Friday, September 8, 2017

FRB's and Starquakes

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2017/09/15-new-bursts-from-frb-repeater?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=News0_ASY_170908_000000_Final&utm_content=&spMailingID=30520307&spUserID=NDE0MzY5NTQ0MjE2S0&spJobID=1120970389&spReportId=MTEyMDk3MDM4OQS2


Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Cosmology – Paintings by Marina Malvada

Explosion Time! (and I)
48 x 60 acrylic on masonite
 Last month, I had my first exhibition at Carriageway Studios in (my adorable, newly adopted hometown of) Almonte, Ontario.
Carriageway Studios is a charming meeting place with artists'studios, a gallery, and epicurean delights from North Market. For those of you who couldn't be there in person, here's a quasi-virtual version of the show:
****

 This was my ‘Hello World’ exhibition to introduce my work to new friends and fellow creatives in downtown Almonte.
 All of these works except for ‘Sister Planet 
Sister Planet
18 x 30 acrylic on wood
and ‘Explosion Time!’ were completed in my previous studio in Montreal, between the years 2013 and 2015. Looking back on where I was then and where I am now, their symbolism has only gotten deeper.

 
 The exhibition is divided into two segments. Space Scapes is an ongoing series expressing the beauty of celestial bodies, both known and unknown. Tiny particles of metal and minerals are incorporated through action-painterly processes that harness the laws of physics and produce geological analogies.
Imminent on the left incorporates acrylic
and clay from Algonquin Township.
Kostabi has gold-coated titanium particles.
 Tethered Souls is a subset of my planetary paintings in which tiny astronauts act as gestural metaphors for deep or heightened emotional states that are felt at important moments in all of our lives.  At first glance, they have a certain whimsy, which initially draws curiosity and the false promise of easy interpretation. But reflective viewers may find themselves reconnecting to past feelings once forgotten. 
Detail from 'Harvest'
This piece speaks about experiences
from which we gain in some way. 
 
If there is consciousness after death, I'd love to take the time and soar throughout our solar system, reveling in it’s diverse and incredible beauty. It was an honour and a pleasure to share this sentiment with so many Earthlings of the Ottawa Valley!
"Bye for now."(another detail from 'Harvest')

Sunday, July 2, 2017

NEW ROAMING ART GALLERY SHOW


 My work here is featured as the promo image for the 'Roaming Art Gallery' at Brioche Dorée, 648 King St West, Toronto. This piece, entitled Gravitational Lensing and Gas Giants is one of four of my paintings whose images rotated on a large HD screen along with other artists' works.

This year's virtual exhibition features four new paintings of Saturn. It will run for 12 weeks. If you're in the area and want a delicious snack with 'un bon café', go to Brioche Dorée!

The Roaming Art Gallery owes it's very existence to the many talents of Jim at
TorontoArt.ca




Friday, May 26, 2017

Expo at Art Square


Earlier this month I had the opening for my abstract show at Art Square Gallery.
The location is choice; across from the Art Gallery of Ontario and my old alma mater OCADU.
The gallery space is well laid out and accessible from Dundas St. West, and although it's a partially underground walk-down entrance,  it's  a much larger gallery than the space above street level.

The vernissage was very well attended with press from Snap magazine and many of my loved chums from my school days and cool days.
Thanks for hanging with me, guys!



posted from Bloggeroid

Thursday, April 27, 2017

100 Million Years on 'Suits'.


100 Million Years on 'Suits'.
Apr 13 at 8:57pm
It may be Mercury retrograde, but communication and travel are working just fine. I got a call from Tammy, my art dealer at  Partial Gallery late last Friday afternoon. She said that the people making season 7 of the tv series 'Suits' wanted this painting - on Monday!
So, we scrambled, emailed and called each other until we made it happen.
Many thanks go to the set decoration buyer, and the rest of the 'Suits' production people. They extended the window, so that the painting could arrive on Tuesday, which it did.

Can't wait to see it on the show!

Last but not least, a HUGE shout out and thank-you hug to  Partial Gallery!
https://www.instagram.com/partial.gallery/ https://twitter.com/partial_gallery 

Monday, March 27, 2017

Thank-you Big Brothers Big Sisters

Rire a la Blague Cosmique (Laughing at the Cosmic Joke)
Mar 27 at 3:08pm
Rire_a_la_Blague_Cosmique_48_x_36_by_Marina_Malvada_web.jpg

This 48 x 36 splash of colour sold for 1,000.00 last Saturday evening at the Big Brothers, Big Sisters fundraiser. It feels so good to use the power of art to help others!


The idea, and feelings in this piece are about imagining what it would be like if you were in a small boat at sea, in the midst of a hurricane. Pretty terrifying, right? I mean it would be absolutely stunningly beautiful, but you'd likely be way too terrified to appreciate it. So, this painting allows us to enjoy the beauty without the fear. We can laugh at the danger and our own mortality, at least in symbolic form.

¬Marina
http://bigartcomeback.wixsite.com/2016/gallery

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

The Artist Project 2017 Chapter 4 - NASA's Announcement.

