you Megan for building it and for contributing to it. Many thanks of course also to the contributing artists Catherine Nikolaidis, Lori Bailey (ishtara1) and Caly Applewhyte (Calypso Applewhyte). I want to thank also Violet Boa, who does the PR work for DixMix Gallery and who is always helpful for me to gather information.
Once again I enjoyed my visit.

Landmark to Dixmix Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Madori%20Bay/46/213/22
Caly Applewhyte’s flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/calypsoapplewhyte/
Catherine Nikolaidis flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cathnikol/
Catherine Nikolaidis own website
https://www.catherinenikolaidis.nl/
Lori Bailey flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/loribailey/

Art in Second Life 2021 (45) “Quelqu’un” by Catherine Nikolaidis

20 May 2021 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , , ,

I visited “Quelqu’un”, an exhibtion of photographs by Catherine Nikolaidis at DixMix Gallery in room Abby.

“Quelqu’un” is French and means “somebody”. The exhibtion consists of 13 black&white photographs, photographs obviously taken in Second Life and processed with light and shadow effects into erotic art. All photographs show women in lingerie, never fully naked and always leaving enough room for the fantasies and stories of the spectator.

Examples of “Quelqu’un” by Catherine Nikolaidis at DixMix Gallery (1)

I saw Catherine Nikolaidis’ artful photographs when I visited “Soulportraits” at Itakos Art Gallery in March 2021 (read here). Catherine Nikolaidis was born in Greece and lives in the Netherlands. She joined Second Life in 2007 and photography is one of her passions. She writes about herself: “I believe strongly in sharing. I believe in communicating. I believe in creation and inspiration. I love black & white. I feel strongly for music.”
Catherine is a photographer, blogger & brand manager for several stores. She runs her own website and shares her work also on her flickr page.

Examples of “Quelqu’un” by Catherine Nikolaidis at DixMix Gallery (2)

I like Catherine’s artful photographs a lot and enjoyed my visit. Thank you Dixmix for providing and curating the DixMix Gallery, thank you Megan for building it and for contributing at it. I enjoyed my visit and seeing Catherine’s art. The exhibition “Quelqu’un” by Catherine Nikolaidis will stay open until June 4th.

Landmark to Dixmix Gallery 2020
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Madori%20Bay/46/213/22
DixMix Gallery website
https://www.dixmixgallery.xyz/
Catherine Nikolaidis flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cathnikol/
Catherine Nikolaidis own website
https://www.catherinenikolaidis.nl/

Art in Second Life 2021 (23) Soulportraits at Itakos Art Gallery

10 Mar 2021 2 Comments

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , , , , ,

I got an invitation for the opening of “Soulportraits” at the Black Pavillion of The Itakos Project and Art Gallery on February 19th. I went there a few hours before it opened officially.

“Soulportraits” is a follow-up of the exhibition “2020 Summer Collection” (read here) with a collective of talented artists selected from the Soul Portraits – Itakos flickr group. In total there’re 21 pictures from 5 different artists: Catherine Nikolaidis, Lula Yue, Choo Vegas, Tutsy Navarathna and Akim Alonzo.

Avatars in Second Life don’t grow old, something most of us do appreciate. Actually all stay between 20 and 30 years old, all have beautiful faces with no wrinkles and many have perfect bodies. What differs is the the haircut, some facial details be it the eyes, the eybrows, the length of the nose, the form of the mouth and chin and yes also the body. But still, most look beautiful and young.

Impressions of “Soulportraits” at Itakos Art Gallery (1) – Lula Yue

That said, portraits taken in Second Life show beautiful people. And we like looking into and at beautiful faces. Hence many pictures (also my own) taken in Second Life are portraits or close-up’s. Akim founded a flickr group for portraits named “Soul Portraits – Itakos Art Gallery“, where people can contribute their best portrait pictures. In the meanwhile there’re far more than 500 members in this group and over 10.000 (!) pictures had been uploaded.
There are certain rules:
– The focus is on expression and emotions transmitted by avatars and photographers.
– The group has a partnership with the Itakos Art Gallery in Second Life.
– The raw pictures have to be taken in Second Life
– The pictures may not be just a pure (raw) snapshot. As opposed to the photos must be elaborated and interpretated by the artist.
– The pictures are evaluated and accepted in the group at the discretion of group admin.

Impressions of “Soulportraits” at Itakos Art Gallery (2) – Choo Vegas

The main difference between the “2020 Summer Collection” and “Soulportraits” is that all pictures showcased in “Soulportraits” are Black & White.

Impressions of “Soulportraits” at Itakos Art Gallery (3) – Chaterine Nikolaidi

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All 21 pictures prove that people in Second Life are beautiful. But they also prove that you can make your face and avatar look very individual. The portraits also tell a story by the background, by the facial expression, the viewing angle, by the light choosen, the hair style, the view, the jewelery and by the way the protrait is presented. You can loose yourself while looking at them.

Impressions of “Soulportraits” at Itakos Art Gallery (4) – Tutsy Navarathna

And some of the 21 pictures are not classic portraits but more (erotic) portraits of the body. One picture just shows a man from his backside – in this case it is more the atmosphere, that is captures, a certain state of mind rather than a portrait.

The selection is once again impressive. It is still surprising for me what possibilities Second Life offers for taking artful pictures (and processing them). I enjoyed my visit.

Impressions of “Soulportraits” at Itakos Art Gallery (5) – Akim Alonzo

Thank you Akim for providing your space for the art, The Itakos Project and Art Gallery, and for your own contribution to “Soulportraits“

Landmark to Itakos Art Gallery BLACK Pavilion
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ATL/183/171/1009
“Soul Portraits – Itakos Art Gallery” Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/groups/soulportraits/
The Itakos Project and Art Gallery website
http://itakos.it/