On a chilly Thursday night, Mercury Lounge hosted Barbarella – Pretty Pretty Vernissage, an intergalactic voyage into the art behind love and science fiction Jan. 17.
The Byward Market venue saw the artistic talents of Zaneta Pernicova and Luis Enrique Oliver, who teamed up to create a gallery based on the artistic interpretation of the 1968 cult classic film Barbarella, which had Jane Fonda in a leading role.
“I like the energy of the film. I like that it’s about love in contrast to darkness. It’s about sexiness, innocence, and beauty and it’s fun and light,” Oliver said.
“Those are energies that I think are important that we need for today and I want to cultivate that and spread it around, you know? The world needs more of that. More love and lightness.”
Czech-born artist Pernicova and Uruguayan visual artist Oliver have been friends for a long time but this is the first time they have worked together on an exhibition.
“I think when you have someone else involved you want to do more, you want to make sure you’re on top of things, just so that the other person is not upset, or to try and impress the other person,” Pernicova said. “I think we’re going to do a lot more together, it’s been really fun.”
On the third floor of Mercury Lounge, artists and art aficionados alike joined together for some drinks, food, art, and dancing.
“I think it’s really cool because he really stuck to the vibe the movie gave off,” said Julianna Savard, who was at the exhibit.
“I think he really captured it in a lot of his pieces.”
However, not everyone was as equally impressed. Astrid Joe, an attendee at the venue, said the art was “so-so.”
“I like the party, though,” Joe said.
As the evening went on, the house lights dimmed and the music was turned up until the only lights in the room were the flashing party strobes and various Barbarella scenes being projected onto the wall.
The night peaked with everyone meeting on the dance floor.
Mercury Lounge general manager Sara Ainslie and friend of Pernicova called the night a success and said she was glad to see the two artists finally coming together under the same roof.
The art included both acrylic and oil paintings on wood and canvas as well as three live female models clad in nothing but angel wings, skirts and body paint, all of them original pieces done by the two artists.
“They are so inspiring and they have so much energy to give off to others and it creates a lot of vitality in the people that work with them,” said Olivia Cruickshank, one of the models.
“I think what sets us apart is that we have this passion to make Ottawa bloom in terms of art, and bringing artists together to create,” Pernicova said.
Both Oliver and Pernicova are fans of the movie Barbarella and attempted to capture its essence and beauty in the most unaltered form through art.
“There’s this whole thing in the film about how humanity has gotten to a point where war is obsolete, they don’t live in a state of competition anymore, people aren’t fighting with each other,” Oliver said.
“They don’t even know what weapons are.”
