Galeria Melissa in NYC’s Soho neighborhood has unveiled a new installation (running through August 31) from UK artist, Natalia Stuyk – her first solo exhibit ever. The flagship store for Brazilian plastic shoe brand, Melissa Shoes (https://www.melissa.com.br/us) is offering free access to one of the most instagram-able installations of the summer, an infinity room of holographic stars!

Global fashion accessories brand, Melissa (IG: @shoesmelissa), celebrates flourishing digital art talent, Natalia Stuyk, awarding her with her first solo exhibition. In continued support of emerging artists, Melissa chose to publicly reveal the explosive multimedia work from the young, London-based creator in its NYC flagship, Galeria Melissa for a 2
month run. “Paraíso” will encompass Stuyk’s signature, trance-like looping animations cast upon the Galeria’s floor-to-ceiling LCD paneled walls as well as the artist’s first analog installation conjuring a surreal, reality-challenged other-worldy garden.

Visitors to Galeria Melissa will find themselves immediately transported through a haze of virtual heat, rising above every surface of Stuyk’s natural universe-inspired setting, accented by glistening shards in ever-changing colors.

Heydoyou was invited to join the installation unveiling. It was a fantasy experience, making me feeling in a dream. Definitely I took a lot of beautiful selfie photos.

“I drew my inspiration from “Vermillion Sands” by JG Ballard, whose prose was a tremendous source of creative simulation for me,” comments Stuyk. Ballard writes: The skies are larger, the air more generous, the clock less urgent. Through the use of video and a movement-focused installation, the artist is able to captivate onlookers with a visual transference to another world.

Melissa coordinated production with SOFTlab to turn Stuyk’s digital dreams into reality, directly connecting the analog installation with the iconic gallery-turned-store’s screens, suddenly bringing shapes to life. The artist also employed a bold and unexpected medium of dichroic film as a raw material in creating 3D imagery and video. The mix of abstract and illustrative sequences is underscored by the dichroic film’s innate ability to capture reflection and translate it into texture.

“I ultimately aim to create work that makes you feel “Oh, I want to be in it” or “I want to touch it,” adds Stuyk. “I always want to illicit a tactile, emotive reaction, and I think achieving that digitally is an ongoing motivation. The installation is mostly about summer and escapism. That’s what’s been on my mind while I’ve been working on it: a visual manifestation of feeling too hot to move and not caring about it.”

Natalia Stuyk’s first-ever installation in the US will challenge the existing parameters of traditional video by showing a video exhibited alongside a series of real-life 3D objects made from the objects in the video. Her work inside the living Galeria Melissa space is designed to create a symbiosis between image, sound, and visitor. Everyone will take something different away from it.

The Galeria space was born from a futuristic eye, exceptionally innovated with the latest technology to create a multi-sensory experience that surpasses the typical shopping experience. Galeria Melissa NYC serves as a canvas for artists and tastemakers of our time to showcase their work. With exhibits rotating 4 times a year, this gallery is celebrated as a place for modern installation art to thrive, as imagined and designed by Muti Randolph.

About Melissa

Melissa is a celebration of design. Created in 1979, the brand is recognized worldwide for the innovative works on its key raw material, a recyclable PVC (100% cruelty-free!), with an irresistible scent. Melissa has associated itself with iconic names in design,
fashion and art, collaborating with Baja East, Jeremy Scott, Vivienne Westwood, Karl Lagerfeld, Campana Brothers, Zaha Hadid, among others. Although it was born in Brazil, Melissa is a global brand not only because it can be found in 83 countries but also for its cutting edge aesthetic which surprises fans all around the globe.

Galeria Melissa, New York, NY is the third of its kind, joined the flagship stores in São Paulo, Brazil and Covent Garden, London in August of 2017.

Previous Galeria Melissa installations include; Zaha Hadid, Karl Lagerfeld, Jeremy Scott, Gareth Pugh, Vivienne Westwood, Claire Barrow, Walt Cassidy, Karl Lagerfeld, Edson Matsuo and EPFL+ECAL Lab, David Thomas Solution and SOFTlab, Natalie Kates, Sebastian Errazuriz and more. https://www.melissa.com.br

About Natalia Stuyk

Natalia Stuyk is a video artist and director. Her work is characterized by over-saturated colors, rhythmic motion and infinite loops, and merging 2D and 3D techniques with photographic elements.

Since graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 2009, she has mostly worked in the music and fashion industries creating visuals for live events, music promos and branded content, ranging from GIFs to 360° video. Stuyk is currently working on interactive projects and installations, creating multi-sensory experiences that embrace new technologies and move away from traditional digital video. http://nataliastuyk.com/