I got an invitation from Sophie de Saint Phalle (perpetua1010) to see her newest exhibition. She gave me a poster of Narcotic Concept (or NarcotiConcept), an invitation to an opening event on September 12th featuring the art of Akim Alonzo, Luca Pierro, Maciek Jasik, Omar Galliani, Paolo Roversi, Sarah Moon, Sina Souza and Sophie de Saint Phalle.
I had never heard of Narcotic Concept before. The place is group owned, founder is Lunhea. I don’t know how many people are involved, the group compromises 23 people.
The landmark description consists of tags: “Art, Photo, Exhibition, Gallery, Music, Lounge, Club, Media, Minimal, Architecture, Dark“.
The landmark led me to a skybox with the art of Luca Pierro. It is a dark room, the walls display portraits, colourful portraits of males, some of the heads are covered, or express fear and danger. At this room I found a notecard giver with some information about Luca Pierro.
Luca Pierro’s portraits are striking. He is the model and the photographer. The portraits are not photoshopped but real life pictures. For the effects Luca tries to achieve effects, textures and lighting with as little manipulation as possible, so he uses a lot of materials like flour, milk, water and more. Many of his images are very dark and the intention is to express a micro and macro cosmos where the figure of the artist can forcefully enter the scene. The figure represents a man, “the man”, involved with the materials. All the elements that can lead back to “Mother Earth”. In this way, the body becomes the vehicle of expression.
You can find more information about Luca Pierro on his website.
Walking up the stairs in the skybox I could enter a labyrinth of stairs, hallways and other skyboxes, that are used to exhibit the work of the other artists listed on the Narcotic Concept poster. For each artist there is a notecard giver with more information.
The next artist was Sina Souza (sinalein). I had seen Sina’s art just a few months ago at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (read my blogpost here). Sina Souza (sinalein) started with creating images in Second Life in November 2012. She has had a lot of exhibitions, from which I saw just one back in 2017 “Mental Levels” at MetaLES (read here). Actually that was the last exhibtion of Sina Souza before she took a break of Second Life for 4 years and returned with the exhibtion at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery.
Sina’s art is surreal. Sina tries to visualisize thoughts, snippets that come to her mind. Her work is intriguing and hard to describe. You have to see it yourself and make up your mind about it.
Sina Souza (sinalein) has an own website and a flickr account.
Paolo Roversi is one of the most established Italian photographers, internationally renowned as an interpreter of fashion capable of creating atmospheres with a strong emotional charge. Paolo was born in Italy in 1947 and lives in Paris nowadys. The selection of pictures and portraits showcased at Narcotic Concept prove the strong emotions that can be captured in photographs. You can find more about Paolo Roversi on the internet starting at wikipedia.
The next room I entered is used to display the art of Sara Moon. The pictures are very colourful. I can’t tell which technic is used, some of them look like blurred photographs, others more like paintings. But all show females and fashion.
Sarah Moon was born as Marielle Warin in Vernon (France) in 1941. When the Nazis arrive in Paris, the family of Jewish origin is forced to flee to England. Here Sarah spends the first years of her childhood. After studying drawing, she works as a fashion model in London and Paris (1960-1966) under the stage name of Marielle Hadengue. In her spare time, she discovers a passion for photography and starts taking pictures. Starting in 1970 she began working as a fashion photographer. Today Sarah Moon is considered a key figure in the history of fashion. Her soft, romantic, melancholic, timeless images have revolutionized the conventional language.
Sarah Moon is one of the most famous contemporary photographers. Throughout her career as a fashion photographer and in her personal artistic work, she has developed a unique style, constantly enveloped in an ethereal, painterly atmosphere. More information can be found on the internet starting at wikipedia.
When I entered the room with the black and white pictures of Jeanloup Sieff that was quite a contrast to the art of Sarah Moon. Jeanloup’s pictures are very erotic without being explicit. A real eye candy in black and white. And Jeanloup Sieff was not listed on the Narcotic Concept Poster, hence a real “bonus” artist.
Jeanloup Sieff is of Polish descent. He was born in Paris in 1933. Jeanloup Sieff debuted as a photographer in the fashion world working for Elle magazine. In New York, the artist collaborated with major magazines such as Vogue, Queen and Elle. In New York Jeanloup Sieff reaches the world fame but chooses to return to Paris. France has celebrated his talent with a series of awards. It is in Paris that the photographer died in 2000, leaving his wife and daughter his passion for photography.
Eroticism as his distinctive feature. A provocative and elegant art in search of an immortal beauty. Jeanloup Sieff is one of the most important masters in the history of photography of the twentieth century. Nudes, portraits, fashion and dance told through an unmistakable style.
