GALLERY
STATEMENT
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Azoth
Gallery is a community and international forum for the exhibition
of the work of emerging and established artists. It is a virtual
gallery and a physical exhibition space in several intermittent
venues. Its central focus is in the field of progressive and avant-garde
visual ideas, though it is not limited to abstract or modernist
art.
Azoth defined: < Arabic 1477: al - or
az - : the, za'uq : mercury > In Alchemy: "the
Mercury" was the First Principle of all the Metals. In
the chemistry of the Middle Ages up to the 16th century, alchemy
was limited to the pursuit of the transmutation of metals, the search
for the alkahest (mercury is the universal solvent in which all
metals dissolve) and the Panacea (the universal elixir of health,
longevity, and consciousness.)
Independent
curator Johnes Ruta, originally from Stratford, CT, is a consultant
with several art galleries in Connecticut and New York City. He
is an artist representative, collector, activist and theorist
of art, philosophy, and science history, and periodically sponsors
forums on these subjects. Mr. Ruta is a published author of surrealist
writings exploring the Unconscious. He has been a business analyst,
computer programmer since 1978, and now a web designer. From 1973
to 1978, he was the Managing Editor & Theatre Critic of The
Entertainer, a cultural newsmagazine in Fairfield and New Haven
Counties. From 1988 to 2005, he was the art director of the York
Square Gallery in New Haven, and from September 1, 2005 to August
31, 2015 of the Gallery of the New Haven Free Public Library.
He is an Associate Curator for Gallery RIVAA on Roosevelt Island,
NYC, also for Hagaman Memorial East Haven Library, Lyric Hall
in Westville, CT, and other venues. He lives in Westville, and
is a representative for New Haven on the Cable TV Advisory Council,
also Board Vice President of the the
William Meredith Foundation for the late U.S. Poet Laureate,
and a Trustee of the William
Kent Charitable Foundation for the late sculptor. As an "art
theorist," he works to understand and support issues of creativity,
Form, expression, and cultural transition.
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VISION STATEMENT
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Johnes Ruta
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The
goal of my research, and my public works as an independent curator
since 1988 and as an art theorist, is to develop a visual vocabulary
which reflects the positive criteria of creative originality &
culture, technical and aesthetic qualities, and the inherent depths
of forms and themes.
Since 2001, I have organized
and sponsored seven free forums in New Haven, CT, each presenting
three-day weekend presentations of lecturers from all over the
US on art, philosophical, scientific, and architectural history,
and mythology through the ages.
For details, please see http://azothgallery.com/symposia.html
I have also attended historical
conferences in Prague (1995 & 1997),
Granada, Spain & Marrakesh (2007), and Ortigia Sicily (2014),
and many in New York City.
As an independent curator,
I do whatever I can, working with artists of all ages and talents,
to bring about greater cultural exchange, awareness, acceptance
and enthusiasm for the arts. My vision is to apply the experience
of my travels to art museums and galleries around the US and Europe,
as well as my studies, to create an international center for the
arts in New Haven. This center would offer programs in art history
and appreciation, and bring artists work from abroad to
the US, and would offer US artists the opportunity to see their
work exported to foreign venues and recognition.
The historical parallels
between science and creative culture are a continuing evolution.
I support the non-linear expressions in contemporary art, but
remain fascinated by the recurrent themes found especially in
periods of technological or intellectual transition -- such as
the parallels of Classical antiquity , the Renaissance, the theory
of the Baroque, and the Romantic Movement. Advances in astronomy,
medicine, and transportation parallel with those in music, the
visual arts, and philosophy are investigated and charted.
-- As a well-known arts
activist, I try to look into the distant future to see the eventualities
of present actions and the potential manifestations of the human
psyche; also looking into the past, through which a Light-Stream
of creative expressions has illuminated a path of human survival,
thought, and dignity : the forces of preservation, aesthetics,
and Enlightenment -- against trends of decay and intolerance.
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