Zeitgeist Gallery’s Studio Z and Boston Artist Bren Bataclan showcase the Smile Boston Project on Thursday, June 3, 4 to 8 pm. The event includes an afternoon drawing program for children, along with a raffle for participants to win a Bataclan original. Free and open to the public; light refreshments will be served. At the Zeitgeist Gallery, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Sq., Cambridge. Wheelchair accessible. For more information call the Zeitgeist Gallery, 617-876-6060 or log onto the gallery’s web site.
Bren Bataclan’s motive is to make Bostonians smile more. He is convinced that Boston lacks a “smile factor” and has decided to stop complaining about this character flaw and to proceed with his remedy, discovered while acting upon his own simple question: “would someone take home a painting on a park bench with a note saying that it is ‘free?’”
Since October 2003, Bataclan has placed 30 of his 12”x16” acrylic paintings on canvas, also known as “smiley painted ambassadors,” all over Boston for people to just take away. He wanted to make his whimsical, happy and mischievous paintings very accessible to the public, much like the street artists Shepard Fairey and Barry McGee. Attached to each painting (found in restaurants, malls, schools, hospitals, T stops and trains) is a note saying “this painting is yours if you promise to smile at random people more often.”
Bataclan also asks people to log on to his website (www.bataclan.com) and provide feedback on their experience. Some of the feedback:
“… in this day and age when there is less and less genuine and unpretentious interaction between people, your project brings out the friendly human nature. The paintings are in such vibrant and bright colors. They make me feel like back in childhood again. The message is very inspirational because it simply asks for a little unconditional love to share the joy. And if everyone can just for one minute feel that kind of connection, the world would be a much better place.”
(from Albert Hwa, who found his smiley painted ambassador at MIT)
“… I have a dear friend who came for a visit yesterday. She’s had a tough life and a tougher year with the loss of her beloved grandmother who raised her and physical challenges that can leave her isolated at home. We showed her your website… as I started to read some of the responses out loud to her, she began to cry! Your reaching out to spread humanity among a city of busy and overly occupied people touched her deeply. I think simultaneously you touched more than one nerve in her and she was overwhelmed with the idea of being so unconditionally joyful at a time when she’s battling grief.”
(anonymous painting recipient)
Bataclan plans to take his project to the international level, by combining trips to visit friends with bringing canvasses to Canada, the Philippines, Switzerland, Malaysia, and Djibouti. Rest assured, he won’t to stop there. A futuristic goal is to launch a painting aboard the next space shuttle.
About the artist: Bren Bataclan is the founder of Bataclan Design, located in Cambridge, MA. Before starting his career in the .com world, he taught computer graphics and design at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the Boston Museum School. Bataclan has also worked with multimedia firms in San Francisco and created special effects for movies in Hollywood. He regularly exhibits his fine arts work in galleries and is active in the Filipino community on both coasts of the U.S. He began painting his character-based paintings for the Smile Boston Project last summer. Bataclan received his BA, Summa Cum Laude, at the University of California Los Angeles in 1993 and his MA in Computer Animation at the Ohio State University in 1995.
About the series: Studio Z is a curated art event scheduled to take place on the first Thursday of each month. Studio Z is an opportunity for 5-7+ artists to show and sell their work. Studio Z is also an opportunity for the public to see, talk about, and purchase fine art immediately and informally, sometimes directly from the artist. A salon atmosphere will prevail, with lively discussion and an opportunity for impromptu performance and music moments. Temporary exhibit walls will be brought in to display the work. The art will be both inexpensive and of fine quality. There is no admission fee and light refreshments will be served. Studio Z First Thursday has recently received partial funding from the Cambridge Arts Council, as part of the grant program of the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), a state agency.