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Art Made Accessible By Online Art Gallery Alpha'a

Alpha'a, an online destination for limited edition prints, is making art more accessible to a young audience looking to acquire their first art piece and build a collection that is distinctly their own.

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Alpha’a’s suggestions for a night of Love

Love by Paula Costa

We’ve selected a few places to visit in your valentine’s day, as well as artwork to warm your heart 

I Love New York Evening

Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue

Wednesday, February 14, 6:30-8:30pm

Toast your love with a glass of champagne in the rotunda, then head on a special tour centered around the romantic tales of New York City, before checking out the museum’s awesome exhibitions after hours.

Kiss by Paula Costa

Kiss Off, Group Exhibition

Luxembourg & Dayan, 64 East 77th Street

Friday, February 23, 2018

Carry on the Valentine’s spirit through the whole month! A good old-fashioned smooch is the inspiration for this exhibition, featuring kiss-fueled pieces by some of modern art history’s best. Works by artists like Vito Acconci, Patty Chang, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Joan Miró, Elizabeth Peyton, Francis Picabia, Sigmar Polke, and Andy Warhol will adorn the walls of this beautiful townhouse-cum-art gallery.

Don’t miss out on the amazing works by Paula Costa and give the gift of art for your loved ones.

Love Letters, Paula Costa / By Ana Carolina Ralston

"Instead of paint, the hands of Paula Costa hold a thread and needle, with what she aligns leaves and flowers, giving them a new meaning - a simple stitch, creating an abstract images or words. Nature is Paula's oracle on her search for inspiration and answers.  Through an intuitive process, she consolidates the story of here own life, which has always had time as a main subject matter, a contemplative object, the focus of her artistic expression. " - Carol Ralston

Love 

Alpha’a

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Alpha Interviews: Sara Woster

Sara Woster is a writer, painter, illustrator and animator who has exhibited her work around the world and has illustrated several children's books. She has received grants from the Jerome Foundation and the Brooklyn Arts Council and is the founder of The Painting School. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Artist working

When did you know you wanted to be an artist?

I come from a family of writers, journalists and English teachers so maybe turning to visual art was a lame act of rebellion. But ever since I was little I would ask for gift cards for the local bookstore because they had a shelf with drawing supplies and I would buy paper, pencils and paint. At first I did a lot of copying from magazines until I hit high school where I was lucky enough to have a very passionate art teacher and attend a public school in a school system that valued arts education enough to fund a well-stocked art room.

Discussion of educational background/training as an artist

I studied painting at the University of Minnesota, which, at the time, was very old school and we did traditional foundation classes, lots of life drawing and color theory classes, which, ironically, I flunked. The teachers were all abstract expressionists so I struggled a bit to find myself artistically. But my senior year I did a study abroad in Greece where I had my first studio and was able to study lot of Greek iconography and mythology and my work  started to come together.

Girl in the woods

Who nurtured your journey in becoming an artist?  Who resisted?

I come from a pretty incredible family as far as supporting weird career paths goes. My brother is a screenwriter and stand up comedian, my sister manages a small theater. We are kind of useless but our parents don't seem to expect us to be otherwise. My dad is from a very musical and bookish family and my mom was a librarian and is an amazing quilt maker. So music, books, and making art were a big deal in our house and yet also just part of everyday life. My dad would play his guitar while watching the Minnesota Vikings, my mom would be quilting and watching Hill Street Blues. They always had music going. Art was integrated into our lives in a seamless way.  And even though I grew up in a small town in South Dakota my parents let me take arts classes at the small arts center and later they encouraged me to study fine art in college.

What is the source of your inspiration for work (source images, literature, daily life, politics, etc)?

