ACRYLIC MELODY Exhibition
ACRYLIC MELODY EXHIBITION
Music Crossroads (MC) is a non-profit organisation which uses the power of music education, professional training, live performances and promotion of talented youth to empower them and support the development of the music education sector and the music industry in the culturally rich southern African region.
The Acrylic Melody Exhibition is an initiative that seeks to bring together artists from around the world to give a helping brush. The fundraising vernissage and art exposition displays music-inspired wood block paintings (20x20cm) of artists and art enthusiasts from over 20 countries. All proceeds go towards scholarships and benefit the students at our three music academies in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Established in 1995 by Jeunesses Musicales International, the world’s largest youth music network, MC has reached more than 200,000 young musicians and over 500,000 audience members in southern Africa.
18 > 28.02.2016
Our unique Music Crossroads Academies in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, established in April 2013, empower talented young musicians with an affordable and innovative music education program and the necessary tools for a career in music.
MAISON BURGANOV
Scholarships, which make up to 40% of the intake, are available to marginalised youth, who could not otherwise access music education. These are the students that will be benefiting from this initiative.
Rue de la Tête d’Or 7 1000 Brussels - Belgium
with the kind support of EXGAMO and LE GÉANT DES BEAUX-ARTS
At Music Crossroads, we put every effort into supporting talented young people in Africa by providing them with music education and training. We are very grateful to all the artists who have seen value in what we do and decided to donate their work of art to this fundraising initiative. The beautiful works you will see at the exhibition were inspired by music. Music means much more to the young people we work with than any of us could ever imagine. In the challenging environments within their home countries, music has given our students a chance to make a living, a way of earning respect and credibility within their communities and for some, a reason to live. This is why we strive to provide the best possible education and opportunities and - with your support - we may continue to help these young people develop and use their musical talents, empowering them through music. On behalf of these young people, we thank you.
Joe Herrmann (Music Crossroads’ Director)
Art, such as music, has its focus through the “free-crossing” of experiences and geographical references, also thanks to a conceptual and contemporary expressive nomadism. In this framework, a new geographical communication emerges from which we can observe an art of endless “crossing” or exchange. The result is multiple artistic and symbolic productions, where classical and new iconographies are well-balanced. The intention of the Music Crossroads Acrylic Melody Exhibition is to achieve a sort of synergy between thought and organisation in phenomenology, as it regards contemporary art and music from different cultural contexts. The participating artists, art students and enthusiasts all come from a variety of different countries and/or cultures. In carefully observing each of the over 85 panels donated, we can see colours and forms uniquely manifest on wood. Each painting tells a personal story of musical emotion and/or reason, looking for a language in which we can find the “melody” of surrounding artistic values mixed with energy. It is an exchange between different traditions. In each work technique joins sensibility, evolving into a material expression of rhythm, harmony, colour, gesture and thought, paying its tribute to music. Through its empowerment of African youth through music education, non-profit organisation Music Crossroads has shown how artistic and cultural expression bring people together for social betterment. The relationship formed between art and music in the context of their Acrylic Melody initiative is clearly a positive and effective example, which further stresses the universal significance of culture, music and the arts in society. Genny Di Bert Art Critic and Historian
ARTISTS derick smith ANNE ARSAC XAVIER YARTO REYNA ZAPATA MARIE-AGNÈS LE GUEN CHRISTY TITUS BLANDINE VERCRUYSSE BABETTE SEMMER GIORGIO RADICATI NANCY MARISA ARLT LUCIANA MATHIOUDAKIS DOVILE SIMONYTE GISELLA FAMÁ SUSAN WILLCOCKS
DERICK SMITH Ireland
Born in New York, raised in Ireland, Derick Smith initially began a career in design before moving on to chemical photography which resulted in his first solo exhibition in New York (2006). Later, he began to experiment with sculpture and painting after graduating from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin (2012) and has since exhibited in national and international group exhibitions. His most recent solo exhibition took place in Dublin’s La Cathedral Gallery (2015) and was later invited to exhibit work at the opening of a new Moscow gallery, Art Baza (2015). Primarily I think about emergence and about drawing forth something which is unseen. When successful, a form or image can be distinguished which pulls away from the paint. It can absorb your attention for a moment before the illusion fades and the awareness of the physicality of the paint as an object draws you back.