You can find more information about Jeanloup Sieff on the internet starting on wikipedia or on his website.
And after the black and white erotic art I experienced the next contrast enterting the box with the art of Maciek Jasik, another RL photographer.
Maciek Jasik, born in 1978 in Poland, is a photographer based in New York City whose work seeks to understand society’s relationship to the natural world. Through his art, Maciek Jasik not only tests the limits of color and movement, but also seeks to find a stability between planning and spontaneity. His photography explores notions of identity, gender, and self while working in a parallel world of infinite colors and puzzling physical phenomena.
Maciek aims to strike a balance between aesthetic and emotional concerns with a powerful, yet subtle and unique use of color.
In his years of professional experience, his work has been published everywhere from New York Magazine, Time, Huffington Post to Bloomberg Businessweek, Vice and The New Yorker. In addition to publications and editorial assignments, his photographs have been seen in the United States, England, Russia and Belgium.
I didn’t find a wikipedia entry, but if you google Maciek you find a lot more information about him and his art on the net.
So far most of the artwork I saw during my visit at Narcotic Concept were for RL artists, uploaded into Second Life. I admit that I didn’t know any of the the artists. But I had seen Akim Alonzo’s exhibition “Matrix” before.
Akim’s photos are loosely based on the cult movie The Matrix – a metaphor for a world of people trapped in a simulated, virtual reality that has many aspects in common with the Secondlife world.
Akim is a traveller and photographer in Second Life. He owns and curates “The Itakos Art Gallery” and he runs a website. I have visited his gallery quite often already and am happy that is exhibtion “The Matrix” is showcased again. You can also see more of Akim Alonzos art on his flickr page.
The next box I saw is dedicated to Omar Galliani.
Galliani’s works are mainly monumental drawings executed in graphite, sometimes with the addition of the color red. The technique is based on the use of graphite or charcoal on white or light-colored materials, and then traces skilful lines and chiaroscuro, also using the spolvero technique, which recall the artistic tradition of the Renaissance. Lights and shadows are in constant dialogue, intense and suffused blacks evoke and dematerialize the representations, sometimes embellished by sanguine symbols with anatomical, vegetable and religious references: a reflection on art and its silent and meaningful languages.
Omar Galliani is an Italian artist, born in 1954. Again you find more inforation about him on the net, best starting with his website.
What started as a short visit to a new exhibtion of Sophie de Saint Phalle (perpetua1010) had become a long art afternoon for me. And finally I also found her box at Narcotic Concept. I have reported about Spohie quite often already, the last time when I visited “Soltice”, an installation that vanished from Second Life way too quickly (read here). The exhibtion room of Sophie de Saint Phalle is kind of a selection of her artwork, a bit of everything of her art. I appreciate that you can get a picture of her style with this selection.
Sophie de Saint Phalle (perpetua1010) is a Austrian RL painter and book author. She mainly paints nude from models and abstract art. She loves to experiment with different kinds of paint and lithography. Her favourite materials are sand, plaster, glue, terracotta, stones, bones, ash, charcoal, natural pigments and more.
Sophie has made several book illustrations and was for many years political cartoonist for a well known satire magazine. She lived and worked in the Unites States, Australia, Rome and Monaco.
Sophie de Saint Phalle (perpetua1010) has an own gallery, The “SUBCUTAN Art Gallery and Multimedia Centre“.
Narcotic Concept is a quite unique art place in Second Life as it features mostly the art of RL artists. It’s kind of a bridge between the virtual world of Second Life and the physcial world. With the exhibtion it can be proved that RL art can develop it strength also in a virtual world where light effects and the arrangement of the pictures can be done in a different way than classic exhibtions. I want to thank the whole team of Narcotic Concept consisting of Lunhea, Ly Glenwalker, ZioRebecco Sciavo and Carle (carleonie), who worked to realize this exhibtion in Second Life.
Landmark to Narcotic Concept
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Madori%20Bay/90/105/1469
Luca Pierro’s website
https://pierroluca.wixsite.com/luca-pierro
Sina Souza’s website
http://sinadesouza.wix.com/mindfactory
Sina Souza’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sinalein/
Jeanloup Sieff’s website
https://www.jeanloupsieff.com/
Akim Alonzo’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/akimalonzo/
Akim Alonzo’s gallery space “The Itakos Art Gallery”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ATL/212/189/1009
Akim Alonzo’s website
http://www.itakos.it/
Omar Galliani’s website
https://www.omargalliani.com/
Sophie de Saint Phalle (perpetua1010)’s “SUBCUTAN Art Gallery and Multimedia Centre”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ocean%20Island/136/128/1002
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