Blue Star Contemporary isn’t the only gallery bringing local art into the 21st century.
For its latest exhibition, a solo show by San Antonio artist Angelica Raquel Martinez, FL!GHT Gallery went all-out on technology.
While FL!GHT is open for socially distanced viewings by appointment, to make the exhibition accessible to those unwilling to risk an in-person visit, the gallery teamed up with San Antonio’s Bright and Early Productions to create a 3D tour of the space using the Matterport platform.
The Matterport tour immerses the viewer into a seamless recreation of FL!GHT’s Blue Star space, which can be navigated by click, much like Google StreetView. Visitors can access details about the artworks by hovering the cursor over a circular icon next to each piece.
The virtual tour also helps with another thing: preventing viewers from giving in to a deep desire to touch the art.
In “Tell Me It Haunts You,” Martinez showcases a series of multimedia pieces that prominently feature soft and fluffy textiles, including a large, needle felted deer statue and a series of rug hooked tapestries.
Using a deer as its central figure, she reimagines folklore and familial stories she learned during her childhood living near the Mexico border, focusing on themes of death, mourning and the continued meaning of relationships even once they end.
“Employing biographical and regional folklore serves as a conduit for moral and spiritual ideas, while also putting emphasis on familial relationships and their continued importance long after death. Using animal imagery has a dual purpose of representing the animal itself and the ones I love,” Martinez said in a statement.
“Through a multidisciplinary studio practice utilizing mediums like watercolor, graphite, felting and rug hooking, there is an inherent softness given to what are sometimes harsh and visceral subjects. The importance of this juxtaposition between the tender and the violent further underscores the relationship humanity has with storytelling.”
Free, on view by appointment through November 30 or via Matterport digital tour, FL!GHT Gallery, 112R Blue Star, facebook.com/flightSA.
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