Archivi tag: art

The Burj Al Arab and Kapoor’s art

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The iconic luxury six-star sail-shaped hotel, symbol of Dubai, hosts an exhibition for the first time in 22 years, with unseen works by the artist Anish Kapoor. No longer a wonderful unfathomable fortress, now the most exclusive super-luxury hotel in the world increases the offer for its guests and at the same time opens up to dialogue with the public, involving above all contemporary art lovers. The works of Anish Kapoor, British-Indian sculptor and conceptual artist, on view at the Dubai solo show are in perfect harmony with the Burj Al Arab’s architecture, entering into an intimate relationship with the exterior and interior. Kapoor’s sculptural works, with their abstract biomorphic forms, establish an intimate synergy with visitors changing according to different points of view. A unique visual and sensory experience.

Shiny, mirroring surfaces; rich colours; pure shapes that seem to defy gravity, depth, and the very limits of perception; plays of transparencies that come into harmony with the surrounding nature, reacting to light, sky, to the expanse of the Arabian Gulf sea on which opens the large window of the temporary exhibition space entrusted to Galleria Continua.

The idea of the pop-up gallery is a gradual way to get closer to Dubai “It’s a new adventure. We want to arrive on tiptoe. The place is magical, we are in a building that is an icon of Dubai -tells me Lorenzo Fiaschi, Director and Co-founder of Galleria Continua- The idea is to stay, but we do not give certainties, because we also want to feel good in a context that is important and in which so many differences coexist “. Galleria Continua does not yet have its own permanent exhibition space in Dubai but has been participating in the two main artistic events in the United Arab Emirates for 15 years: Art Dubai and Abu Dhabi Art. Let’s find out more about the works on view at the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah hotel and about new turning point given to the hotel that has redefined the concept of extra-luxury hospitality in the world.  Continua a leggere→

Inside a Van Gogh painting

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You can walk into alive Vincent Van Gogh paintings in Dubai. Infinity Des Lumières provides such a new, immersive experience at the Dubai Mall. Is this immersive experience going to be the future of art? Experts are wondering why living Vincent Van Gogh paintings are increasingly gaining ground. Currently, there are at least two ongoing exhibitions in New York similar to that on show in Dubai. Purists turn up their nose, but the main point is: will these initiatives strengthen art? The general public cling to these out of any classic standard exhibits because in the selfie society any chance to share the most spectacular moment on social media is not to be missed. 

The experience at Infinity Des Lumières, the largest digital art center in the Middle East, is not without such indulgence, not surprisingly suggesting every once and again photogenic spots for best ever selfies. You can even find a room full of mirrors with the ubiquitous spot where to take the perfect selfie. These exhibitions seem to bring closer to art people who would not otherwise be even driven by the desire to enter a museum or a gallery. Music and animations do the rest, making painting accessible and attractive, expanding its imaginative power. If these immersive digital experiences deserve a credit, it’s because they contribute to making art accessible for a general audience, tweaking it to 21st century communication, with technology and innovation increasingly becoming a cultural paradigm.

Digital art galleries like these do not replace museums and original artworks, with their depth and materiality. They represent instead a different consumption of art, all experiential, intended for an audience used to interacting with technology. Being immersed in famous paintings is what people want to experience, a result achieved with high-resolution image animations projected on giant screens. Let’s go and see how digital art galleries work, some of the most evocative images and what are the other exhibitions currently on show at the Infinity Des Lumières digital gallery in Dubai.  Continua a leggere→

Art In The Zoom Age

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Intensive Care Units is artist Sandro Kopp’s exhibit in Vienna. Emotions, self perception, Zoom video calls, in the “selfie society”. A journey into contemporaneity, through faces, gazes, moments, places, that is both introspection and a play of reflections. On the background, the changes that the pandemic brought to our lives. At the Sammlung Friedrichshof Stradtraum German-New Zealand painter Sandro Kopp exhibits three works that articulate in different ways the concept of authentic dialogue with subjective reality. In a world dominated by photography, where images are the result of lenses and are the product of a digital eye, and technology becomes so pervasive, the subjective vision should be recovered. To do this, there is no other way than the artistic gesture.