Code: DS-14
In his paintings: Magnesium on Blue 1, 2 & 3, an attempt has been made to create the impression of solidity and form, through the interaction of the paint with itself. Within the drips are contained micro universes which are offered as invitations for the viewer to interpret as they so wish. Smith’s pondering of emergence and the unseen recalls the overall theme of the Acrylic Melody initiative, music and its very essence: (physical) untangibility. www.dericksmith.ie
Code: DS-12 Code: DS-13
ANNE ARSAC Belgium
Unlike most of her Acrylic Melody peers, Belgian painter Anne Arsac only began exploring the fine arts after her studies and almost fifteen years of work experience in unrelated areas (Law and Advertising). Upon deciding to pursue her passion for painting, Arsac began following courses at the Malou School and Plateau 96 in Brussels. She is currently, and for past two years now, at The Rixensart Academy whilst exhibiting locally. To date, Arsac has taken part in several regional competitions and exhibitions in Woluwe-St-Pierre. The two panels donated by this artist for the Acrylic Melody initiative show how in music, such as in art, texture is how the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are joined in a composition to determine the overall quality of the sound in a piece. www.anarsac.be
Code: AA-01 Code: AA-02
XAVIER YARTO Mexico
Through his abstract work, Mexican painter Xavier Yarto creates unique and impactful images of strongly exuding energy, vibrance and symbolism, via his use of colour and composition. Yarto seeks to go beyond abstract art by
combining his technique with “high-relief”, of pre-Hispanic culture. By doing this, the artist transforms concept by reinforcing it with a new set of colours that he creates to highlight meaning in each icon used in his work.
After exhibiting in several renowned places in his native Mexico, Yarto has been invited to present his work abroad, in countries including Sweden, Netherlands, Spain, England, Austria, France, Italy, United States and Belgium. Yarto’s art offers the viewer the quality of an abstract work, whilst taking on figurative and iconic symbols of the enigmatic world of pre-Columbian art in a new way. The artist describes his work as “a recreation of the Hispanic culture with a modern language.” Much like many elements of his cultural heritage, including music, the pieces Yarto has chosen to donate to the Acrylic Melody inicitaive are effervescent, powerful and suggestive. www.xavieryarto.com
Code: XY-35 Code: XY-36
REYNA ZAPATA Mexico
Born on December 30, 1951 in Merida, Yucatan, Mexican artist Reyna Zapata manifested her very first artistic inclinations and desire to become a painter at an early age. Zapata officially launched her career upon obtaining her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, followed by a Master’s Degree in Painting at the former Escuela de Artes Plasticas of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), currently the Faculty of Arts and Design of the UNAM (FAD). Zapata defines herself as an artist who admires Magical Realism, and uses primitive and Venetian techniques, sometimes between the figurative and abstract. So far, the artist has exhibited in both collective and individual art shows in Mexico, reportedly selling around 600 paintings of various techniques and genres, including portrait and landscape. Of her work, Zapata says: I think that one of my main skills is the domain of the techniques of painting material which have enabled my ability to give full rein to my creativity on a whim, from the most academic figuration to the purest abstraction from color, form and materials. The two panels donated by this artist for the Acrylic Melody initiative may be seen as an ode to the vibrant colours, energy and magic associated with Mexican tradition in music and culture. www.reynazapataartista.wix.com/artista
Code: RZ-31 Code: RZ-30
MARIE-AGNÈS LE GUEN Belgium
Code: MAG-26
Code: MAG-24
Code: MAG-22
Code: MAG-27
Code: MAG-25
Code: MAG-23
Belgian artist Marie-Agnès Le Guen deeply jubilates while painting and enjoys constantly mutual enrichment through contact with other artists. Combined with her sincere affection for Africa, Le Guen was strongly compelled to take part in the Acrylic Melody initiative for its collaborative nature and its aim at helping give African youth access to music education. To the artist, semi-abstraction may be an answer to music-listening, in that “you’re not any more in exact representation of life, but let your feelings break through”. The works Le Guen has donated to the initiative invite interaction by requesting the viewer to “play around with the six elements” (panels) presented, which together seemingly compose an abstract puzzle concealing three figurative elements (musical instruments). www.marieagnesleguen.com
CHRISTY TITUS
