Sunday, May 7, 2017

Orgullo at the Albin Polasek Museum

Orgullo, oil on aluminum panel, 28" x 24", 2016


Orgullo has been selected to exhibit at the Summer of Love: Reflections on Pulse exhibition at the Albin Polasek Museum in Orlando, Florida. This show acknowledges the one-year anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub Shooting and honors the victims with its theme based on the concept of art transcending hate.   This show aims to explore what moves and uplifts.

The exhibit will run from May 9 – September 3, 2017.
For purchase inquiries please contact Rachel Frisby at rfrisby@polasek.org.
Albin Polasek Museum
633 Osceola Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32789
Phone: 407-647-6294

Tue – Sat: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Sun: 1 – 4 p.m.
Mon: Closed



Orgullo was originally shown at Sirona Fine Art in Halendale Beach, FL in December for the PoetsArtists exhibition titled Chevere

When I first chose my friend Steven as the subject for my painting for this exhibition it was for two reasons.  The first being, as a native Puerto Rican, he has a better understanding of the word Chevere, the theme and title of this PoetsArtists exhibion.  I felt Steven’s cool style and colorful personality also seemed a natural fit.  However, mid-painting Steven took a trip to Orlando which would forever change his life and my understanding of Chevere.

He was visiting Orlando for the World Ballet Competition as a coach and choreographer to several young participants.  While there, he had arranged an evening out to meet fellow Puerto Rican friends, but at the last minute he decided he would need his rest.  He did not go to the club that night, which he found out the next morning had been the place of a horrific hate crime which claimed the lives of 49 people, 23 of whom were Puerto Rican, several who Steven had known since youth. 

The recovery from such a great loss and the guilt of surviving was eased a bit for Steven by returning to Puerto Rico for that year’s Gay Pride Parade.  There he saw people of all walks of life come together to honor those lost at Pulse.  He said seeing so many people from outside the LGBTQ community share their support and love made it easier for him to heal, to trust again in the good of the world, in the good within each of us.

Cut and folded paper has been creeping into my work for a few years now.  In this painting, I am allowing myself for the first time to use colored paper.  The linked, fragile paper hearts in Orgullo represent the coming together of all people.  Sometimes it takes a tragedy for us to reach beyond our familiar groups.  Sometimes, pieces of us need to be broken for that communion to happen.  Without bitterness or anger, Steven has shown me that the word Chevere can also mean to bring out the best in one another. 
 

Friday, March 4, 2016

Upcoming Artist Lecture at LCAD

http://www.lcad.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/548-Fine-Arts-Alia-El-Bermani-Lecture-2016-Poster-1-copy.jpg 


It's fun to see your painting pop up on the home page:

Also, make sure you come check out my husband's lecture the day before.  He will be sharing way too much about designing monsters and characters.

Screen Shot 2016-02-16 at 10.06.32 AM

Outside the Box Merit Award

This is a bit of good news from a few months ago, which I neglected to share here at the time. 


I am pleased and honored to share that the Portrait Society of America has given my painting Paper Wishes a 10th Merit Award for the Outside the Box category for their annual Member's Only Competition.  Thank you Portrait Society for the recognition!

Paper Wishes, oil on panel, 48" x 36", 2015


Thursday, March 3, 2016

Delude

Delude, oil on acm panel, 40" x 30" 

Delude, oil on acm panel, 40" x 30"  detail

I love getting lost in this detail.

 Delude, oil on acm panel, 40" x 30" detail

I am purposely not going to say much about this painting, but if you feel so inclined, please share with me in the comments what you think this painting is about or how you read it.  I look forward to seeing if my intentions at all come through to how you understand the work.

*FYI if you have a PC you can right click on an image to view in a new tab to see a larger image (and zoom in).  I don't know how or if that is possible on an apple computer, but maybe someone will say so in a comment.

NikonD610 vs D80 What a Difference

As I mentioned in a previous post (found here), I was recently awarded a grant from the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County to purchase new studio equipment, specifically a new Nikon D610 digital camera with a fixed focal length lens.

I want to take this moment to appreciate the vast improvement that this camera offers in shooting images of my paintings.  Below you will find images comparing the same painting shot with my old Nikon D80 versus this new Nikon D610.

First, I will discuss a few of the major advantages I have found that the D610 offers, for my purposes.  Most importantly, the image quality if far superior with the D610.  With 24 megapixel vs 10mp resolution capabilities, I immediately notice much less graininess to the D610 photos.  I also immediately appreciate the more accurate color taken with this camera and lens.  Also, the LCD screen on the back of the D610 camera is quite a bit larger, and also has a higher resolution, so I can more easily and quickly assess if the photos I am taking are exactly what I need.  One feature the D610 offers that I look forward to using is the high resolution video capabilities.  I foresee creating timelapse films of my works in progress or short how to videos.  The D80 is only capable of taking still shots.  If you would like to read a more detailed comparison of these two cameras let me suggest this website.

