Art in Second Life 2022 (29) Michiel Bechir Gallery in March/April 2022

16 Mar 2022 Leave a comment

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

I got an invitation to the opening of a new exhibition at the Michiel Bechir Gallery featuring the artwork from Joanna Kitten (joaannna), Cynthia Deere and Madoka Kawabata.

The Michiel Bechir Gallery consists of two large exhibition rooms on the ground floor and one exhibition room on the 2nd floor.

The room on the left side shows the art of Cynthia Deere. Cynthia has decorated her room for the upcoming Spring. The ground is a meadow, there are places to sit, a path and a picknick place that has been occupied by rabbits. The scenery radiates quite some happiness.
Same is true for Cynthia’s Second Life photographs. They show nice landscapes in the colours of Spring and Summer. Each of the pictures is processed with love for the detail, thus creating artwork from a SL photograph.


I have never seen Cynthia Deere’s artwork before. Cynthia is in Second Life since 2006. In her profile she says about herself: “Teacher, techie and gadget junkie who came to Second Life many moons ago and never found my way home. I am simply here to unwind and relax.”
You can see more of her art at her flickr account.

The room on the right side is dedicated to Joanna Kitten aka. Kitten (joaannna). Kitten is in Second Life since December 2019. On the table close to the big window is a small baord where you can grab a notecard with more information about Kitten:
“Kitten was first drawn to second life photography in 2020 initially by seeing the results produced by entrants in a photography competition at the sim where she works. All her pictures are taken inworld and are only a little edited afterwards.
Her big love is landscape photography and she travels the grid in search of the perfect shot her pictures revealing her love of nature, the sea, exotic ruins as well as parasols and umbrella’s. Her pictures look to showcase the myriad ways in which light makes a picture, the gaudy autumn colours, reflections, the play of light on the water and towering cloudscapes.”
I can’t express it any better.

Kitten (joaannna) has a flickr page and she is also the owner of the Ammonite Photography & Gallery.

Madoka Kawabata is a friend of mine, not very close but we talk every once in a while, had one short play together as far as I remember and we’re both watching each other at deviant Art. Hence I know a bit of her art. Most of her pictures are taken inworld and are a bit processed. She loves gloomy scenes and a retro or vintage look for her pictures. But I never saw any exhibition of her in Second Life. Her art is featured on the second floor of Michiel Bechir Gallery.

There’s an esel with a picture of Madoka and you can grab a notecard bout Madoka there:
“My long life in Second Life began in 2005. All along I took photos, but it was only about 3 years ago that I finally began spending more time and effort on SL photography.
Ansel Adams said “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” By which, as I understand it, he would take his large format black and white negatives in the field, then in the darkroom use dodging and burning techniques to lighter or darken different areas on the final print. Although sometimes I upload a photo directly from what Black Dragon or Firestorm produced, more often I use Photoshop to make it into something of my own. I’m certainly no Ansel Adams, though!
I owe so much to content creators in SL, both the builders that create a sim build, and to those building the objects used, who are sometimes the same people!
Enjoy this exhibition! My thanks go to Michiel Belchir, who offered me this chance, my first in-world photo exhibition.“

Madoka has an account on flickr and you can find her on deviant Art.

Another great exhibition. Thank you Michiel for providing the space for the arts and many thanks to the artists. I enjoyed my visit. The exhibition will be avalable until April 15th.

Landmark to Michiel Bechir Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Embrace/30/228/2502
Cynthia Deere’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cgarrety/albums
Kitten (joaannna)’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/substratum_kitten/
Kitten (joaannna)’s Ammonite Photography & Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Manor%20Suites/64/141/602
Madoka Kawabata’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/madokakawabata/
Madoka Kawabata on deviant Art
https://www.deviantart.com/madokakawabata

Art in Second Life 2021 (115) Michiel Bechir Galleries in December 2021

04 Dec 2021 Leave a comment

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

I visited the current exhibtion at Michiel Bechir Galleries that features the art of 4 female artists, three of them unbeknownst to me so far: Evie Heights (Eve Pearl), Mya Audebarn, Serenitee Bliss and Rose (rosehanry). With just a few exceptions the exhibtion shows female portraits – 4 artists, 4 different styles and interpretations.

My visit started right outside of the gallery where the artwork of Evie Heights is showcased on esels. The seven pictures are all showing female portrait pictures, all with a different layout. While on the first glance there are 7 different females, actually all pictures show one and the same person thus proving how different we perceive a face depending on how it is showcased.
I couldn’t find Evie Heigths as an username and asked Michiel Bechir about her. Evie Heights is Evie (Eve Pearl) and I saw her artwork 2 months ago at The 22 art space (read here). Evie is in Second Life for 13 years. You can fin more of her art on her flickr page.

