Art in Second Life 2020 (52) Itakos Art Gallery – 2020 Summer Collection

18 Aug 2020 Leave a comment

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

Since July 30th, the Itakos Art Gallery presents the “2020 Summer Collection” with a collective of talented artists selected from the Soul Portraits – Itakos Flickr group. In total there’re 33 photos with 15 different flavors and style. The exhibtion is in the Black Pavillion.
The featured artists are: Angelika Corral, ARnnO PLAneR, Aver Osk, Caly Applewhyte, ChimKami, David Silence, Joy De’Leon, Moonedembaum, Naiike Pani, Ooxooi, Paola Mills, Poupée Anna, Roberta Barineaux, Tralala Loordes, and Vallys Baxter.

Exhibition poster of Itakos Art Gallery – 2020 Summer Collection

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.

Itakos Art Gallery – 2020 Summer Collection: Naike Pani, Angelika Corral, Paola Mills

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 almost 400 members in this group and over 7.700 (!) 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.

Itakos Art Gallery – 2020 Summer Collection: Tralala Loordes, Vallys Baxter

The “2020 Summer Collection” shows a very small selection of the 7.700 pictures of the group. All 33 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.

Itakos Art Gallery – 2020 Summer Collection: Caly Applewhyte, ChimKami, Moonedembaum, Ooxooi, Roberta Barineaux

Some of the artists did ring a bell as I wrote abouth them before, like Angelika Corral, Caly Applewhyte or Tralala Loordes. But most of the featured artists were new for me. I’m pretty sure that I will see more of them.

Itakos Art Gallery – 2020 Summer Collection: ARnnO PLAneR, Aver Osk, David Silence, Joy De’Leon, Poupée Anna

The Itakos Art Gallery is owned and curated by Akim Alonzo. Actually it is a place for arts with 7 exhibition rooms or pavillons: White, Black, Grey, Blue, Orange, Purple, Green Pavillion. There’s also a website where new exhibtions are announced.
Thank you Akim for the 2020 Summer Collection. I enjoyed my visit.

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/

Art in Second Life 2020 (17) La Maison d’Aneli April 2020

09 Apr 2020 7 Comments

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

On Wednesday, April 8th, the April exhibtion at La Maison d’Aneli was opened to the public. This time it features the art of Agleo Runningbear, Eifachfilm Vacirca, Etamae, FionaFei, Tralala Loordes, Xirana Oximoxi and Kalyca McCallen. I peeked into the exhibtion already on Sunday, April 5th.

I started my visit with the room presenting the art of Etamae.
Etamae is from the UK and began transforming her pictures from  the things she has seen and loved in Second Life into something else, in digital art in 2018. I came across Etamae in 2019 when I visited her exhibtion “Dominance and Submission” at Elevate Femdom (see here). Today Etamae has also an own gallery to showcase her art, the Extempore Gallery and Lounge, another gallery I might visit soon. At La Maison d’Aneli Etamae works with animated pictures that change permanently either with fading in and out different perspectives of the same picture or with zooming in and out. Two of these pictures are on twisted surfaces thus increasing the animation effect. We see heads and bodies or broken bits of them, the walls are covered by webs of barb wire, faces watch us… you can let your mind wander in the complexity of thoughts and impressions.

La Maison d’Aneli – April 2020 – Etamae

Kalyca McCallen and Proton d-oo-b (Eifachfilm Vacirca) formed Alchemelic, a Zurich-based music and art project with cinematographic background, mixed media, and 3D modeling. Proton d-oo-b (Eifachfilm Vacirca) is from Switzerland and looks back on decades of experience in different media businesses. His music style ranges from traditional to experimental. Kalyca McCallen is a multi-media artist from California and loves experimenting with texture and color. They aspire to spark our imagination and elevate our mood with their unique blend of visual art and original music. Kalyca McCallen and Proton d-oo-b (Eifachfilm Vacirca)’s installation at La Maison d’Aneli is titeled “The Space Between”. In their room you see three large 3D heads on both long sides of their room leading you to a door that brings you to platform with the core installation. You enter the space … planets and stars around you between 2 even larger 3D heads, a strange world, a fantasy, science fiction in your mind. Imagine that with experimental music!
Unfortunately I had no music from Alcemelic during my visit though but I had a look at their youtube channel, where you find many long and short clips of their music and their 3D art. The provided notecard at La Maison d’Aneli provides much more information and many more links.

