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First Friday RVA, October 2012: Rhymes With Desire
Posted by: Necci – Oct 01, 2012
Summer's over, and you can tell by looking out your window. With temperatures cooling, night falling earlier, and the end of Daylight Savings Time finally arriving sometime between now and Thanksgiving (if they haven't moved it back again...), keeping warm is starting to become a concern. And as leaves prepare to fall from the trees and people all over the city eagerly anticipate the arrival of Halloween (or Samhain, as the case may be) at the end of the month, the theme for October can be no other than that most primal of elements: fire. First Friday in RVA this month has plenty to offer where fire is concerned, both literally and metaphorically; from the fire-spinners entertaining people with acrobatic displays on Marshall St to the canvases inside the galleries that give brilliant proof of the talent and ambition possessed by many young artists operating in the RVA community right now. There's a lot to see this Friday night on the First Friday Art Walk--here's a preview:
Gallery 5: Visuals/Carnival Of 5 Fires Kickoff Ceremony
The Party Liberation Front brings their sixth annual monthlong celebration, the Carnival Of 5 Fires, to Gallery 5 this October. First Friday is the kickoff event, combining the opening night of a huge art exhibit featuring over 30 artists with a night of festive activities including fire performers, DJs, and a set by Richmond's premier James Brown tribute band, The Big Payback!
The Party Liberation Front is a collective of artists that span many disciplines. Often thought of as fire performance, circus artists, dancers and DJs, PLF also has a plethora of 2 and 3 dimensional visual artists that work in many mediums and styles. For this show we've put out the call and invited a few friends to join us in creatively liberation. PLF “Visuals” will open on First Friday October 5th at Gallery5 in conjunction with the Carnival of 5 Fires and will be a showcase of these artists, concentrating on paintings, drawings, illustrations, prints, photography, video projections, sculpture, mixed media and more!
With work by...
*Alyssa Argenzio*Brit Austin*Annie Bennett*Charles Berger*Faith Broache*LeVar Carter*Eliza Childress*Amanda Cleland*Reef Clem*Courtney Elizabeth*Mark Gibson*Zoe Golden*Ian Graham*Michael Grecheck*Todd Herrington*Jared Karnes/OneTribe*Lily Lamberta/All the Saints Theater Company*Abigail Larson*Simon Leake*Ben Muri*Jim Nelson*Parker*[REPACK]*Judy Raviotta*Todd Raviotta*Katie Stanton*Steven Warrick*Emily Williamson*Michael Yates*Roman Zelgatas*Visuals from Geometry Spectrum
*Roaming performance by Roze Czorba and her Suspended Disbelief Marionette mobile theater
Vending/tabling by
*All the Saints Theater Company*Boom Boom Basics*Conscious Karma*The Clockworks Collective*Flirty Flasks*[REPACK]*Resplendent Jewels by Sosticky and Jewel*River City Burlesque
Stage stage performances by:
Deanna Danger*Deepa De Jour*Scarlet Starlet*Khalima*Puppie Buffe'*Evo~latic
PLF will also be on the street beside the gallery lighting things on fire to perform with, special circus acts and pumping DJ tunes . It will also be the debut of PLF's Pyroship Flora Burn!
Visuals/The Carnival Of 5 Fires Opening Ceremony takes place on First Friday, October 5, beginning at 7 PM, at Gallery 5, located at 200 W. Marshall St. Visuals will remain on display throughout October. For more information on the full month-long schedule for the 2012 Carnival Of 5 Fires, click HERE.
Visual Art Studio: Descent
Chris Semtner's Descent, an exhibit of "mostly smaller sized mysterious figurative acrylic on panel paintings," opens on Thursday, October 4 from 6-8 PM, with a First Friday Opening Reception on Friday, October 5 from 6-10 PM, at Visual Arts Studio, located at 208 W. Broad St.
1708 Gallery: In Light Richmond 2012--Lantern Making Workshops
In Light Richmond 2012, the fifth annual presentation of light based art and performances, organized by 1708 Gallery, takes place this year starting on November 2 with a Community Light Parade. In preparation for this event, October's First Friday event at 1708 Gallery is a lantern making workshop. This workshop is free and open to all ages and skill levels, and will offer members of the community an opportunity to participate in the light parade. The workshop will take place in the parking lot of Quirk Gallery, located at 311 W. Broad St, on First Friday, October 5, from 6-9 PM.
