Gossip Girl Butterfly Installation
Villinski recently created a large butterfly installation for the hit Warner Brothers TV show “Gossip Girl”, which will be featured throughout the upcoming Season 4. The piece, comprised of more than 200 smoke-black butterflies, is installed over the bed in lead character Serena’s (played by Blake Lively) room. The set will be “revealed” during the broadcast Monday, Sept 27, 2010.
Morgan Lehman Gallery
Morgan Lehman Gallery, which has represented Villinski since opening its doors in 2002, has moved into beautiful and spacious new quarters at 535 West 22nd Street in New York City. September’s inaugural group show in the new space is called “Opening Ceremony”. The large space will allow Villinski to create a complex, large-scale, single-object exhibition for his next solo show with the gallery, slated for September 2011.
morganlehmangallery.com
Miami International Airport
“Air Chair”, a large-scale sculpture which transforms a wheelchair into a flying machine, has been acquired by the Miami International Airport for the permanent collection. The sculpture, which has working controls and a wingspan of 19’ was the subject of a single-object exhibition at the Hillwood Museum of Art in 2007. Installation of “Air Chair” is expected during the Fall of 2010, when it will be suspended in the airport terminal.
Women’s and Children’s Hospital
Villinski has been commissioned to create his largest-ever butterfly installation for a new University of Michigan Hospital System Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI. The new hospital is nearing completion and the site-specific installation is planned for Summer 2011. The artwork will consist of 450 butterfly elements with compositions located at the reception desk, and in the central atrium lobby area. Aluminum cans from which the butterflies will be made are being collected and donated by the workers constructing the building.
Virginia Museum or Art
“Hard Lesson (Second Iteration)” was recently acquired by the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, in Richmond, VA. The sculpture was purchased by Bill and Pam Royall during Morgan Lehman Gallery’s solo presentation of Villinski’s work at the Pulse Miami Art Fair in December, 2009, and very generously donated to the museum’s permanent collection.
Art Bogota
Morgan Lehman Gallery will be exhibiting in the Art Bogota fair, to be held October 21- 26, 2010. The gallery will exhibit four artists, including two pieces by Villinski.
Gallery of Contemporary Art at Sacred Heart University
“Diaspora,” a large scale installation of birds made from Villinski’s collection of vinyl LP records will be included in “Contemporary Souvenirs” at The Gallery of Contemporary Art at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT, January 23, - March 2, 2011. www.sacredheart.edu. The piece was originally shown in “Never Can Say Goodbye,” a sprawling group show at the former Tower Records store on Broadway in Manhattan, organized by No Longer Empty. www.nolongerempty.org
NYC Parks and Recreation Facility
Villinski was selected by the NYC Percent For Art Program to create a major public work for “Ocean Breeze,” a new Parks and Recreation indoor Track and Field facility to be constructed on the shore in Staten Island. The project has evolved over two years, with a current proposal to suspend a large “pedal-powered flying machine” in the space. Villinski hopes to place a bicycle generator in a community workout room so that unsuspecting exercisers will unwittingly power-up the sculpture, causing its propellers to turn.
US Biennial Edition
Villinski has just completed work on an edition of sculptures to be offered to benefit US Biennial, Inc., organizers of the highly regarded “Prospect .1 New Orleans” Biennial exhibition. Director/Curator Dan Cameron invited Villinski to create the edition of 20, each of which consists of three birds, made from vinyl LP records from Cameron and Villinski’s personal collections, and housed in a box made from album covers. The editions will be offered for sale soon by US Biennial.
www.prospectneworleans.org
Jonathan Ferrara Gallery Exhibition
A solo show entitled “Glidepath” featuring eight new works, was held at the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans, during April and May, 2010. Critic D. Eric Bookhardt concluded his review saying: “By giving new life to old objects made from substances mined from the earth, Villinski symbolically coaxes the spirit from dense, discarded matter.”
View the exhibition here: jonathanferraragallery.com
Recent Commissions
Recent commissions include a site-specific installation for a private collector in London; an installation in the Chicago offices of an investment firm; two installations in private residences in Northern California; an installation for the Chicago “Next” art fair with Morgan Lehman Gallery; and an installation for a private collector in Soho, New York. Upcoming installations include a piece for Second Line Stages, a new film-making studio in New Orleans, and pieces for two private collectors in Dallas, among others.