Dennis Hollingsworth

AIR.CAT

A big chunk of this fall upon returning from Spain was spent in a collaboration with my old friend Gerard (Gerry) Smulevich, creating an artist residency in Tossa that will premier next summer 2019 if all works out well. We have the website up and running, and we are promoting, looking for the participants in the inaugural program.

Check out the website, and if you are curious, check out the summer archives of this weblog and my Instagram feed for signs of this project in gestation.

Website: AIR.CAT

November 16, 2019 - AIR.CAT (Artists in Residency, Costa Brava) is a new studiobased
artist residency opportunity located in Tossa de Mar, Spain that blends exposure
to Spanish/Catalan culture with related outdoor activities on the Mediterranean
coastline of Costa Brava. AIR.CAT welcomes applicants committed to artistic
excellence within a wide spectrum of the visual arts: painting, sculpture, photography,
site-specific, installation and every media in between. The deadline for applications is
January 15th, 2019.
Tossa de Mar is a small coastal town founded by the Romans and situated just 100
kilometers north of Barcelona. Tossa's renown blossomed in the 1930's as an artist and
intellectual retreat that included writers Archie and Nancy Johnstone, Rafael Benet,
Marc Chagall, André Masson, Georges Bataille, Oscar Zügel, Ortho Lloyd, Dora Maar
and many others. In the 1950's, the Hollywood production of "Pandora and the Flying
Dutchman" starring Ava Gardner and James Mason was shot there on location,
drawing the jealous presence of a prowling Frank Sinatra, Gardner's love interest at the
time.
Those years left a mark on the village, a testimony of which can be seen in the
collection of Toss's Municipal Museum of Art, which houses a collection of early
contemporary art created and inspired by that seaside town. The echoes of those glory
days have receded in the ensuing fifty/seventy years but the town still remains the
inspiring vessel it ever was.
With the intention of reviving the flourishing production of art in Tossa de Mar, The City
of Tossa de Mar in collaboration with American artists Dennis Hollingsworth and Gerard
Smulevich has organized a four week summer artist residency program that combines
guided tours with an active studio which will culminate in an exhibition - symposium of
art work to open to the public and attended by the press. Dennis Hollingsworth is a
painter with a 30-year professional history, has exhibited internationally and is
represented by galleries in Los Angeles, New York and Barcelona. His production is
based in dual studios located in both NYC and Tossa de Mar. Gerard Smulevich is an
urban/architecture photographer and full-time academic who was mentored by the late
Julius Shulman; he has exhibited his work internationally and has had his photographs
published by Tachen and by Center Press. Smulevich has directed university-level
study programs for 16 years focusing on the art and architecture of Barcelona and
Berlin.
AIR.CAT is organized on the concept of the littoral, the area of transition between
terrestrial and maritime systems. The program focuses on four littorals attached to
connected outdoor excursions: the dry littoral (hiking the coastline), the wet littoral
(exploring the shore with kayaks), the immersed littoral (snorkeling under the sea) and
the cultural littoral (tours and exposure to the multitude of cultural offerings both in
Tossa and nearby Barcelona. Structured within four weeks, the tempo of experiences
will be balanced against the need to focus in the studio. There will be much to absorb
and even much more to express in the work of the six selected resident artists.
The City of Tossa de Mar is actively involved in supporting this residency and is
supplying the program's studio work space within the Municipal Museum of Art, a
remarkable 13th Century sea-front building located within the walled Old city of Tossa.
The Musuem will also host the public exhibition + Symposium with all participants at
the end of the program.
Website: https://www.aircatstudio.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aircat_studio/