cont.....My first Gallery Opening: Nicola Verlato (& Great Big Sea)

A midsummer night's dream - featuring Julie Atlas Muz, Freewheelin Franklin and Davy Crockett, 2006, oil on canvas, 78x54 inches

And then we head to another gallery across the street. OH YEAH. Now, this is weird and much more my style. We were walking past the window and there it was. The most outrageous thing I had seen in forever haha. We of course had to go in.

Mothers II, 2005, Oil on Canvas, 80 x 80 inches

The gallery was named Stux Gallery and it was located at 530 West 25^th Street in Manhattan. http://www.stuxgallery.com/

The artists name is Nicola Verlato. (*****Read further). The title of the show is called O.Z. Paintings. Her opening had been on October 19, 2006 so there was no wine or anything but it was probably my favorite exhibit out of the four I saw that night.

There's no place like home!, 2006, oil on canvas, 78x96 inches

I mean, how would you interpret this? I was immediately uplifted with a smile on my face. Giggling inside the entire time and then finding that I couldn’t take my eyes away from picking out all the weird little things going on in the picture. Pokemon characters, Drain plugs, whips, naked people doing crazy stuff haha, and then the landscape actually being believable below the background of the picture.

Black Hole Sun Wants To Come, 2006, Oil on Canvas, 48 x 60 inches

(I immidiately thought of Soundgarden when I saw the title of this piece.)

What the shit am I supposed to say to artwork like this. I loved and hated it and loved it again? It is insane and I love it hahah. What a weird, destructive, vision. I even felt like I was looking at an artist rendition of a weird view toward fairytales or children’s stories. I found it to draw very childlike memories from me. The masks reminded me of Phantom of the Opera, the toys, the youth of the naked people. But then you had destruction of a tornado and nakedness being a loss of self concealment. I mean it just blew my mind up. As opposed to landscapes haha.

(****AND HOLY SHIT – basically I typed up the above two paragrpahs BEFORE typing up the artist name and information in one of the first pargraphs . I went BACK to do that part. I’m freaking.. haha. I didn't even read about her until after I wrote this freaking blog. How cool is that? I "GOT" her artwork before even knowing what she was intending to protray haha.)

How Does It Feel, 2006, Oil on canvas, 96 x 64 inches

If you are interested in the artist: http://www.nicolaverlato.com/

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So, this artist clearly had the lovin’ for a young fun time. There is something about the band that I am about to name that just gets me bubbly. The songs put smiles on my face the send I hear the first note. The band is called Great Big Sea.

Great Big Sea originated in Canada, specifically Newfoundland and Ladrador. The year a folk-rock band. They are best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island’s 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage. The band also performs original material.

Great Big Sea has been more successful than any other contemporary North American band in bringing Anglo-Celtic folk sounds into rock clubs!!!!!

Some great songs to download are:

“Scolding Wife” - Sea of No Cares Album
“Stumbling In” - Sea of No Cares Album
“Turn” – Turn Album
“The Night Pat Murphy Died” – Play Album

These songs are playful and bright and airy and you can’t help but feel the Irish under tones and want to bust into some kind of jug!