ART LOVERS FLOCK TO GALLERY

ART LOVERS FLOCK TO GALLERY

by Norman Warwick

Whenever we read a press release announcing a new exhibition at The Lanzarote Art Gallery we always put the inauguration date into our diary and close that evening off to make sure we can attend.  Owner and art collector Eduardo Farina hosted the inauguration recently of ´Brushstrokes Of Ocean´, which he says will now run through July and August and into September,

Despite attendances over the last year or so being lower than had become normal pre-covid, we always attend and enjoy these inaugural events and even by the time we pulled up in the car park in Costa Teguise more or less outside the gallery we had already noticed more cars on the road, as the result of a recent increase in the return of tourists, and when had stopped at La Taverna Del Mar, along the coastal walk in the town, we had noticed there were diners at all available tables. Food in the island´s restaurants is often delicious and beautifully presented, but this was undoubtedly the best steak I´ve ever had and Dee´s salmon salad was a work of art in itself, and she said it, too, tasted wonderful.

So we were pretty upbeat as we walked up the street off the car park and into the open sea view rooftop that stands before Lanzarote Art Gallery and it surrounding circle of restaurants and bars. Even on that short walk we had noticed large, colourful attention seeking posters in shop windows and as reached the doors of the gallery we soon realised the increased marketing might have played some part in drawing the largest attendance we had seen at these events.

What a buzz there was. We could hear the chatter from yards away and saw people waiting outside the gallery, sipping their complementary glass of wine and enjoying the beautiful evening sun set. Eduardo was there his usual meet and greet services. All this was great, but at first glance on our approach it looked as if everybody was outside the gallery, which seemed strange as we were beyond the scheduled start time. However, on arrival we realised that there were so many people there, that only so many at a time could be allowed into the gallery to conform to covid rulings.

It was a drink or two before were able to enter to view the works of two internationally renowned artists, Ely Phenix and Sergio Hanquet, and their explorations of the ocean. Both have always been disseminators of love, knowledge and safeguarding of the marine world and in particular an eco-system peculiar to the Canary Archipelago.

Ely Phenix is the only female artist in the world to create underwater painting in the ocean of the Canary islands. With her, we immerse ourselves in the depth, ´listening to the memories of the water´.

Sergio Hanquet is a name long associated with the seas around The Canary Islands. He is the author of seven books and the images shown in this new exhibition are part of his collection Mar De Nomadas, whose protagonists are the pelagic species found in the Canary Archipelago.

Eduardo Farina told us sees this exhibition as  ´a great opportunity to convey our message as a Gallery and show some of the most promising artists in our environment. Therefore this .major selection of works will be on display from July 1 to September 10, 2021´

 Lanzarote Art Gallery is an Art Room known for showing the consolidated and emerging talent in which to invest now in the creators who are shaping our way of consuming design and art.

At the time of writing the island of Lanzarote remains in level 2 restrictions so it would be advisable, if you live on the island and plan to visit the gallery, just to double check this information on their excellent web site at https://lanzaroteartgallery.com

Be prepared to contemplate your environment from a new vision, with the power of art that will lead you to understand the everyday and the tiny in a simple way, on a journey through beauty. And if there are readers around the world who wish they were here on our holiday island and able to visit the exhibition they too can click into what is an exhilarating site for art lovers, and see the exhibition in a virtual manner.

What was notable, tonight, though was that viewers were just as animated afterwards, talking about the colours they had seen, the interpretive skills of the artists and the almost ´sci-fi´ depictions. So not only did the arts attract a good sized crowd on the night, but it also then held their attention and will almost certainly have prompted one or two into making an investment, perhaps their first, in the arts.

The Lanzarote Art Gallery, via its website at https://lanzaroteartgallery.com offers a comprehensive advice service on what and why to collect, how to make your collection unique. The web site itself is fascinating, with Eduardo´s advice being complemented by artist profiles, exhibition details, essays, opinions and global news from the arts world. It is captivating and once you have visited the Gallery in reality, you will look at art in a whole new way.