Anything and everything. I read a ton and I am influenced by any number of books, right now some s stuff from Montaigne about being human. I kind of just digest everything and some of it winds up in my work. Dreams, images, art, history, memories. I keep a folder on my desktop called 'scrap' and it is always filled with debris from the internet. Currently, there are a lot of images of the man who had to announce that JFK died on TV, something about his face haunts me. Lots of images of Matisse's chapel in Vence. I'm currently obsessed with the image of the last lion in the Atlas mountains. Children's collages. I am currently looking at a lot of 18th century French tapestry and ceramic artists, especially Jean Lucrat. I am obsessed with his color palette. I also teach painting and I take a lot of inspiration from the artists in my painting classes.

Snakes in a storm

What is your preferred medium?  Why?

Acrylic paint because of the speed that I can paint over things.

What about (painting/sculpture/photography/collage/mixed media) instills in you a desire to create?

I'm a painter so painting is what I do. Its not about desire, its who I am.

What determines the scale of your work (large or small)?

Reality is what determines the scale. If I can afford a studio and lots of paint, I paint larger. If I am painting on my dining room table I paint smaller.

Do you work on multiple pieces at one time or do you focus on one until completion?

Many, many, many canvases at once.

For painters, what informs your color palette?

My mood primarily. Or, I will fixate on one color like I am currently into Golden acrylic's fluorescent pink. Again, my current color choices go back to Jean Lucrat.

Which artists have inspired you?

Manet, Vuillard, Matisse, Kerry James Marshall, Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, Tala Madani, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye

Have there been key inflection points in your career (a burst of creativity, a traumatic experience that influenced your work, a meaningful artist in residence program)?

Any time I get a period of time where I can focus for multiple days without interruption is an inflection point. I have two kids and I have to work so those periods are incredibly rare, but completely priceless to me.

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Alpha Interviews: Francesca Lorenzini

Francesca Lorenzini’s art is inspired by philosophical texts & concepts, notably, works by Walter Benjamin & Merleau-Ponty. The idea is to combine images from different periods in art’s economic, cultural, & political history to create art works that act as cultural relics which synthesize art’s history to the present. F thinks of heartworks as efforts to stylize the chaos of information taken in through perception, with an aim to beautify the way that people experience the world by re-focusing their attention to details of color, texture & geometry. 50% of art sales go to sustainable causes. Read the full interview bellow: 

What is the source of your inspiration for work (source images, literature, daily life, politics, etc)? In philosophy, Maurice Merleau-Ponty's 'Phenomenology of Perception' and Friedrich Nietzsche's 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra'. In art, Renaissance lithography from Persia and Italy. What about (painting/sculpture/photography/collage/mixed media) instills in you a desire to create? Creating something that changes the way that people experience the world.

DRIFT

What determines the scale of your work (large or small)? I started very recenetly (about two years ago), so I immediately started creating large works because I believed it was one of the few ways that I would be taken seriously. For painters, what informs your color palette? In philosophy, my area of study, we talk about aesthetics as a litmus test for the quality of a culture. I use colors that relay a sense of vitality and activity, in the hopes that it will signal the energy of the culture from which it originated. Have there been key inflection points in your career (a burst of creativity, a traumatic experience that influenced your work, a meaningful artist in residence program)? I was not an artist until I had a psychedelic experience three years ago. In which artistic direction are you heading? David Lynch describes his films as moving paintings, I would like to start creating moving paintings once I have the resources to start filming. I would also like to create videos where I explain ways of understanding art to people that might not understand art or feel intimidated by it.

