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.

Nicola Parente’s exhibition at the Manuel Felguerez Abstract Art Museum in Zacatecas Mexico, will run December 9, 2011 through March 9, 2012. This exhibition titled “Al Borde del Despertar” (“Edge of Awakening”) will feature 30 large scale abstract paintings.

According to Parente, “Art is a venture into worlds that are often only discovered in the attempt to represent them to yourself and others.” He prefers to paint in series, “exploring multiple ways of saying not the same thing, but similar things, related things—things that are in process and could go in a multiplicity of directions. The possibility of awakening is also the possibility of remaining unawakened. Our lives are more circuitous than linear, living in more than one environment, a step forward, a step back, moving through a land with no clear boundaries whose silence we interrupt with both our words as well as our marks of paint, discovering and inventing our futures.”

Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felguérez

Colón s/n esq. Seminario
Centro
CP 98000, Zacatecas, Zacatecas

Photos by Aaron Courtland Photography

Launching the season at Serenade Art House in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, American-Italian artist Nicola Parente premiers “In the Light,” a photographic exhibition.

“In the Light” came to life after a relentless four-year journey. Parente explored the concept of hidden light, light that is too fast for the human eye to capture. Once Parente disentangled the process of breaking down light a whole world opened to him. The result is a breathtaking collection of work that celebrates the infinite colours of light with none of the photographs having been manipulated by Photoshop. With “In the Light” the viewer is welcomed to enter the light.

“In the Light” Exhibition Runs October 18 – November 27, 2011

Serenade Art House aims to introduce Ethiopian art lovers to creative works from other countries. The season will also launch exhibitions by renowned Ethiopian artists Behailu Bezabith and Bisrat Shibabawe and American artist Olivia Pendagast. Also, the season will include an art exhibition premiering the works of some of Kenya’s most celebrated artists.

Click on image to view video

Producer/Director/DP: Chris Multop

Assistant Camera: Davis Atkins

Audio: John Lance

Editor: Nick Geist

Forty Texan and French top talents will be represented at the art auction, each competing for the TFAA award. The 2011 TFAA award is a 10 day residency in France or Texas. Selected Artists include:

Hillevi Baar, William Betts, Véronique Chalandar, Joseph Cohen, Tara Conley, Melanie Crader, Bruno de Monès, Rebecca Driffield, Daniel Farioli, Orna Feinstein, Francesca Fuchs, Régine Gaud, Susan George, Antoine Grospiron-Jaccoux, Joe Havel, J. Hill, Geoff Hippenstiel, Allison Hunter, Selven O’Keef Jarmon, Mick Johnson, d.r. Jones, Darryl Lauster, Jonathan Leach, Jean-Baptiste Lyonnet, Arielle Masson, Libbie Masterson, David Mc Gee, Marcelyn McNeil, Olivier Moriette, Nicola Parente, Susan Plum, Lisa Qualls, Martin Reyna , Susie Rosmarin, Gail Siptak, Adam Steiner , Jean-Damien Thiollier, Wendy Wagner, Bruce Williamson, and Dick Wray

Honorary Chair: Lynn Wyatt – Honorary Selection Chair: Judy Nyquist – Event Chair: Martha Finger – Co-Chairs: Laure Parise and Joëlle Petit

TFAA Award Selection Committee: Judy Nyquist Honorary Selection Chair – Catherine D. Anspon Social and Fine Arts Editor, PaperCity – Bill Arning Director, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston – Alison Greene Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, the MFAH – Toby Kamps Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Menil Collection- Claudia Schmuckli-Drutt Director, the Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston – Wendy Watriss Artistic Director, Fotofest – Dominique Chastres TFAA Paris, France – Marc Pottier Curator and art advisor in Paris, France

Benefitting: Texan-French Alliance for the Arts and Texas Children’s Cancer Center’s Arts in Medicine Program. The Texan-French Alliance for the Arts (also known as TFAA) is a 501c(3) non-profit cultural organization. It was founded in 2005 by former Consul General of France, Denis Simmoneau and a group of enthusiastic Francophile foundations, corporations, individuals. TFAA’s mission is to promote and facilitate artistic and educational exchanges between Texan and French cultural institutions and artists, by engaging visual, performing and the litterary arts.

AUCTION PREVIEW, open to the public, bidding encouraged
Wade Wilson Art (4411 Montrose Blvd #200B)
March 22 and 23, 2011, 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM

BIENNIAL ART AWARD AND AUCTION:
Benefitting Texas Children’s Cancer Center’s Arts in Medicine Program
March 30th, 2011, 6:00–9:00 p.m.

Decorative Center Houston
5120 Woodway at Sage (enter on Sage)
Houston 77056
Valet parking
Attire: Casual Chic, Champagne reception
Price: $80 per person, $150 per couple, $100 per person at the door.

