Hello! Hello!

The preparations for “Art in Country Hall” exhibitions are now completed! The glass cabinets have been properly cleaned and polished, the artworks are now  perfectly displayed and everything is ready for the big day! The opening will take place on Friday, the 20th of May at 17:00 pm and the exhibition will be open every working day for the next 8-10 weeks.

Art in County Hall is a joint exhibition bringing several talented artists from Worcestershire together. Rita’s artwork will be displayed in two gabinets in front of the Council Chamber, while the artworks made by The Garage Art Group from Evesham will be proudly displayed on the walls.  Garage Art Group has just celebrated 20 years of promoting health and well being through the mediums of painting, drawing, textile and other visual arts. If you’d like to learn more about this fantastic charity organization, please visit their official websites:

Homepage: http://www.garageartgroup.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garageartgroup/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/garageartgroup

Address:  Vale Art Studio, 4/4a Crown Court Yard, Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 4RY.
Contact: Pam White (CEO) on 01386 423245 or 07933512210
Email: garageartgroup@live.co.uk

Another artist showcasing his excellent works alongside Rita and the Garage Art Group is Mark Hilsden. Mark has been painting for many years and is very well known in Worcester art circles. He specializes in painting landscapes (especially forest and the sea) but architecture and portraits are also his strong points. Marks artworks are in many private collections including Europe and Australia. He encourages everybody to follow their passion and dare to dream.

Mark is open to commissions, so if you’d like to have your special picture painted, please contact him directly at:

Official website: http://markhilsden.com/
Marks bio: http://artymark.faso.com/page/8606/media-pack-artists-bio-and-cv
Commission guidelines: http://artymark.faso.com/page/7692/commissions
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistmarkhilsden/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/markhilsden

We are very excited to work with so many talented individuals and grateful for having an opportunity to showcase our work to a huge number of visitors. Did you know that County Hall is visited by hundreds of people each week? It is a very busy place and hopefully it will help Worcestershire based artists reach a wider audience.

At the opening, you will have a chance to learn more about Rita and her work. Malicia was very kind to pen a truly professional bio for her and she is very  happy to share it with you all:

Rita’s bio:

Rita Dabrowicz (born October 1979) is a Polish artist currently living and working in Worcester. Although showing interests in art from an early age, she began to exhibit her works publicly during university years after being inspired by abstract artists such as Jackson Pollack and John Squire. Today, Rita works with several different mediums, ranging from paints (oils, acrylics, watercolours, inks), pencils, clay, pottery and ceramics. She is also an apt craft person using upcycling technique to create paper artworks, cards and decorated items like notebooks or book marks for her own “Cat Shop Décor”. She exhibited in her native Poland and in Malta (taking part in Earth Garden Festival five years in a row, twice at Notte Bianca in Valletta and being featured at Malta Artisan Markets).

Outside of her own artistic endeavours, Rita organizes cultural events and promotes other artists though her blog and social media. Teaming up with her sister under the moniker “Vanadian Avenue”, she organized a series of six exhibitions of local artists in Poland and drawing workshops (between 2000 and 2004) and was responsible for bringing prestigious World Press Photo exhibition to Malta in 2007. She was also a member of Silesian Fantasy Club in Poland for which she co-organized a series of conventions dedicated to Japanese comics, art and culture. She worked as cultural journalists for four years and specialized in female comics and presentation of women in pop culture. Three times she took part in Work Camp initiative to help organize Roskilde Festival in Denmark (2003, 2004, 2007).

Rita enjoys music, travels, photography and Japanese culture.
She can be reached via her blog: www.cocamidemea.wordpress.com or her Facebook shop page www.facebook.com/thecatshopdecor

To please the art loving people of Worcester, we prepared three installations. Below, you can find  pictures and short descriptions:

01. The Celestial Theatre installation

Inspired by Japanese traditional Noh dance theatre, this project links human emotions, superstitions with legends and beliefs that are written among the stars and planets. Each masks represent different omote, mask used during the performances. There are 450 different masks in Noh based on sixty types of characters. Rita’s masks are named after six legendary (yet non-existent) planets that influence us and the planet Earth.