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Alpha Entrevista: RIZZA

Artwork from Blan.che series

In the process of seeking self – knowledge, Rizza has realized she could deepen awareness through the act of photographing. The attributes of stillness, absolute silence and meditation, have become essential for the creation of her imagery, which aims to eternalize the experimental nature of her working process as she interacts with a plural entity. Many consider photography as the depiction of what is visible to the eye. For Rizza, however, it is the reverse, she conveys to the world images and sensations which are part of her own self.The transposition of an idea, the raw material of inner thoughts, is a journey through unchartered territory, amidst changeable winds. The experimental nature of this operation will materially determine the visual translation of that idea. Through the camera lens, Rizza has captured the inexhaustible variety of life – she deploys layers, texture, shades, materials, skin, sound, and colors, turning all these features into a unique totality. Man ceses to be human, fabric dematerializes; there is no boundary between subject and object.The idea is to dissolve image recognizability so as to form a new narrative. And, only then, the emerging abstract layers of photography will gain autonomy and draw the within and the without to simultaneous existence. Despite being awash in the imagery of “special effects”, there is no digital manipulation, and the resulting effect is reached by sheer experimentation with materials and lights. Rizza ´s free and creative experimenting arouses curiosity, generating unexpected images which, often times, do not reveal the way in which they have been conceived Her intuitive forms of representation tap directly into the viewer`s emotions and provoke reflection. And, led by spontaneous fruition of those images, the viewer is able to fully appreciate the elements of he visual language.

What was the first work of art you fell in love with? I love everything about Olafur (Eliasson).

When did you know you wanted to be an artist/curator? Being an artist wasn't a choice, it was my only path. It was an inside out process. I've experimented everything but art chose me, it was the only thing capable of filling me completely, creating a life aligned with my purpose.

Discussion of educational background/training as an artist/curator? I'm self-taught, everything in my practice, everything I've learned was from researches, reading (I read a lot of books), listening people who inspire me in some way. I still haven't done an art course.

Who nurtured your journey in becoming an artist/curator? Who resisted? My family is my biggest supporter, specially my stepmother, who showed my work for the first time for curators and art critics. Until this point, my production remained unknown in my studio.

Artwork from Blan.che series

What is the source of your inspiration for work (source images, literature, daily life, politics, etc)? Daily life inspire me a lot, I'm always looking to what capture my eyes somehow. My studies on quantum physics is also a source of inspiration. But above all, meditation and the expansion of consciousness are, with no doubt, what keeps my mind creative and attentive.

What is your preferred medium? Why? At the moment, is photography in studio. What enchants me in this practice are the endless possibilities that it provides me, the studio is my white canvas that allows me to experiment, do mistakes and restart. I say that its my lab.

What about (painting/sculpture/photography/collage/mixed media) instills in you a desire to create? I have the desire to create sculptures and installations.

What determines the scale of your work (large or small)? Large, I believe is a personal preference. I'm interested on the immediate impact that larger artwork causes on the spectator.

Artwork from Blan.che series

Do you work on multiple pieces at one time or do you focus on one until completion? Multiple! I'm always working on several projects at the same time.

For photographers, how do you cajole life into offering up that perfect moment you capture?

My photoraphy isn't related with capturing the perfect moment but creating the moment from a white background.

Which artists have inspired you? Olafur and most of the contemporary japanese artists.

Have there been key inflection points in your career (a burst of creativity, a traumatic experience that influenced your work, a meaningful artist in residence program)? No doubt learning how I could deepen into my self though meditation 

Artwork from XI. An series

Discussion of stand-out pieces from your career 

The XI. An series for its spiritual representation for me and also E.spelho, which allowed me to experiment other midias besides photography.

Discussion of stand-out exhibitions and shows from your career Artistic residency in Tokyo, Bienal de Brasília and a solo exhibition in Galeria Aura, São Paulo.

In which artistic direction are you heading? I'm heading into the interest in to transform an ideia into a image (2D), and then transform a image into a object (3D).

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Alpha Entrevista: Rhoger Chagas

Rhoger Chagas, Olhar Pequeno

Quais são suas principais influências?

Artisticamente falando eu sou uma pessoa que pode receber influencias no meu processo criativo  vindo desde aquilo que eu comi no café da manhã, passando por alguma sensação que tenha me acometido a tarde ou alguma energia  vinda do mainstream durante a noite. Eu estou sempre com meus poros abertos para o ar de novas inspirações, ou, novas formas de me expressar.

