Pieces from “Andiamo/Allons-y: Summer in the Cities of Italy and France,” an art exhibit co-created by Michelle Boerio and Lauren Spavelko that will be on display at Wild Goose Creative from Wednesday to Nov. 29. Credit: Paige McBane | Lantern Reporter
A new Columbus art exhibition is tapping into multiple senses, offering attendees an immersive experience that takes them on a sun-drenched European getaway.
“Andiamo/Allons-y: Summer in the Cities of Italy and France” will be on view from Wednesday through Nov. 29 at Wild Goose Creative, a nonprofit arts organization located at 188 McDowell St. Michelle Boerio, a Columbus-based artist and the exhibit’s creator, said the pieces represent her time spent abroad with friend and exhibition audio composer Lauren Spavelko.
“We spent the summer traveling and researching and making things,” Boerio said. “This is kind of the combination of the art made on that trip, as well as several much larger paintings inspired by what we saw and did.”
Spavelko said she has created a natural soundscape to accompany Boerio’s paintings, which will play throughout the gallery space and advance the exhibit’s pleasant ambience.
“I recorded sounds of the city, or the markets, or sounds of people talking to each other or to me because we were practicing our language too,” Spavelko said. “I’m just weaving into a fabric, so as you’re looking at Michelle’s art, you’re also getting to hear some of the sounds that we did as we were traveling.”
Boerio said her 30 artworks have become akin to souvenirs, as she created them with her impending overseas transportation in mind.
“I knew that bringing art home was the hard part, so I did works on paper that were in a size that I could fit them in my carry-on suitcase,” Boerio said. “I wrapped them up individually and packed them all back up into basically a little cardboard box that went in my carry-on.”
Boerio said the majority of the exhibit’s pieces were completed while she was abroad, allowing her to emotionally bond with each and every destination.
“It really made me connected to what I was seeing and living in the moment,” Boerio said. “Trying to really remember what it smelled and felt [like], and what the light was and trying to interpret that somehow in the painting.”
As independent educators, Boerio said she and Spavelko had to create their own adventure in Europe.
“We were like, ‘OK, well we don’t have our college to decide we’re going on sabbatical, so we’ll do it ourselves,’” Boerio said.
Spavelko said presenting both visual and auditory elements initiates an engaging atmosphere, allowing individuals to tap into multiple senses and feel the same sensations she and Boerio did.
“Michelle’s work is vibrant, and it’s full of movement and activity,” Spavelko said. “I hope that just the sounds will also sort of lend an impression of what the experience was like for us to be in these different locales.”
Spavelko said her international journey was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and she hopes visitors can draw inspiration from the exhibit’s personal elements.
“I hope that everybody really could have an experience like this, to have a dream and make a plan and make it a reality,” Spavelko said. “This is a really special memory that I get to keep with my best friend.”
More information about the exhibit — which will have an opening reception Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. — as well as Wild Goose Creative can be found on the gallery’s website.