La Maison d’Aneli – April 2020 – Kalyca McCallen and Proton d-oo-b (Eifachfilm Vacirca)

April Louise Turner (Agleo Runningbear) is an artisan shaman with native American, Romanian, German and Irish roots (wow). She makes perfomances, poems and paintings. Her art is also featured at ArtCare Gallery, another place to be added on my list of places to visit. At La Maison d’Aneli we see portraits in different techniques, mainly pencil drawings. At the time of my visit, her room was not yet finished and the pictures weren’t yet aligned perfectly, but the pictures itself were already there and the longer you look at them, the more they impress.

La Maison d’Aneli – April 2020 – April Louise Turner (Agleo Runningbear)

Tralala Loordes is in Second Life since SL 2009 and devoted to everything post-apocalyptic. But she’s also tempted by LODE headpieces. To her “they’re so much like Renaissance flower paintings. Flowers also have stories, myths, lore”. I never heard about LODE headpieces nor did I find a definition. In her room at La Maision d’Aneli you can see them: fantasy portraits with huge headpieces made of flowers and other elements. The pictures are presented in a fantasy environment, each picture held by a hand, a few pigeons on the floor and flying around and 2 large trees at the entrance so that you enter a different world.

La Maison d’Aneli – April 2020 – Tralala Loordes

Xirana Oximoxi is a Catalan artist, children’s books writer and illustrator. She works with different mediums, oil, watercolor, acrylic, ink, charcoal and pastel. At La Maison d’Aneli she presents her exhibition “Lost Souls”, which is in some way related to the current situation in all of our real lifes: “During these days of confinement many of us have to reinvent ourselves a bit so we can have a better time locked up at home. Walking around the rooftop I noticed the irregular surface of the walls and they have become a source of inspiration. “Lost Souls” is the title of a series of images I discovered following a small crack or the configuration suggested by the little fragments of rock of the conglomerate. The technique is a mixed media of photography and digital retouch.” It is fun to look at these stone surfaces and to discover faces, it attracts your attention to look more intensively and to abstract. It is not the first time that she is featured at La Maison d’Aneli. I saw her exhibtion “Women Artists XVI-XIX” there in February 2019 (see here)
Xirana has her an own website and an own blog.

La Maison d’Aneli – April 2020 – Xirana Oximoxi

I came across FionaFei’s art already two times this year visiting her Shui Mo Gallery (see here) and visiting her installation Impostor (see here).
Fiona is Chinese by decent but spent the majority of her life in the West: “I have a fascination with Chinese history and culture, but I often feel like I’m viewing my ancestry through a filter of Americanized information and experiences. Furthermore, my artistic background has been in charcoal and oil painting mediums, and I’ve had very little experience in actual ink-brush painting.” For more information look up FionaFei’s own website.
At La Maison d’Aneli we see 6 2D paintings of Fiona arranged at the left and at the right side of her installation. The installation itself is a bit more colourful then what I saw from her so far, held in black, red and green. And again you can walk in and get a part of the installation – and walking in your get different perspectives. Another piece of art, another technique – and I like it.

La Maison d’Aneli – April 2020 – FionaFei

La Maison d’Aneli is owned by Aneli Abeyante. Through her gallery she brings together all forms of creativity in RL and SL and the featured artists come from around the globe. Aneli’s intention is to “put her gallery in the service of artists, so that the world can be better, exchanges and meetings probably contribute even though it seems to be particles.”
Thank you for another great joined exhibtion, Aneli. As always I enjoyed my visit and writing about it. It always inspires me.

Landmark to La Maison d’Aneli
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Holland/36/55/3501
Extempore Gallery and Lounge
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Blarn%20Isle/13/210/1502
Alchemelic YouTube’channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/doobeifachfilm/videos
ArtCare Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Prychek/229/105/431
Xirana Oximoxi’s website
http://nuriavives.com/
Xirana Oximoxi’s blog
http://nuriavvives.wordpress.com/
Landmark to FionaFei’s Shui Mo Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dreams/147/44/2554
FionaFei’s Website:
https://fionafei.portfoliobox.net/

Simploring 2019 (62) Deva Westland’s Galerie Des Beaux-Arts

08 Jun 2019 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I picked a landmark from scoop.it SL Destinations for my simploring tour on Tuesday, May28th – Deva Westland’s Galerie Des Beaux-Arts.