Quirk Gallery: Caitie Sellers/Monée Marie Bengtson
Quirk Gallery presents two new exhibitions: jewelry by Caitie Sellers on the Shop Wall, and two-dimensional work by Monée Marie Bengtson in the Vault Gallery.
Window Bar Bracelet. Sterling silver & steel. 2011.
My current line of jewelry is inspired by Colonial Spanish architecture observed in Xela, Guatemala. The jewelry is formed, soldered, and given a patina to resemble wrought steel work that primarily functions as protection for urban homes and businesses. I am attracted to the graceful craftsmanship of these often overlooked features. In my jewelry I am placing value in the detail of the ironwork and thereby bringing a sense of preciousness to otherwise common materials. In this way rough and imposing architecture evolves into graceful and delicate forms while keeping the wearer anchored in geography and history. --Caitie Sellers
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Monée Marie Bengtson combines drawing, Photoshop, pigment, dye, weaving, and embroidery to execute her two dimensional work. Using personal narrative as a jumping point, the artist applies colorful and imagined imagery meant to overlay the lurking fear generated by the familiar and the concealed.
When the artist is producing scarves she prefers to draw from long-established methods of weaving, knitting, crochet, and embroidery. She is fond of nature and often employs organic motifs in each garment.
These two exhibitions will open on Thursday, October 4, with a First Friday Reception on Friday, October 5 from 5-9 PM. Both exhibitions will remain on display through October 26 at Quirk Gallery, located at 311 W. Broad St.
Art 6: Azucar!
This exhibit will highlight the diversity of the Latin Americas and the rich contributions made historically by the people of the Latin Americas and the Spanish speaking islands. Artworks will pertain to Hispanic history and culture, to include but not limited to; ethnic dress, ethnic food, dance, music, famous people, Latin history, historical figures, poetry, beliefs, carnival, spirituality, etc.
Azucar! features the work of abstract sculptress AnaMarie Paredes, as well as other local and international artists, and is curated by Helene Ruiz, founder of the Urban Individualists. It will open with a reception taking place on First Friday, October 5, from 5-10 PM at Art6, located at 6 E. Broad St. The reception will be broadcast live by 1450 AM, the Latin Jazz Radio Station, and will feature live dance performances by the Latin Ballet of Virginia, a special live bata performance by percussionist Melena La Rumbera, and a special appearance by Miss Hispanidad VA.
Books Bikes And Beyond: French
Books Bikes and Beyond will be featuring an exhibition of works by Richard “French” Sayer, a freelance artist, illustrator, and skateboarder based out of London, England. Heavily inspired by metal music and highly detailed medieval etchings, French has created work for many names in the skateboard industry, as well as for his own company, Witchcraft Hardware. The opening reception for this exhibition will take place on First Friday, October 5, from 6-10 PM at Books Bikes And Beyond Thrift Store, located at 7 W. Broad St. The exhibition will remain on display through October 31.
Turnstyle: Phase One
Phase One is a collaborative fashion & music project by friends. Featuring photography, video, and apparel styling by Jason Guidry, Tony Day, and Joanna Oremland, respectively, plus masks by Firefly. Apparel from Turnstyle, Photo & Video shot around downtown RVA along Broad Street. Models featured: Christine Gordon, Jessica Lamberta, Jen Walker, King James, Tom Collins, Gordon Smith, and Miah Sanderson. Music for the event provided by DJ Illogic, Joanna O featuring Cat Nightengale. All Vinyl jungle DJ sets outside, in front of Turnstyle.
Phase One will take place on First Friday, October 5, from 7-10 PM, at Turnstyle, located at 102 W. Broad St.
9WG: Smear Tactics
9WG Studios presents Smear Tactics, a collection of new works by Daniel Calder. An opening reception will take place on First Friday, October 5, from 5-8 PM at 9WG Studios, located at 9 W. Grace St.
Artemis Gallery: Contemporary Contradictions In Glass
Artemis Gallery is bringing a bit of drama and intrigue to the local art world with their exhibition this month, Contemporary Contradictions In Glass, which presents itself as a challenge to the work of contemporary glass sculptor Dale Chihuly, who has a major exhibition of work opening at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on October 20.
