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.

ATELIER 1022 Presents Ellie Perla's 'PolyChromatica'

MARCH 10, 2012

ATELIER 1022 Studio and Fine Art Gallery is pleased to present the first ATELIER 1022 feature show for Romanian-born artist Ellie Perla.  The exhibition PolyChromatica will showcase a comprehensive collection of mixed-media drawings on paper, and debut the completed Garden of Eden series.  PolyChromatica will be open March 10 through April 1, 2012, with a reception for the artist at ATELIER 1022 Gallery on March 10, 2012, 6-8 PM.

The title of the exhibition, PolyChromatica, highlights the luxuriant color and micro-designs that characterize Ellie Perla’s exquisite works, while also hinting at the theme of global diversity the drawings celebrate.  A seasoned traveler and photojournalist, Ellie Perla has traversed the world since leaving Communist-era Romania behind.  Along the way, her observant gaze has seized on both the splendor and the urgency of environments and cultures as varied as the Peruvian Amazon and the Bedouins of Egypt.  Her drawings interpret these images as seeds of hope, ethereal icons, saturated yet delicate, surrounded by a seemingly inexhaustible stream of otherworldly designs.  The effect is heightened by the lattice-like intricacies of Ellie Perla’s polychromatic pencil and ink compositions.  Thereby, she creates her own visual lexicon of optimism and peace that she steadily injects with luminosity, love and a dash of humor. 

Says Ms. Perla, “as I navigate in my life from pain to peace, from black to lavender…I feel responsible to share with the world something positive.  For me, art is a matter of ethics and integrity, a matter of hope…”   The Garden of Eden series is a prime example of Ellie Perla’s creative ethos. By transposing nature subjects into a surreal context, where they metamorphose and exist as ecstatic explosions of color, she reveals them to be dominant forces of life with unlimited possibilities.

PolyChromatica will also exhibit original illustrations from Ellie Perla’s debut children’s book Altavarania. In addition, the opening event marks the launch of the artist’s website: www.ellieperla.com.  It also coincides with Wynwood’s Second Saturday Art Gallery Walk for the month of March.

Ellie Perla studied biology at the Agronomic 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 and illustrated 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.

ATELIER 1022 Introduces "HOPE" to Wynwood

ATELIER 1022 in Wynwood Introduces “HOPE”

More than a new Art Exhibit – a 2012 Aesthetic Ethos   

            Miami Beach, January 24, 2011 – ATELIER 1022 Studio and Fine Art Gallery in the Wynwood Art District introduces “HOPE”, an exuberant new multi-media art event on February 11, 2012, 6-11 PM, designed to celebrate beauty, harmony, and artistic fraternity - the gallery’s guiding aesthetic and communal principles for 2012.  These principles will be on joyful display during “HOPE”, with debuting mixed media and photographic works by resident artists Ellie Perla, Carola Perla, Susi Perla-Mendoza, and Carlos Rodriguez-Feo, and the experimental soundscapes of Jimmy Hoffa, Esq.  

The ethos behind the “HOPE” event also shapes the gallery’s 2012 Exhibit and Events calendar.  In addition to a series of exciting resident solo shows, ATELIER 1022 plans to extend its space for free to emerging artists during the August and September Wynwood Art Walks.  Titled “FRIENDS OF ATELIER 1022”, these special community exhibits will also feature international talent in painting, sculpture, and video art.   The polyglot experiment continues in April and November as art blends with the written word, when ATELIER 1022 stages brand-new editions of its independent writers’ showcase, “LITERĂ”, with host and author Carola Perla. These evenings will be preceded by KINDERART, afternoon children’s storybook hours and art sessions led by resident artist and children’s book creator Ellie Perla.

ATELIER 1022 Gallery is located in Miami’s Wynwood Art District, at 2732 NW 2^nd Avenue. The “HOPE” event coincides with Wynwood’s Second Saturday Art Gallery Walk for the month of February.

“HOPE” EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

Ellie Perla – the ethereal quality of her seemingly inexhaustible stream of otherworldly subjects is only heightened by the lattice-like intricacies of Ms. Perla’s polychromatic pencil and ink compositions.   Saturated yet delicate, the new collection for HOPE is equally profuse with her characteristic luxuriant color and micro-designs.  This time around, Ms. Perla references global imagery, nature subjects, and romantic icons, creating her own visual lexicon of peace that is steadily injected with luminosity, love and a dash of humor.  Says Ms. Perla, “as I navigate in my life from pain to peace, from black to lavender…I feel responsible to share with the world something positive.  For me, art is a matter of ethics and integrity, a matter of hope…” 

"Love You" by Ellie Perla

Susi Perla-Mendoza – a firm believer in the electrifying power of color, this young New York-based fine art photographer uses surreal colorscapes to lift to inspirational what might otherwise dwell in the dire, industrial, and mundane.  Vibrant works like “Didgeridoo” display her characteristic ‘acid impressionism’ style - here a humble street performer is revealed to us as a rainbow of fire.  The EAST BERLIN series, shot in many of the city’s underground locations, further exemplifies Mrs. Perla-Mendoza’s keen eye for profound subject matter and her reconciliatory efforts to cast a fresh spectrum on past wounds. 

