If you’ve ever participated in a PRIDE parade, you may have encountered the Verasphere entourage. Mrs. Vera is an avatar created by Michael Johnstone and his partner David Faulk to celebrate “fragments of a drag memory tornado,” according to Johnstone. For more information about Mrs. Vera, go to verasphere.com. This piece, and more, at the Orinda Library May – June.
Art Gallery at the Orinda Library: Ekphrasis Exhibition 2024 Stretches the Art
May and June are all about the Ekphrasis Exhibit 2024 in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library. The term “ekphrasis” began in Greece in Plato’s time – a literary description of visual art. Literary devices you will encounter at the exhibit include poetry (rhymed or unrhymed), free verse, stories, fables and essays.
Each visual artwork is displayed next to its written counterpart. Some of the best authors and artists in the area are contributing 100 total works – 50 artworks and 50 writings side by side.
This collaborative exhibit is created by team members from three area arts groups: Bill Carmel, board member and curator at Lamorinda Arts Council (LAC), Linda Hartmann, immediate past president and Ekphrasis chair, California Writers Club Mt. Diablo Branch (CWC) and Ruth Stanton, board member and vice president of exhibitions, Lamorinda Arts Alliance (LAA).
The Grand Opening on May 4 begins at 1:30 p.m. when LAC Executive Director Ali Kozoll introduces Moraga Mayor Teresa Onoda, who will welcome guests to the event. Recitations and slideshows in the Library Auditorium immediately follow, featuring paired artists and authors from all three organizations. The public is invited to meet and mingle with artists and authors at their reception from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served on the terrace.
“In 2023 we heard from many people that they needed more than one visit to either read and enjoy the show or finish taking in the entire show. Since we have even more paired pieces in 2024, we decided to keep the show up for two months,” said Carmel, with Stanton and Hartmann in agreement. To learn more about these organizations, go to LamorindaArts.org, cwcmtdiablo.org/ and laa4art.org.
View artwork in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library, 26 Orinda Way, April 29 – June 28. Hours are Monday – Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; closed Saturdays, Sundays and May 27 for Memorial Day. Call 925.254.2184 for more Library information or visit ccclib.org/. For more information about the exhibit, email gallery@LamorindaArts.org, visit LamorindaArts.org or call 925.359.4490.
With a cryptic sideways glance, the subject in Ania Lesela’s painting “Becoming” entices us to look twice at her countenance. Displayed at Wilder Gallery this month.
Art Gallery at Wilder: Ania Lesela “Contemplations”
The Lamorinda Arts Council invites you to meet featured artist Ania Lesela of Orinda in the Art Gallery at Wilder on May 5 at a reception in her honor. Light refreshments will be served from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. A lifelong artist, she’s been working in acrylic and mixed media for four years. You’ll find portraits that speak of a life lived fully. See “Becoming,” a 20” x 16” acrylic and mixed media portrait on canvas – see if you can ignore the enigmatic gaze of the subject.
Lesela said, “As a physician and neuroscientist, part of my creative process involves my brain taking bits of ambiguous information and constructing a comprehensible whole. My creative endeavors and scientific work are synergistic. I enjoy exploring the boundary between the physical and spiritual, and how emotions color our experiences.”
Some of Lesela’s favorite artists include Egon Schiele, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso and Mel McCuddin. For more about Lesela’s artwork, visit instagram.com/agaphd/.
Her exhibit runs May 5 – May 31. Visit the Art Gallery at Wilder Monday – Friday from 3 – 5 p.m., closed Saturdays, Sundays and May 27 for Memorial Day.
View or purchase Lesela’s artwork online with one click at lamorindaarts.org/current-exhibits-wilder/.
For more information, email wildergallery@LamorindaArts.org or call 925.359.9940. If you plan on visiting, please download the directions from lamorindaarts.org/current-exhibits-wilder/.