United States of America Paris-based American artist Christy Titus began forging her own artistic path upon graduating in Communications and focusing on her love of art after a year of humanitarian work. Christy developed and perfected her craft whilst completing further studies at Bowling Green State University and the Art Students League of Denver. Predominately working in the field of painting, she caught the attention of master painters Daniel Sprick and Quang Ho, who mentored her during her time in Denver. The artist has exhibited with NEXT Gallery, Tesoro Artisans Gallery and Core New Art Space, as well as injuried exhibitions throughout the United States. Most recently, she has exhibited at HEC Paris in Jouy-en-Josas, France. Christy is currently a resident artist at 59 Rivoli Collectif d’artistes in downtown Paris. The works donated for the Acrylic Melody initiative were inspired by music that the artist listens to while painting in her studio. I tend to flip between soft music and upbeat depending on how I’m feeling that day. These two panels are a product of listening to both. ‘Blue Like Jazz’ was painted while listening to an album by The Civil Wars, and ‘Back to Nature’ was painted by listening to a collection of popular music.
www.christytitus.com Code: CT-11 Code: CT-10
BLANDINE VERCRUYSSE Belgium
The work of Belgian artist Blandine Vercruysse depends on format, touch, composition, and colour. Through these, the artist seeks to “introduce a visual force into the pictorial image”. Vercruysse has completed four years of art studies in the Malou Workshops, and attended the Royal Academy of Arts in Brussels, followed by the Art School of Braine-L’Alleud, Belgium. With brushstrokes, the artist rewrites the human, faces, women, and animals from all continents. The colors are mixed differently, but chosen in a complementary way to yield harmony to the image and comprehension to the viewer.
Code: BV-07
Code: BV-09
Code: BV-05
Code: BV-08
Code: BV-06
Code: BV-04
For the Acrylic Melody initiative, Vercruysse’s works explore the notion of timbre in visual form, through her harmonic use of mediums. In her six piece collection, colours were assembled to embody the sounds of Nature, such as the calming repetition of ocean waves reaching ashore, the busteling of forest trees and even the whisteling sounds of wind as it is compressed between the many buildings of the modern urban setting. www.blandinevercruysse.be
BABETTE SEMMER England
Graduate of the Slade School of Fine Arts (UK), London artist Babette Semmer describes her paintings as being concerned with visual surprise by navigating two poles: stressing the reality of the painted object and creating an illusion of depth. These are two ideas in painting that define the debates of various modernist Avant-guards. Semmer’s donation to the Acrylic Melody initiative is a painting of crescendos and decrescendos of brush strokes and paint, created based on a staged photograph produced for the West German youth magazine Bravo. The first impression of the girl depicted is comforting. Yet, absorbed in her own reflection, she does not notice her surroundings shifting, the bed bending and the floor curving underneath her. Although the work may at first appear as a traditional portrayal of everyday life, its author seeks to breach the boundaries of standard representations of reality through its distortion. Of her art, Babette Semmer says: Eduard Munch’s late work is an important influence for me. As he is a naturalist rather than a full-blown expressionist, it is the ordinary object, the everyday, that emits something strange, other-worldly and funny. www.babettesemmer.tumblr.com
Code: BS-03
GIORGIO RADICATI Italy
The Italian diplomat Giorgio Radicati has always cultivated his passion for the visual arts and writing, whilst advancing his political career. Years of living in the world’s leading cities as a diplomat, representing his native country to foreign audiences, caring for immigrant populations and celebrating life in varied languages and cultures, have shaped Radicati’s world-view and artistic sensibility. Radicati’s involvement in the Acrylic Melody initiative is due to his love for and time spent working in Africa, where he initiated several cooperative aid programs in many states of the continent, including Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Since discovering his artistic vein, Radicati has gone from a purely figurative style to an abstract-informal style via the use of, mainly, acrylic and mixed media techniques. The prolific artist has exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions –in Italy, Turkey, Czech Republic and the U.S.— as well as published various articles, essays and books. The artwork donated on behalf of the artist: Composizione Musicale (Musical Composition), is a striking visual ensemble that functions as a relic or testament and ode to music and art from a modern though nostalgic perspective.
