Interdisciplinary Artist Frank Pietronigro Presents Space Art at @rt Outsiders International Festival 2003 in Paris

October 1–November 9, 2003

Paris, France — The @rt Outsiders International Festival defies the law of gravity and presents various installations, films and conferences, including art created by San Francisco Bay Area interdisciplinary artist Frank Pietronigro, the first American artist to create “drift painting” while floating in zero gravity. The festival takes place October 1 to November 9, 2003 in Paris at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, 5-7 rue de Fourcy, in Paris, France.

After creating the “Bio-Art” theme for the 2002 edition, the @rt Outsiders International Festival proposes an historical event this year based on the theme of “Space Art.” Original and committed pieces of space art will give the feeling of the revolutionary period we are living in. The @rt Outsiders invite us to participate in the conquest of space, at least in terms of imagination and personal sensitivity. The Maison Européenne de la Photogrpahie will be transformed into a showcase for emerging artistic trends, and for the first time, a festival in France will be dedicated exclusively to Space Art.

Space Art includes contemporary artistic practices that are inspired by space research and space activity. It is not an esthetic current that imposes shared formal rules of presentation or representation, but rather an artistic current defined by the subject of space, an investigation as yet little explored.

Frank Pietronigro will present his work in Paris during the conference: Visibility - Legibility of Space Art, Zero Gravity Art: The Experience of Parabolic Flight. The artist will present video showing his painting in zero gravity while discussing his belief that the transcendent quality of the creative process and art creation will keep the human spirit alive during long-term space missions. Pietronigro will discuss situations that enabled him to create art in microgravity and build an artistic bridge to NASA space flight technology.

> visit the Festival site