Packaging Nature Exhibition

Curated by Rolando Chang Barrero, 



Packaging Nature Exhibition









Human nature and the environment is reveled through installations, assemblages, photography, and sound. 





The Packaging Nature Exhibition is open to the public and is Free.





Opening reception on April 26, 2012 at 6 PM in conjunction with the 



Boynton Beach Art District Art Walk.



Exhibition runs through May 17, 2012





ActivistArtistA Gallery 



422 West Industrial Ave.



Boynton Beach, Fl 33426





Selected work by:





Gina Bentivegna



Wendy Doscher-Smith, Kim Fay, 
Juan Gonzalez,  Brian Lewis ,  Saramati Narasimhan, Elle Schorr, Vicki Siegel, Serafima Sokolov , Ryan Spinelli,  Karla Walter









For more information and images visit us at 



ActivistArtistA.com



or, follow us at



twitter

 

ArtDeadline.Com

For More information visit ActivistArtistA.com

Bill Hatmann at ActivistArtistA

Come enjoy the sound of singer/songwriter Bill Hartmann on 

Thursday, April 26, 2012 at

ActivistArtistA Gallery

422 West Industrial Ave.

Boynton Beach, Florida 33426
contact us at: 786-521-1199

Listen to Bill Hartmann and Friends 


Latest Upload! Click Bill

Art In Public Places & ActivistArtistA

The City of Boynton Beach

Art in Public Places

and

ActivistArtistA Gallery 

422 West Industrial Ave.

Boynton Beach, Florida 33427

786-521-1199

Presents...

Photography in the Digital Age: A Round Table Discussion

Moderated by Debby Coles-Dobay and special guest panelist: 

Lona O’Conner of the Palm Beach Post  and 

Lisa Rockford, curator of 1310 Gallery,
Candy Childrey, Florida Artist Guild, Who's Who in Photogray
Dan O'Brian, Broward Arts Guild
Monica McGivern, of The Broward Palm Beach New Times,
Jonathan Dvorets, Fashion Photographer and
Michael Herb, Photographer.

Special Presentations: Project 365, Michael Herb and Jonathan Dvoretz

April 5, 2010 from  6-8 PM at the

Boynton Beach City Library

208 S. Seacrest Blvd., Boynton Beach, FL 33435

For more information please contact:

Rolando Chang Barrero, Dir, ActivistArtistA Gallery

786-521-1199

Journalist/Voyeur Exhibition at
ActivistArtistA Gallery

422 W. Industrial Ave.

                    Preview to Discussion: 1-5 pm, 

Thursday April 5th, 2012

Exhibition runs through April 20, 2012

Salty Eggs on Gallery!

“Journalist/Voyeur” Opens Friday at ActivistArtistA Gallery

• by Terra Sullivan
• on March 22, 2012
• in Art, Happenings, Photography
• Leave a comment

“Most journalists are restless voyeurs who see the warts on the world, the imperfections in people and places. Gloom is their game, the spectacle their passion, normality their nemesis.” — Gay Talese

Some days, the journalist serves his or her calling’s highest purpose: informing the public about wartime struggles and corporate corruption, or documenting the senseless shooting death of an unarmed Florida teen by a neighborhood watch volunteer.

Then there are the not-so-banner days – when the journalists of the 24-hour news cycle offer little more than celebrity mental breakdowns, 911 calls to tell police that Burger King is out of lemonade, and breaking news coverage on the demise of Kim Kardashian’s and Kris Humphries’ nuptials.

The split personality of the journalist as both careful informer and insatiable voyeur is one that has been debated at length both on air and in the public sphere. This split is now also the inspiration behind ActivistArtistA Gallery’s latest installation “Journalist/Voyeur: The Work of Jonathan Dvoretz and Michael Herb,” which opens Friday. To coincide with the Boynton Beach’s Artwalk, show curator and Gallery owner Rolando Chang Barrero wanted to show the “tension between the two roles of the journalist.” So he selected two photographers to play with the idea. Michael Herb brings the more newsy part of the equation with a series called Project 365, for which Herb took one picture a day for an entire year. Many of  these days included chasing down and documenting events from San Francisco to Florida. Photographer Jonathan Dvoretz, on the other hand, brings in the more playful and voyeuristic side of photography, working mostly in commercial, fashion, editorial, and advertising.

The show opens 6 p.m. Friday and continues through April with a special roundtable discussion with Palm Beach Post reporter Lona O’Connor on April 5.

Where: ActivistArtistA Gallery (422 W. Industrial Ave., Boynton Beach)
When: 6 p.m. Friday, March 23
Price: Free
Contact: http://activistartista.blogspot.com/

ActivistArtistA Gallery

Etymology:

The name ActivistArtistA is composed of two Spanish language words "activista and artista."

ActivistA + ArtistA = ActivistArtistA

ActivistArtistA Gallery 

422 West Industrial Ave.

Boynton Beach, Florida 33427

786-521-1199

email: ActivistArtistA

ActivistArtistA Gallery

An alternative exhibition venue for all emerging artists!

Please contact us about artists calls, vendor opportunities and...