On the ground floor of the gallery you find 2 rooms. The room on the left side features the art of Serenitee Brunswick (Serenitee Bliss). Although most of Serenitee’s pictures show female faces, she places them into different backgrounds. The whole presentation provides a happy and romantic atmosphere, maybe also enhanced by the floor design and the wall paper. Above the entrance is a statement of Serenitee about her art:
“Welcome to my little world of creation. I’v been in Second Life a long while and have experienced many things. Photography has become my number one love. Creating images that tell stories or bring about emotions is very fulfilling. My style go from one end of the spectrum to another. You’ll see abstracts, whimsical, fairy tale, fantasy, heartbreak, eroticism, sensuality, landscapes and just about everything else.”
You can find more of Serenitee’s artwork on her flickr page.

The room on the right side is decorated winterly and snowflakes fall down on the floor out of the nothing. The room features the artwork of Mya Audebarn. Mya is in Second Life since 2009. I couldn’t find much about her, just that she speaks Portugese. Mya has a flickr page and writes there about herself:
“I’m Mya … I don’t introduce myself as a photographer, I don’t have any techniques … I’m someone who uses emotions and feelings … Each photo has some feeling and when someone appreciates or perceives it, I feel really happy. If I can touch hearts, I will feel fulfilled … ”
And yes, her portraits tell a story, they are mysterious and romantic.

On the second floor you find a classic gallery room with the portrait artwork of Rose (rosehanry). The portraits are all with a simple white background, most just show the face, no hair, glasses or jewelery, nothing that distract from the face itself. Rose wrote about this collection of portraits:
“This portraits show the different moods we usual show behind the pc/laptop when we use our avatar… is a minimalist work for the receptor focus on the mood or expression and make in his mind a story and go beyond that face in the portrait.”
More of her art can be found on her flickr page.

Thank you Michiel Bechir for another great exhibition featuring artists who I haven’t come across so far. It’s great to see this variety of portraits, style and ways of presentation. Thank you for providing the space for the arts at Michiel Bechir Galleries and for curating your galleries. Many thanks also to the participating artists. I enjoyed my visit.

Landmark to Michiel Bechir Galleries at Embrace
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Embrace/30/228/2503
Evie (Eve Pearl)’s flickr page
https://www.flickr.com/photos/163063355@N08/
Mya Audebarn’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mya_audebarn/
Serenitee Bliss’ flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/serenitee/
Rose (rosehanry)’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosehanry

Art in Second Life 2020 (36) Michiel Bechir’s Art Gallery in June/July exhibitions

22 Jun 2020 Leave a comment

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

I got an invitation for an opening party for a new exhibtion at Michiel Bechir’s Art Gallery for Saturday, June 20th. As I had other activities at night in Second Life, I peeked in already on Thursday, June 18th.

The new exhibtion features the art of Pavel Stransky and Hazel Foxtrot on the ground level and the pictures of Jaz (Jessamine2108) on the 2nd floor.

Right at the entrance you see Michiel Bechir’s on work. Michiel has started his long virtual journey into Second Life as a photographer in 2009. Michiel enjoys seeing new places, meeting new people from all over the world and expierencing the creativity in Second Life (just like I do!). Michiel discovered the possiblities of different tools to improve his pictures. By editing them he also tries to add a personal touch and feeling. Experiments with the effect of colors are often done, and more recently he is trying to show the details by working with high resolution photos.

Michiel Bechir’s Gallery in June/July – Michiel Bechir’s own pictures

To the right from the entrance is the room with the pictures of Pavel Stransky, who joined Second Life almost 13 years ago. Pavel Stransky’s motivation to visit sims in Second Life are quite the same as Michiel’s and like Michiel he takes pictures inworld and as far as I could see, Pavel also processes his pictures. But his style is quite comparable with Michiel’s – at least from what I saw. Pavel Stransky has also a flickr account.

Michiel Bechir’s Gallery in June/July – Pavel Stransky

To the left from the entrance is the room with the pictures of Hazel Foxtrot, who is active in Second Live since 2008 and she shares the passion of taking pictures. Her motives are a bit different to those of Michiel and Pavel. 3 of her pictures reminded me of Melusina Parkin’s Roadside pictures (read here), an exhibition that I visited in May. Other picture capture the atmosphere of towns. Hazel has also a flickr account.

Michiel Bechir’s Gallery in June/July – Hazel Foxtrot

All three Michiel, Pavel and Hazel make pictures while traveling through Second Life. They find great motives and the right viewing angle to creat their art.

