Step into the Surfing Florida Museum's Gruber Art Gallery in West Palm Beach to be encompassed by stunning visuals that will make you want to grab your board and head straight to sea. The gallery features photographs (printed on metal by Blazing Editions) and surfboards from one of Florida's most well-known photographers, Tony Arruza. In relation to his surfboard art project and book, Arruza captures riveting images of oceanic landscape, billowing waves, and other representative imagery that correlates to the world of surfing. The images are displayed alongside an array of boards which allows visitors to become encompassed within a space combining design, function, and passion for the sport. The exhibit connects to Arruza's recent book, "15 x 15 : Fifteen Surfboards by Fifteen Shapers," where tribute is payed to the individuals who produced these unique boards, starting from their original concepts to their end designs. Arruza articulates the project in his statement, "Separate, the artwork and surfboard stand on their own; together, they speak of and for each other and truly become art." Be sure to catch this show down in Florida while there is still time!
Photograph by Parish Kohanim, Orchid, 44x60"
Who knew the next best thing to seeing orchids in real-life would be seeing them printed on metal? Luckily at the Fuqua Orchid Center at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, visitors can get a taste of both. On view from February 9 - April 7, the Orchid Daze installation features breathtaking images by one of Blazing's good friends and clients, Parish Kohanim. As one enters this blooming arena of dynamic color, fragrance, and botanical wonder, the combination of fine art and nature heightens the senses to a new degree. As the largest Orchid Center in the United States, the space features thousands of orchids from ground to ceiling, making it an ideal space to wander and learn.
Photographer Parish Kohanim's high-definition images unveil the many strange yet beautiful intricacies of these exotic plants. The dye-sublimated metal panels on which the images are displayed allow the colors to pop and radiate vibrantly. It is as if the photographed orchids are three-dimensional, with their larger-than-life proportions enticing the viewer to move closer and closer to the surface. Parish Kohanim brings the flowers into the realm of the viewer, encouraging imagination to flourish. Throughout Kohanim's career as a fine-art photographer, his passion to exemplify the extraordinary has remained a constant. Orchid Daze is undoubtedly a clear example of this vision.