{"id":12923,"date":"2015-06-05T00:07:36","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T07:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=12923"},"modified":"2015-06-03T13:18:38","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T20:18:38","slug":"iron-fire-meet-cool-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2015\/06\/05\/iron-fire-meet-cool-waters\/","title":{"rendered":"Iron, fire meet cool waters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gregorio Scalamogna (photo by Olga Livshin)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The current double show at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery has its origins in the two artists\u2019 friendship. \u201cI met with Greg Scalamogna through a mutual friend,\u201d said Miran Elbakyan, an artist-blacksmith and one of the two participants in the show. \u201cI liked his technique \u2013 his lines are plastic-like metal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have similar philosophy in our works,\u201d Scalamogna elaborated. \u201cMiran\u2019s lines flow like paint. We don\u2019t restrict ourselves, [we] let our materials speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Miran Elbakyan (photo from Miran Elbakyan)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The flowing lines and dynamic energy in both Scalamogna\u2019s paintings and Elbakyan\u2019s sculptures gave birth to the show\u2019s title, Flow, but, aside from that, the two artists are very different, almost opposite in their approaches and subject matter.<\/p>\n

While Elbakyan deals with fire and iron, creating tangible objects \u2013 sculptures, balconies, staircase rails, wrought-iron gates and other usable items \u2013 Scalamogna, a painter, concentrates on water in all its guises. Tame or wild, abstract or real, his waves and waterfalls inhabit the cool bluish-grey palette. His paintings reflect the artist\u2019s fluid personality and his love for water. \u201cI love boating and fishing,\u201d he said with a smile.<\/p>\n

Like his beloved water, Scalamogna traveled around the world, flowing in and out of adventures, before settling in British Columbia. He took his first trip when he was 19, a student of the Ontario College of Art and Design.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to go to some place sunny,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI bought an air ticket to the Dominican Republic and exchanged my Canadian money at the airport before boarding the plane, but they made a mistake and gave me Mexican money instead of Dominican. Nobody in the Dominican Republic wanted to touch that money.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, he found himself alone in a foreign country without a cent. Young and proud as only a 19-year-old can be, he didn\u2019t call home and ask his mother for help. \u201cI wanted to do it myself,\u201d he said. To earn some money, so he at least wouldn\u2019t starve, he started painting tourists\u2019 portraits on the beach. He also sold all his spare clothes for the price of a meal or two, and made friends with local people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were poor but they helped me, took care of me,\u201d said Scalamogna. \u201cThey were very generous. I couldn\u2019t pay for a hotel, so one guy offered me to spend nights in his home.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trip was a success in the end. He made it, paying for his first independent vacation with his art, victoriously returning home a week later. He even brought back souvenirs for his family; he bartered for them with his portraits. \u201cSince then, I wasn\u2019t afraid. I knew I could make it anywhere. I could take on the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scalamogna spent his last year of college studying in Florence, Italy, and afterwards backpacked across Europe with his artistic portfolio, visiting museums and art galleries, finding work wherever he could. He had a few exhibitions abroad before returning home.<\/p>\n

However, like water, which never stands still, he soon felt the urge to move again. This time, he took a bus across Canada. For several years, he lived and worked in Banff, but eventually settled here \u2013 the ocean enchanted him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an expressionist,\u201d he said. \u201cNature inspires me. I take photos when I\u2019m on the water, fishing, but my photos are only starting points for my paintings. The photos bring back memories and feelings; they reference a certain time and emotion. There is no visual similarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

His paintings also reflect his daily existence. \u201cThey are commentaries on my life, my job, my relationships, people around me,\u201d he said. A few years ago, when he was living in Tofino, his paintings were filled with vibrant colors and exploratory energy, with frantic tides and glittering sunsets. Some of them are part of the Zack Gallery show, instantly recognizable, but most of the pieces on display are from his latter Vancouver period. The paintings became calmer and quieter, as if seen through the veil of Vancouver\u2019s rain. \u201cI\u2019m older now, more subtle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Like his friend, Elbakyan traveled. He moved from Armenia to Israel and, from there, to Canada, prompted as much by political climate as by other considerations. Like Scalamogna, he, too, found a welcome home here, in British Columbia, and this exhibition is his third appearance at the Zack. \u201cIt is always nice to show my art here and get some feedback,\u201d he said, although he admitted that he doesn\u2019t like selling his sculptures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather sell home d\u00e9cor,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m always sorry to see my sculptures go. They are all unique. Even if I try to make a second copy, it has no inspiration in it. The first is always the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only artist-blacksmith on the B.C. mainland and one of the very few in Canada, Elbakyan is in high demand for those who are not satisfied with mass production, who want an original fence around their house or a one-of-a-kind balcony or some funky furnishing.<\/p>\n

Recently, he branched out into the movie industry. His latest movie, Seventh Son<\/em>, released in December 2014, is a medieval fantasy. \u201cI made swords and shields for it,\u201d he said, \u201cand everything else of metal that their lab couldn\u2019t produce. I also played a smith at a fair. It was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elbakyan\u2019s website is bcblacksmith.com<\/a>; Scalamogna\u2019s is artisticpainting.org<\/a>. Flow opened on May 21 and runs until June 21.<\/p>\n

Olga Livshin<\/strong> is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gregorio Scalamogna (photo by Olga Livshin) The current double show at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery has its origins in the two artists\u2019 friendship. \u201cI met with Greg Scalamogna through a mutual friend,\u201d said Miran Elbakyan, an artist-blacksmith and one of the two participants in the show. \u201cI liked his technique \u2013 his lines […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[3904,3905,40],"class_list":["post-12923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-greg-scalamogna","tag-miran-elbakyan","tag-zack-gallery"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}