Jan. 23, 2008 — Mango Tango Art Gallery opens the Turn & Shoot Exhibition of wood sculpture and wood turning, photography and mixed media from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 25. Enjoy a champagne reception while viewing the work of the four participating artists, Holland Van Gores, Al Sayegh, Steffen Larsen and Amanda Arguello.
Holland Van Gores has lived in St. Thomas for 25 years. He has been fascinated with wood since childhood. His current collection consists of wood bowls, hollow vessels, and conceptual sculpture, all made from island indigenous woods on the lathe. He seeks to highlight the beauty of the found and fallen wood. He often adds carving or surface embellishment. His compositions showcase the natural patterns in the wood. Van Gores' wood turnings convey both a visual tranquility and a tactile vitality. Viewers are encouraged to touch his creations.
Van Gores is recognized as one of the island's best building contractors and one the best maestros of wood sculpture and wood turning. He deftly balances the two professions.
Music reflects culture and Al Sayegh's photographs of the top musicians connect the viewer with enduring imagery. The globe-trotting celebrity photographer is based in Atlantic City and a frequent visitor to St. Thomas, where he owns a home.
He has captured Jimmy Buffet with his lens for more than two decades. Gallery co-owner Smokey Pratt says that, " Sayegh's portfolio is so grand, that it was a difficult task choosing 25 images. He has been a professional shooter of over 150 of the world's best music icons."
His work has been published in Show Business, People, USA Today and on CD covers. Tina Turner, Billy Joel and Ray Charles are just a few of the stellar portraits available in the present show.
Danish world traveler Steffen Larsen met and married his wife, artist Jan Mitchell, on St. Croix in the late 1980s after several Atlantic crossings in his sailboat. The next few years were dedicated to building up and modernizing what is now known as the Mitchell Larsen Studio.
Then he rediscovered his love for photography. In his earlier travels he had shot Africa, Australia, South America, the Artic and Antarctic, the Golden Triangle and the Himalayas in black and white. Larsen bought his first digital camera and once again photography became his hobby, this time in color. His seventh and current camera is a Contax 645 with a Phase One P 20 digital back. He added to that a very powerful computer and the best in wide-format printing.
When it began taking two to three days to edit a photo and 15-20 printouts before he was happy with the finished image, viewers began recognizing him as a superb professional photographer. His subject is the historical buildings of the Caribbean. His limited-edition photos often show the decay and the poorly maintained structures, but he explains that his goal is to "bring out the beauty in them."
Amanda Arguello entered the art scene after earning a BFA from the University of Colorado as gallery co-owner Jane Coombes' assistant in Mango Tango. She wanted to go behind the scenes to see the business side of art. One of her major contributions during her year-long work is the addition of photography to Mango Tango. One of her mentors is renowned art photographer Albert Chong.
She returned to Colorado to continue her studies. She participated in last year's photography show with a grouping of photo collage combined with encaustic, a beeswax-and-resin medium. For the current show, she ditched the camera. Her focus had been textural images. Arguello combined encaustic with oil paint on hardboard with an epoxy varnish to explore texture directly.
Gallery co-owner Jane Coombes observes that the "finished paintings are a delightful surprise. Her camera gave her images to create without it. This is what makes the art process fascinating."
Meet Holland Van Gores, Al Sayegh and Steffen Larsen at the opening and enjoy the interpretive blues and rock of 2 Blue Shoes. For more info, call 777-3060.