Artist who designed Sprague oil tanks speaks at MECA&D

Jaime Gili, the artist who designed the art for Sprague Energy Corporation’s oil tanks that line Casco Bay between Portland and South Portland, will visit Maine this coming week, spoke at MECA&D's Osher Hall on Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. The event was hosted by the Maine Center for Creativity, in partnership with Maine College of Art & Design.

The Maine Center for Creativity, in ground-breaking collaboration with the Sprague Energy Corporation, sponsored the Art All Around® project. It is a bold initiative launched in 2008 to spearhead an international design competition. It’s goal: to transform 16 oil storage tanks on Portland harbor into an integrated ‘canvas’ of color and design at the gateway to the state’s largest city – and to all of Maine.

The first phase was an open design competition that received 560 submissions from 80 countries. Designs were evaluated by a select, international panel of judges. Five semifinalists, including two from Maine, each received a $10,000 prize award. Jaime Gili, a young Venezuela-born artist living in London, was selected as the final winner – and received the $20,000 grand prize.

To date, five tanks of the 16 tanks have been completed, and Gili is visiting Maine to talk about the project, his inspiration, and how it compares to his other artistic endeavors.

About Jaime Gili

Jaime Gili was born in Caracas in 1972 and lives in London. His work has been described as continuing a tradition of Latin American abstract art, especially the Venezuelan optical artists from the 20th Century. Critics have described his work as a mix of Pop, Minimalism, Vorticism, Futurism and graffiti Art. Gili received his MA in painting from the Royal College of Art in 1998, after studying in Caracas and Barcelona, and has exhibited since in the UK, the USA, Brazil, Switzerland, Spain, Argentina and Venezuela. Art All Around® jurors selected Gili’s work from among 560 submissions from more than 80 countries during the Maine Center for Creativity’s international competition to transform the Sprague industrial site into the world’s largest public art painting.

LINKS:
Art All Around
Jaime Gili
Maine Center for Creativity

About the Maine Center for Creativity

Through its support of arts and industry collaborations, the Maine Center for Creativity (MCC) harnesses the power of talent and innovation to drive economic development and growth of the creative economy in Maine. By developing projects and educational programs that support the vibrancy of creative industries and the arts, such as Art All Around®, Pecha Kucha, and the inaugural Maine Creative Industries Award on September 13, 2012, MCC nurtures innovative companies, engaged communities, and creative people. For more information visit www.mainecenterforcreativity.org or call 207.730.0694.