Deep Breath, the exhibition of work by Andrea Padovani currently being shown at the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery, is a lesson in inspiration. The word is from the Latin—inspirare—meaning to breathe in or blow into. In art, inspiration is a power that cannot be commanded, but when present, moves the intellect and emotions with a sudden sense of awe. In considering how to look at Andrea’s work, I discovered that the titles of his paintings were a guided tour into the indicators of inspiration.
Even though art has been a continuing human dialog across thousands of years, and has been shaped and edited by cultural, political and commercial interests, art is meditation. Good art never stops revealing itself: in the process of its making, in the depth of its narrative, in the revelation of its mystery. These qualities of process, depth and revelation are key to profound meditation. Buddha is a Principle, currently exhibited by Tamara Dawn at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery, shows us how to overcome what we think we know about art, and celebrate what we don’t yet know.
Ear to Ocean by Ebony Rose, is currently on exhibit at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery. This show is an opportunity to ‘change it up.’ Ebony Rose is inviting us challenge our notions about how art and space relate.
The current exhibition at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery, by Iris Steigemann, is an expression of Topophilia: the affective bond between a person and a place. The art works of Adrift above the Arctic Circle are symbols that have the power to suggest the whole. The whole of a place–with no editing, shaping, distorting through politics, commercial interests or customs. In our daily lives, primary experience is often screened by multiple layers of distortion, yet art can clear this fog. Here are some ways in which I think Iris has met this critical challenge of clear seeing.
Tests in art school are rarely what we imagine. In Painting with Eyes Closed, the current exhibition at the Old Schoolhouse art gallery, Filipe Figueria has taken up the challenge of this test: a painting should be satisfying at a distance of both 12 inches and 12 feet. So, what does it mean to be “satisfying?”
