ArtEgg Studios is pleased to announce Arts After Dark. On 23rd October 2010, ArtEgg Studios will host Arts After Dark a unique artists’ showcase of the finest work from New Orleans and London. 50 artists from each city will join together as their work is displayed in a 100sqft 10×10 grid formation. The 100sqft project is the brainchild of London-based artist Carne Griffiths.
In addition to 100sqft, Arts After Dark will be showcasing the work of 13 artists. The artists may be found on the website: www.artsafterdark.com.
There are two main themes which we hope will inspire our exhibiting artists: rebirth and light.
Rebirth
In the wake of the devastating floods wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans has slowly started to recover. A city possessed of an incredibly diverse cultural heritage, it seems only right that art play a role in this regeneration. It is an unhappy coincidence that New Orleans is currently being affected by the oil slick threatening Louisiana’s coastline, heaping yet more misfortune on a delicate landscape. Hence we are looking for work which might be inspired by this theme of triumph over adversity, whereby the forces of creativity can overcome those of destruction. The aim has to be to illustrate how a place, though stripped of dignity and structure, can regain its identity; new, transformed but still recognizably itself.
Light
Added to this rebirth is the theme of light. Artists already use light in the most stunningly inventive ways, for example the illumine project set in the tunnels of London’s East End. New Orleans, of course, was plunged into a kind of post-Katrina darkness for many months, so we hope this show will contribute to it regaining the color and dynamism for which it is famous. The show, as its name suggests, will take place once the sun has set. We hope the dusky tones will provide contributors a canvas to let imaginations paint a brighter future for a rejuvenated city.
Participating artists and musicians
In addition to the 100 sqft exhibition, a further 13 exciting artists will be showing their work, some already well-known in the New Orleans art world and some who will be showing in New Orleans for the first time. Among the latter will be London-based artist Dan Baldwin who has exhibited worldwide for many years and whose work is highly valued by collectors. New Orleans artists will include Steve Martin, who works in a wide range of media, and the video and installation artist, Dave Greber. Also exhibiting will be painter George McClements – whose dramatic and colourful work is inspired by the jazz and blues music for which the city is so famous – and Rumanian immigré Viorel Hodre, whose work with what she terms “Sculptured Light” will be ideally suited to Arts After Dark’s night-time ambience. The names of the other participating artists may be found on the website: www.artsafterdark.com.
Music will be provided throughout the evening by two live bands, the Steve Masakowski Quintet and The Hiptones. Steve is probably best known on the New Orleans modern jazz scene for his many years of work with Astral Project, playing the unique 7-string guitar which is his own invention live and on their many award-winning albums. The Hiptones, currently based in New York (although originally formed in Tokyo), are a varying line-up the core of which is an Australian couple who bring a distinctive and unusual touch to their original blues/soul/funk repertoire. They recently secured a recording deal with Sony BMG and released their first album in October last year.