<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0rSpb0_1FGYsKa900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0rSpb0_1FGYsKa900" width="900" height="597" ><figcaption>This untitled artwork is part of Michael Mollo's show "Interstellar Arboretum," at the Langford Art Gallery in Phoenix through Oct. 9. Art Van Kraft photo</figcaption></figure>Michael Mollo’s works at the Langford Art Gallery in Phoenix can resemble alien worlds or, as gallery owner Jack Langford puts it, ‘the interior of the heart’The Langford Art Gallery exhibition of Michael Mollo’s “Interstellar Arboretum” show continues with an artist talk with music and poetry readings at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20.<blockquote>The deets‘Interstellar Arboretum,’ paintings and sculpture by Michael Mollo, through Oct. 9 at Langford Art Gallery, 4850 S. Pacific Highway, Phoenix. Mollo will give an artist talk at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20; read his poetry at 5 p.m. Sept. 26; and give a musical performance at 7 p.m. Oct. 3.</blockquote>The gallery of paintings and sculpture shows colorful landscapes and lifeforms originating in what Mollo describes as his “internal universe.” Mollo characterizes his process as unconventional. He said he leaves some works outdoors to texture their surfaces. And he said he approaches his artistic practice as a commitment to “extreme originality with each endeavor.”Gallery owner Jack Langford said he was impressed with Mollo’s work.A poet as well as an artist“I look at his paintings as being the interior of the heart,” Langford said. “I was a bit confused at the beginning, but after I was finished hanging the show, I was elated. This is one of the better shows I have hung. I’ve known Michael as a poet in the past and I only really discovered he was a painter recently.” Michael Louis Mollo took a break from the crowd at the recent opening of his Langford Gallery show and relaxed in a lounge off the main gallery. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3zXPrc_1FGYsKa900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3zXPrc_1FGYsKa900" width="800" height="600" ><figcaption>Michael Mollo mingles at the opening of his show, “Interstellar Arboretum.” Art Van Kraft photo</figcaption></figure>“I started painting 22 years ago, and poetry and music have been my cues for creation,” Mollo said. “I started liking what was showing up on my canvas. My paintings are nonrepresentational and more internal. I just start putting some colors on canvas and some scene will generally start to appear. I developed my own style over the years, and I’m always impressed with other people’s artwork.”‘Different things every time’He added: “Each piece is independent of the rest, so I don’t have a continuity of style. I try different things every time, and I think it’s important to fully explore different options when creating something.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1VgcPI_1FGYsKa900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1VgcPI_1FGYsKa900" width="650" height="558" ><figcaption>Mollo’s paintings present viewers with otherworldly landscapes. Art Van Kraft photo</figcaption></figure>“I’m so happy, it’s an honor to be at Jack Langford’s gallery,” Mollo continued. “I think it’s like a diamond in the Rogue Valley. I’ll have a poetry reading one night (Sept. 26) and I’ll play a musical concert the next weekend (Oct. 3).”Mollo is a singer-songwriter.Beca Blake is a local curator who also was impressed with Mollo’s work. Blake is the owner and founder of Phoenix Helio, an art- and culture-based promotion company. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4S7oB1_1FGYsKa900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4S7oB1_1FGYsKa900" width="650" height="565" ><figcaption>Another untitled work by Michael Mollo. Ashland artist Courtney Costa described one of his paintings as looking “like a snapshot from another world.” Art Van Kraft photo</figcaption></figure>“I was invited to one of Michael’s exhibitions and I was really impressed. We were thrilled to have him here. He’s so multidisciplinary,” Blake said.“The consistency and size of his work is what made Michael a good fit for this large gallery,” Blake said. “Filling a space this big is a tough thing for one artist to do. When you have an artist whose work is very cohesive it all flows together very well and it’s very balanced.”“His theme is interstellar, and in an exhibit this large I’m able to see that theme,” she said. Poetry reading and musical performance“He’s going to do a poetry reading on the 26th, and he going to play music and read poetry,” Blake added. “There will also be a film crew here to shoot a documentary.” There will also be a musical performance Oct. 3.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4Bbjw0_1FGYsKa900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4Bbjw0_1FGYsKa900" width="900" height="549" ><figcaption>Michael Mollo shares a moment with his wife, Abby Lewis, at his show opening at the Langford Art Gallery. Art Van Kraft photo</figcaption></figure>Courtney Costa is an Ashland artist who just finished her own art exhibit at the Langford Gallery. She said she was greatly impressed with Mollo’s work.“I like this painting because it looks like a snapshot from another world,” she said.“The colors are very vivid and saturated with red and green, the contrasting colors. I like the definition in the rocks and the fiery sky that makes you feel like you’re on a different planet,” Costa said. “It looks like you’re looking into a different world you’re about to explore.”Art Van Kraft is an artist living in Ashland and a former broadcast journalist and news director of a Los Angeles-area National Public Radio affiliate. Email him at [email protected].Sept. 18: Corrected quote to say poetry reading will be on Sept. 26, not Sept. 20.</div></body>

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Michael Mollo’s works at the Langford Art Gallery in Phoenix can resemble alien worlds or, as gallery owner Jack Langford puts it, ‘the interior of the heart’. The Langford Art Gallery exhibition of Michael Mollo’s “Interstellar Arboretum” show continues with an artist talk with music and poetry readings at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20.

Landscapes from an ‘interior universe’

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Michael Mollo’s works at the Langford Art Gallery in Phoenix can resemble alien worlds or, as gallery owner Jack Langford puts it, ‘the interior of the hea

Landscapes from an ‘interior universe’

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