PORT ANGELES — Artwork seen before only online will decorate the walls of the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center’s Webster House gallery beginning this weekend.
“We’re bringing a virtual show to reality,” said Jeannie McMacken, the marketing and creative director for the center at 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
The opening reception for “Thanks for Sharing: The Art of Instant, Global Inspiration” will be at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the gallery.
The show will run through Sunday, July 2. Biskup will make remarks at the show’s opening reception Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
“Each piece is made by hands from around the world, and viewing it up close in this setting reveals the humanness of it all … the brush strokes, the textures, the scale of the work,” said Port Townsend artist Mike Biskup, who pulled the show together and who will speak about it during the reception.
In 2015, Biskup saw talent in Instagram posts from around the world.
“He saw these artists in Instagram, and he started following them and they started following them,” McMacken said.
“They discovered they all had a similar aesthetic … even though they come from different cultures.”
Said Biskup: “I began thinking how amazing it would be to curate an exhibit that brought many of my favorite artists, whom I had become aware of only through Instagram, under one roof. And how incredible it would be to bring an international body of work to the North Peninsula.”
Eighteen contemporary artists from Russia, Canada, Spain, Sweden, Iraq, Australia, Japan, Korea and the U.S. joined Biskup in his experiment first seen at Port Townsend’s Northwind Arts Center in March.
Each created new work in 2017 specifically for this exhibit, McMacken said.
“The result is a rich and powerful show, with creative expression informed by the artist’s personal history and geographic location,” she said.
In addition to Biskup — mikebiskup — participating artists are chicojefferson — Josh Jefferson, Boston; deedeecheriel — Dee Dee Cheriel, Los Angeles; hardgraverw — Robert Hardgrave, Seattle; igorulangin — Igor Ulangin, Russia; inaluxe — Kristina Sostarko and Jason Odd, Australia; joehengst — Joe Hengst, San Francisco; kmartinpaulsen — Kevin Paulsen, Nantucket, Mass.; lasseskarbovik — Lasse Skarbovik, Sweden; maria_lundstrom — Maria Lundstrom, Sweden; mbc_1000 — M.B.C., Ontario, Canada; mina_hamada — Mina Hamada, Barcelona, Spain/Japan; nachoeterno — Nacho Eterno, Barcelona; robertpokorny — Robert Pokorny, Los Angeles; sophie_roach — Sophie Roach, Austin, Texas; tbiskup — Tim Biskup, Los Angeles; tylerkeetonrobbins — Tyler Keeton Robbins, Vancouver, B.C.; raymondlemstra — Raymond Lemstra, Netherlands/Korea; and wissamshawkat — Wissam Shawkat, Iraq.
A free introduction to social media/Instagram workshop will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. June 24. There, artists and collectors can bring their smartphones to learn how the internet can be used to sell, buy and connect with artists worldwide.
For more information, see www.pafac.org.
