ASPHALT: Expressionist Photo Exhibit by Ellie Perla

This is the latest exhibit taking place at my gallery in the Wynwood Art District on June 9th, 2012.  It features spectacular new work by the amazing matriarch of our clan - Ellie  Perla!  Many of her photographs helped to guide scenes in Gibbin House and spur on the stagnating grey cells when imagination took the day off:)  Her beautiful photographs of Romania and Vienna are sprinkled throughout this blog, but if you find yourself in the Miami area the weekend of June 9th, please do check out her work in person!

ASPHALT: The Expressionist Photography Series by Ellie Perla

Launching at ATELIER 1022

      

Ellie Perla’s ‘ASPHALT’ series showcases a unique visual technique that superimposes translucent layers of urban and nature images from recent photographs taken in New York and Washington DC over portraits from the artist’s own archives.  Combined, the images are intended to evoke the idea of simultaneous thought, of how the mind can be both in the past and present, while also engaged in wishful thinking.  Ellie Perla’s photographs communicate this through expressionist compositions that are at once fractured and harmonious, abstract and organic, ethereal and concrete. The kinetic and emotional images form a nostalgic and deeply personal narrative that takes the viewer along the artists’ geographic and creative journey.  The ‘ASPHALT’ series derives its name from the texture of asphalt, which is the one constant in Ellie Perla’s continuous moving through cities and their surroundings.

Ellie Perla - ASPHALT Series

On her inspiration for this latest project, Ellie Perla says: “Sometimes we remember people's faces when looking into nature's intricate patterns. The portraits in this collection are memories that came to me and stirred my imagination while strolling through Central Park.  I liked the idea of showing transition, from the visual to the psychological, by blending ‘fleeting’ snapshots from a compact point-and-shoot camera with portraits that carry a lot of personal significance.”

Ellie Perla (b. 1957) studied animal husbandry at the Polytechnic University of Timisoara, Romania, and holds a degree from the New York Institute of Photography.  Her photographs have appeared in such renowned international publications as National Geographic Traveler Español, Vanidades, Cosas, Expansion, Glamour Español, Quien, El Comercio, and O Estado de Sao Paulo.  She also wrote a monthly Miami arts and travel column for the Mexican women’s magazine Kena. Most recently, she participated in the charitable project Art Platform (UK) with her acrylic canvas piece Iluminada. The piece was also featured in the project’s poetry and art publication ‘Inspiration Speaks’.  Ellie Perla currently lives in Miami Beach, Florida, and is a resident artist at ATELIER 1022 Gallery in the Wynwood Arts District.