Showing online at the Supercollider Gallery through September 30th, The Phenomenology of Hope is a visual adventure as well as an absolutely beautiful art exhibition. I had the pleasure of an advance tour given by Khang Nguyen, who co-curated the show with Eli Joteva and Kio Griffith. All three are artists themselves, with work exhibited here among over 40 artists.
Available in both 3D and 2D formats, the exhibition is a virtual-walk-through experience that has the immersive feel of attending a real, brick and mortar art exhibition – in your mind.
The virtual-reality setting is one of the only such that I’ve experienced which does not diminish the quality of the art. While there are many video images, which would honestly appear almost identical in-person or online, the paintings and sculptural objects are so artfully presented in the galleries, so seamlessly integrated with the video images, that the viewer almost feels as if “there.” What I am referring to, “there,” is not be a recreation of a real physical space, but rather it is as if we entered a sensational gallery that blossomed in our minds.
If that sounds absurd, and it may, that is due to the limitation of words as opposed to the surprising and complete lack of limitation in the exhibition. While I did not personally inhabit my own avatar on my artist-led tour of the space, it’s one way available to enjoy the show quite fully; walking through in 2D is also wonderful, and comes with easily accessed information about the works from the artists, as well as full viewing of all the art, including the videos, which are both visual and auditory.
While I have too many favorites to mention, among the standouts for me are Ann Phong’s “Looking Up from the Bottom of the Ocean,” an acrylic on panel vision of intense blue in which the viewer seems to be swimming toward a vivid, redeeming light; Diane William’s large-scale mixed media weaving, produced with the students of the Los Feliz Charter School for the arts, titled “We Can,” is so textural, in 3D one can almost feel the fabric and wire utilized.
Blue McRight’s complex woven mixed media wall hangings, “Undescribed Variations,” which appear to be gestating forms, or tribal designs are equally well-presented in terms of physicality. Eli Joteva’s interstellar-like cyanotypes are haunting; her video, “Time Reveals the Surface” is richly compelling; equally so, though entirely different, is Kate Parsons’ vivid “Valhalla.” Both mystical and visceral, Hung Viet Nguyen’s wonderful Sacred Landscapes series dazzles here. June Edmond’s work is a kinetic trip of color; Virginia Katz offers images both dreamy and profound, of which “The Hours 1” is a particular favorite. Her wall sculptures using acrylic paint and wire are very different and also quite special. Sean Noyce’s video “Portal,” is just that, luring the viewer into a glowing new dimension.
I could go on and on, certainly Khang B. Nguyen and Kio Griffith each have disparate but dazzling works in the show, as do so many others.
The exhibition describes its own title and theme in part with this statement: “Hope is an evasive phenomenon. For some it is a most harmful impairment, for others it is one of the highest human virtues. It is difficult to precisely define, but seems to leave its imprints on every aspect of human life and practice.” It certainly has left one on this beautiful and unique show.
Drop whatever else you are doing on your computer at the moment, and step inside: https://www.phenomenologyofhope.com/
- Genie Davis; photos provided by Supercollider and curators
I have seen and enjoyed June Edmonds’ work at SOLA before. Such great texture and colors!!