Now for the image comparison:

Rising Tide, oil on panel 34" x 54" Shot with D80

Rising Tide, oil on panel 34" x 54" Shot with D610

  
 Rising Tide detail, oil on panel 34" x 54" Shot with D80

Rising Tide detail, oil on panel 34" x 54" Shot with D610
     
Again, I want to thank the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County for this wonderful opportunity.  I very much appreciate the support this local institution provides for our area artists.  

The Regional Artist Project Grant is funded and administered by the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County.  This project is supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.  The program is operated in partnership with the Franklin County Arts Council, Johnston County Arts Council, Vance County Arts Council and Warren County Arts Council.

http://www.unitedarts.org/

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Sight Unseen

I am so excited to share that I will be curating an issue of PoetsArtists which will then become an exhibition at Abend Gallery in Denver, CO in the Spring of 2017.  I was given the task of writing a Call for Submission.  Here is what I came up with.


Sight Unseen - by Alia El-Bermani

Artists have long created works based on the observations of what they see.  For this issue of Poets & Artists I am interested in sharing representational works that look beneath the realities of the surface and reveal a greater, hidden significance.  These artists will be peering at the mercurial boundary between the known and the unknown.  It is in this space between, that the vibration of life, of existence cannot be seen but can be felt.  How do you represent what you cannot see?  How do you paint, draw or sculpt thought or emotion, the human spirit or the supernatural? 

Einstein once wrote, “The most beautiful experience we can have is in the mysterious.  It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and science”.  It is our ceaseless questioning that propels our creative endeavors and compels our viewers to pause and to feel union in the unknown.  This is where our visual language will transform to poetry.
So much of our daily lives have become superficial, from the thousands of virtual connections we call friends, to the hordes of advertising that bombard our senses.  As artists, it’s our calling to seek, and to instill deeper connections, to revel in a more meaningful existence.  Thru compassion for each other and the mysteries that tie us, we have the power to inspire.  We can have a profound impact on our society if we choose to look beneath and remind viewers of the wealth found within those depths.

I am asking a lot.  I am asking for you to seek a mix of what we see and know with what we cannot explain.  I am asking for you to tap your own soul and experience, to be vulnerable and imperfect.  Let your layered marks bear witness to the emotions that wash thru you during creation.  In this, you will take your viewer in and out of awareness of their own rise and fall of emotions, of breath.  Together there, we can feel a greater connectedness to each other and to the universe with which we are a part.  

The words ‘representational works’ can be read as broadly as you like.  Submitted works must be paintings, drawing or sculpture but in how tight or loose your interpretation of what is seen is up to you. 
   
Submission Call: Sight Unseen
Publication: PoetsArtists
Curator: Alia El-Bermani

Gallery: Abend Gallery
Deadline: September 1, 2016
Formats: Exhibition, Print-on-Demand, Online, Digital, and PDF

Exhibition Dates: Spring 2017 (March)

For more info and to submit your works: http://www.poetsandartists.com/exhibitions#/sight-unseen/ 
 

For more about Abend Gallery: www.abendgallery.com

Thursday, February 18, 2016

2016 Regional Artist Project Grant - Recipient

I am very pleased to announce that I have recently been awarded a grant from the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County to purchase new studio equipment, specifically a new Nikon D610 digital camera.  These Regional Artist Project Grants (RAPG) are awarded annually to qualifying applicants to provide financial support for projects that will advance the applicant's career in demonstrable ways.


Nikon D610 camera with my recent painting Eulogy in the background

This camera and the attached Nikkor 50mm lens is a huge improvement over my old Nikon D80.  With this camera and the Britek lighting set up that was awarded to me from a previous 2012 RPAG, I will now be able to take professional photographs of my finished works with out the expense of paying a professional photographer.  Any photo reference I may need will also vastly be improved.  The last added benefit is that this D610 is capable of taking high quality video.  I foresee using this feature to create both promotional and "how-to" videos.  

I want to thank the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County, especially Brandi Neuwirth, for this wonderful opportunity.  I very much appreciate the support this local institution provides for our area artists.  

The Regional Artist Project Grant is funded and administered by the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County.  This project is supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.  The program is operated in partnership with the Franklin County Arts Council, Johnston County Arts Council, Vance County Arts Council and Warren County Arts Council.



Nikon D610 camera (back) with my recent painting Eulogy in the background