The exhibtion on the 2nd floor of Michiel Bechir’s Art Gallery, named Balance, is different. It combines pictures from Jaz (Jessamine2108) with poems from Zoe Ocelot. Balance is an exhibtion about the current pandemic and its effect on humans and animals as well as on nature due to the lack of pollution and cleaner air and water.
Before you enter the room you’re asked to wear a face mask, which is provided, The exhibtion has two parts, that are divided by a fence. One side shows pictures and texts from the physcial world. Very impressive is a picture from India showing the vers same place before and during the lockdown and how the air got clean. A 3D model of the earth is in the center of the room and circled by dark polluted clouds as well as be clean clouds.
On the other side of the fence you see pictures from Jaz, taken in Second Life but clearly referring to the corona pandemic.

Michiel Bechir’s Gallery in June/July – Balance by Jaz and Zoetrope Ocelot

Jaz has been doing photography in SL since 2018: “It would be more than appropriate to say that Milla (Ladmilla) introduced me to the nuances in the art. While I still have much to learn, I am enjoying every minute of it. Special thanks to Eta (Etamae Resident) for making me look at the amazing possibilities of SL and to Harry Cover (impossibleisnotfrench Resident) for giving me an opportunity and courage to branch out on my own and to be able to collaborate and experiment with mesh with him.”
Jaz exhibits some of her work at her homeplace Third Eye and has an own little gallery Bohemian Imaginarium@ – two places to add to my list.

Thank you Michiel for enabling this joined exhibition, thanks to the artists for their work. I enjoyed my visit!

Landmark to Michiel Bechir’s Art Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Embrace/26/226/2502
Pavel Stransky’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pavelstransky
Hazel Foxtrot’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/166901264@N04/
Jaz (Jessamine2108)’s homeplace “Third Eye”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Midnight%20Sanctum/145/226/1101
Jaz (Jessamine2108)’s gallery Bohemian Imaginarium@
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Blue%20Moon/78/120/25

Art in Second Life 2020 (19B) Michiel Bechir Galleries current exhibtions

16 Apr 2020 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

At Michiel Bechir Galleries a new exhibtion was opened on Friday, April 10th. I went there on Saturday, April 11th. The exhibition features the work of Tresore Prada (tresore), Mélodie Heart (mariemadeleine38), Star (gossamerstar) on the 2nd floor and Michiel Bechir’s own art on the 1st floor. Unfortunately I didn’t find a notecard with more information about the artists, hence I have only some basic information.

Tresore Prada (tresore) is in SL since 2011. She writes about herself “I love SL because it allows me to explore, discover new parts of myself, be creative, connect and experience others. It enriches my life. I have found in photography and visual arts the perfect outlet for creativity.” At Michiel Bechir’s Galleries we see her pictures, that are related to peaceful fairy fantasy worlds. The floor of the room at the gallery is covered with grass and wildflowers, there’s a fountain and the opportunity to sit. This way you see the pictures in a fitting environment.

Tresore Prada (Tresore) at Michiel Bechir’s Galleries

Mélodie Heart (mariemadeleine38) is in SL since 2016. She has had several exhibtions also together with other artists in Second Life and her art work has messages – mostly realated to nature and evironmental issues: “This paper cut world will replace the world we live in once it will be worn out.” I haven’t seen this kind of art in Second Life yet but only in RL and I like it! The world map made up with pieces of paper, almost breaking apart dominates the room with her art. But look also at all the other paper cut work.

Mélodie Heart (mariemadeleine38) at Michiel Bechir’s Galleries

Star (gossamerstar) is Canadian and in Second Life since 2013. Star had a few exhibtions before. The art presented at Michiel Bechir Galleries fits a bit to the art of Mélodie Heart (mariemadeleine38), the floor of the room is also covered with green gras and there’s an Angel statue made of stone in the center of the room. The pictures itself are are also related to fantasy worlds yet a tiny bit less romantic (I wonder is there something like more or less romantic?)

20200411 Gossamerstar_005

Star (gossamerstar) at Michiel Bechir’s Galleries

Michiel Bechir is quite a while in Second Life already (since 2007). Michiel art deals also with pictures taken within Second Life. He says about himself:
“I have started my long virtual journey as a photographer in Second Life in 2009. First my main motivation was to share the richness of creations of all those different sims, with all their aspects. I discovered the options offered by several photo tools, which helped me to improve the shots I captured. By editing them I try to add a personal touch and feeling.”
Michiel’s pictures are impressive as the processing makes them more colourful and highlights the beauty or the original picture.

Michiel Bechir’s own art at Michiel Bechir Galleries

Landmark to Michiel Bechir Galleries
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Amarantha%20Island/80/70/3006