photo by Aaron Courtland

Opening Artist Reception -

Saturday, April 13, 2013, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

the microscope 1824 located at Spring Street Studios (MAP)

Viewing hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM through May 31, 2013

“If the bees disappear, mankind would have only 4 more years of life.”

          – Einstein

Houston-based artist Nicola Parente combines his keen artistic vision with his concern for the earth’s delicate ecosystems in his new work entitled Colony Collapse. This site-specific installation of over 2700 recycled brown paper bags lined from floor to ceiling results in a man-made honeycomb. Parente’s creation is an intricate display of organic volume, combined with sound and projection of a bee colony inside the tiny 8x10ft space of Micro Scope 1824, an experimental art space at Spring Street Studios.

     The project began buzzing on March 20^th and will be on exhibit through May 2013. With this installation Parente aims to make the viewer more aware of the worldwide decline of bee colonies and open a dialogue about the importance of a pesticide-free food chain. According to Parente, “bees play a vital role in a wide variety of ecosystems as pollinators and the bee population is an important part of our evolutionary chain… I hope everyone who experiences this exhibition will walk away with an awareness and be inspired to do their part in making sure of the bee’s survival”.

     Bees provide massive economic benefits to human society, both through the production of honey and, even more importantly, the pollination of a large variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts and flower crops. The economic value of honeybees in the U.S. alone has been estimated at $8-12 billion. Over 3 million colonies of bees have died in the USA since 2006 and over a thousand millions of bees have died in this period in the world.

     Born in Mola di Bari, Italy in 1966, Nicola Parente currently lives and works in Houston.  Working in a variety of media, he engages the viewer in dialogues of human encounter within the urban environment. Most recently, Parente was the featured artist in the Bayou Review, a literary and visual arts journal published by the University of Houston Downtown. In 2011-12, Parente had a solo museum exhibition, featuring 30 paintings, at the Manuel Felguerez Museum of Abstract Art in Zacatecas, Mexico, as well as a solo exhibition at Seranade Art House in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The artist’s work is represented in Houston by Gremillion & Co., Fine Art.

The micro scope project, an Invest in Houston venture curated by David A. Brown and Michael Crowder, is all about experimental spaces for installation-based work. The first project site, micro scope 1824, is located at Spring Street Studios -1824 Spring Street, Houston, TX 77007.  The 8×10 ft space will be the site of several more experimental installations this year from artists including Ian Anderson, Mark Masterson and Monica Vidal.

For more information please visit:

www.microscopeproject.com

www.springstreetstudios.info

www.investinhouston.org

Press Received on Colony Collapse:

Glentzer, Molly, “Colony Collapse creates big buzz in small space”, Houston Chronicle, Zest, April 7, 2013

Radley, Witney, “Sticking up for the bees: Artist painstakingly brings attention to Colony Collapse Disorder”, CultureMap, April 6, 2013

100 Creatives 2013: Nicola Parente, Abstract Painter and Photographer

By Steve Jansen, Houston Press, Wed., Mar. 20 2013

Click on Image to read full article.

Photo by Aaron Coutland

The Bayou Review, A Literary and Visual Arts Jounal, Volume 26, Issue I, University of Houston DT

By Ana Laurel, General Editor

Click image to view full article.

Laura U, Inc. inaugural Fall Art Fare event will feature the works of abstract artist Nicola Parente benefitting Communities in Schools on October 24, 2012, 6-9 PM.  Laura U Interior Design was recently awarded Best of Show by the American Society of Interior Designers, Texas Gulf Coast Chapter (ASID TGCC). Over the last five years Laura U, Inc. has won 12 ASID awards. This year Laura U won an additional four awards: Residential Project over 3,500 square feet, Kitchen (Honorable Mention), Residential Singular Space and 2012 Best of Show.

Boulevard Realty, one of Houston’s premiere real estate companies, invites you to a reception for the artist, Nicola Parente. Meet the artist and view his work at the home of Bill Baldwin and Joe Gonzalez. Sunday, October 21, 2012, noon to 3pm. Champagne cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served.

Nicola Parente exhibiting in a group show with Wade Wilson Art Santa Fe (409 Canyon Rd). Located on the historic lower Canyon Road arts district, Wade Wilson Art Santa Fe will feature a full season of exhibitions. Wade Wilson exhibits a roster of 27 extraordinary contemporary artists whose work explores the use of light, color, and abstraction. On exhibit through July 30, 2012.

Featuring artists:  Andis Applewhite, Trudy Askew, John Bernhard, Jeanette Chinelli, Carol McKee, Tami Merrick, Nicola Parente, Karine Parker, Donna E. Perkins, Kay Sarver, Raymond Saucillo and Damon Thomas.

Art Chatter Critique Group Exhibition - Buchanan Gallery  - 220 25th Street - Galveston, TX 77550

Artists’ ArtWalk Opening Reception - Saturday, June 2, 6-9 PM

Exhibition runs through July 7, 2012

Art Chatter Critique Group is a Houston collective of established mid-career visual artists who defy the stereotype of the lone artist in isolated studio practice. This community provides its members a supportive forum for the exchange of ideas, information, and critical responses. Members produce individual work in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, print making, and fabric arts and utilize multiple art strategies, including abstraction, surrealism, and incorporation of text.

FOTOFEST 2012 BIENNIAL, HOUSTON

Inspired by Parente’s travel to Ethiopia in 2011, this photography exhibition focuses on the abstract of light as it was experienced by the artist during his stay in Bishangari on Lake Langano.  Bishangari is an eco-site, a natural wilderness, a wildlife sanctuary, secluded beach and lodge.  It is a natural retreat of breathtaking beauty that combines five ecological zones;- wetlands, beach and lake, the forest, the dry pumice rocks and the acacia shrub. Parente has captured nuances of this beauty in these stunning photographs without using any digital manipulation. Also showing are recent photography works by Miwa Nishimura.

Opening Artist Reception: Thursday, March 29, 2012 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.  Gremillion &Co. Fine Art, Inc., 2501 Sunset Blvd, Houston, TX 77005 (MAP) 

Exhibition dates March 29 through April 19, 2012.