SHOUFAY DERZ // IN CONVERSATION WITH NOULA DIAMANTOPOULOS & LINDY LEE

Shoufay Derz_Someone digging in the ground (the hole)

2015_Pigment print on cotton paper, custom frame stained eucalyptus and rust_Edition of 5_99 x 92 cm

To coincide with her current solo exhibition The Wish, Shoufay Derz will sit down with fellow artists Lindy Lee and Noula Diamantopoulos, for a discussion on their individual practices and the role which doubt plays within the creative process. 

DATE: Saturday 1 December 2015

TIME: 6pm drinks, 6:30pm panel talk

LOCATION: Artereal Gallery - 747 Darling St, Rozelle NSW 2039

This panel discussion will be followed by a brief meditation session.

NOULA DIAMANTOPOULOS / hosts group meditation for stress

Noula Diamantopoulos, Artereal Gallery's Managing Director and long-term meditation devotee continues to host her popular monthly group meditations at Artereal Gallery, in her bid to share her knowledge of meditation and to those curious about or already committed to a meditation practice. 

Taking place Tuesday 21 July from 6-7.30PM, this month's focus is stress, and the ways in which meditation can help reduce and / or manage the long term effects of stress. 

We know that chronic stress is on the rise – after all, our lives are becoming more demanding and connected than ever before. The unpleasant irony is that our obsession with productivity is causing our 

bodies to rebel; to switch the ‘off’ button. And never before has Western society been plagued by stress-related illnesses; from Chronic Fatigue to Autoimmune disorders. More often than not, these diseases are caused by the burden of long-term chronic stress. We know the science, and now we need to sit up and take action. 

In this meditation workshop, Noula will introduce a series of meditation and mindfulness techniques that can easily be incorporated into your daily routine. They are simple meditations that will help shift the way you approach a busy schedule so that you can lead a rich and busy life without feeling crippled by ongoing stress.

Noula will intersect her psychotherapy teachings with a series of mindfulness meditation techniques that will help you significantly reduce the stress you experience, silence the monster and banish it for good.

To RSVP to the event, please contact Rachel@artereal.com.au or RSVP via Facebook.

Artereal Gallery hosts Meditation for Relationships

Artereal Gallery continues to host monthly group meditation events with artist, Psychotherapist and facilitator of creativity, noula diamantopoulos. This month, the group meditation and mindfulness workshop will take place Tuesday 23 June between 6-7.30PM, with a core focus on the ways in which a practice of meditation and mindfulness can benefit your relationships. From July through to November, the events will explore a broad range of other themes including meditation for: stress (July), creativity, pregnancy and even meditation for kids! 

As humans, we are inherently social and rely on relationships for happiness, community, belonging and success. Relationships are the axes on which our world revolves. We relish the good ones but when they turn sour, they possess an ability to cast a shadow over everything, catapulting our lives into darkness. 

As a psychotherapist, much of noula's work is with clients who exhibit immense intelligence in all areas of their lives, but struggle to create and maintain healthy, loving relationships. 

At the core of every healthy relationship is the health of the relationship you have with yourself. If this core becomes rotten, it’s no surprise then that your relationships with others suffer also. 

In this meditation workshop, noula will intersect her psychotherapy teachings with a series of mindfulness meditation techniques to create a course in meditation that prompts reflection and invites us to examine the health of the relationships in our lives. The goal? To nourish the most important relationship of all – the one with yourself, which will in turn open up endless opportunities to nurture and improve the relationships in both your professional and personal life.

To RSVP to this event, please email rhianna@artereal.com.au and visit the Facebook page for more information.

noula // in conversation with Rhianna Walcott and Ruby Castagnet from fbi Radio

Ahead of her popular monthly community meditation event, noula diamantopoulos together with Artereal Gallery's Manager, Rhianna Walcott, caught up with fbi Radio Canvas producer, Ruby Castagnet, to talk about meditation and mindfulness and their role in the creative process.

The twelve minute interview aired on fbi Radio's popular visual arts program, Canvas, on Sunday 8th February. If you'd like to listen to the podcast, click here and listen from the 47 minute mark, otherwise keep reading below for some of the conversation highlights.

