Pictured Above: The exhibition features 12 poems and corresponding illustrations printed on chiffon and satin panels.
Annalise Anderson | The Crow’s Nest
By Annalise Anderson
As the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic came and went, poet Kevin Mooney and artist Saumitra Chandratreya joined creative forces in a new art exhibition at Studio@620 to present the antithesis of a socially sterile and discordant world.
“Secret Language of Intimacy” combines visual artworks by Chandratreya with decades of poetry written by Mooney. Each poem is an expression of the varying degrees of intimacy and emotion that can be shared between two people; the visual components are inspired by Chandratreya’s personal interpretations of the poems.
Large fabric panels printed with life-sized stanzas and colorful designs hang from the gallery ceilings, allowing visitors to walk between the installations and immerse themselves in the exhibition. Recordings of Mooney reciting the poems play throughout the gallery, providing a full sensory experience.
Shadow boxes framing miniature renditions of each work are displayed on the gallery walls and are available for purchase.
“Language is a transcription of a perceived thought, concept, emotion or image,” Mooney and Chandratreya wrote in the exhibition’s artists’ statement. “In this installation we have taken the perception of emotions in relationships and transcribed them into not only a poetic form of language but also into the language of abstract artistic images.
We believe there is a beginning to a relationship but no end because it truly changes and evolves as the people involved age, grow, dream, being positive, negative, comfortable, or not. Relationships come in many forms, which is the degree of intimacy both together, or one alone, choose to create.”
Born in Mumbai, Chandratreya is a fiber installation artist who lives in Largo and Chicago. Though he has participated in several group exhibitions in 2019, he presented his solo exhibitions “Everyday Obvious” and “My Body My Altar” in St. Petersburg galleries. He has earned notable recognition in both Florida and Illinois and currently teaches at the Morean Arts Center.
Mooney is the author of a two-part poetry series, The Wandering Crane. He found a passion for theater and poetry while growing up in the South Bronx and later served as the company manager for plays “Angels in America,” “Forever Plaid” and “I Hate Hamlet.” Now, he hopes to bring art and poetry to schools, museums and churches around the country.
“Secret Language of Intimacy” is on view at Studio@620 through April 17. The gallery is open by appointment; visitors should call the gallery to reserve a viewing time. Find Studio@620 at 620 First Ave. S.
Annalise Anderson | The Crow’s Nest