 Interacting with thousands of art appreciators over the course of a few days can be daunting. Fortunately, we had much to talk about regarding Trappist-1 and the "first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star."
 NASA's announcement of the discovery of these rocky worlds could not have come at a better time, and it was on the lips of a majority of people who visited my booth. The Belgian operated Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (Trappist) and the Spitzer Space Telescope with the assistance of ground-based telescopes have given us the intriguing data and the average art-lover is definitely on board. Most of the comments I heard were well informed; 'Three of the seven planets are in the habitable zone' was a constant and welcome refrain. Quite a few folks expressed eager anticipation regarding the James Webb Space Telescope, to be launched in 2018.
 It's never been easier for me to engage in fascinating conversations with so many total strangers, and to connect my art practice with something so huge. "The subject matter is practically infinite", I joked.
 Sometimes the subject of these chats would morph into philosophical topics like the illusory nature of perception and / or cybernetics and the theory of knowledge. Unlike (or perhaps very much like) the data, collected through sophisticated equipment, which we then look at in symbolic form on a screen, all that we can ever directly know of our immediate surroundings, is actually a reorganization of our own flesh. When the exhibition is over, and all the people have left the building, does any of it exist? I'd say, "No. The particles, waves and atoms continue to exist as before, Heisenberg's famous principle notwithstanding, but without the organizing organs of perception, their forms as we perceive them, do not."
 Interesting concepts. I wish I could have leveraged them so as to reduce the exorbitant cost of art shipping!

Thursday, March 2, 2017

The Artist Project 2017 Chapter 3 - The Gala.

Thursday, February 23, 2017. 3:30 p.m. I arrive back at The Better Living Centre on the grounds of the 'CNE' (Canadian National Exhibition). There's a quick artists reception with pizza and pleasant pep-talk from the event organizers. It also provides the opportunity to socialize with other creators, some of whom I hadn't seen in a while, such as Adi ZurLori Mirabelli, and my new aquaintance, Anne Marie Giroux. After that, most of us conducted a quick check to make sure our booths were ship shape, then scurried into the washrooms to change clothes etc for the opening festivities.

As usual, I'm wearing the same colours as my paintings. :)
Enough about me. This was an evening to people-watch. While they were strolling around, wine in hand, looking at the wonderful artwork, I was enjoying the steady stream of incredibly good-looking and well-dressed Torontonians.

There were also some *small* snacks and gourmet samples to try; I had a paper cup containing 3 tortilla chips with a fiery hot sauce and an organic cookie the size of an overcoat button. Fortunately, some more generous folks walked by and gave me three bottles of spring water, and my pals Clara and Laurie brought me a really yummy twelve-dollar burrito. Très cher, n'est pas? I also had a refreshing glass of good ol' Steam Whistle. The name alone evokes shades of my former life, before I became what I like to call an 'urban ex-pat'.


It was a fun, festive night with lots of inspiring art and art lovers.


Next Post: The visitors.




Tuesday, February 28, 2017

The Artist Project 2017 Chapter 2 - The Setup.

A very small portion of the
showroom floor.
Temporary
construction zone.
After a very pleasant train ride into Toronto, I met my friends Clara and Piera for a lovely dinner at Piera's restaurant, Vesuvio in The Junction.

The following day, I went down to The Better Living Centre to hang my paintings in my booth. About 5 hours later, I had a pretty sweet-looking arrangement of planetary artwork.


My booth at the head of a very long
line of artists.
The setup process went quite smoothly, which was a relief because I didn't have an assistant this time. Also, I was lucky to be given a coveted corner booth, where I could show off, 'Explosion Time!', one of my largest paintings, (4 x 5 ft). The walls were 11 ft high and the inside of the booth is 5 x 10 ft.
I'm tired, but happy.
This is where I was to spend 5 hours on Thursday night, 11 hours on Friday, 9 hours on Saturday, and finally, 7 hours on Sunday, not including the few hours of pack up on Sunday night. It's a bit like being a specimen in a zoo. People walk by, look, and ask questions. I literally spoke with several thousand people!



Next Post:  The Artist Project 2017 Chapter 3 - Opening Night Gala

















Tuesday, February 21, 2017

The Artist Project 2017 Chapter 1

My paintings are all packed up and ready for passage from Almonte (Near Ottawa, Ontario) to Toronto, aka my hometown, aka T-Dot, aka The Big Smoke, aka Hogtown.
I'm currently en route "via" Via Rail.
Class d'affaires, bien sûr. J'adore voyager par le train. Every time I switch between English and French, the responses of the staff change accordingly. :) J'aime ça!


posted from Bloggeroid

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Recent Art Sales

'Beautiful Campfire Night'
10 x 20 acrylic on wood
'The Age of Information'
12 x 12 acrylic on wood
'Peculiar Velcocity'
12 x 12 acrylic on wood
As a full-time artist, making a sale is one of the most important and desirable events I can experience. It's up there with awards, praise and admiration. These are the pillars and foundation of my whole practice.

Selling art affords me the means with which to continue to create, so I was very happy to find out that another abstract / scenic piece sold today on www.artbombdaily.com
'Once'
36 x 48 acrylic on wood
'Big Sky'
10 x 10 acrylic on wood
Thank-you so much Karine Wolf Guyon and ArtBomb! Thank-you also to every other art gallery and patron who has supported me and those who continue to do so. You are greatly appreciated!