Ruby Castagnet: In the last two years, the practices of meditation and mindfulness tend to be trending with the masses. From Russell Brand and David Lynch advocating the benefits of these practices for the creative mind, or podcasts and YouTube channels offering private meditation lessons, mindfulness practices are being brought into mainstream environments to reach as many people as possible.

An exciting local example is the monthly group meditation event at Artereal Gallery, Rozelle, titled ‘From Meditation to Manifestation’. This event caught my curiosity as it made me wonder about the connection between mindfulness and creativity and what these practices can do for art and the artists.

Noula Diamantopoulos: [at the group meditation] we answer three questions; Why meditate? How to meditate? and What’s the difference between meditation and mindfulness? One of my skills, talents, is that I can ground things. A lot of this new age language is coming into our everyday vocabulary but it is not literally understood because it hasn't been experienced. I'm able to do that. People's ideas about meditation - 'I'm not good at meditation because I can't stop thinking' - well no, you don't stop thinking and that doesn't mean you're not having a great meditation. 

As part of this, they get to experience three different types of meditations so they can see which resonates more with them.  The first part of the session is 45 minutes of meditation and answering these three questions, and then there’ll be a teaching topic for about 40 minutes, where we’ll host a Q&A.

On the necessity of subjective judgement and industry criticism in the art world:

Rhianna Walcott: To be honest it’s not something we’ve had too big an issue with at Artereal. I think all art, especially contemporary art, is highly subjective so we do get people coming into the gallery and they will make it quite clear to us that a particular artwork isn’t doing it for them, that they don’t like it. When you hear those comments, often what they’re really telling me is that they don’t understand what the artist is trying to communicate, or what’s going on with the work. I get quite excited when people tell me they don’t like the work because it gives me an opportunity to start a discussion with them, to really talk about what the artist is trying to communicate and give them some basic contest. A lot of the time, if you give them that context and understanding, they’ll leave the gallery with a new understanding of the work.  They might still leave not liking the work, but they’ve got a new understanding.

For me personally with contemporary art, an artwork is successful if it makes you feel any sort of emotional response. It might be a negative response, confusion, disgust, they may not like it, but they are feeling something. So at the end of the day, on some level, the work has succeeded. Engaging with contemporary art is about dialoging with ideas and learning something about yourself in the process. 

For more, please visit http://fbiradio.com/programs/canvas/2015-02-08 

NOULA DIAMANTOPOLOUS // Art and consciousness merge at group meditation event at Artereal Gallery

Image: The first event Inhale: From Meditation to Manifestation hosted at Artereal Gallery in November 2014

Tonight at Artereal Gallery, art and consciousness will merge during a meditation workshop, hosted by Artereal artist and Psychotherapist, noula diamantopoulos. Beginning at 6PM, the event is open to everyone.

The evening of group meditation celebrates community, contemporary art and consciousness, and comes following the immense success of the inaugural event, which saw the gallery transformed into a warm community space, welcoming more than 40 guests from a diverse mix of generations, cultures and genders who became united through the high-energy meditation workshop.

noula diamantopoulos commented, “Meditation is becoming increasingly mainstream; the benefits are countless and undisputed. As part of this free event, we want to create a safe space for people to learn about and explore different meditation techniques and to forge connections with other likeminded people.”

Throughout the evening, guests can enjoy refreshments and connect with each other as they receive an introduction to mindfulness techniques and be guided through a diverse range of meditations by noula, who will begin the session with an interactive intention setting activity. Guests will walk away with new tools to continue their meditation practice.

“In a world that demands we are connected and available 24/7, we have never been so disconnected. While it may seem counterintuitive, disconnecting from our online obligations is the answer to finding real connection; not only with ourselves but also our community,” said diamantopoulos.

As the Founding Director of The Corporate Buddha and the Studio of Spontaneous Creativity, noula diamantopoulos hosts a diverse range of workshops that merge art and creativity with consciousness and mindfulness techniques, arming people with the tools to live their best life.