Antichthon (Ἀντίχθων) known as The Counter- Earth. Mysterious twin-planet to Earth hidden from our view. It represents mystery, deceitfulness but also protection and bravery. Appeared for the first time in the writings or Pythagorean philosopher Philolaus. Price: £30

Hercolubus also known as the Red Planet. Mythical future destructor of Earth symbolizes power and vitality. Became wildly popular in Latin America thanks to the writings of Colombian author V.M. Rabolu (Joaquin Enrique Amortegui Valbuena, 1926-2000). Price: £30

Kolob also known as The Governing One. A star or a planet mentioned in the Mormon’s “Book of Abraham”, it symbolizes greatness, patience and superiority. According to the text, Kolob is the heavenly body nearest to the throne of God. Price: £30

Nibiru also known as The Crossing Star or The Point of Transition is an ancient Babylonian term of the equinox and its associated astronomical objects. It is also the name of wildly popular “Planet X” that will bring destruction to Earth. The original concept symbolizes tranquillity, serenity and peace. Price: £30

Vulcan also known as the Tenth Planet, is the hypothetical planet in the Milky Way, located somewhere between Mercury and the Sun. The hypothesis for its existence has been formulated by Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier (1811 –1877) French mathematician specializing in celestial mechanics. It represents strong mind and mathematical skills but also the physical power. Sadly such planet still hasn’t been found but the concept became popular in 1950’s in America and the planet gave its name to the famous alien race in Star Trek TV series franchise. Price: £40

Serpo also known as Serponia or Seinu is a hypothetical alien planet very popular among American conspiracy theories, UFOs, and faster-than-light travel enthusiasts. According to the urban legends, American government signed a top-secret scientific exchange programs with the planet that still goes on since early 1940’s. Serpo has been mentioned in the original X-Files TV series and represents wit, science but also secrecy. Price: £30

02. Planet Caravan installation

The Planet Caravan installation has been prepared for Earth Garden in 2011. You can read detailed description about each of the 6 orbs here: https://cocamidemea.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/planet-caravan/

The orbs were priced as follows:

Starlight – The Blue Or
Price: £15

Twilight – The Violet ORB
Price: £15

Broadlight – The Yellow ORB
Price: £15

Sunlight – The Golden ORB
Price: £15

Daylight – The Red ORB
Price: £15

Additionally, Rita has decided to add three new items to the installation as they were also linked to the general “water” theme:

Two Water dishes

Two water dishes that can store rain water. The blue one is made from recyclable glass, the red one is made from recyclable plastic. Their legs are made from glass beads, the by-product of glass making that can be used for decorative purposes. Both are hand painted with abstract cat details. Can be used as soap or candle holders.
Price: £10 each or £20 for a pair

The DISC

Mixed media on plastic. The DISC has two sides – the Light Side and The Dark Side (as visible here). It symbolizes both; the Earth and The Moon as both are described having the light and the dark sides. Maybe it represents us all as well? There is light and darkness in all of us.
Price: £15

The Dream Catcher

Rita’s description for this strange sculpture reads: “Made entirely from natural materials: dry leaves, wooden spheres and long green painted grass. What you cannot see is the inside of the biggest sphere: there are several plastic beads that move when the Dream Catcher is rotating. Imagine you are a Dream champion, somebody who can travel through people’s dreams. You would need some kind of device to enter the Dreamscape. It also shows you the good and the bad dreams people are having. It is very useful – did I mention that it can make anyone fall asleep at once?” Price: £20

03. Zodiak

Zodiak is the biggest abstract art series that Rita has ever done. It was prepared in collaboration with British artist Matt Griffiths (sketches) and took nearly half a year to prepare. 12 pictures were displayed for the first time in the Messina Palace in Valetta as part of Notte Biance celebration in 2011.  The exhibition entitled “Astral Room” was big success. One of the artworks has been purchased to a private collection by member of the German-Maltese Circle.

We  have extensively covered the preparations and the exhibition previously on our blog. Please take a look at the entries below to  see detailed information about each picture and high  res images, taken by Malicia:

https://cocamidemea.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/zodiak-part-1/
https://cocamidemea.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/zodiak-part-2/
https://cocamidemea.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/zodiak-part-3/

Each of the 11 remaining Zodiak signs were priced at £45. Sign descriptions were laminated and presented for the  members of the public to read.

To raise the number of exhibited artworks to 12, Rita decided to add  smaller abstract piece entitled “The Rain Maker”. It has been inspired by Kate Bush song entitled “Cloudbusting”, the second single from 1985’s album “Hounds of Love”.

Acrylics and mixed media on canvas.
The artwork is professionally framed and signed by the author.
Price: £30

It’s been a very long day for us as the preparations took several hours to be completed. Please visit us tomorrow at 5 pm. Refreshments and finger food will be provided.

Hope to see you all tomorrow evening. Friday night is perfect for art,  remember that!
xxx
Rita and Mal