Directions:

Centrally located in Palm Beach County, ActivistArtistA Gallery is only minutes away going south on 195 from West Palm Beach, or going north from Delray Beach.

 Exit on Boynton Beach Blvd, go west 1 block, turn right on West Industrial Ave. 

ActivistArtstA Gallery is a member of the Boynton Beach Art District

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Upcoming Exhibition

Opening Reception March 23rd, 2012 at 6 PM

Journalist/Voyeur

March 23, 2012 to April 20, 2012

Artist Call for Packaging Nature!

Deadline for submissions: April 6, 2012

Palm Beach County's most celebrated 

ART WALK!

ActivistArtistA Gallery hosts The District Art Walk the 4th Thursday 

of every month unless otherwise posted. 

We invite you to join us!

Come for the Art! Stay for the Fun, the Food, and the Music!

The District Art Walk Dates:

September 27, 2012

August 23, 2012

July 26, 2012

June 28, 2012

May 26, 2012

April 26, 2012 

March 23, 2012

February 11, 2012

January 26, 2012

The Following Sea Project

Letter from Lauren...

Rolando,

 

"I was greatly moved by your blog post on your experience with my project.  I am sorry that it was a painful process for you, believe me I don't take yours or anyone's part of this work casually.  I really did not want to work on my own tags and it's my work!  Just this weekend I was thinking that the whole project was just TOO MUCH and I wasn't feeling that brave after all and would prefer to be far away from the subject matter of illness, thank you very much.  So your kind words have come in at an opportune time in my thinking, renewing my faith that this is an important subject even if it is a painful one."

 

Good health and fortune,

 

L    

Back in November I came across an artist called Lauren Gilette on a blog she was writing called "things i did project," thinking it was simple enough to participate I went ahead and answered the prompt.  At exactly 4:48 PM on November 28th with a simple click I had immortalized my thinking at that moment in time-  at lease electronically!

You can read my answers here: ...things i did...

There are very interesting things people "did" and wrote about, give yourself a few minutes to enjoy the sincerity and candor of the participants!

You don't have to travel back in time to deep to into the blog to see what I mean...

The two most recent entries are from Isabella and Santiago.

Isabella      Santiago

Now to get to the catharsis of illness..

I don't recall how or what prompted Lauren to reach out to me of all the persons involved in ..things i did project (see above), but she did.  I think it was answer #1 (I was a member of ACT-UP -The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), I'm sure my answers to #2 thru #3 are quite special to me, but mundane to most!). Never the less we chatted up a storm and shared many things--as if we had been friends for years, Lauren is quite easy to speak to.  She asked me to participate in "The Following Sea Project", which I willingly accepted thinking this will be easy and of service to a fellow artist.

Easy it was not!  Cathartic yes, easy not so much. I have sat on this for 4 months very much like I sat on my 12 step work years ago. Akin to AA's recovery 4th step--I did not want to bring up sad and painful memories that would,, "set me free!" So. I would sit down open the envelope which contained simple instructions, an ink pad the size of a postage stamp, and 9 velum tags. I closed it as fast I had opened it many times throughout the last 4 months.

Anonymity was essential for honesty and willingness to approach sensitive issues that are at time Tabu. The signature would be a thumbprint (hence the ink pad). The ink pad idea was nice, but not anonymous enough for me, of course I finally did as instructed, but made a mess of it and accidentally smudged my print. Umm, ...sub-consciencely distancing myself... maybe.

Finally, this morning I sat down knowing I was ready to do this. The project may be finished, done, published, executed--whatever, but it was about me now, not the project anymore.  I sat down, asked God for the courage to, once again, open shut doors and share my feeling about some of the darkest moments in my life. I finished it in 1 hour. Easy it was not! Cathartic and cleansing--oh yeah!

Many thanks to Lauren Gillette!

Please read about this awesome project! Hope it inspires and provokes you to create something meaningful!

Back in 

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011

The Following Sea

I am working on a new work called The Following Sea.

And I need some help.

As part of this work I am hoping to find people who are willing to contribute their thoughts on the great curve-ball of life, illness and trauma. This participation can range from the very simple, a thumbprint (your only identification) and the name of an illness/injury/trauma on a vellum tag. Or more complex, with a thumbprint and some sort of written thought on the subject matter, also on a tag. This invite goes out to anyone touched by these issues, whether through their own illness/, or as a loved one, care giver or health professional.

Taking part goes something like this, you say OK - I send you a packet o' tags and whatnot to put your thoughts on - your go out on a limb to do so - you send the tags back to me in a SASE - I am really grateful as I go about incorporating your generous contributions into the work.

So what is The Following Sea going to be??? (not a blog, this blog is just here to explain the project so you can see if you are interested in taking part.)

An installation. A linear narrative, floating in a series of 56 glass bottles to be shown in a gallery setting.

So in plain-speak I am looking under the rock and using humor, community, irony and lots of glass bottles to hack away at and illness/trauma piece. It will be an opportunity to say something about my experience with illness and where I ask you to do a little bit of the same.

I'm hearing the collective 'no thank you' as I type this, but trust me; it won't be that bad -

...and it's going to be gorgeous.

