February 25, 2010

Illuminating Shadows @ Frisbie


Last month it was my pleasure to have been part of a wonderful experiment in a new way of viewing art. In darkness.


Only flashlights, provided by the organizers of the exhibition (Lanell Dike, Becky Jaffe and Carrie-Andrea Kaye), given to the attending public to view the art, lighted the artwork. It was a three-day event and the exhibition gallery was one of many venues of the Oakland Art Murmur event.

It sounds a bit wacky, or at least it did to me when I was first invited to participate; but it was that element of wackiness that intrigued me and tempted me to join in the experiment. I have absolutely no regrets.



Barcelona, 2 am, photo by Styrous®

The amazing thing is that my work took on a dimension it had never had nor had it ever occurred to me to try viewing it in that manner. I had four pieces in the show, street scenes at night. The strangest thing happened when my work was viewed with a flashlight. The image took on an eerie, other-world quality as shown in the photograph (above right) taken by Debra Jan Bibel by flashlight. They came alive, as I have never seen them do before.


There were 15 artists who participated in the show (that's me on the left.) The work ranged from sculpture, 2-D & 3-D art, photography and video.

The artists were:
C. BrooksText Color
Mercy Calman
Kamran Golriz
Eli Jenkins
Elisa Salasin



photo by Styrous®
Across from me, Becky Jaffe showed her ethereal transparencies.



photo by Styrous®
JJ Fryzal was a big hit with her florescent, 3-D artwork.



photo by Styrous®
Lanell Dike showed her amazing filmstrip-body light sculpture.



photo by Styrous®
Kristen Hoard had her jelly fish/metal sculpture
on display in the middle of the room. It was remarkable.

In the backroom, Carrie-Andrea Kaye created an installation piece featuring video by Gustavo Porras.



photo by Eli Jenkins
My favorite work in the show was a photo by Eli Jenkins;
a delightfully playful optical illusion image that I found charming and engaging.

I wasn't able to attend the opening night on Friday due to my photo shoot of the BAMscape I had scheduled but I was there on Saturday evening to enjoy the great music of Cara Wick, on guitar, and Kim Lembo, playing violin.

On Sunday, it was beautiful and sunny and in the back of the building an outdoor living room was set up with drawing materials for people and children to create work that could then be brought into the darkened gallery to view under the black lights.

What a great experience it was. Good job Frisbie.

February 21, 2010

BAMscape at the Berkeley Art Museum



photo by Styrous®

On Friday, January 29th, during the ongoing L@TE series, the
Berkeley Art Museum unveiled BAMscape, an amazing
architectural sculpture designed by architect Thom Faulders, that was commissioned by the Museum.

photo by Styrous®

Designed to be people friendly, it was built to be interactive for people to climb, walk, sit & lay on.

photo by Styrous®

The children especially enjoyed romping around on it.

photo by Styrous®

Constructed of wood over foam, it is painted a wonderful, warm orange. Delightful to the eye and easy on the body when laying on it, it is a beautiful, colorful & huge construction that says, “Come, enjoy me.” It is a visual blend reminiscent of a stage set, waves, architectural plans, mountains or a children’s slide. Faulders says it creates, “dynamic relationships between users and environments.”


photo by Styrous®


photo by Styrous®



photo by Styrous®

photo by Styrous®

photo by Styrous®

Anne McGuire performing atop the sculpture and accompanied by sound designer, Wobbly, provided the entertainment for the event.

photo by Styrous®

What a wonderful and fun experience it was.


Styrous© ~ February 21, 2010