Code: GR-16
NMA (NANCY MARISA ARLT) Germany
Berlin-based artist NMA first emerged onto the German art scene in 2004, following her graduation from the University of Arts in Berlin (UdK). NMA was raised in a city divided by a wall, having thus experienced both sides before and after the fall of the Berlin wall. Her art is heavily influenced by the city‘s new-found sense of freedom, a spirit of unlimited possibilities and a feeling of former restrictions rupturing, leading to limitlessness. The artist’s most recent long-term staple project, and one of her most compelling, was a compilation of paintings interpreting the vast assortment of musical pieces by world renowned composer Richard Wagner onto canvas, in honor of his bicentennial in 2013. An installation that was described by Wagner‘s great granddaughter Katharina Wagner as “extraordinarily successful” and “inspiring”, as well as “controlled conversion” and “highly emotional”. The inspiration for the two pieces The Source and Rhythm was the impulse, that special moment out of which music and creative processes in general evolve.
www.nma-rsvp.info
Code: NMA-28 Code: NMA-29
LUCIANA MATHIOUDAKIS Greece / Italy
Brussels-based Greek/Italian artist Luciana Grazian Mathioudakis has studied in Italy and lived and worked between England, Greece and Belgium. During the last twenty years, she has attented classes with artists like Viviane Cangeloni, Veronique Decoster, Ana Pentcheva, Nikolai Nikolov, and Anne Desobry. After many years spent using oil paint and pastel, she lately works with beeswax. The use and manipulation of beeswax for her works consists of an ancient Greco-Roman technique known as Encaustic.
Code: LM-21
The centre of her work is communication in all its forms, including music and dance, as it is shown in her three works donated for the Acrylic Melody initiative. www.lucianamathioudakis.eu
Code: LM-19 Code: LM-20
VERONICA RADICATI Brazil / Italy
Italian / Brazilian Freelance Consultant in Communications and Design, Veronica Radicati has international experience in mainly (Fashion) Design, (Digital) Marketing, Art Direction and Visual Merchandising. As a visual communicator, Radicati enjoys challenging and re-interpreting herself and social and/or aesthetic paradigms through various media such as digital and manual illustration, typography, photography, collages, sculpture, graffiti, (fashion) design, etc. The works donated by the artist for the Acrylic Melody initiative, one of which serves as the exhibition’s flyer and catalogue cover art-- are a physical manifestation of and pay tribute to the intense emotions and memories evoked in her by given pieces of music. www.vradicati.carbonmade.com
Code: VR-34
DOVILE SIMONYTE Lithuania
Lithuanian artist Dovile Simonyte is a BA graduate from Slade School of Fine Arts and amongst our youngest contributors. Through her art, Simonyte aims to “reach and develop everyday intuitive power of knowing before thinking, taking unknown paths and following a mind compass to reach the desired destination�. According to Simonyte, having come from the far north of Lithuania has compelled her to daily exercise such abilities, including intuition, as road signs are nearly non-existent in that region of the country. To her, this is also applicable for many of her fellow millennials today, who were born into a rapidly and everchanging world where conventional values, education or family structures no longer bear much assurance for the future. The panel donated for this exhibition is inspired by the hand, which may be seen as the ultimate universal instrument that can simultaneously receive and produce. After all, hands are our primary tools used to create sound, melodies and all other forms of artistic expression. It is through the guidance of intuition that we can improvise channeling our destiny (artistic and/or musically) written on our palms.