Post-its in the window like a crazy person

Thinking about this project for the past year or so, I have been collecting thoughts on post-its and sticking them up on the windows of my OCD haven of a studio. I was looking for anythingfunny or ironic or ridiculous enough to make the subject of illness go down a little easier. Create more of a conversation and less of a dirge. When I finally happened apon the term, 'AS LUCKY AS A GIRL WITH BIG TITS,' I knew I had found my way in.

The beginning bottles

Here's some text and photos of the first bunch of bottles while I am working out how the piece will all come together (subtext - don't judge me, it is not finished.)

The bottles pace the central narrative of my experience with illness.

There are also bottles stuffed with the smaller, simpler illness tags you are busy filling out at this very moment. It is my hope the large number of tags in these bottles will belay the usual isolation that tends to travel with illness and trauma.

The beginning central narrative/yes it really is all about me....

The Following Sea.

The wave you have to watch out for.

That comes up in your blind spot and hits you from behind.

Stay ahead of the following sea.

The smart thing is to prepare for the unexpected.

Eating an ice cream cone in the White Mountains, half my face went numb.

Later I would remember that ice cream as the moment before impact.

The last picture of things as they were.

What do you call the med student with the lowest GPA?

My GP grimaced when I told her the half-numb-face-story, asked me to close my eyes and touch my finger to my nose, and said, “...Oh.”

What a bitch. Right?

5 Keith Richards = Immediately go to your doctor.

The Keith Richards worry meter.

Not the test results I was looking for.

I went to see a Neurologist.

He said,

“Missy, I got a piece of bad news….”

“Thank you but no,”

I politely declined,

“These are not the test results I was looking for.”

Hiding in plain sight...

But there it was as the cops say -hiding in plain view.

Shit, how am I going to get out of this one?

No one is as lucky as a girl with big tits.

Excuse me Doc, but, what happened to; no one is as lucky as a girl with

BIG TITS???

He said,

“BIG TITS AND A NEUROLOGICAL CONDITION.”

Ambien, where troubles melt like lemon drops...

I went home to itemize the crop damage with a prescription for Ambien and a tutorial on thenervous system.

Bummer

Apparently Ground Control was having trouble communicating with Major Tom.

The immune system is the Imperialist...

I learned the immune system is the Imperialist that arrives on the scene to tame the savages.

My immune system is the Imperialist that takes a wrongexit off the turnpike, staggers around in a daze, and crashes into a telephone pole, taking down communications for the entire tri-state area.

Lady, you got hit by lightning.

w.t.f.?

How had this happened? Too much BTO, that's how.

Had I listened to too much Bachman-Turner-Overdrive in junior high?

Had my self-involved parents neglected the usual middle-class child maintenance?

Such a chump.

I felt like such a chump.

I guess that's enough about me for now.

Now we get to your part.

I would like to invite anyone who has been tossed on their ass by the following sea of illness, injury or trauma to participate in this work.

To take part you email me at lulu329@maine.rr.com and I send you a packet containing:

1. Vellum tags in three sizes.

2. An ink-pad.

3. A SASE so the tags get back to me.

Smallest tags

On the smallest tag (the narrow ones) - please label with your thumbprint and the name of the issue you have dealt with ( if appropriate please include the date of diagnosis.)

The small - narrow tags will be put in bottles to visually contradict the feeling of isolation that is the red-headed stepchild of illness and trauma.

Medium tags

Label the medium tag in the same way as the small tag (fingerprint here as well.)

I don't know how these tags will be used yet. I am leaving myself some wiggle room to cover my bases as the work progresses.

Large tags

The largest tag is for those interested in writing something about their experience as a person touched by this subject matter. So if your life has been changed by illness/injury/trauma, whether your own, or as a loved one, caregiver or health professional this is a place you may want to write your thoughts.

These tags will be incorporated into the final work.

The work that the thoughts on the tags become part of will be shown in a traditional art venue (gallery or museum, not blog. the purpose of this blog is to explain the project to people who may be interested in participating, not to be a participant itself.) So, I guess what I'm saying is your thoughts will be shared in a sheltered art environment but not thrown into the ether willy nilly. I'm sure there is a better way to say that but what can you do.

You send the tags back to me....

You send the tags back in the SASE -

(dump the ink pad, just the tags come back to me.)

I get to be very excited and grateful when I open the mailbox and see a bunch of large, kinda-yellow envelopes -

And your thoughts become part of and are incorporated into, the work.

What's it going to look like?

The cornerstone of the piece will be the narrative in the 56 bottles and the tags you are all busily filling out as we speak.

So the bottles and the tags take care of the narrative. Now I am trying to figure out if I want to include a wave. I have been endlessly knitting a multi-layered 'following sea' and so far I am far from certain about that whole crafty fandango.

During a show the tags will be incorporated into a space where gallery goers can label their own tags to be included with the communtiy of others.

It all comes together at some point - but not yet.

I realize this is difficult stuff and am immensely grateful to everyone taking part.

Please spread the invite along -

As always,

Thanks again,

Lauren

For More information visit ActivistArtistA.com