ART :: OPENINGS PRESENTS :: FRENZY INTO FOLLY VIRTUAL GALLERY VI :: SANTELLA, VELLETRI, PAVLOU, KOHN
Frenzy Into Folly
Church of St. Paul the Apostle
Corner of West 60th & Columbus Ave. (212) 265-3495
New York, New York 10019
[On View Through October 26th. Open Hours: Mon – Fri 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sat – Sun 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.]
In the meanwhile, you can whet your whistle with this weeks’s artist preview, with work and words from Anthony Santella, Garry Velletri, John Pavlou, and Rachel Kohn. Onward!
Anthony Santella (Northern NJ)
Frenzy into Folly evokes the specter of good intentions and grand plans collapsed in ruin under the panicked burdens of the every day. Pushed beyond our abilities and natures, reason and knowledge fail us and we react blindly and manically. We are left with only the elusive hope of rescue, of something from outside which breaks through the barrier of our fears and releases us.
This piece draws on a number of intertwined strands of imagery, the biblical parable of seeds sown among thorns, the image of sleeping beauty awaiting new life behind a barrier of brambles, the barbed wire surrounding the condemned. I want to capture something of the way despair can evoke both frenzy and immobility, to forever twitch and struggle yet arrive nowhere, while hinting at some final hope of freedom.…
I’ve always been interested in the exploration of movement in still images, often hallucinatory, sometimes frenzied. In the movement lies the implied narrative of moments lost, moments anticipated, or moments in decay. To capture these transitory moments, especially in the mundane, both honors and destroys its ephemeral qualities, adding a kind of permanence to such a fleeting millisecond in time and space. The pure audaciousness of choosing which moments to enshrine – and to hint at the stories within – portrays the transcendence from the ordinary. Such a Dadaistic approach surely leads to folly.
John Pavlou (New York, NY)
My piece, The Chapel of the Whirlwind, is meditation on the sacred. It is meant to be used as chapel or mediation space. It will exist for a time as a chapel within a chapel within a church in a busy city, a safe space, another kind of space.
I believe in the sacred and the divine. I believe in ritual and sacralized spaces. The human story is one of yearning for connection to each other and communion with the mystery. We build and set aside places in our minds and souls and physical environments in order to honor this yearning and to connect with God, the Divine, the Eternal, the Great Other.
My little chapel is a wreck of a place, not fashioned with great craftsmanship. As an object, it is meant to symbolize how we fall short of the perfection and glory we seek to honor. My gift is in my questions, not in the eloquence of my answers. We make a space and time sacred by intention. I intend the Chapel of the Whirlwind to be a space for one to step out of this world and into another. Use it as you will. May your intentions be fulfilled.
website
Rachel Kohn (New York, NY)
I create meditative landscapes that offer a space for the viewer to explore complex cycles of the earth. Growth is always followed by decay, it is a natural process, and in my work I attempt to create harmony in this cycle. My paintings deal with a shifting of energy finding light from darkness, control from chaos, and balance from the unbalanced. These cavernous landscapes explore patterns within the natural world and are influenced by human fragility, love, life and death.
My paintings are very physical, and my process involves carving, caressing, painting, and melting multiple layers of watercolor, aquaresin, foam and wax. The layered history is integral to each piece. The final layer is encapsulated by wax, both revealing and concealing what lies beneath.
website
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Corner of West 60th & Columbus Ave. (212) 265-3495
New York, New York 10019[On View Through October 26th. Open Hours: Mon – Fri 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sat – Sun 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.]