Nicola Parente - Edge of Awakening Exhibition

Gremillion &Co. Fine Art is pleased to present, Edge of Awakening, new works by painter Nicola Parente.
Opening Reception February 25, 5-8 PM. Exhibition runs through March 19.
Gremillion &Co Fine Art, 2251 Vantage St.,  (Design District) Dallas TX 75207 (MAP)

“Only that day dawns to which we are awake.”

These words by Henry David Thoreau inspire Nicola Parente’s new body of work Edge of Awakening. The dynamic series of expressive abstract paintings explores neither awakening nor its opposite, but the uncertain worlds between the two where each person must choose among possibilities. Those choices, those points of decision, visited and re-visited, both discover and invent the nature of our lives.

In the paintings comprising the series, Parente embraces negative space to evoke a sense of limitlessness. On a predominantly white ground, lines of black and intermittent color appear and re-appear in ever-changing intervals and variant shades whose only clear boundary is the edge of the medium.

According to Parente, “Art is a venture into worlds that are often only discovered in the attempt to represent them to yourself and others.” He prefers to paint in series, “exploring multiple ways of saying not the same thing, but similar things, related things—things that are in process and could go in a multiplicity of directions. The possibility of awakening is also the possibility of remaining unawakened. Our lives are more circuitous than linear, living in more than one environment, a step forward, a step back, moving through a land with no clear boundaries whose silence we interrupt with both our words as well as our marks of paint, discovering and inventing our futures.”

Parente works from his studio in Houston, Texas. Born in Italy, he draws from a rich Italian heritage and a deep well of cross-cultural experiences to bring his art to life. Most recently, Parente’s work was selected for Texas Art 2010 juried exhibition. In 2009, his work was featured in an exhibition, Transparent/Translucent, at the Museum Gallery, University of Texas, in San Antonio.

One of Nicola Parente’s artworks, Illuminare,  was accepted in this years Gambol juried exhibition at Art League Houston. This years juror was Miranda Lash, Curator of Contemporary and Modern Art, Museum of Art in New Orleans. Over 500 entries were submitted and only 55 artists were selected. The exhibition runs November 19, 2010 – December 17, 2010.

2010 SELECTED ARTISTS:  Kelly Alison, Cody Arnall, Last Ashen, WM Kelly Bailey,Elli Barnwell, Tania Botelho, Daniel Brents, April Bushnell, Mel Bydalek, Doug Cason, Rafael Castanet, Kristin Cliburn, Julio Crews, Andrew Cunningham, Judy Dekan, Robert Douglas, Jane Eifler, Toyin Folorunso, Josh Garcell, Helen Gerritzen, Lee Ann Gorman, Michelle Guyod, Hakeem Hassan, Luke Haynes, Sarah Hazel, Gemma Herrero Barclay, Maria Hughes, Antonio Hurtado, Peter Janecke, Charlie Jean Sartwelle, Jeff Jennings, Lindsey Maestri, John Manes, Mark Masterson, Emily Mitchell, Kia Neill, Anita Nelson, Patrick Nguyen, Christopher Olson, Crystal Owens, Nicola Parente, Kristy Peet, Mason Rankin, Sue Reeves, Caroline Roberts, Wiley Robertson, Lynn Ruoff, Magid Salmi, Kay Sarver, Caroline Sharpless, Shirlette Thompson, Patrick Turk, Vernon, Angela Whitford, Samuel Wukusick

Opening reception November 19, 2010 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Three programs in one evening:

Join Dominic Walsh Dance Theater for the “first course” of our season… the centerpiece of this tantalizing mixed rep program is the Texas premiere of an intense excerpt from 27’52” by icon Jirí Kylián. Kylián is considered to be amongst the most prominent and brilliant choreographers in the world today, and 27’52” is the most recent Kylián piece being performed in the U.S. The program also includes the U.S. premiere of Walsh’s Medea, a new work commissioned by Teatro San Carlo that premiered in Italy in 2009, along with a revival of his collaborative Terminus set to a score composed and performed live by Two Star Symphony. Named after the Roman god of boundaries and location, Terminus is motivated by Nicola Parente’s The Edge of Urban Time series and features a video/painting installation created by the artist. For more information see Projects>2010-Terminus, DWDT

When: October 21, 22, 23 at 7:30 PM

Where: Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Zilkha Hall, 800 Bagby, Houston, TX

Tickets $25 to $52

Order by phone 713-315-2525 or online dwdt.org

A discussion with Nicola Parene. Topic: The paintings included in the exhibition Edge of Awakening. Special performance by Duo Scordatura: Nicholas Leh Baker, violin and Faith Magdalene Jones, viola.

Saturday, October 2, 2010 at Gremillion &Co. Fine Art

Artist Reception – 11:30 – 12:00

Performance – 12:00 – 12:15

Discussion – 12:15 – 12:45

Light hors d’oeuvres and mimosas served.

Please RSVP w number of guests to Harwood Taylor (713) 471-6379  or email harwood_t@gremillion.com