Art Trek, June 22nd, 2023
This week we explored the art of Rossitza Todorova, the Reno City Artist.
We also see Jennifer Charboneau’s exploration of 100-year-old negatives and two group shows.
So join us for Art Trek for June 22nd, 2023
~By Dana Nöllsch and Martin A. David~
Rossitza Todorova at the Metro Gallery
In this video, Rossitza Todorova tells us about her exhibition, inspiration, and more.
Joining us this week is Martin A. David. David, also known as Mardav, is a wanderer in the arts. He is an Arts Practitioner whose professional work ranges from writing to theatre to visual arts.
~By MARTIN A. DAVID~
The Metro Gallery, a public art gallery on the first floor of the Reno City Hall, is one of the hidden treasures in our city’s cultural landscape. The current exhibition features an exciting array of canvasses by Rossitza Todorova. Todorova, our Reno City Artist, is the third person to be honored with that title.
Todorova’s Metro show contains all new work. A number of the paintings, she points out, were created during her transition out of the isolation and restrictions created by the pandemic. At first glance, the images are deceptively calm; perfectly proportioned geometric forms seem to float above desert landscapes. The works of surrealist Rene Magritte are called to mind. However, on closer contemplation, the dynamic tension and powerful emotional content of the paintings capture and engage the viewer.
The descriptive artist’s statements that accompany each work become part of the experience and impact of the paintings. Todorova speaks of her “Love affair with the desert.” Indeed, Nevada’s expansive deserts become powerful emotive subjects in this artist’s passionate view. For her, the wide range of wilderness can represent a metaphorical way of thinking that can include both a sense of being “lost” and of being “found.”
“It’s all,” she says, “about knowing what you want; of navigating. Staying in the reality of being lost,” she points out, “is better than forcing the repetition of a futile path.”
The landscapes in her impressive body of work often suggest visions of mirages. In fact, one of the canvasses is titled, Fata Morgana—a term that describes the floating images often seen in the distance over a heated panorama. In that painting, the viewer must look beyond the solidity of a suspended object to see the fading rays of a far-off sunset.
Todorova says that her exploration into transposing images of optical phenomena onto solid landscapes can represent, “Looking for a way to find yourself.” She adds, “Beautiful things happen.”
June 19 to August 4, 2023. Reception: July 13, 5 to 7 PM
City Hall – 1st Floor 1 E. First Street, Reno, NV.
Memorandum at The Basement, an exhibition by Jennifer Charboneau
Jennifer Charboneau found a notebook in a fleamarket; her interest in notebooks and the beauty of cataloging thoughts, ideas, and life within the pages drew her to this well-aged notebook. As fate would have it, within this old notebook were several 100-year-old negatives capturing a time long lost, but a few fractions of seconds were saved for Charboneau to use for inspiration to create. This is where her exhibition Memorandum comes from.
Taking the negatives at face value, Charboneau uses paper and ink to recreate the images found on each of the negatives without regard to the positive form of the images. This leaves the mystery of the secrets hidden within the negative’s unviewable areas. The artworks created for this show are indeed extraordinary. The sublime vagueness of ink on paper combined with the negative image is a visual treat that should not be missed.
As you take in Charboneau’s exhibition, remember that there is a lesson for all of us to learn. Fate will offer you much, be open, for chance may take you on a journey you will want to experience.
Gallery on view from May 13th – July 31st, with Charboneau at the gallery most days.
To schedule a specific viewing date & time, please email charbojr@gmail.com)
50 S. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89501
“Y/Our Neighborhood” at The Depot Gallery, various artists.
The Depot Gallery in Sparks is offering an exhibit entitled “Y/Our Neighborhood.”
“With this exhibition, we want to bring attention to the ever-changing landscape of our region’s neighborhoods and how gentrification affects the people who call the Truckee Meadows home.”
There are many fun images and artworks in this group show. I was quite taken with the pinata. After seeing Y/Our Neighborhood, I contemplated how my neighborhood has changed.
Be sure to stop by The Depot next time you are in Downtown Sparks
~~Full disclosure, Dana Nöllsch, one of the authors of this article, has two pieces in the Y/Our Neighborhood show.~~
The exhibition runs June 4 – 25. Gallery hours are Fridays – Sundays, 12 – 5 p.m.
831 Victorian Avenue, Sparks, NV
The June Pride Show Sierra Arts, a group show.
To celebrate Pride Month, Sierra Arts has the Annex Gallery devoted to artists who identify as LGBQT+. It is essential to see through others’ eyes as part of understanding the world around us, and the open expression of art is the perfect vehicle to do just that.
This may not be a show with lots of art on display, but each piece has its own power that should be seen.
Sierra Arts Foundation
10:00 am to 4:00 pm Tuesday through Friday Saturday: 12:00 – 4:00
17 S. Virginia Street Reno, NV
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