Artemis Gallery will present unique challenging art glass by up and coming young artists who challenge Dale Chihuly's concepts of decorative art. For years, Dale Chihuly has been impressing museums and collectors with his overdone decorative glass chandeliers that are difficult to install and can only be hung with his 15 associates. At Artemis, you will see refreshing new glass that you can install youself and enjoy for years. New color, new technique, and new artists will show a contradictory vision to Chihuly's museum show and more accurately represent the next generation in glass.
Contemporary Contradictions In Glass features work by Dan Scogna, Charles Hall, Neil Duman, Grant Garmezey, Kirsti Tororitis, Amy DeLoria, and Jessica Fellerman. It opens on Friday, October 5 with a First Friday Opening Reception from 5-10 PM at Artemis Gallery, located at 1601 W. Main St.
Studio Two Three: Death Is In The Details
Cardinal: Shrike by Oscar Gillespie; Three plate image, engraving with color aquatint
Death In The Details is a multi-artist show curated by James Ehlers, featuring printed works by Michael Barnes, Douglas Bosley, Lisette Chavez, Emily Arthur Douglas, James Ehlers, Xenia Fedorchenko, Oscar Gillespie, Karla Hackenmiller, Charles Hancock, John Hancock, Matt Hopson – Walker, Stephanie Hunder, Dan Kirchhefer, Ashton Ludden, Dennis McNett, Johanna Mueller, Ryan O’Malley, Joanne Price, Clinton Ricketts, Brandon Sanderson, Joseph Velasquez, and Gerry Wubben. It opens First Friday, October 5, with a reception from 7-9 PM at Studio Two Three, located at 1617 W. Main St. Art will remain on display through October 26.
Page Bond Gallery: Fragments & The Observed World Of A Right-Handed Painter
Amber George, Articulation, 2012, Encaustic on panel, 30 x 30 inches
Fragments is a selection of new works by Amber George.
Amber George’s layered, organic paintings are visual incarnations of the artist’s memories of plants, places, and personal items like clothing and fabrics. The medium of encaustic on panel enhances her paintings’ subdued palette and lends her work the hazy quality of dreams. These new pieces synthesize observation and memory, imagination and experience, the mechanical and the organic. The motifs of her sewing series grew out of an ambiguous relationship to the traditionally feminine crafts her grandmothers spent many hours perfecting, such as sewing, embroidering, crocheting, knitting and darning. George incorporates imagery of these art forms into her work in an effort to reinterpret and reclaim them. Many of her earlier works consist of individual, gem-like fields of color and space, with few motifs allowed to overlap or cross the borders between fields. However, her new work shows a trend toward greater cohesion. Compositions are more open: circles are left incomplete, stripes fragmented, borders more yielding and open to vulnerability.
Tim O'Kane; Mid-Summer Still Life / Watermelons, 2009; Oil on panel; 30 1/2 x 34 1/2 inches
The Observed World Of A Right-Handed Painter is a selection of new works by Tim O'Kane.
Tim O’Kane is a contemporary photographer and painter with a practice based in classical realism. His remarkable still lifes playfully reference the traditions of Renaissance Dutch and ancient Italian domestic painting. Cracked eggshells, dimpled oranges, striated feathers and stones, eggplants, and watermelon seem to burst from the surfaces of his paintings and push against the limits of their frames. They nearly exceed realism to the point of trompe l’oeil. Yet clues such as playful subject matter (including a pair of old sneakers and scoops of ice cream delightfully plopped onto a counter next to a vintage ice cream scooper) hint that despite the potential weight of the history of his chosen practice, O’Kane retains a sense of lightheartedness and jubilance about his work.
Fragments & The Observed World Of A Right-Handed Painter will open with a reception on First Friday, October 5, from 7-9 PM, at Page Bond Gallery, located at 1625 W. Main St. The exhibits will remain on display through October 27.
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Artists! Galleries! Would you like your future First Friday events covered in these monthly articles? We might hear about your event anyway, but why leave it to chance? Email us your press releases: andrew@rvamag.com.
By Andrew Necci; top image by Todd Raviotta
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