“Flights of Fantasy” at Deva Westland’s Galerie Des Beaux-Arts

Deva Westland’s Galerie Des Beaux-Arts (or shorter Deva’s GdBA) is located in a full region on mainland named Gerstle. It is housed in a large manor that looks like a museum. The rooms ar quite large. On the first floor there’re several rooms, the second floor is just one big room, that is used also for events and dancing.

Deva Westland’s Galerie Des Beaux-Arts: The Sirens – Jaz (Jessamine2108) / Wings- Saz Ninetails / Introduction “Flights of Fantasy” / Airship Pirate – SeleneLily Galicia

The art at Deva’s GdBA changes every 3months. The latest exhibition was opened on Sunday 26th May and is titled “Flights of Fantasy”. It features 22 pictures from 19 different artists: Leo Beverly (Leonorah Beverly), Razor Cure, SeleneLily Galicia, Gidgy (Gidgette Adagio), AmandaSue Hallison, Jaz (Jessamine2108), Wynn Klaar, Broderick Logan (brodericklogan), Ena Logan (enaroane), Tralala Loordes, Skye McLeod Fairywren (Skye Fairywren), Saz Ninetails, Doyle Slen (beastmcstien), Ulf Winterwolf (ulfnir winterwolf), Liz Winterstorm (tinliz), Petrushka Petrov, Rya Santana (smalldoll), Clive Yardley and Deva Westland herself.

Deva Westland’s Galerie Des Beaux-Arts: Ice Is The Color – Doyle Slen (beastmcstien) / We elvish types… – Skye McLeod Fairywren (Skye Fairywren) / Whales – Clive Yardley / Flight of Silence – Liz Winterstorm (tinliz)

“Welcome to Second Life … where you can grow wings and fly, where your legs can disappear in place of a tail. This is the place you can let your fantasies run, of fly free! This is the place where our only limitation is our imagination!” … is written on one wall of the the first room when you enter Deva’s GdBA and the current exhibition “Flights of Fantasy”

Deva Westland’s Galerie Des Beaux-Arts: Drone- Tralala Loordes / The Monolithic – Razor Cure / Futureproof – Ulf Winterwolf (ulfnir winterwolf) / From the Soil – Gidgy (Gidgette Adagio)

Of course all exhibited pictures are about fantasy. Each picture is presented with enough room, so you can step back and fully look at it. Next to each picture is a plate with the artitst name that contains a notecard with information about the artist, the exhibited picture and related links like flickr streams. Mainly Deva has written these notecards herself, some are written by the artists.

Deva Westland’s Galerie Des Beaux-Arts: Stay lost with you – Ena Logan (enaroane) / The Power Of Books – Leo Beverly (Leonorah Beverly) / In The End – AmandaSue Hallison / In the dance of magic – Deva Westland

I didn’t come across any of these artists, maybe because I follow different passions in my Second Life. Nonetheless Deva succeeded to pull me a bit into fantasy worlds and to enjoy the different worlds. In the pictures itself and in the texts about them and about the artists I could feel the passion for fantasy of Deva and the other artists.

Deva Westland’s Galerie Des Beaux-Arts: Time Is A Valuable Thing – Broderick Logan (brodericklogan) / Fallen – Wynn Klaar / Kingdom Come – Petrushka Petrov / Walking through the Dragon’s Realm – Rya Santana (smalldoll)

Close to the entrance are some slideshows titled Winter 2017 or Warmth 2018. I assume these sildeshows show the pictures of former exhibtions at Deva’s GdBA.

Deva Westland’s Galerie Des Beaux-Arts: Nightmares – Deva Westland / more impressions of the gallery and of the current exhibition “Flight of Fantasy”

I enjoyed my visit to “Flights of Fantasy”, some pictures warmed my heart. Thank you Deva for curating the Galerie Des Beaux-Arts and for collecting all the information. I strongly recommend to read the notecards while looking at the the pictures as they provide the background or the intentions of the artists. And they provide the related links if you want to see more.

Landmark to Deva Westland’s Galerie Des Beaux-Arts
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gerstle/182/152/31
Deva Westland’s blog “DevaStatingSL – Opinionated travels through Second Life”
https://devastatingsl.wordpress.com/