Mas se a pergunta se dirige a um tom referencial: eu gosto muito dos trabalhos de Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Van Gogh, Salvador Dali  e El Greco. Todos eles são grandes mestres para mim, mas posso dizer que são mestres que me influenciam mais psicologicamente do que em estilo e técnica propriamente dito.

Como desenvolveu seu estilo?

Minhas raízes na arte são de verdade os desenhos em quadrinho. Foi daí que comecei e essa é minha base e tenho características disso impregnadas até hoje na minha pintura, sobretudo na atual fase. Quando eu estava amadurecido sobre  o que eu queria produzir [como artista], iniciei trabalhos que seguiam uma linha homoerótica - linha essa que foi a resposta de traumas de adolescência. Um momento de levantar as questões de desconstrução do meu corpo na arte. Foi nessa época que vi que não é uma questão de aceitação e sim de entendimento. "-Todo corpo pode ser belo!"  Esses trabalhos tinham toda bagagem dos meus traços de raiz explorados.

Mas o tempo passou e eu não queria seguir apenas essas linhas de trabalho e questões. Queria falar de sentimentos humanos e como eles configuram em sociedade.

Estava de frente a uma sociedade que caminhava em linhas tortas, onde os valores e a vida humana em si eram banalizados. E nisso eu me senti no dever de ter minha arte como porta voz da denúncia de todo esse cenário em que vivia.

Mas eu ainda  estava muito preso na zona de conforto da arte figurativa e quando iniciei essa nova linha de obras eu percebi que a cada trabalha sentia falta exatamente de conseguir o que eu mais queria: expressar o sentimento humano.

O figurativo não me comportava isso e nesse caso me limitava. Quando eu falava  de corpos desenhando homens, o figurativo atendia minhas necessidades. Mas como eu poderia figurar algo que  só se sente? Não se toca e não se vê? Faltava algo muito importante e naquele momento eu não tinha ideia do que poderia ser. Mas sabia que faltava a peça que daria sentido a minha busca de congelar sentimento em arte. Pelo menos da forma que eu queria vivenciar.  

No final de 2015 após o termino do meu primeiro relacionamento eu vivi de longe uma das fases mais tristes que eu tenha me lembrado em toda minha vida e sem perceber comecei a vomitar visceralmente toda essa dor nos meus trabalhos.  Eu retratava  meu mundo  interno, como eu me sentia de forma subjetiva e pra dizer a verdade nada fazia muito sentido. Eu só queria me libertar do que transbordava em mim e que num paradoxo ao mesmo tempo se mantinha entalado.

Extraordinariamente, não sei exatamente em que ponto foi que as linhas do meu figurativo se arrebentaram e libertaram todo esse choro. Mas os trabalhos passaram a propor uma nova conversa. Uma terceira linguagem entre abstrato e figurativo. As lágrimas se materializaram em arte abstrata.

O resto da historia se deu por  construção técnica do estilo por base de testes e estudos. Foi então que eu cheguei a Gherró.

Fale um pouco do estilo Gherró? O que seria?

Gherró: O neologismo significa "-Você sente? Você sentiu? ou Você esta sentindo?", a palavra é uma critica indireta para tantas situações as quais o ser humano parece ser omisso e também um convite direto para se envolver no discurso denso das obras criadas pelo manifesto Gherró. Classifico como manifesto Gherró o seu período de criação.  

Batizei o estilo em Niterói fazendo trabalhos com tons Subjetivos e Inconformistas. Trabalhando valores de Sentimento Humano e  Valor da vida. As técnicas apesar de livres em sua maioria eram o interlúdio do abstrato com figurativo como característica principal  através  de pinceladas para contorno e preenchimento chapado somado ao dripping e a mistura das cores de forma parcial. As composições visuais das cores se davam pelo uso de quase que direto de apenas 7 cores: (Preto,Branco,Vermelho, Prata,Dourado,Bronze e Cobre.)