www.dovilesimonyte.tumblr.com
Code: DOV-15
GISELLA FAMร Argentina
Born in San Rafael, Argentina, Gisella Famรก has always had a curious and venturesome soul. At the age of 18, she moved to Mendoza City to realise her dream of studying architecture and that of pursuing her artistic passions, painting and photography. Upon completing her studies in Argentina, Famรก was compelled to begin exploring new settings and thus decided to move to Italy, where she obtained a Masters degree in Landscape Design & Management of Green Urban Spaces and a second Masters in Architectural & Urbanism Projects. Today Gisella Famรก is active in the areas of Architecture, Landscape, Graphic Design and, in her free time, the Visual Arts. The two panels donated by this artist for the Acrylic Melody initiative are inspired by the element of change in everyday life, including how it influences music over time. As society changes, music changes with it, shown via the ongoing evolution of musical memes through, for instance, variations in instruments, genre and style preference. We live in a fractal world, which is mutating all the time. We are living in a new measurement of time and surrounded by thousands of elements that are going faster and faster: everything is dynamic and has flexibility to change.
www.gsefama.wix.com/index
Code: GF-18 Code: GF-17
Susan Willcocks Canada
Young Canadian artist Susan Willcocks is currently studying Studio Arts in Montreal. As a teenager, she made a personal promise to use the impact of art to make a difference in someone’s world. Her works, in varied genres (drawing, painting, photography and sculpture), have been seen in solo and group exhibitions in various regions of her home province of Québec. Growing up in a small, multicultural village, Susan was immersed in two very different and often antagonistic cultures: Québecoise and Anglophone. Living in two distinct linguistic traditions during her formative years, she became intrigued by the concept of language. She observed that, while a language may be incoherent noise to a non-speaker, some sounds are universally recognisable: laughter, the sounds of joy and the sounds of sorrow. Music also has the power to transcend linguistic barriers, to be felt, experienced and lived by every single being on our planet. It creates a bridge for humanity, making the world one. Willcocks explores this theme visually in her works donated to the Acrylic Melody initiave: Explosion of Sound and Unum. www.swillcocks.blogspot.com
Code: SW-32 Code: SW-33
PARTNER
SCHOOLS ART COMPANY
Annick Lenoble Anyse Maunier Christine Renard Debbie Reich Denise Ramet Nicole Jospa
ROME UNIVERSITY OF FINE ARTS
Caterina Gianfelici Federica di Pietrantonio Francesca Ruggeri Gaia Flamigni Giacomo Santini Giulio Cosimi
ART COMPANY Belgium
Art Company is primarily a creative space based in Brussels that brings together amateur and professional artists. Regardless of their experience, anyone can learn multiple painting techniques and experience the freedom to create in a climate of joy and confidence. For this initiative, Laurence Nitlich chose a group of 6 students working on real and dreamed landscape. Laurence proposed to assemble all the wooden panels in one setting, so that participants could determine, alone or in a small group, a territory where they wanted to express. This opened a reflection on the border and cohabitation. Participants then painted landscapes influenced by a selection of music chosen for their wealth of timbres and rhythmicity (Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens; Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky...). This resulted in a series of panels with both bold and pastel colours. These vibrant colors perfectly reflect the musical tracks that they were listening to (Urban Night Symphony; Wheat Field Gospel; Purple Rain Melody; Sunny Afternoon Concerto; White Lake Blues).
