Low Opacity
LOW OPACITY is a solo show by Rustwo in Gallery 2.0
Exhibition period: April 19 - May 4
Provoked by the theme of the presence of street art in a gallery we invited Rustwo to interpret graffiti freedom and energy in a place traditionally associated with the presentation of classical academic art.
Handling the brush with precision but at the same time heavily influenced by his experience as graphic designer, Rustwo recreates his perception of the relationship between digital and graffiti art. His artistic concept gives a new insight of the presence of street art in the gallery space, depicting it in a seemingly sterile way, but actually crafted with the technique of fine art.
With a specific vision and without neglecting the boundary between the streets and the gallery, Rustwo insensibly changes the art tools he uses – outside its place finds the spray as a favorite and a typical for the urban space tool, and in the inside – only a brush and paint.
The author brings in a refine and figurative way the free spirit of the graffiti in the gallery. It could be felt in the neat shapes, the ethereal typography on the wall, and the ease in space formed by the plexiglas art works. Their presence would be impossible in a real urban environment, and here comes the power of the crossing point between the gallery and the street art. On the other hand, this extra layer of transparency also symbolizes the implementation of layers so typical for digital art.
Moving forward into the gallery space we find ourselves in a new atmosphere. It is a reflection of the author's affinity for the perfect shapes and the fluidity of movement in a computer environment. The hand-painted panels from the previous section have been replaced with digital art posters, which by scanning the added QR codes even come to life in the viewer's hands. And in the evening of the opening, the static graffiti on the wall was complemented by a mapping created by the author to show that, like everything in our world today, even graffiti art is a subject to dynamic changes dictated by the surrounding environment.
With this conditional dividing of the place of '' physical '' and '' digital '', Rustwo expresses his personal statement that the synthesis between graffiti and computer graphics is in a constant evolution and is always related to movement.
The author's desire to recreate digital shapes with graffiti elements can be felt clearly. He uses details that are inherent in computer graphics but made by hand - so the presence of imperfections in his art work is no longer a flaw, but highlights the character of the pieces.
In the all-day event on April 28, part of the solo show, besides the possibility of an informal artistic talk, visitors joined a workshop for painting with Tilt Brush - a drawing tool in virtual space. George from VR Express presented how virtual reality and art could meet and he was giving directions to participants in how to experiment with the Google tool.
The purpose of the event was to engage the audience who had a specific interest in art to experience in first-person the unlimited ways of presenting works in three-dimensional digital forms. Only those who attended the event on April 28th were able to "experience" the content that Rustwo had created with Tilt Brush and that corresponded to the images on display in the gallery.
Partners of the project are Orgachim, Bulged and VR Express.
Special thanks to Sofia Beats, Jameson Irish Wiskey and Samsung for joining us in this adventure.
Photos: Mihaela Draganova