Com inspirações em movimentos de militância, reformas e protestos sociais contemporâneos e sobre minhas crises existenciais de artista, eu iniciei uma gama de trabalhos onde discursava sobre o amor humano.  Acredito que Gherró é de forma impar sentir a mensagem que não esta visível na obra.

Qual foi o fator principal que o levou à arte?

Essa pergunta me causa um desconforto e grande estranhamento.

Eu na verdade sinto que não  fui ou fora  levado para arte. Ela já nasceu comigo. Em mim. É parte do que eu sou e é o que eu mais entendo por mim.

Você já trabalhou ou tentou trabalhar com outras técnicas? Você pensa em se apropriar de novas linguagens, como a digital?

Sim, além de pintura em tela e desenhos em papel, faz uns anos que já venho divulgando trabalhos em arte digital. Estou estudando a possibilidade também de divulgar futuramente obras grandes em outros suportes como: de video art e quem sabe performances.

Nós sabemos que a arte tem, por uma de suas metas, refletir o contexto social de sua época. Como ela se caracteriza nos tempos atuais e o que estaria refletindo sobre o mundo em que vivemos?

Acredito que a arte como o próprio tempo esta em constante mutação. Eu vivo em uma época de dias escuros. Uma era onde o amor este escasso e a pratica de amar é um ato lendário de coragem. Eu reflito esse cenário amargo problematizando as situações cotidianas e mostrando questionamento sobre os sentimentos humanos.

Em sua opinião, como anda o mercado de artes plásticas no Brasil? Há alguma tendência a melhorar?

O mercado esta funcional. Mas as portas para novos artistas são sempre trancadas. Faltam oportunidades. Para mim infelizmente a tendência é piorar. Não podemos mais bater em portas se quisermos nosso espaço ao sol. E sim é necessário arrombar essas trancas.  As válvulas de escape como a internet estão ai para mostrarmos nossos trabalhos. A elitização de centros culturais com relação a curadorias diminui a oportunidade de conhecermos e vermos novos nomes sendo valorizados. Supervalorizo iniciativas como a Alpha. Acho que o aspirante a artista tem que criar um site, expor seu portfólio de obras  e por a cara de verdade a tapa.  

Como você vê o momento cultural no dia de hoje?

Com o país em crise eu vejo poucas luzes de esperança. Museus mais elitistas do que nunca, galerias alugando seus espaços a valores altíssimos entre tantas outras coisas.  Mas eu acredito que a insistência e a garra podem nos levar aos patamares que são desejados. O caminho de um artista nunca é fácil e esperar que a visibilidade e a valorização de seu trabalho venham de forma fácil é uma visão muito onírica. Existem muitas barreiras a serem quebradas e o único fato nisso tudo é que ter talento e empenho no seu trabalho é apenas o primeiro passo.

Como sobreviver de arte num país como o Brasil?

É complicado sabe. Até que você seja validado e reconhecido de verdade e seu nome seja o nome que o mercado da arte vá respeitar... você vai vender um trabalho ou outro mês a mês. Mas vai ter sempre aquele mês que você não vendeu nada e vai perceber que a realidade de viver daquilo que dá sentido a sua vida ainda é um desejo preso num sonho. Mas se você optar por lecionar algum viés artístico as suas chances de viver indiretamente de arte por assim dizer aumentam.  

O que falta atualmente para incentivar mais o gosto dos jovens pelas artes?

   Sendo bem direto eu acredito que uma valorização com potencial cultural e incentivo financeiro nos diversos nichos da arte pelo país.

Que conselho você daria a um jovem aspirante a artista plástico?

