Galactic Panther in Alexandria Hosts Closing Reception for 2 Exhibits May 25
ALEXANDRIA, VA-Galactic Panther Art Gallery is excited to announce a closing reception for two art exhibits, “AMERICULTURE: A Group Art Show!” and THE MYSTIQUE OF THE KENÉ ART: An Exhibit by Olinda Silvano & Ronin Koshi. The reception will be held Sunday, May 26th from 3:00-6:00 pm. This closing party will be locally catered and feature live music by MOB of ONE. This closing celebration is free and open to the public. Donations are gratefully accepted, and all artwork will be for sale. This is a great opportunity to meet new friends & pick up some incredible artwork before it’s gone.
AMERICULTURE features artwork from 15 artists riffing on American culture. Much of the artwork has a fun, lighthearted tone with influences coming from American cartoons, comics, movies, music, and more. Artist and musician Brian Hoffman not only enjoys the humor he can express through manipulating what is often cartoon inspired imagery, he often leans into surrealism with a desire to be provocative. “I want to get people feeling intrigued and reacting,” he says. This exhibition features prints, paintings, drawings, mixed-media works, fiber art, and sculpture primarily by American artists. Hannah Hanski, is a Canadian pulp artist. Raised in Nova Scotia by a Latvian matriarchal family, Hanski was captivated by the vibrant images on television and Internet 1.0. These broadcast fantasies and digital worlds contrasted dramatically with the reality of her gray surroundings and complex family history, resulting in an obsession with popular entertainment as a means of remedy and escape. She draws on traditional textiles as well as a variety of digital technologies from AI to video games to create pieces that engage with archetypal figures of the collective unconscious. Her pioneering concepts have been instrumental in the creation of digital applications such as Bitmoji and her work has gained her a reputation in the experimental video game world and exhibitions in prestigious institutions such as The Hammer Museum. Additional artwork on view is from Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, DMV, & beyond by Jarrett Alexander, David Beavers, Molly Davis, William Donovan, Matt Geer, Sanchez Mcgrath, Suzan Morgan, Matthew Vanderslice, Stewart Williams, Eric Wilson, & Dr. Wolfenbergen.
Kené is an ancient art representing nature and the living culture of the Shipibo-Konibo people of the Amazon basin. “Kené means ‘designs’ and is the name for the geometric patterns that identify my ethnicity,” explains artist Olinda Silvano Inuma de Arias. “Kené…also summarizes the worldview, knowledge, and aesthetics of an entire people, their tradition and roots in time. It is a source of information about our origins and the close links between our community and our lands.”
Kené are inspired by the ingestion of plants such as Ayahuasca and Piri Piri, which Amazonian tribes have used for centuries for spiritual purposes. “They guide us to tell us how we should represent the images we see,” says Olinda. Her textile products are made with 100% cotton fabric that she dyes with natural plant pigments including caoba bark, mango peel, guayaba bark, avocado beans, and almonds–all of which she gathers in the forest. Once the dye is set Olinda uses “magic mud” collected from a river for the black color in her designs, which are drawn freehand. “Finally, if I want to add embroidery, I buy the thread in stores to do it.” Jewelry is made with beads and seeds from Silvano’s home city of Pucallpa. “I create these pieces myself along with my mother, sisters, and three daughters….each of us has her own designs.” Olinda’s son Ronin Koshi also creates works which will be on view.
“My mission is to make visible the role of the migrant Indigenous woman and to move forward regardless of the unforeseen event…I have never given up and I am the symbol of struggle and living culture of Shipibo-Konibo. My sisters in my community and I work at home doing this because it has become a source of independence.” Olinda’s work has been displayed at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, Canada, and ARCOMadrid 2019, in Madrid, Spain.
Kené lines are not mere abstract geometric graphics; they are the materialization of the koshi force of plants and their ibo, the spiritual owners of the forest, which visionary women, like Olinda, see in their minds and show in their works. The meshes of kené give rise to perceptions in synesthesia, where hearing, smell, and touch join in the vision of designs, generating associations between the landscape of the forest and the embroidered and painted paths of designs. For Olinda, her work as a contemporary Shipibo-Konibo artist is a powerful form of activism that uses another language, the language of plants, to fight against discrimination and to defend the Amazon and its peoples from within the hard core of city life.
Galactic Panther host events nearly every day including upcoming:
-New Art Exhibit Opening June 1st, 3:00-6:00
-Live Music
-Comedy & Jazz
-Poetry Open Mic every other Thurs.
-Tea & Coffee Tasting Workshops
-Open Mic every Sunday
-Art Workshops
-Yoga, Reiki Healing, & Sound Bath Events
Find Tickets for all EVENTS, click HERE.
Galactic Panther is open Thursday & Friday 12-5, Saturday-Sunday 12-7 and by appointment ([email protected]). Please follow Galactic Panther on Facebook, Instagram, Eventbrite, & our website for further updates & information.
From day one a portion of all sales from Galactic Panther has supported non-profits who offer food security for those in need.
Galactic Panther is located at:
1303 KING STREET OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA / #DC Metro Yellow Line
For further information please contact:
Eli Pollard
www.galacticpanther.com
IG @galactic.panther
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