Carlos Rodriguez-Feo - the Cuban-born photographer demonstrates his sense of artistic optimism, merging vintage tools and techniques (Victorian cameras, large-format photography, and infra-red) with the latest 21^st Century technology to create a catalog of distinguished South Florida landmarks that possess a reverent historic quality, and yet are captured in a transcendent, never-before light.

Jimmy Hoffa, Esq. – ‘beatific exuberance’ is how one might begin to describe the musical explorations of local indie talents Jimmy Hoffa, Esq., Jose Ignacio Rodriguez, and elegant singer Tash.   The group have tested their mettle in various South Florida bands since their early days in high school, but this one-time only performance at ATELIER 1022 promises to push the boundaries of the trio’s tonal imaginations.  As driving creative force Jimmy Hoffa, Esq. says, “Dreams and art are the same thing.”

Carola Perla's Gibbin House Participates in ATELIER 1022's LITERA

ATELIER 1022

ArtVergnügen! the pleasure of art ...

ATELIER 1022 Presents “LITERĂ”

 An Evening of Book Launches, Readings, and Art to Celebrate

 Miami’s Independent Literature Scene and First-time Authors

            Miami Beach, October 20, 2011 – ATELIER 1022 Studio and Fine Art Gallery in the Wynwood Art District announces the one-night-only special book launch event “LITERĂ”  on November 12, 2011 – an evening dedicated to Miami’s up-and-coming independent and first-time authors, with a program of readings, book signings, and art installations inspired by the written word.  Headlining the event is Resident Artist and ATELIER 1022 Partner Ellie Perla, who will introduce her highly anticipated children’s books, ALTAVARANIA and PAPOOK.  Her original illustrations for these books will also be on special display.  Ellie Perla’s elaborate and enchanting pencil drawings have served as an iconic feature of the ATELIER 1022 Gallery since its inception.   LITERĂ will also see the book launch of David Rolland’s debut novel DEADBEAT – a noir thriller set against the sultry backdrop of South Florida.  In addition, author Carola Perla will unveil ‘Off the Page’, a new art installation inspired by her historic novel GIBBIN HOUSE, which debuted at the gallery in May 2011. Presentations will begin at 8PM, to be followed by signings and a complimentary wine reception.  ATELIER 1022 will be open to the public on November 12^th, 2011, for the Wynwood Art Walk, from 6-11 PM.  

“As both a novelist and gallery owner, I am thrilled to bring a multi-media event like LITERĂ to ATELIER 1022, particularly on the eve of the upcoming 2011 Miami Book Fair International.  From the onset, ATELIER 1022’s resident artists and partners have aimed to create not just a visual art studio and gallery, but to build a community space that supports grass-roots efforts in every artistic field.  We are extremely proud to be able to provide first-time authors a forum in which to present their extraordinary work, and intend on continuing this tradition far into the future with self-published book launches, independent film screenings, and local music acts,” says Gallerist Carola Perla.

ALTAVARANIA by Ellie Perla

Three unusual friends journey to distant lands to find the seven fairies who once gave the ancient gardens of Altavarania their magic powers.  This story of adventure and discovery takes Leelas, Sun and Thunder in serach of love, trust, joy, integrity, peace, hope and courage.  They will need these gifts to plant a new Altavarania in the land of Noaptea and save its people from perpetual poverty and war.

PAPOOK by Ellie Perla

Papook, the palace tea boy, has a troublesome habit of wandering off and hiding in all the wrong places.  When a bad turn finds him in the balcony of the courtroom, pretending to advise the king as the ‘Spirit of the Law’, his problems really start.  Luckily Old Ayo is always nearby to help with a wise solution.  But when the king’s palace is in real danger, will Papook’s audacious behavior turn out to be a burden or a blessing?  

Ellie Perla, on writing children’s books as an artist: “The driving force behind my art is my love for beauty, cultural awareness, and harmony.  My books are a natural extension of this philosophy.  Intended to be experienced with a parent, they teach a very young generation of readers life-altering values and a non-violent way of life.”

