Art in Second Life 2023 (9) Reflections by Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau) & Onceagain Art Gallery

I got an invitation to visit Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau)’s latest exhibition named “Reflections” at Onceagain Art Gallery. A good reason to visit Onceagain Art Gallery (once) again, as it is more than one year since I my last visit there (read Art in Second Life 2022 (2) Onceagain Art Gallery).

The landmark leads you to a small gazebo within a park. From there you walk through the park, cross the gate, turn left twice and walk a path upwards to reach the exhibition “Reflections” which is shown in kind of a cloistered court.

Impressions of “Reflections” by reflections by Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau) (1) – from the landing point to the exhibition

Onceagain (Manoji Yachvili) wrote about “Reflections”:
I’m really pleased to host in my gallery a delicate artist, who I discovered last year by chance when I won one of her works at an auction.
In life you don’t always need to look for deep meanings, sometimes beauty is enough to reconcile you with the world and Maddy with her works is what she manages to do.”

The exhibition consists of 11 pictures all showing woman, mainly portraits, in their beauty. Most of the pictures are monochrom (not all) and the women are all dressed beautiful and they wear flowers, ornaments, jewelery and other accessories underlining their beauty and attracting the spectator to look for details and to get pulled into the picture.

Impressions of “Reflections” by reflections by Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau) (2)

Maddy wrote: ““Reflections” is a journey of portraits that experiments with new ideas using A.I. technologies. The exhibit showcases photos created with Midjourney and Second Life Avatars, combined with the use of A.I. to create a melancholic and dark atmosphere that captures the essence of the subjects portrayed. The soft colors and blurs emphasize the intense emotions and intimacy of the portraits, inviting the viewer to immerse themselves in the images.”

Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau) is in Second Life since 2009. She’s passionate about photography in RL and SL. She writes: “I’m not an artist but a researcher of images to be developed… a dreamer with open eyes of this world “out of time”. In SL always open to new possibilities of experimentation trying to convey the magic that I see.”
I’ve seen Maddy’s art the first time back in 2017 at Enchanted Art where her exhibition “Maddy 2017” was showcased (read here). Further on I saw Maddy’s work at La Maison d’Aneli in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 and at GenovArt Glass Gallery in May 2021 (read here). You can see more of her art at her flickr page.

Once at the gallery I took the teleporter, where I landed for my visit to “Reflections” and visited the Onceagain Art Gallery.

Impressions of Onceagain Art Gallery (1) – Two buildings / Two sculptures (Cherry Manga and Bryn Oh)

The place has changed quite a lot, the concept is still the same. In a large park are several buildings. The park and the buildings are full of Onceagain (Manoji Yachvili)’s art collection. In the park you find 3D art as well as inside of the buildings at windows or larger spaces. The buildings are galleries and feature the art of many artists.

Impressions of Onceagain Art Gallery (2)

I know and wrote about most of them, though I admit that there’re some, who I didn’t come across yet. The following list of artists is certainly not exhaustive, but it testifies to the size of the art collection and the many styles:
Moki Yuitza, Mihailsk Syros (mihailsk), June Langer, Kika Yongho, Eviana (eviana.robbiani), Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau), Milena Carbone (mylena1992), Filthy Fluno, Marina Münter (vivresavie), Melusina Parkin, CioTToLiNa Xue, Zia Branner, Maloe Vansant, ZYNTHEA, Mareea Farrasco, Celestial Demon (celestialdemon), Gully Rivers (gullyrivers), Karma Daxeline (Karma Weymann), Cad (cadwallader), Lika Cameo (LikaCameo), Scylla Rhiadra, Mara Telling, Frank Atisso, Cherry Manga, Harbor Galaxy, miu miu miu (miumiumiusecond), Therese Carfagno, Bryn Oh ….

Impressions of Onceagain Art Gallery (3)

onceagain (Manoji Yachvili) ist in Second Life since 2007. Manoji is Italian and lives and works in Tuscany, Italy. She “likes photography, art, landscapes, animals, visiting strange places, most of these things she also does in RL“. You find more of her also on her flickr account.

Thank you for showcasting so many artists in a great environment and for enabling Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau)’s exhibition “Reflections”.
And thank you Maddy for your art.
I enjoyed my visit.

Landmark to Onceagain Art Gallery and to Reflections by Maddy
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Peaceful%20Mountains/51/173/3502
Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau)’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/magdyne/
Onceagain (Manoji Yachvili)’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69389809@N03/

Art in Second Life 2021 (101) “Ordinary People” by Melusina Parkin

Melusina Parkin invited me to the opening of her newest exhibition named “Ordinary People” on Wednesday, Ocotober 13th, at Vibes Art Gallery.