To reserve your space at the event, please RSVP to rachel@artereal.com.au

THE DETAILS
WHAT: INHALE – A meditation workshop with noula diamantopoulos  

WHEN: Tuesday 17 February, between 6.00PM – 7.30PM. 

Meditation and workshop set to take place between 6.30 and 7.30PM  

WHERE: Artereal Gallery, 747 Darling Street, Rozelle, 2039  

RSVP: RSVP on Facebook HERE

NOULA / CONTEMPORARY ART, COMMUNITY & CONSCIOUSNESS CELEBRATED AT ARTEREAL GALLERY MEDITATION EVENT

Last Tuesday, Artereal Gallery was transformed into a home of consciousness, community and contemporary art, welcoming more than 40 guests for a meditation workshop with exhibiting artist, noula diamantopoulos.

The free event, Inhale: From Meditation to Manifestation, brought together a wide section of Sydney-siders, crossing generations, cultures and genders to create a melting pot of humans under a shared goal of connecting with like-minded individuals and exploring the benefits of meditation.

Seasoned and novice meditators alike came together under the guidance of exhibiting artist, noula diamantopoulos, who introduced the group to a range of meditation techniques before inviting guests to share their experience with the process.

“In a world that demands we are connected and available 24/7, we have never been so disconnected. While it may seem counterintuitive, disconnecting from our online obligations is the answer to finding real connection; not only with ourselves but also our community,” said diamantopoulos.

“Meditation is becoming increasingly mainstream; the benefits are countless and undisputed. As part of this free event, we wanted to create a safe space for people to learn about and explore different meditation techniques and to forge connections with other likeminded people,” she said.

Following with meditation, attendees were encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences with the rest of the group, prompting some powerful responses. Many of the attendees also remained after the event to chat with Noula and personally thank her for the night.

The workshop took place amidst the pristine surrounds of contemporary art by diamantopoulos, whose exhibition Inhale – receiving the divine gift, served as an ideal backdrop for a group meditation workshop.

     

Artereal Gallery thanks our wonderful friends at nudie juice, YOKE magazine, Egg of the Universe, 1GiantMind and Spiral Foods for generously donating their products to bring this event to life. 

Inhale – Receiving the Divine Gift is on display throughout the month of November at Artereal Gallery.

NOULA DIAMANTOPOLOUS / INHALE – RECEIVING THE DIVINE GIFT

Noula Diamantopoulos_As Above i (details)_2014_encaustic on board_17.5 x 157.5cm 

noula diamantopoulos

Inhale: receiving the divine gift

5-29 November 2014

Exhibition Opening: Wednesday 5 November from 6-8pm

Meditation event with noula diamantopoulos

Tuesday 11 November from 6pm

Click here for invitation and RSVP details.

For further information on this exhibition please email info@artereal.com.au

To view a video interview with noula diamantopoulos please click here.

Inhale – Receiving the divine gift is the second in Noula’s planned trilogy of installations encompassing the phenomenon and significance of breath. The sequence commenced with Breathing Space, a grouping of enigmatic female heads cast in transparent resin and set within an atmospheric light and sound scape. Breathing Space explored the ‘idea of us - as beings for this planet and the concept of a ‘preparatory void’ in anticipation of our arrival’. A selection of these works is included in Inhale – Receiving the divine gift to enhance the narrative and convey the range and continuity of the artist’s creative practice.

Breath is an elusive concept; it is within us and it surrounds us and is the connecting invisible force that is awareness. For Noula breath is mystical and her works explore and inhabit that fleeting balance between the known, the unknown and unknowable. The universal magnitude and the minutest particles embody the range and vast spaces Noula traverses to interpret and to convey visually and conceptually a sense of the divine gift of breath that can open up space, time, body and mind. 

The intensity and the power of this vision are encapsulated in the ‘as above’ series of wall works in the archaic and alchemical medium of encaustic that fuses rich colored pigments with heated beeswax. The celestial expanses and fiery molten energy of creation are captured in the cratered surfaces and the pin-spot accretions of each compressed stanza of the multi-paneled works that frame sublime cosmic moments and panoramas of awe and wonder. 

