I dropped into Assis Art Gallery as a result of discovering a lapsed notice of an installation opening there at the start of the month. Curated by Joaopedro Oh, the gallery is currently home to four exhibitions for the month of April (and possibly longer), three of the photographic, and the last a 3D exploration of identity.

The various exhibits are displayed in different levels within the gallery space, and a teleport is required to move between some of them – look for the blue mask in the lobby and temporary building levels.

Located in the gallery’s lobby area is a small exhibition of photo art by Hikaru Enimo. These are quite exquisitely rendered, and occupy a space towards the back of the lobby space. Small though it may be, the works on display are worth casting a very close eye over, as they really are marvellous life studies.

In the Gallery’s “temporary building” area are two exhibitions which can be viewed without the need to teleport between them.

The first is a series of real life studies by Gatekeeper Gustafson. This as another stunning display, with some of the pieces containing two images each which are displayed in turn for around 30 seconds apiece. The themes for the photographs, whether paired like this or individually framed, are diverse, as are the post-processed finishes evident in some, making for a fascinating display of studies and subjects, which again rightly demand time to be appreciated.

Alongside of this, just down the stairs. is a further exhibit called Playing Cards, by Edward Nussbaum. This comprises images set as the face cards from a deck of cards, together with the joker and ace. The face cards and aces are displayed in sets of four, each image in a set representing one of the four suits in a card deck. There is a high level of nudity in the images presented in this display, together with sexual themes and a degree of homoeroticism, so be prepared!

Accessible via teleport, Blue Tsuki’s installation is called You Wear That Face, and is a simple but effective exploration of identity. Blue describes the piece thus:

We all wear masks. In SL we present ourselves with a mask every day. In this landscape find a hole in the ocean, armillary spheres of orbiting electrons, shafts of memory and our masks. “You Wear That Face” is a nexus, a vortex, an analogue of neurons and a self-reflexive look at our mask in a sideways dream.

This is a mix of physical elements and particle displays which combine to from a dream-like space with a lavender-coloured ocean flowing into a central vortex (which you’re standing over when you arrive), and over which golden armillary spheres float.

A spiral of prims descends into the vortex beneath you, images flickering across them in rapid succession, perhaps representative of the many masks we wear within SL (and life itself?). Around the spiral sit four rectangular shafts and four masks each within a pattern of particles. These are interactive pieces – click to sit on them – which place you either looking out from behind one of the masks – again, the reference to identity – or floating at the mouths of the shafts and looking down onto old photographs – our shafts of memory.

There is not set order for viewing the exhibits, so you can visit them as your muse takes you. If you do start from either the lobby or temporary building, watch out of the Assis Art Gallery signs – these will furnish you with a notice on the exhibitions and news of the gallery. If you visit you Wear That Face first, the teleport is the small red inverted pyramid in the centre of the vortex (under your feet on arrival).

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