This mesmerizing kinetic art sculpture by Italian Artist Walter Rossi can be observed from the first floor front window of the Agora Gallery, located at 530 West 25th Street in the Chelsea Gallery District.
Since 2000, Rossi has been working in kinetic art. He animates action toys and other found items by using a magnetic motor. The results are like theatrical presentations; often very funny and profound at the same time. I could watch them fly around all day long!
Aelita Andre Admires her Work at the Agora Gallery (All Photos By Gail)
It was almost exactly one year ago that The Worley Gig was first introduced to the engaging painting style of art prodigy Aelita Andre via her 2011 solo exhibit, Prodigy of Color. Aelita, now five years old, has a new show at Agora Gallery and we were on hand last night for the opening reception of the current Andre collection called Secret Universe. Continue reading Secret Universe by Aelita Andre at NYC’s Agora Gallery→
“The Meeting” By Aelita Andre (All Images Courtesy of The Agora Gallery)
At four years of age, artist Aelita Andre is the youngest professional painter in the world. Using acrylic paints and mixed media, she creates large canvases of colorful abstract forms that sell for between five and ten thousand dollars each. A large selection of Aelita’s paintings is currently on exhibit at the Agora Gallery in Chelsea, where all but two canvases (as of this writing) have already found buyers. You might remember another young painter, Marla Olmstead, who made the news at age four (back in 2007) for her own abstract paintings that were selling for thousands of dollars. Marla was the subject of the highly polarizing documentary, My Kid Could Paint That, which dealt primarily with the controversy over whether Marla (and not her Dad) was actually the one creating her paintings. While Marla’s parents were never able to convincingly document their daughter in the process of creating an entire work, Aelita’s parents film her as she works on each one of her paintings, so there is no doubt she is the artist. Videos of Aelita in action can be viewed at the gallery, and you can easily see that this young lady has a definite determination in her process and vision. I mean, the kid can paint. As you watch her swirl, spread and pour paint across the canvas, it’s almost impossible not to think of the creative process of the late, great Jackson Pollack.
“Hong Kong Dragon Dance”
A distinct detail in this collection is how Aelita incorporates a variety of “found objects” into her paintings by applying them directly to the canvas. These items range from beads, glitter, pipe cleaners, plastic “googly eyes,” tiny plastic animals and dinosaurs, colorful hair combs, miniature pom-poms, marbles and wire pot scrubbers to instruments of her artistic medium such as paint brushes, sponges, tubes of acrylic paint and their disembodied caps. Sometimes the objects are painted over and sometimes they appear to have been applied after the final coat of paint, letting them retain more of their original identity. I really enjoyed viewing Aelita’s paintings and would definitely want to add one to my collection if I had a spare ten grand laying around. The Prodigy of Color exhibit is 100% kid friendly and there were parents with young children at the gallery when I visited who really seemed to get excited about the paintings. You can view the exhibit online at This Link, but don’t let that stop you from making the trip in person if you live in the New York area, as the colors are much more vibrant and details more apparent when you see them up close.
“Millenium Pizza” (Note: That’s how it’s spelled!)
Prodigy of Color runs through June 25, 2011 at The Agora Gallery, Located at 530 West 25th Street (West of 10th Avenue), 2nd Floor, NYC. Gallery Hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 11 AM – 6 PM.
If you’ve ever wondered what the parts inside of a computer box might look like if reworked into a tiny sculpture of the NYC Skyline, now’s your chance to find out. You’ve probably seen his work on the Internet, but now Franco Recchia’s “circuit board cityscapes” – all composed entirely of cast-off electronic parts – can be seen up close in the exhibition The Odyssey Within: An Exhibition of Fine Art by Greek and Italian Artists which opens at NYC’s Agora Gallery this Thursday, December 16, 2010. The Agora Gallery Blog also has a fascinating interview with Recchia (including more pictures of his art) up now at This Link. I recommend you check it out for added insight on the artist’s methods and philosophy prior to viewing the exhibit.
Boston
The Odyssey Within Runs from December 16 to January 7, 2011 at the Agora Gallery, 530 West 25th St, New York City. Gallery Hours: Tues – Sat, 11 AM – 6 PM.
Here I am looking large in my many layers of outerwear posing with LEGO Brick artist Nathan Sawaya and one of his amazing sculptures that you can see now at the Agora Gallery on West 25th Street. Nathan’s current exhibit, Red, is up until December 14th, 2010 so make sure to see it while you can!