The sentiments and emotions evoked with the creation of each sequence are revealed in the color palettes of ‘as above I-IV’ that range from the fiery burnished oranges and bronzes of the igneous cosmological realm of ‘as above I’ to the ‘soft pinks, regenerative greens and yellows of ‘as above IV’. 

Recurring fragments of the ‘Ohm’ character, that is both a primordial sound and a visual symbol, punctuate the ultramarine and cinnabar surfaces of the series ‘as above ohm’. ‘Ohm’ is at once a humming and droning sound, sometimes known as ‘the sound of the universe’, and for many Eastern philosophies is a visual symbol that ‘represents the divine within us’. The form is embraced by the artist in recognition of the meditative and transformative state both during creation and with breathing.

Works of art are reflective of an artist’s Intentions, vision and experiences. They are a form of storytelling. Gathered within the charismatic space within the gallery is a grouping of ‘artifacts’; staffs or story poles, symbolic of an evolutionary path or a form of pilgrimage. Each is layered with accumulations of wax imbedded with fragments of shell and crystal, or is strung with talismanic found objects. These same materials, shell, crystal and glass are often integrated into Noula’s mosaics, another art form from her extended practice. 

The ritual objects, which Noula titles ’spirit sticks’, are seemingly to support a quest or path to be taken in both a spiritual and physical or a metaphorical sense. They are at once symbolic of a universal search and the artist’s own personal quest for meaning; particularly poignant and cathartic for the artist following the recent death of her mother. Many of the embellishments, skeletal shell fragments, feathers, threads, glass ‘eyes’ and markings that resemble cyphers for life and light from their Greek heritage acknowledge their shared heritage and stories.

A proposed summation body of work, Exhale, will close the trilogy as signaled by the artist in her earlier observation: “… it occurs to me that though Breathing Space can be captured, it cannot be contained. Just like breathing – this gift of life dies the moment we capture it. We exhale moments after we inhale. Life starts and ends in these moments.” 

Barbara Dowse

Curator

QUEST / MELBOURNE ART FAIR

NOULA DIAMANTOPOULOS TO PERFORM QUEST @ MELBOURNE ART FAIR

Artereal Gallery is excited to announce that Sydney based artist noula diamantopoulos will be performing Quest at the upcoming Melbourne Art Fair. 

Noula will be performing an endurance QUEST

Everyday of the Art Fair from

13 - 17 August 2014

At the Royal Exhibition Building

Melbourne, Victoria

The invitation to perform at Melbourne Art Fair marks Quest’s very first performance in Melbourne, and comes following its success and warm reception at last year’s inaugural Sydney Contemporary 13, where it was included as part of Sydney Contemporary Director’s Choice.

Quest is an experimental performance work, in which the artist & participant engage in a silent conversation of questions (no answers) with each other.

Quest is an intimate and personal experience, in which the participant enters a shared space with the artist, and is called interact with the artist in an unconventional form of engagement.

Every Quest is unique, and participants are challenged to be curious, and shift the way they think. Quest highlights the powerful nature of questions, and calls us to question whether the answers we seek could actually be revealed within the questions we ask.

During QUEST, participants are invited to hold a short written conversation of questions with the artist, where no talking is permitted. Participants begin by writing a question and in response, the artist reflects on the question before replying with another question. 

The challenging Q&Q format of the performance is in direct contradiction to the answer-driven society in which we live today. 

“By deliberately focusing on the question rather than the answer, the performance forces participants to stop, pause and reflect – a process which, in many instances, leads individuals to the realization that the initial question they began with was not the real question that lies at the heart of the matter,” she said. 

As part of the endurance performance at Sydney Contemporary, noula sat on meditation pillows in QUEST’s calming pink lit surrounds for 28 hours over 3.5 days, foregoing food, drinks and bathroom breaks throughout the Fair’s opening hours. 

Noula will continue her endurance-like approach to Quest at Melbourne Art Fair, where she will sit for 40 hours over five days.