Vibes Art Gallery is an example of the transformation of industrial warehouses into a modern exhibition space. It consists of two buildings and a court between them. The court is used for events. While one building has one large exhibition room, the other building has two rooms, that are connected though.
Melusina Parkin’s exhibition extends over the whole Vibes Art Gallery and it is quite particular for Melusina, as she leaves her general theme of minimalism for this exhibtion – at least for a tiny bit.

Ordinary People showcases – to no surprise – just ordinary people. The connected exhibition space in one building showcases monochrome pictures of Melu at the walls, in the other building are coloured pictures. They are all taken in Second Life and have one thing in common – they show people in daily situations.
Melusina Parkin’s photos tend towards minimalism, which is Melu’s main inclination: simple details from daily life or usual landscapes are the subject of mostly empty scenes, stressing voids, space, geometries, lights; this reveals hidden meanings or pushes the observer to give them her/his own one. Her favorite subjects are wide landscapes, city views, industrial environments, popular lifestyles and daily objects … and now she added people to her pictures. But still her pictures impress by their simplicity and by forcing the spectator to foucs on the few details.

Impressions of “Ordinary People” by Melusina Parkin at Vibes Art Gallery (1)

But there’s more to see at “Ordinary People“. Melusina added static figures to the exhibtion. Not just one, she added enough to liven up the exhibition. And these figures are part of the exhibition. You see ordinary people on the pictures and visiting the exhibtion. Melusina wrote about “Ordinary people“:
“The photos of this exhibition put together my interest in human images and my experience in shooting objects, choosing subjects that stay on the thin border between living beings and things that features the virtual world: the “puppets” (or “dolls”) that we often meet when we visit a Second Life places. Like avatars, they are made of pixels; like statues and mannequins, they don’t talk, neither move. They could be seen as objects, as parts of the decor, but at a closer look they reveals to have expressions and their still poses show activities.
The images of this exhibit show that frozen humanity, that silent crowd that populate many Second Life places; the gallery of their portraits could be seen as a collection of human types. It’s both an exercise of “street photography” and a kind of tribute to these pixel beings who can’t act neither talk.”

Impressions of “Ordinary People” by Melusina Parkin at Vibes Art Gallery (2)

Once again you find a table with the books sold by Melusina Parkin. It is located in the passage between the two rooms with the monochrome pictures. Those who are regular visitors to Melusina Parkin’s exhibitions know these books already:
Melusina All-in-One Exhibits allow you to keep at home the whole exhibit you visited and loved. It’s an alternative kind of the exhibit catalogue: you can hang the object on your home’s walls and enjoy the changing images. They come in four versions, that you can choose according to your home style: plain or framed, changing image by touch or in random loop. The objects are set as modifiable, so you can adapt them to your walls.

Melusina Parkin is in Second Life since September 2008. She has been a fashion manager, a journalist, a furniture creator, a builder, a decorator and a photographer. Her work as a photographer has been showcased in more than 50 exhibitions – from which I saw just a few. Melusina has a flickr account which counts more than 13,000 (!) photographs. Extensive collections of her photos can be seen also on her blog Virtual Exhibits and on some slideshows on Youtube (links also under this post).
There’s also an online book with her Second Life exhibits 2011-2019 here.
Melusina Parkin has an own gallery at Time Portal and an own store for Art Deco furniture called “Melu Deco”. Melusina also owns a second place (Melu Space) with another gallery (Minimum Gallery), a bookstore and another “Melu Deco” inworld store.

Impressions of “Ordinary People” by Melusina Parkin at Vibes Art Gallery (3)

Thank you for another great exhibition, Melusina. You extended your art carefully to another field not leaving your characteristic style. I enjoyed my visit a lot.
Many thanks to Eviana Raider (Eviana Robbiani) for providing the space for the art and for enabling this great exhibition. As far as Melusina knows the part of “Ordinary People” with the coloured pictures in the large exhibition hall  shall stay open for visitors until October 24th, the other part a bit longer.

Landmark to “Ordinary People” by Melusina Parkin at Vibes Art Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Isola%20Del%20Giglio/32/196/2711
Landmark Melusina Parkin’s Gallery at Time Portal
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Time%20Portal/248/101/1940
Melu Space (Minimum Gallery, Melubooks, Melu Deco)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lunula/192/9/21
Landmark to Melusina Parkin’s store for Art Deco furniture “Melu Deco”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Time%20Portal/243/99/1930
Melusina Parker’s flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melusina_parkin/
Melusina Parkin’s Virtual Exhibit blog
http://meluphoto.blogspot.it/p/home.html
Melusina Parkin’s youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVzglBiqhrOLXnAp3Qt3Zjw
On line book Second Life exhibits 2011-2019
https://www.calameo.com/books/005997622f28dd58ca75d