Sense of Place: Artists Pivot to Virtually Exhibit Work
Worthwhile Magazine was pleased to recently receive an update from artists/curators Nicole Kutz and Vita Eruhimovitz about how they are adapting to COVID-19 restrictions. Together, they are exploring innovative ways to make contemporary art still accessible to the public.
The result? A virtual show now streaming on Loupe. (Last year, we just so happened to interview Loupe founder Dot Bustelo and curator Nicole Kutz about this pioneering art streaming platform. Read here to learn more.)
Vita and Nicole tell us about the current situation:
Passageway 1 (A Layered History), Zach Storm, 2020. Image courtesy of the artist.
"As Los Angeles' stay-at-home orders were extended, it became all the more imperative for us to find a digital capacity to share art with others and support our fellow artists.
We decided to co-curate a group show presented by Wönzimer Gallery and are streaming it first exclusively through Loupe on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV and the Loupe website.
The show link is live for Summer 2020 and can be accessed here. We would sincerely appreciate all art lovers or the visually curious to stream it from your preferred device."
Below you can find additional information about the show with links to access the customized channel on Loupe and exhibiting artists information.
Porosity of Borders - Blue, Lee Piechocki, 2018. Image courtesy of the artist.
A Sense of Place
Curated by Vita Eruhimovitz and Nicole Kutz
Stream on Loupe: May 29th, 2020 | Installation at Wönzimer Gallery, Fall/Winter 2020
After The Insect Apocalypse, Vita Eruhimovitz, 2019. Image courtesy of the artist.
LOS ANGELES, May 29, 2020 - Loupe and Wönzimer Gallery are proud to present an artist-curated show composed of painters from Los Angeles, New York, New Mexico and Israel. The show will take place at Wönzimer Gallery in the fall and will first be streamed exclusively through Loupe on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV and the Loupe website. Select pieces will be available for sale as prints and originals through Loupe’s integrated marketplace.
During this time of a global pandemic, we find ourselves in a state of forced pause, withdrawal, and introspection. We may be compelled to reexamine our relationships within our existing systems and question our understanding of the natural world. The artists in “Sense of Place” envision our world as a complex mental space. The paintings - scattered on the spectrum between semi-abstract and non- representational - are all devoid of the human figure. Instead, the artist’s presence is a first person view; simultaneously observing and creating a space. Loupe’s unique streaming platform offers an immersive experience of the paintings and engages the viewer in a new context digitally.
This Must Be the Place, Nicole Kutz, 2017. Image courtesy of the artist.
Each artist’s work exists on a different timescale: from seconds between IG posts, to tidal cycles, to seasons, to eras of human culture, or to geological ages. These temporal rhythms set the backbone for narratives that span speculated natural histories, snapshots from a simple walk outside, stories of the passage of time, or landscapes as backdrops to the theater of human affairs.
In all of these narratives, the natural space is mediated or reimagined until the painting becomes its own piece of living nature. While the natural world is often the starting point, it is the organic and unplanned construction of the artists’ inner landscapes that becomes a natural act, liberating the artist from the role of an outside observer and imparting to the work a uniquely personal sense of place.
Untitled Landscape, Zach Storm. Image courtesy of the artist.
About Loupe
Loupe, the pioneering app celebrated for transforming the way people view, experience and acquire art, is the #1 Lifestyle app in 53 countries on Apple TV and is also available on the web, Amazon Fire and Android TV. Learn more at info.loupeart.com.
About Wönzimer Gallery
Wonzimer was created by Alaia Parhizi, an artist from Switzerland and Aidan Nelson an entrepreneur from San Diego. Together they have created a platform with an inclusive environment for artists and musicians of all disciplinary backgrounds. Visit the gallery at www.wonzimer.com and 621 S Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90014.
I Can Read You Like A Book, Sharona Eliassaf, 2016. Image Courtesy of the artist.