Where are you? Where have you been? Where are you going?
Our identities and understanding of the world around us is often informed by our experiences, travels, and the places we call home. Transport the observer to a place you have been, where you wish to be, or that you visit in your dreams. Let the viewer step inside, feel the atmosphere, and escape their place for a moment. Together, through art, we can share each other's company in these special places.
I wish to express my sincere gratitude for your participation in this exhibition. I am greatly honored to collaborate with People & Paintings Gallery for the second time and am moved by how many of you responded to the call for Place & Presence. When the world feels heavy with uncertainty, I find solace in art. Opportunities, such as this, to view work from artists at various stages in their careers is a treat and I especially appreciate those of you who submitted your work for the first time.
For this exhibition I have chosen to give the Curator’s Award to Juan Francisco. His painting, In The Park, is an exceptional work that immediately resonated with the theme of this exhibition. The movement, softness, and unique perspective used in this piece instantly transported me. Looking at it I can smell the humid summer air, hear the sharp slap of the children’s footsteps on the pavement, imagine their laughter and joy, and feel as if I’m perhaps their younger sibling, unable yet to keep up. In the description of this exhibition I proposed three questions: Where are you? Where have you been? Where are you going? I feel Juan Francisco answered all three in a poetic and masterful way.
Thank you, People & Paintings Gallery, for giving me the chance to work with you and this wonderful international group of artists.
May the places we inhabit continue to bring us renewed inspiration, courage, and ceaseless beauty.
Mila Pinigin
The winners of this exhibition are:
Curator's Award - "In The Park" (Juan Francisco). Spain.
Gallery Award - Downtown Cafe (Kristina Lorincz). Hungary.
Mila Pinigin