Elinor E. Perla lives and works in Miami, Florida.  Ellie is the author and illustrator of several children’s books.  She is also an artist in residence at ATELIER 1022 in Miami’s Wynwood Art District, and an avid photographer.

GIBBIN HOUSE by Carola Perla

Summer 1949 – in London’s Hampstead Heath, four embittered European intellectuals still occupy their former safehouse.  But the mysterious arrival of the damaged refugee, Anka Pietraru, shakes them out of their stupor and challenges them to reclaim an unlived life.  A story of exile, artistic kinship, motherly love, and the path to finding one’s own voice.

Carola Perla, on writing as an immigrant to Miami: “Transience leaves a special sort of mark in terms of language.  Not being able to communicate for months at a time with people around you, being dismissed.  And even when you begin to speak, you suffer the sensation of never quite being able to express everything.  I’m always in awe at immigrant-rich Miami, because it is a place overflowing with lives, thoughts, and feelings unshared.”

Carola Perla is a Miami-based author, gallery owner, and PR specialist.  Born in Romania, she has lived in Munich and Lima, and holds degrees in German Literature and Art History from Florida State University. ‘Gibbin House’ is her first novel.  

DEADBEAT by David Rolland

A noir thriller chronicling the adventures of Frank Bengling, Miami private investigator. He had his scuba diving, his business, and his margaritas. But then beautiful Maria Novella hires him for a case. She wants Frank to find the father of her child. After a long chase the past catches up with Frank Bengling.  

INVITE: On the Eve of the Miami Book Fair International, My First Reading of GIBBIN HOUSE!!

My Bohemian Experiment: New ATELIER 1022 Gallery Event

ATELIER 1022 Gallery is ROCKING WYNWOOD!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=157442667666634

Check out the Facebook event page for information on this latest music-themed evening we are hosting at our Wynwood art gallery.  It should be a truly wonderful example of the sort of cross-pollinating, melting pot, polyglot community we are hoping to establish at ATELIER 1022.  If you are in Miami next weekend during Wynwood Art District's 2nd Saturday Art Walk, please stop by!

Visual Inspirations: Romanian Banat Summer Fields



"Dude"; Flowers; Farm cart - photos by Ellie Perla

Summer Views of the Banat 

I want to begin this entry by apologizing for my extended absence on this blog.  I blame the effects of a Floridian summer - the lazy, hazy, let's face it, infernal days one invariably stumbles through every year here in Miami.  They seem to spark a sort of mental hibernation, a Lotus Eater syndrome, and try as you might to pull yourself together, only a cold front (ie 85 degrees) or the mad rush of an impending hurricane possesses the force to snap a person back to reality.  Well, there is a third tonic, but it must be administered in small doses, or else risk falling off the other end.  I refer of course to the crassly overeager August-month Christmas displays at the craft store.  What else can jolt you with the sense of life hurling past your ears as effectively as that?  But I digress...

Whichever the reason for my arousal, I am here to announce that I am once again determined to resume living above the steamy stupor of my tropical paradise (or postapocalyptic wasteland ... tomaito tomahto) and return to what I love more than anything...the sound of my own internal voice...That said, I debated which subject I might want to use to celebrate the end of my hiatus.  I suppose nothing could serve as a better antidote to my beachy mindset than the very serious topic of Vienna's Postwar Displaced Persons Camps, to which I refer in Part II of GIBBIN HOUSE: Traveling Without Moving.  But I think I will save this for my next entry, when I have sobered up enough to do the history justice. 



Country Woods - photo by Ellie Perla



Instead, let me share a little of what inspired this book in the very, very beginning - the images that floated in my mind back when I was sitting with my mother in a coffeeshop in late 2001, just like Anka and her mother in the first scene: I had finished Grad School some months earlier and broken off a five year relationship, I had no income, few friends, and not the slightest clue what to do with my life.  All I had were buried away hopes and girlhood memories. 



Banat Farmers - photo by Ellie Perla



But as I sat listlessly with the chaos of techno music licking my face, these memories began to form themselves into an idea , into a story of someone like me traveling across a continent, like Perrine over the Pyrennes, and I thought of where it might all begin, her home...my own birthplace, the Banat.  I will write more about this place another time.  For now, a few glimpses of its landscape, a few last injections of summer before the real work begins:

Summer Wheat Fields - photo by Ellie Perla



Banat Country Scene - photo by Ellie Perla





Harvest Girls - Courtesy of Andershausen Banat



Country Home - photo by Ellie Perla