virginia asman • illuminage studio

Current Exhibitions, June 2013

Visit the Closing Reception of Emerging Visions: Art Showcase 2013 at Gallery35, 30 E 35th St, Manhattan on June 22 from 6-8pm. I am exhibiting three new works—Painting the Passage, Lion-Pecked and Clinging Vine—in a group show with 13 other artists.

Hang Up—featuring those ubiquitous Venetian clotheslines — is currently on exhibition at Claret’s Wine Bar, Skillman Ave & 46th Street in Sunnyside, NY.

In addition to these shows, I was fortunate to participate in the well-supported Art Fair VI as a member of SunnysideArtists.org. Prints and cards of my work—especially those depicting iconic images of this Queens community—were big hits!

Three New Series Added to Gallery

Twenty-three new works exhibited in Asman’s Solo Show, “Pixels on Paper” can now be viewed as three new series on the Gallery page: Location…Location, What in the World? and What’s Up?

Enjoy them once again—or for the first time if you missed the show last March-May.

All arwork shown on the Gallery page is available as prints in various sizes and as blank 5×7 greeting cards.

Location…Location!

I am drawn to street musicians who are often playing beautiful music in humdrum areas. The “local color” (including two artists) in these montages have all been relocated to more picturesque scenes in their native countries:

A One and A Two: Quito, Ecuador

Aussi Aria: Sydney, Australia

Blue Ridge Blues: Asheville, North Carolina

Cows & Keys: Queenstown, New Zealand

Desert Dude: Silver City, New Mexico

Fortissimo: Florence, Italy

Scarves & the Family: Quito, Ecuador

Sculpture on the Mount: Quito, Ecuador

Vista Vision: Venice, Italy

What in the World?

Photographs from recent international trips continue to inspire. Here is an assortment of stylized montages to make you wonder “What in the World?”

Birds Rule: An assortment of our feathered friends living on the Galapagos Islands.

Kaola’s No Bear: Koala’s posing in Australian sancturary.

Lilies and Lizards: Beauties and beasts in a New Zealand pond.

Painting The Passage: A lonely painter adds a fantasy gondolier.

Pining for Down Under: Views of the Norwalk Pine Tree gracing both Australia and New Zealand.

Surf ‘n’ Turf: Land and Sea Iguanas of the Galapagos.

Fishy Feast: Inspired by a lakeside eatery in Queenstown, New Zealand

What’s Up?

Combining drawings and photographs from locales around the world, each of these montages seek to define the answer to “What’s Up?”

Climb Up: Steps from Ecuador,New Zealand and New Mexico

Giddy-Up: Horses of Italy and Ecuador

Hang Up: Those ubiquitous clotheslines of Venice, Italy

Listen Up: Musical Instruments of Ecuador, Italy, New Zealand and Australia

Look Up: Street Sculptures of Quito, Ecuador

Tails Up: Dogs and Cats of Ecuador, Italy and New Zealand

Galapagos Duos

Selecting photos for a series based on my recent trip to the Galapagos Islands (2012) was like picking just the right apples from a tree full of perfectly ripened specimens. But as I perused my huge collection of snapshots from several days of exploration I found five that stood out for one reason: no compositing would be necessary to show two animals snuggling closely and in some cases even interacting. After adjusting colors to create a bit of fantasy and adding a painterly quality to each photo, Galapagos Duos was ready for the gallery.

Montaging Murray Hill

Montaging Murray Hill was created as a series for an exhibit of art related to the neighborhood surrounding Gallery35. Armed with my little digital camera and a knowledge of the boundaries of the Murray Hail neighborhood in NYC, I soon found inspiration for three works each created by digital compositing of many individual shots.

All Around the Hill: a “virtual block” of buildings with especially interesting and unusual architecture found throughout the historic district
Murray Menagerie: an arrangement of creatures found as part of the details of buildings constructed when such embellishments were popular
Those Banners Yet Wave: home to many embassies, flags in Murray Hill are abundant and colorful

Art Of The Poster

Before gallery art , there was graphic art – and lots of posters. Art Of The Poster includes a sampling of the graphic imagery I have created to advertise concerts, plays and exhibits. These posters have hung at such venues as Symphony Space, Theater for the New City and Gallery35.

Down Under In Green

Inspired by my travels to Australia and New Zealand in 2012, I created Down Under In Green for exhibition in a show entitled “The Green Show” – which accounts for the predominant hue of the works.

The series depicts the art and culture of the Maori (New Zealand) and Aboriginese (Australia) people as well as the beach outing of a group of Australian school children. Sydney’s Opera House (with a glimpse of the Sydney Harbour Bridge) is shown in a “fractured” state – and no “down under” series would be complete without kiwis, kangaroos and koalas!

Omaggio Al Mio Gatto

My trip to Italy in 2011 came just a few months after the death of my cat Ia, who was my loving companion for 18 years. For Omaggio Al Mio Gatto (homage to my cat), I chose 6 rather picturesque photographs I took in Venice, Pompeii and Rome. Desiring to further enhance these already charming scenes, I created – with the magic of digital compositing – a fantasy of Ia with me on my Italian adventure.