THE COLORFUL LIFE OF A NEURON

One of the things I have always loved about New York is that it engages you. Choices abound and art lovers like me literally have something new to go see every day.

This time, my inner nerd came to surface and suggested a show that gets in your head - literally. Created by ARTECHOUSE Studio in partnership with Society for Neuroscience (SfN) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of SfN, the show is the first of its kind to use data to bring key neuroscience principles to life. The show allows visitors to walk into a real-life 3D model of a human prefrontal cortex neuron — the “thinking cell” of the brain — and see it grow from birth through death.

While I have been to Artechouse’s tech-powered shows before (last year they had a great one co-created by Refik Anadol), this one felt even more mesmerizing. Watching an artfully presented depiction of the goings-on of a human brain is interesting enough on its own, but combine it with vivid, pulsating color, ever evolving shapes, simple yet evocative sound cues and mesmerizing digital animation and suddenly, you’re transported into a whole new world. Neural pathways coming to life in front of your eyes resembling Brazilian rainforest, forming and re-forming, reflecting joy and play and changing again at signs of stress and trauma. It is fascinating and I loved it.

ARTECHOUSE, located in NYC’s Chelsea market, is the nation’s first innovative art organization dedicated to the intersection of art, science and technology. It produces technology driven exhibitions using the largest seamless megapixel count projections of any cultural institution and integrating Hyperreal Sound technology. The current show runs through November 13.

ENTERTAIN ME, KATE

These are heavy times. After two years of pandemic lockdowns, just as we were all looking forward to restarting life as we once knew it, one pitiful, evil little man’s ego launched a European war that nobody wanted. Suddenly, we’re all feeling the whiplash. It would be really easy to curl up on the couch with gloom and doom thoughts swirling around in our heads. But these days, we’re all also trying to find joy and more lighthearted moments in our lives.

For me, one such joyful moment was coming across the surreal, playful, colorful fantasy world of Kate Theo.

KATE AND HER WONDERFUL TECHNICOLOR WORLD

Who is Kate, you ask? Kate Theo (@katethheo79 on Instagram), or Katerina if you go by her given name, originally grew up in Greece. An artist at heart from a young age, she first discovered a love for painting. Later on, her creative pursuits brought her to Florence where she studied architecture before eventually settling in Puglia in southern Italy where she now lives with her family.

Today, Kate’s work is is inspired by fashion, art and design that she’s surrounded herself with throughout her entire life.

But it’s her imagination, and her ability to take a few simple shapes or poses and create a minimalist but engaging image that drew me to Kate’s work. She’s not afraid to use a pop of color, a tongue-in-cheek posing or a little bit of whimsy. And voila! Suddenly, Kate’s caught your attention and you’re ready to play. Where will you start?

USE YOUR IMAGINATION

The colors draw you in, but there’s also depth that underlies Kate’s work. She creates scenes that are designed to leave something for you, the viewer, to discover. The big and bright color blocks of blue, yellow, red, or green are also a perfect backdrop for your own thinking: Are you loving the sunny yellow? Or are you more into the moody blues today? Is the person facing away from you just shy or are they secretly laughing at something? Kate allows room for audiences to use their imagination in interpreting her simple, playful but always well thought out compositions. It’s the perfect antidote to the craziness that surrounds us. So, are you ready to dive in?

All images by @katetheo79