How
can we know the dancer from the dance?
William
Butler Yeats
Recently, I had the good fortune to be invited by Michiel Seetan, my Second Life (SL) friend, back to Alanis Gallery for a champagne reception held for the opening of the paintings and drawings of Ray Leaning, a Real Life (RL) artist specializing in erotic works.
While Ray Leaning has had his work exhibited at Alanis
before, this exhibition is entitled Ballerinas
& Dancers and comprises twenty-two works focused exclusively on dance.
Readers may recall, I recently blogged about
the erotic art collection at Alanis. I
guess Michiel liked the story because he asked to cover this event. Being a struggling writer, I never pass up an
opportunity to drink someone else’s champagne even if virtual and readily
agreed. (For those of you who are
worried about my journalistic ethics, I do have some, please be reminded that I
only focus on the positive inworld. So,
if this wasn’t a good story, I wouldn’t have written it. So there!)
I rezz into the Alanis Gallery as the reception is just
getting started. I wear my usual attire
for SL cultural events, tee shirt, jeans, and sneakers. (Significant Other continually reminds me
that one of the ideas behind SL is that we do what we don’t do in RL. But, hey,
I’d fit into SOHO in Manhattan. So
what’s the big deal?)
The event is being held at the main arrival hall in the
gallery. A large champagne fountain
dominates the scene. The Alanis Gallery
Angels are doing their living statues performance and add an air of spectacle
to the event. Staff pass through
offering glass flutes filled with champagne.
(Alanis is definitely a class act.)
A little about the
artist, Ray Leaning before I get too far into the evening’s social
festivities. Ray was born in
Lincolnshire, England in 1959. He
attended the Art Foundation at Grimsby, has a BA (Honors) in Fine Art from
Exeter, and a PGCE in Art and Design from Brighton. His first monograph, MUSE
The Art of Ray Leaning, was
published in 2004 and is now out of print.
Ray is known for his figure work in pencil, conte, and oils. (Many examples of which can be found on his website.) His work has
been exhibited in London, Brighton, Edinburgh, Miami, Montreal, Antwerp,
Berlin, Brussels, and many small galleries across the United Kingdom. In other words, he’s the real deal.
In addition, to exhibiting in RL, Ray exhibits in SL at the
Alanis Gallery where he very generously makes the proceeds from the sale of his
pictures available for its upkeep.
Unfortunately, Ray is not with us tonight but many others
are. I’d also like to comment on how
despite the presence of several dozen avatars many wearing a lot of prims (Even
those without clothes, those attractive features don’t come cheaply from a
system’s perspective.) there was no noticeable lag.
The guests are dressed in a variety of styles from formal
to what’s called business casual Stateside these days. (Yes, I am the low end of the dress
code. Significant Other remarks that
even the nude guests are better dressed than me.)
I’m not here for an interview so I mingle with the other
guests. Michiel and I do meet and
exchange quick greetings. He’s running
around as the host doing what hosts do. I
do manage to meet his partner, Sylvia Fitzpatrick, in Alanis Gallery and have a few words with her before
her duties as hostess pull her away.
(And, not as Significant Other suggests, she was trying to get away from
me.) Sylvia tells me how because of
Alanis’s reputation and the care they take with the RL artists who exhibit
there they are able to attract artists of this caliber.
Sylvia talks about Ray Leaning’s work and explains how good
it is. She feels that he can’t be pigeon
holed and is so varied in subject matter.
Sylvia continues that Ray is not afraid to be less than candid. She believes too many 'erotic artists' are a
little one dimensional. Sylvia describes
how this collection demonstrates the eroticism of the dance especially the
Tango. However, she cautions that it
takes more than a cursory glance and quick thrill to appreciate Ray’s works and
that he is greatly underrated. The
appreciation of these works is all in the mind in her opinion. Adding that perhaps less is more is becoming
more relevant to our jaded eye, rather than grasping at more and more graphic
images.
We share a few words of commiseration about the lost art of
letter writing in the Age of the Internet.
While Sylvia is nostalgic over not being able to see
emails tied up with ribbon to enjoy years later, she does feel that emails can
be very sensual themselves.
After leaving my hostess, I get on to what I’m here for
which is looking at Ray Leaning’s pictures hanging on the walls. Don’t worry, I recognize my limitations as an
art critic and I won’t say anything which reflects my ignorance in the matter.
However, to paraphrase some long dead US Supreme Court
justice, I know art when I see it. This
evening I see it and it is impressive.
Ray’s works cover ballerinas and Tango dancers. Ray is known as an
erotic dancer but despite many of his subjects being clothed, he captures the
sensuality of their bodies and their movements which seem to life themselves
from their canvasses or paper and meld into the three dimensional world of SL.
His use of color and shadow draws the observer’s eyes to
the pictures and holds it. His nudes are
discreet and lack the vulgarity of some others’ works but still capture the
imagination and make one think of the story told by the picture.
The theme of this collection is dance and it contains a
sensuality which even a Degas didn’t possess. (I know I’m going to get into trouble with
that last comment.)
Please remember that my art commentary is the product of someone
who grew up looking at black and white pictures in books of great works of art,
who didn’t truly appreciate it when he finally did see many of these in RL, and
who now regrets the wasted opportunities.
So, apologies to any whom I may offend.
It’s not my intention.
To my mind, the evening has been a great success. A wonderful crowd of art lovers have come
together, seen new pictures introduced into SL, and have enjoyed these and
themselves.
RL art is being introduced into SL and I suspect that SL
art is going back there too. Can art be
looked at as simply being either RL or SL in origins? Is there a convergence occurring? Will someday we look back in amusement at the
distinctions we make today? Will virtual
worlds become an important part of aspiring artists’ efforts to become
known? It’s probably too soon to tell
but I believe we’re seeing some fundamental changes in the RL art world being
brought about by SL.
I strongly recommend
everyone to go Alanis Gallery and view Ray Leaning’s works as well as all the
other artists on display. (Be warned
some may be NSFW.)
I’d like to thank Michiel for his very kind invitation to
the exhibition’s opening. I’d also like
to thank Sylvia for taking the time to talk with me about the exhibition
despite all that was going on around us.
They do a wonderful job running Alanis Gallery and have assembled an
impressive collection of erotic art there.
As always, I’m grateful to
all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who
was passing through their lives.
Below I’ve included with the
permission of Alanis Gallery a few links to pictures of the reception and Ray
Leaning’s pictures. Pictures are fun
but, trust me on this, go visit for yourself, see all the art work, and have a
great time!
I welcome feedback from
readers, please either comment on my blog or
e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com
.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
Photo No. 2 Ballerinas
& Dancers Exhibition Entrance
Photo No. 3 Ray
Leaning’s Los Ocampo
Photo No. 4 Ray
Leaning’s Blue Velvet Tango
Photo No. 5 Ray
Leaning’s Vermillion Tango
Photo No. 6 Ray
Leaning’s Spirit of the Dance
Photo No. 7 Ray
Leaning’s Farewell Show Dance
Photo No. 8 Ray
Leaning’s Tango Cortina
Photo No. 9 Ray
Leaning’s 355 Tango
Photo No. 10 Ray
Leaning’s 358 Rumba
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