My first exhibition

Hello everyone! If you have been following me for a while then you may have known that I was lucky enough to have my very first solo opening art exhibition! In August I teamed up with The Luna Lounge in Leytonstone and had one of the best nights I could have asked for! I thought I would write about this amazing experience here…

ART IN A POST PANDEMIC WORLD

When I started my Marinova journey in June 2020 I always knew I wanted to try and have an opening art exhibition for when my website was ready; but I wasn’t sure how that would be possible in a post lockdown London. I wondered if I would only be able to have an online launch exhibition but that would never have been the way I would have wanted people to see my work for the first time. Art should be completely immersed by the viewer and after numerous lockdowns; I am sure people were longing to finally be able to go and see art in person. It is of course - amazing how accessible art had been due to digitalisation during a pandemic but it is never the same experience as seeing an original in person. I also wanted to take this opportunity to reconnect and interact.

THE GREEN LIGHT

I got in contact with the managers and the owner - Suja at Luna Lounge in Leytonstone and said I was looking for a space and to collaborate with a local business to host my opening art exhibition. They were immediately interested and were really keen to get involved with collaborating with the arts. They were so accommodating and trusting for me to take complete creative control and gave me so much freedom with the space.

SETTING UP

It was great how much freedom I was given with the space; although it did mean I had a big task of setting up. I enlisted the help of a couple of friends to help with the set up. We had to clear the space, strip the walls and rearrange/get rid of some of the furniture. It looked so much better once we were done but we were working until 11pm all week completing the set up! It was so worth it to see it all done.

OPENING NIGHT

The opening took place on a beautiful summer’s Friday evening in Leytonstone. Seeing 12 of my paintings hanging in one space made me feel such a sense of achievement. I had worked so hard for a year on my art and I felt a strange sense of relief seeing it hanging. Seeing my work in a public space was a very surreal feeling.

So many friends and members of the public came to see the exhibition and I spoke to so many people about the Marinova story. It was really interesting hearing other people’s perspectives on the paintings. My artwork is all about people creating their own reality of Marinova; and people injecting themselves into this utopian world. This also allowed me to see the paintings differently; which made me fall in love with them more.

I am so grateful to Luna Lounge Leytonstone and to everyone who came to the exhibition. It was such an amazing experience and I can’t wait to do more!!

Not long after the exhibition; Suja - the owner of Luna Lounge; sadly passed away. He was such a warm and charismatic person who made me feel so welcome. My thoughts are with his family and friends.