“Tiredness, bad lighting, being hungover, and emotions definitely, everything fits into a far more layered and rounded experience of reality” Sandro Kopp tells me, and this is what we can see in his artworks on show in Vienna. “Photography has become so ubiquitous in our existence, I myself realise that it has become almost an extension of my brain, of my neuronal network – Sandro explains to me – Psychologically we are relying on a mediated lens-based image more and more as a kind of representation of not even reality but of our perception. We think that a camera picture is our perception, but it is not”. Let’s go and see the three body of works on show in this exhibition at the Sammlung Friedrichshof Stadtraum, which can be visited till the end of July.  Continua a leggere→

Art in the Zoom age

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Intensive Care Units is artist Sandro Kopp’s exhibit in Vienna. Emotions, self perception, Zoom video calls, in the “selfie society”. A journey into contemporaneity, through faces, gazes, moments, places, that is both introspection and a play of reflections. On the background, the changes that the pandemic brought to our lives. At the Sammlung Friedrichshof Stradtraum, German-New Zealand painter Sandro Kopp, exhibits three works that articulate in different ways the concept of authentic dialogue with subjective reality. In a world dominated by photography, where images are the result of lenses and are the product of a digital eye, and technology becomes so pervasive, the subjective vision should be recovered. To do this, there is no other way than the artistic gesture.

“Tiredness, bad lighting, being hungover, and emotions definitely, everything fits into a far more layered and rounded experience of reality” Sandro Kopp tells me, and this is what we can see in his artworks on show in Vienna.

“Photography has become so ubiquitous in our existence, I myself realise that it has become almost an extension of my brain, of my neuronal network – Sandro explains to me – Psychologically we are relying on a mediated lens-based image more and more as a kind of representation of not even reality but of our perception. We think that a camera picture is our perception, but it is not”. Let’s go and see the three body of works on show in this exhibition at the Sammlung Friedrichshof Stadtraum, which can be visited till the end of July.  Continua a leggere→

Vienna e i nuovi eroi

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La saga degli Argonauti e Vienna. A connettere queste due realtà, apparentemente lontane, ci ha pensato Monica Giovinazzi, con la sua mostra nell’atelier Alberi, a Kirchengasse 33, nel vivacissimo settimo distretto. Argonauts, questo il titolo della mostra che resterà aperta fino al 1 luglio, presenta al pubblico viennese una serie di opere ispirate alle Argonautiche di Apollonio Rodio, realizzate con gesso, pastelli ad olio e fuoco su pezzi di legno di recupero. I personaggi dipinti dalla Giovinazzi sono di grande effetto, materici, sofferenti, incapaci di sostenere i propri ideali, alienati, sconfitti, schiacciati dal peso della propria inadeguatezza a reagire.

Sono quasi degli antieroi, o forse dei nuovi eroi, tutt’altro che vittoriosi ma, al contrario, isolati e privi della forza per combattere, eppure dal grande potere immaginifico. Ciò che lega gli Argonauti alla capitale austriaca è l’autrice stessa, romana, che ha fatto di Vienna la sua seconda casa, da quando vi si è trasferita nel 2005. Il trait d’union, che stabilisce il collegamento, è Monica Giovinazzi, regista e insegnante di teatro, artista figurativa e creatrice di installazioni, scenografie e mostre, performing artist.

Tra i suoi nuovi progetti, infatti, c’è un interessantissimo corso di performing art che si svolge a Londra e che ha l’ambizioso obiettivo di aiutare gruppi di rifugiati ad apprendere elementi di programmazione informatica anche attraverso l’arte performativa. In pratica la Giovinazzi traduce il linguaggio di codifica informatica in arte performativa, consentendo a chi è fuggito da guerre, persecuzioni, carestie, di superare i propri traumi attraverso gestualità ed espressione del corpo, e di imparare un mestiere, iniziando così una nuova vita in un Paese straniero. Scopriamo di più sugli Argonauti e sull’attività artistica di Monica Giovinazzi.  Continua a leggere→