Celebration of Happiness!
by Nicola Vruwink
The Institute for Art and Olfaction with Bettina Hubby
Opening: May 20
Through June, 2016
MORE INFORMATION
In May and June 2016, the Institute for the Art of Olfaction and Bettina Hubby play host to a multi-faceted installation by Nicola Vruwink, exploring the ever-elusive quest for happiness.
The impermanence and temporal nature of our society paced by technological advances and the resulting disconnection of people amplifies the ensuing loneliness of modern urban life. Images, sounds, friends and strangers virtually invade our personal and private lives resulting in the deterioration of attention span, and the reliance on instant gratification as substitution for lasting fulfillment and physical interaction.
To counter this, Vruwink’s installation will encourage frivolity, whimsy, physical engagement, and the opportunity to escape from the mundane with artifacts of celebrations, references to the body, and nostalgia for the innocence of adolescence.
Visual, audio, oral, and olfactory stimuli will assault senses and seek to transport visitors to a happier state.
Workshops and daily provided instructional activities further the opportunity to more deeply explore Happiness. Pheromones may be tickled, sweet teeth indulged, sculptural objects teased, and mental states transformed.
May we all be happy, happily ever after.
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EVENTS + WORKSHOPS
Friday, May 20, 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Opening night party at IAO
Join us as we celebrate the celebration of happiness.
> Free to attend
Wednesday, June 1, 5:30pm to 8:00pm
Smelling Happy at IAO
A special happiness-related open session with Nicola Vruwink
> Sign up here
Daily, ongoing
Nicola’s happy tasks online
More information coming soon
Celebration of Happiness! is presented in a three-way collaboration between Nicola Vruwink, Bettina Hubby and The Institute for Art and Olfaction
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ABOUT NICOLA VRUWINK
Originally from Iowa, Nicola Vruwink has worked and lived in Los Angeles for 12 years. She received her MFA from University of Washington, Seattle and studied in the MFA program at University of Iowa. Her work has been featured in an exhibitions at the Palm Springs Museum of Art, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and group shows in California at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art and the Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena. Vruwink has had 2 solo exhibitions in Los Angeles with DEN Contemporary Gallery.
She previously exhibited her work in exhibitions at Seattle Art Museum, Bellevue Art Museum, and Riverside Art Museum.
Vruwink has been written about in several publications, including the Los Angeles Times, ARTFORUM, Huffington Post, Seattle Post‐Intelligencer, and Angeleno Magazine.
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