Exhibits | Vernissage: French Polynesia & The Art of SHARON APPEL
Event Information
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
At
The French Cultural Center
Map/Directions
Free Event
RSVP Recommended (call 617-912-0400)
Event Description
Paintings by Sharon Appel.
Opening reception will feature Stanley Sagov on piano.
Artist's statement:
That I create art is in large part an outgrowth of a life-altering sojourn in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific — particularly French Polynesia — and the overwhelming sense of wonder that I experienced at a reality that was more magnificent, bizarre, and dazzling than any I could previously have imagined. As my trip progressed and I traveled to ever more remote and sparsely-populated destinations — places of extraordinary beauty — my visual experience intensified, and each element of the landscape seemed to burst into life in brilliant color, pattern, and motion. These visceral experiences spawned in my mind enduring images of what I saw, as modified by how what I saw made me feel, and since experiencing these electric images, I have felt impelled to render them on paper.
The work also reflects the influence of jazz, Latin and other poly-rhythmic music, which I listen to while I paint. At their core, the paintings are a visual expression of the interaction between the astoundingly beautiful scenes that I have witnessed, and the pulsating music, as mediated by my mind and the feelings of profound freedom and joie de vivre that I experienced while traveling and continue to experience by being there, in that I am there in my mind while I paint. The act of painting is, in effect, a continuing trip to the Polynesia of my dreams. And the music is a constant source of inspiration and direction, propelling not only the creation of the work, but also its mood, structure, and the complex patterning through which it is developed. The paintings are a synesthetic reflection of the blissful confluence of wild, spectacular scenery, with wild, spectacular music, in an environment of total isolation and freedom, in far-flung, untouched, tropical nature.
Art Opening: Wednesday May 4 - Exhibit: May 3 - May 31
Painting above: Moorea Motu (grand) © Sharon Appel. All rights reserved