Vivemos dias, no Brasil, onde o apoio à Cultura e à Arte se encontram mais escassos do que nunca! Onde panelas fechadas impedem cada vez mais que novos artistas tenham acesso a espaços em galerias e em diversos outros espaços culturais. O segredo é não desistir e fazer o possível para que seu trabalho seja visto para o maior numero de pessoas.  A Internet esta aí para isso. Outro conselho é que não se prendam a sua zona de conforto. Ao meu ver um artista mais completo sempre vai ser o melhor. Por mais que seu estilo te cative muito eu acredito que a versatilidade de um profissional é o que pode abrir mais espaço para ele.

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Alpha Around: A Guide to Gallery Hopping in Chelsea

New York is a hub for the arts. There are not only countless infamous museums one can visit, such as the Metropolitan Museum of the Arts, and the MoMA, but also numerous places to watch theatre and listen to music! Chelsea, an area once primarily known as the meatpacking district, has now transformed into the centers for the visual arts and because it is filled with many galleries. It is an area roughly on the West Side of Manhattan from 14th St. to about 34th St.

Gallery hopping is a term that means visiting multiple galleries in one day. It is a fun, free, and intellectual invigorating way to spend an afternoon or evening. Often walking into a gallery may seem intimidating because of the aloofness, or maybe because it seems uninviting and even judgemental. However, once you know where to go, this initial unease fades away. One way to go about gallery hopping is to be completely spontaneous about your adventure! Choose a random street in Chelsea, for example: 28th St. between 10th and 11th avenues, and walk into the first gallery you see and make your way down the block! If this is too adventurous of a method for you, you can also plan beforehand which your route and itinerary on this map. Keep in mind that galleries are typically open Monday through Saturday. However, Thursday nights are art nights in Chelsea, when galleries open their door to the public to display new exhibitions. These are very memorable nights when people gather together, drink wine, and of course appreciate contemporary art.

Here are some if the galleries I visited during my own gallery hopping afternoon:

Michelangelo Bastiani, Soul Dancer Galleria Ca’ D’Oro

Digital media meets art. Soul Dancer, by Michelangelo Bastiani was on display along with an assortment of other artists at the Galleria Ca’ D’Oro (179 10th Avenue) in between exhibitions. A glass jar placed in a black box, displays a the projection of a small ballerina performing her routine. As if you are watching television, the viewer stands transfixed and unaware of their surroundings as they watch this performance of an individual for the individual.

Gregg Louis, Mirage, Nohra Haime Gallery

Mirage is Gregg Louis’s fourth solo exhibition at the Nohra Haime Gallery (500 W 21st St.). The exhibition represents the process by which the artist paints the landscapes and objects surrounding him. Rather than depicting a clear and precise object or landscape, Louis instead depicts these blurred images as if capturing the fleeting instance of a glance. The transitioning colors confined to a limited space while surrounded by white space displays this unconscious erasure that happen within the mind of the artist as the focus on the essentials of the image they want to relay. Complimenting these paintings are Louis’s kinetic objects. Through the negative space in the hanging sculpture, these shadows are created on the walls behind said object. Thus the viewer truly begins to see a mirage, as the object casts shadows that projects an skewed version of the original on the walls.

Ufan Lee & Young Soo Park, New Works | Art + Form, Y-S-P Gallery

New Works | Art + Form is an exhibition representing some of the latest works by ceramists Young Soo Park and Ufan Lee at the Y-S-P Gallery (175 10th Ave). Young Soo Park has dedicated her life to recapturing the lost ceramic traditions, methods, and techniques of the Chosen Dynasty. Her ceramics are massive yet minimalistic, primarily using glazes that are shades of white with very limited broad streaks of blues, browns or reds. As she strives to perfect her moon jars, the viewer is even presented with jars that have collapsed in on itself, a single fluid cut gives the viewer a glimpse inside the jar. These works of art are imbued with a sense of tranquil spirituality and extends to the viewer as they situate themselves amongst the work.

By Galiba Gofur

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The Rapid Rise of Young Collectors Will Change How Art Is Bought and Sold

Millennials are the fastest-growing group of art collectors, and their distinct habits could shift the market forever.