Art & Soul
As a graphic designer I am always 
looking at the world around me. Whatever the subject I usually find myself reacting to color, structure, material and thinking about what that subject is communicating to me.
Although I have primarily worked in commercial graphic arts I have always kept an interest in all art forms. The energy of art and music enhances a spiritual connection that we all already have with each other and the earth. That energy is very pleasurable to explore. Here I would like to share and explore art that has influenced me in some way and how it correlates to the inner world of my practice of life.
This section is meant to be a place where I share my ideas, inspirations and influences brought about by artwork, projects and crafts that I have enjoyed. The subjects may be ambitious concepts, very simple pieces that touch me in some way, an enjoyable object someone took care with or something as major as “The Gates” project pictured here in this first offering.
I will also be inviting other guest artists to share their artwork with a bio and provide a fingerprint about their work and what moves them to create art.
The aspiration here is to stay mindful and present in the moment.
Joseph Sbarro, Photographer
The Gates
Joseph Sbarro, Photographer
I have known Joey since meeting him during our Vinyasa Teacher Training days with Daniele Ferrara Jarman in 2009. He is an extremely bright young man who is multi-talented. He has a fabulous yoga practice and has flourished as a wonderful yoga teacher. He describes his classes as a Vinyasa flow with a focus on advanced asana and flying postures. You can expect to breathe, sweat, and spend a lot of time on your hands!
While it was through yoga that Joey and I met I soon discovered that he is also an intelligent and gifted photographer. I asked him if he would be willing to contribute a sampling of his work to add to this Art & Soul section. He provided the work that follows, offering his perspective on his artwork. Joey has a great spirit, he is very thoughtful and a truly special soul.
“I think, at it’s heart, my work is a personal exploration of hidden realities that surround everyday life.
Using the medium of photography, I am drawing on personal experience to explore the themes of power, beauty, and intimacy, and the complex correlations between those ideas and how they relate to me.
The process of making photographs becomes about unlocking aspects of the world
around me that under other circumstances would generally be kept hidden, and using that to find the edges of my comfort zone and expand them.
It becomes my outlet for that, a safe way to explore different aspects of the world in a way that’s protected under the banner of creating
“Art” without having my motives questioned.Standing behind the camera affords me a license to enter a safe arena and experiment.”
Joseph Sbarro
www.josephsbarro.com
I would like to share my thoughts about this particular art installation and how I was moved by it, “The Gates” art project was installed in Central Park, NY in February of 2005 and was available to view for 16 days. Its planning and stages of manufacture started in 1979. It is the art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude who were together for 51 years and have a long history of installing many temporary art projects. Sadly Jeanne-Claude, Christo’s wife, partner and collaborator passed away suddenly on November 18, 2009 as a result of complications due to a ruptured brain aneurysm. Christo is dedicated and committed to completing their current works in progress.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude have worked in urban and rural environments. By incorporating their temporary art into an environment it can bring a new consciousness and can help the viewer see or feel that environment in a whole new way. When I visited Central Park on a cold but sunny February weekend I was absolutely blown away. The motion of the fabric in The Gates installation gave the viewer the opportunity to see where the wind was blowing and not just feel it. The magical effect of the fabric lining the walkways of Central Park was joyful and freeing in a way that is difficult to describe.
Just bringing to mind the lovely saffron colored sails of fabric moving with the wind and changing from very light orange to darker hues as the sun played with it brings a smile to my heart. I will never forget it.
To this day the imagery of the The Gates project brings the concept of yoga and meditation into a three dimensional form in my mind. The structure and posts of The Gates were solidly grounded representing our desire to be grounded in a yoga asana (pose) and our meditation practice.
The draped fabric freely billowed in the breeze filling up with deep breaths, it’s own version of pranayama.
The bright, inviting saffron colored fabric softly played with the sunlight providing the same peaceful and joyful fulfillment of a successful yoga/mediation practice. For me the experience of visiting The Gates was a surprising, refreshing and exhilarating new outlook. The memory of this art has made an interesting connection to the practice of yoga for me.
I am sharing a few photos I took of the installation to encourage visitors to take some time to investigate the art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude further. It is very interesting to study it and react in your own way to the installations. After my experience viewing The Gates in Central Park I recommend visiting a Christo and Jeanne-Claude art project in person if you ever have the chance. Fantastic! I promise it will be memorable.
The story of the The Gates project and other projects can be found on the Christo and Jeanne-Claude website: www.christojeanneclaude.net
