The opening reception of The Rhythm of Color, Degrees of Abstraction and Interpretive Realms at Agora Gallery attracted many art enthusiasts who traveled from near and far to attend this stunning collective exhibition. Throughout the mix of attendees the much anticipated excitement of the evening was evident on the smiling faces of the artists and guests alike, many of whom arrived early to meet and greet.
If outside people were rushing and agitated because of the heat, at Agora we were smiling and ready for another great evening. It was a pleasure to see many of our artists arriving early and starting to interact right from the beginning, and of course we were thrilled to finally meet many of them in person for the first time.
Italian artist Maurizio Yorck was one of the first to arrive around 4:45pm, followed by Indian artist Paul Satheesh and Israeli artist Bibi Davidson, and they all got chatting right away. By 5:15pm, Agora was starting to fill up and that special, exciting atmosphere, typical of our receptions where the whole world seems to be united in the name of art, started to spread out and influence everyone present. Angela welcomed guests and staff with an official introduction, and at 6pm we opened the door to the audience.
Artist Gail Elwell shared some thoughts on her fascinating sculptures, and agreed that nature plays a key role in inspiring and forming her works. As she said, her work “comes from nature, from looking at the same environment over and over again, at different moments, at different hours of the day… My goal is to have people believe that my sculptures are not recycled papier-mâché, but sculptures made with much heavier material. And I just saw someone realizing it and being happily surprised by it!”
We had the great pleasure of seeing the stunning artworks of Brazilian artist Kiko Sobrino once more, as he was present for his second exhibition with Agora. Kiko is never scared to share his enthusiasm and his vision of art with anyone who expresses their interest, and his pure enjoyment shone through when I asked him, “Kiko, how did the interview with our videographer Bill go?” and he responded: “GREAT! I was born for this!” He collected a considerable crowd around his artworks for much of the reception, including at some points one of his most loyal fans, our Gallery Director. You can see Angela below with the artist in this beautiful shot:
We were delighted to reunite with Haitian-American artist Patricia Brintle, who had come to the opening reception to celebrate her fourth exhibition with Agora. Patricia is such a proactive and committed artist and it is always very interesting and inspiring to hear about the developments of her art and her many humanitarian projects – which you can read more about in the recent edition of ARTisSpectrum. This time, Patricia was accompanied by her mother – and we could really tell where she got her sweetness from.
We also had the chance to learn more about the workshop “Experimental Writing in Art“ that South Korean born artist Laurence Steenbergen, who was attending the third showing of her work at the gallery, attended this past Saturday, Aug 4th, at the Art Students League of New York. Laurence had got to hear about this workshop through the 2012 Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, which was juried by the Executive Director of the Art Students League, Mr. Ira Goldberg, and she found the class to be fascinating and insightful. She is eager to put what she learned there into practice in her own art.
It always seems incredible that two hours can fly by and disappear, but they always do and it is a great satisfaction to see the guests interacts with the audience, which includes collectors and media representatives as well as family and friends.
The reception was a wonderful way to welcome August and enjoy the summer in New York. We can’t wait for our next reception! In the meantime, the current fabulous exhibition will be on view until August 21, 2012.
Happy summer, everyone!
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