An international art collective will launch a Valencia show at the Bloom Gallery next Friday, October 25. Eugene Costello reports…
An international art collective will launch a Valencia show at the Bloom Gallery next Friday, October 25. The trio are artists in their own right in their own countries of Australia, Scotland and Germany. All three now live in Valencia and have formed the artistic enterprise Surface Collective and will have a show at the Bloom Gallery from next Friday.
The Bloom Gallery is a boutique art treasure in Monteolivete run by artist Elizabeth Hefty-Khoury and her husband Bob Khoury. Thy are developing a solid reputation for hosting shows and are movers and shakers in Valencia’s artistic community.
Who – or what – is Surface Collective?
Three artist make up the collective. Australian Micael Shmeja, German J Kesin and Greg Bryce from Scotland. The show will be called What Remains – A Painting Exploration.
The works have been months in creation – and all have been subject to a very deliberate set of strict
rules, according to the artists, “to highlight and celebrate each artist’s individual style and where
similarities and relationships may exist”.
Each work had to be on precisely the same brand and grade of A3 paper, use the same palette of
colours – and these too were to all come from the same manufacturer. There was a pre-determined
date by which each artist was to complete their works and none of the participants was allowed to
see the others’ work until completed. Then finally, the three collectively chose which common
framing would be used.
This is Surface Collective’s third collaboration following on from 2023’s highly successful Surface
Tension exhibition in Valencia, which went on to be displayed in Cadiz this past Spring.
‘What Remains – A Painting Exploration’, The Bloom Gallery, Calle Luis Oliag 1, Monteolivete, 46006 Valencia, October 25 to November 8 inclusive; free admission