Code: ACOM-46
Artists: Annick Lenoble, Anyse Maunier, Christine Renard, Debbie Reich, Denise Ramet and Nicole Jospa.
www.artcompany.be
Code: ACOM-45
Code: ACOM-47
Code: ACOM-39
Code: ACOM-40
Code: ACOM-37
Code: ACOM-38
Code: ACOM-41
Code: ACOM-42
Code: ACOM-43
Code: ACOM-44
ROME UNIVERSITY OF FINE ARTS (RUFA) Italy
RUFA is a private Fine Arts Academy based in Rome, Italy, established in 1998. The aim was to create a place that married both aspects of the creative process: concept and practice, to better capacitate students to enter the workforce in real-time. Over 450 students are currently enrolled in the Academy, under the guidance of 70 teachers, which are also all active professionals in their respective fields. Students from RUFA’s Painting Department, with the collaboration of Professor Fabrizio dell’ Arno, take part in the Acrylic Melody initivative with their donation of the following works: Unione di gocce (Union of Colors), Musica (Music), Frammenti pt.1 (Fragments Part 1), Wild was the Wind, Traccia MI (Track MI), Ciò che è detto dalle note (That Which Is Said By The Notes).
Code: RUFA-49
Code: RUFA-52
Code: RUFA-51
Code: RUFA-50
Code: RUFA-53
Code: RUFA-48
Artists: Caterina Gianfelici, Federica di Pietrantonio, Francesca Ruggeri, Gaia Flamigni, Giacomo Santini and Giulio Cosimi. www.unirufa.it
ART ENTHUSIASTS Adrian Hansen, Angela Lowe, Anita Rocha, Augusto HernĂĄndez, Catherine Von Allmen, Diana Cangueiro, Eliska Kolinkova, Gabriel Artho, Ina Kulic, Lea Sporck, InĂŞs Moreira, J.H., Maren Orstavik, Margaux Rouchet, Matt Clemo, Michal Zuk, Oystein Langberg, Piero Valmassoi, Sara Vicente, Rikke Lorenzen, Robert Klimacki, Thierno BA, Tom Gachet, Victor Teodorescu
Augusto Hernรกndez Code: AUH-57
Maren Orstavik Code: MO-68
Diana Cangueiro Code: DC-59
Diana Cangueiro Code: DC-60
Catherine Von Allmen Code: CVA-58
Margaux Rouchet Code: MR-69
Tom Gachet Code: TG-83
Adrian Hansen Code: AH-54
Rikke Lorenzen Code: RL-80
Michal Zuk Code: MZ-71
Rikke Lorenzen Code: RL-78
Rikke Lorenzen Code: RL-79
Rikke Lorenzen Code: RL-74
Rikke Lorenzen Code: RL-75
Rikke Lorenzen Code: RL-76
Rikke Lorenzen Code: RL-77
Piero & Sara Code: PVSV-73
Oystein Langberg Code: OL-72
Eliska Kolinkova Code: EK-61
InĂŞs Moreira Code: IM-65
Lea Sporck Code: LS-67
Ina Kulic & Lea Spork Code: IKLS-64
Gabriel Artho Code: GA-62
Ina Kulic Code: IK-63
Angela Lowe Code: AL-55
Robert Klimacki Code: RK-81
Thierno BA Code: TBA-82
Anita Rocha Code: AR-56
Victor Teodorescu Code: VT-84
J.H. Code: JH-66
Matt Clemo Code: MC-70
Thank You, Khanimambo, Obrigado, Zikomo! The Music Crossroads’ team would like to thank all artists for their contribution to the Acrylic Melody initiative. Without your kind support, time and dedication, this initiative could not have been possible. A big thank you to Genny Di Bert for the introductory text for this catalogue. We would also like to thank our sponsors, Dominique (Exgamo) and Julia Smolenkova (Maison Burganov) for providing the space for the exhibition. Thank you to Les GÊants des Beaux-Arts for donating the paint used by the participants at the very first Acrylic Melody event. Finally, we would also like to thank Bopalux Bakery and Deborah Pinna for their kind contribution towards food served at our vernissage. Cover art by: Veronica Radicati
In partnership with:
A program of: