“Some paintings vibrate with energy. Impressionists like Monet tried to capture light. Futurists like Boccioni portrayed motion and speed. Expressionists like Van Gogh conveyed emotions. These qualities – light, speed, emotion – are variations of energy. Energy is one of the most ephemeral qualities to depict.”
So begins the definition of this new art movement, begun in 2008, which is creating waves as an exhibition in Veliky Novgorod, Russia this month. The Energy Art Salon 2011 is an international effort by artists who create art which shimmers, pulsates, and crackles with energy, or the depiction of what energy can do. Reaching outside its roots in North America, this second annual salon is bringing an exciting experience to audiences worldwide.
Members believe that enhancing their creations with energy – either in composition or in subject matter – adds artistic value to their
depictions. The Movement strives to follow a progressive trend of forward evolution in the Fine Arts, while embracing both traditional and digital media.
Movement Organizer Giogio Vaselli explains that 99 artists submitted work, hoping to be included in the exhibition, which includes 43 works of art. The call for artists and competition took place on Facebook.
He describes the entries as being of exceptional quality, and many great pieces had to be turned away. He states, “The point of the competition was not the idea of ‘competing’ itself, but rather, the selection/curation of the art by the public for the Energy Art Salon 2011 which opened just a few days ago in Russia. This was a step towards our announced long-term goal: becoming an increasingly democratic vs. centrally-run art movement, ie. an open art movement. Currently movement membership is application/invitation-only, to ensure our values and standards in this initial period since our founding in May of 2008.”
Why was Facebook chosen to solicit entries? Vaselli states, “As expressed in an essay of mine, I have great faith in the opinion of the public, and since Facebook has recently become the third largest country in the world, spanning multiple countries, it was a natural choice for handing over the task of curation, via the preliminary competition. The public’s opinion was weighted with that of our featured members.”
Other venues are also used to gain publicity and promote Energy Art as a movement. He explains, “We have maintained an online presence via various channels since our founding, with our website remaining our central headquarters. About a year ago, Facebook has become our secondary headquarters, in order to maintain our connection with the public. We create primarily for the people, and we hope to eventually be run by the people.”
“In addition, we have profiles and groups on DeviantArt (primary headquarters at our founding), Flickr, and Fine Art America, where we accept submissions from any artist, who may also be invited this way.
Considering that we are not merely an online phenomenon, but are also having our fourth international real-life exhibition, the Movement tends to attract some level of media attention, which is clearly key to reaching a mainstream audience.”
Thanks for sharing the artwork and the information about the upcoming exhibit in Russia. Absolutely wonderful pieces and the variety with still ENERGY as the focus is just astonding.
This is just an amazing style of depicting energy flow. The art composition seems to have motion.