An ethereal exhibit, called Electric Jungle, was on display last weekend in Hartford. It was made possible by RiseUP, a nonprofit arts organization, with Connecticut artists Mercury and Ryan Glista.
You could hear mysterious music while entering the room. The smell of incense, the heavenly lights, and the hanging ribbons created a cosmic illusion.
The exhibition featured 20-foot fabric ribbons simulating a heavenly jungle, while a projector shot angelic-like dancing figures across the room.
The show was a creation of Mercury, a local artist of Puerto Rican origins. Mercury was inspired to create the exhibition after spending time in the Puerto Rican rainforest.
"I certainly thought of my time when I was living in Puerto Rico up in the mountains up in the jungle and what that felt like to be in an actual jungle,” Mercury said. “And that inspired me to have things that were very long and hanging down."
The visual projections and lighting were a collaboration with Ryan Glista, who had the idea to display different urban dances projected onto the hanging ribbons and walls. It felt like angels dancing through space and light.
“You know being submerged in the video itself creates some exciting opportunities to create dance videos that can really surround you and create this really calming and meditating environment,” Glista said. “So you kind of forget everything you had in the outside world and you are kinda entering this otherworldly location.”
Glista said he has been creating immersive art videos in the last few years and says the collaboration with Mercury is an opportunity to connect with more communities.
Jeanette Bermudez is from New Britain and visited the exhibition with her friends. She said the presentation was impeccable, making her proud to see artists of color showing their talent.
“Sometimes you don’t get to experience these types of things every day, like for me it was my first time and I’m glad I did it, “ Bermudez said.
Sander Morgan is a young artist from Middletown. He draws and makes ceramics. Morgan said he loved seeing the exhibition, and the diversity it's bringing to the city.
“All these people come from all over the world and they work hard to display their work even if it's not for a profit. They just work hard to please other people and make things enjoyable,” Morgan said.
Matt Conway, the founder and executive director at RiseUP, said Hartford is an incredible place for emerging artists to develop their skills.
“The market size of Hartford allows emerging artists to gain the type of experience and do the type of large-scale projects that you see in some of the large cities,” Conway said. “But there's not as much competitiveness, there's not as much fighting to get to those types of projects.”
Conway said some of his organization's goals are to create an artistic ecosystem and a creative economy in the state, where artists learn and polish their craft. The hope is this will make Connecticut a place that creates the artist of the future.
“To my Latino people, I say, 'don’t give up, expose yourself, get out there and show your talent,'” Bermudez said. “And if you have something to share, show it to your community because you’ll never know what kind of support you are gonna get.”
