SHANNON NOVAK'S "SOUND FRAGMENTS" NOW OPEN IN NEW ZEALAND...PLUS GALLERY COMPONENT TO BE INSTALLED APRIL 6th

Plus Gallery is pleased to announce our participation in a unique and far-reaching installation by New Zealand artist Shannon Novak.  The three-phase project creates a global scenario in which the artist's "Sound Fragments" make their way to select locations across the globe.  The first phase commenced on March 11th in the artists hometown of Auckland, New Zealand, to be followed by Phase two on March 21st in which fragments are unveiled across New Zealand at select galleries, and finally internationally on April 6th including Plus Gallery in Denver.

In his latest study, Shannon Novak has sought to explore the link between colour, sound, shape, time, emotion, and social context; it is a study that examines the interrelationship between spatial form and social activity; it is a study that will both construct and make manifest a sound wave that spreads sound fragments throughout gallery spaces around the world.

“I began to feel more and more that this is what I was meant to do…to create works that through a simple combination of colour and shape, I would realize the very abstract notion of sound implied through the geometric forms I utilized.  It also means I am combining, in a unique and vocational way, my two great loves – music and art.”

For Novak, the realization of this show meant the beginning of a long journey.  Initially, he asked himself; how could he contribute to, or incorporate into his work the complex dialogue New Zealand abstraction presented. For example, how could he engage with, or address the dominant, and yet spartan aesthetic pioneered by the likes of Gordon Walters with which his work was so much aligned.  While the similarities with Walter’s work are undeniable, Novak’s work also has much in common with the aesthetic and concerns of Michael Smither who has been interested in the relationship between music and colour for some forty years. It was the abstract sound/colour work Smithers produced that first piqued Novak’s interest. Since both artists also share a musical background, Smithers’ investigations were not only interesting to Novak but combined the same motivating aesthetics from which he could learn.  It is through this rich, complex and sometimes daunting field of art history that Novak has sought to carve a niche, in terms of addressing, assimilating and yet, being distinct from, the likes of Smithers and Walters.

To see more about this fascinating and far-reaching installation, visit the artists website at http://shannonnovak.com 

Galleries participating in the second and third phase include:

Phase 2 National: March 21 - May 2 (New Zealand)

Whare Tapere

Whitianga, New Zealand

Art at Wharepuke

Kerikeri, New Zealand

http://www.art-at-wharepuke.co.nz

Yvonne Rust Gallery

Whangarei, New Zealand

http://www.quarryarts.org/

Salamander Gallery

Christchurch, New Zealand

http://www.salamandergallery.co.nz

Wai Art Space

Carterton, New Zealand

http://www.waiart.org.nz/

JJMorgan and Co.

Wellington, New Zealand

http://www.jjmorganandco.blogspot.com/

Phase 3 International: April 6 - May 2 (outside New Zealand)

Giudecca 795 Art Gallery

Venice, Italy

http://www.giudecca795.com/

Plus Gallery

Denver, Colorado

http://www.plusgallery.com/

galerie TRANSIT

Mechelen, Belgium

http://www.transit.be/

Oriel Q - Queens Hall Gallery

Pembrokeshire, Wales

http://www.orielqueenshallgallery.org.uk/

Arthur Gallery

Ballarat, Australia

http://www.arthurcreative.com.au/

PrintPlus Art Gallery

Amawbia, Nigeria

http://www.printplusng.com/

Guildford Lane Gallery

Melbourne, Australia

http://www.guildfordlanegallery.org/

Galleri Fold / Art Gallery Fold

Reykjavik, Iceland

http://myndlist.is/