The artist hails from Los Angeles and is known around the world for his iconic shark illustrations. Although the shark’s reputation is fearsome, Shark Toof uses the image of a shark to give strength, optimism and possibility to the viewer. He sees the shark as a voice of rebellion, and a conduit for the unheard.
At the artist’s request, the wall was painted red before he got to St. Pete. Even so, the mural took four days and almost one hundred cans of aerosol paint – and it was a challenge because of wires and the architectural details of the wall.
When the painting was done, the artist stepped into the doorway on the bottom right, closed the iron grate and said, “See? Now I’m in a shark cage!”
For more of Shark Toof’s work also check out his Instagram.
Judy Pickett is an Orlando based artist who often shows her work at Soft Water Gallery in St. Pete, Florida. Her beautiful cyanotypes are painted with encaustic to give them added texture.
Morean Arts Center in St. Pete, Florida, is currently showing Fresh Squeezed 7, their annual exhibition of emerging artists in Florida. It’s a great opportunity to see some of the best artwork being done by local artists. The exhibition closes 6/22/23.
From the the Morean Arts Center’s press release-
As always, our selection panel culled over 120 applications from across the state, narrowing the exhibition down to the six artists featured here. It’s always a joyful and heartbreaking process, seeing so much inspiring good work and only having a limited amount of space in which to show it all.We were looking for diversity in medium, in ideas, and in geographical location, all of which somehow comes together to form a delightful, cohesive whole.
While we don’t necessarily plan it that way, themes and commonalities do emerge among the artists selected for the exhibition. We’re happy to announce this is the first year that we have an ALL FEMALE line up. And due to the inclusive interpretation we use to define an emerging artist (no previous solo shows in Florida), you’ll find artists here who are still pursuing their MFAs (KJ Skidmore and Leeann Rae) AND artists who are returning to their first love of art after finding fulfillment in decades of other related careers (Latonya Hicks and Deborah W. Perlman).
Other themes you may notice as you peruse the galleries are the inventive (and exuberant!) use of materials. Denise Treizman and Latonya Hicks both incorporate cast off, recycled and vintage materials in their dimensional wall work. While Denise’s process is more spontaneous and Latonya’s is deliberate and measured, they both create joyful works of art that invite contemplation and perhaps a spark of recognition from the viewer.
KJ Skidmore and Laura De Valencia both deal with contemporary issues and pop culture in their work, though to wildly different effect. KJ’s humorous mixed media paintings address the notion of the male gaze, and the women who must endure it. Laura’s installations use fashion culture as a jumping off point to raise questions about international stereotypes and the borders (both visible and not) that immigrants have to experience on a daily basis.
Both Leeann Rae and Deborah W. Perlman create work that challenge the viewer to look longer, and to think deeper. With their disparate materials (Leeann with soft pastel and Deborah with cut paper), they raise notions of space, whether physical or mental, real or imagined, in the present or a memory from the past.
KJ Skidmore “Squeeze ‘n’ Block”, Acrylic and coffee
KJ Skidmore
KJ Skidmore “Angel’s Bar”, Acrylic, fabric, trim, paste and wood paper
The work above is by Tampa based artist KJ Skidmore.
Morean Arts Center’s information about the artist-
KJ’s current work is based in painting/drawing that extends into3-D space through multimedia installation. Her immersive spaces are chaotic and aggressive, but at the same time alluring. She works within her own bizarre and disjointed narratives and themes containing warped textual elements, strange cartoon characters, and color palettes that are both grimy and fluorescent. Her material use is variable and may include masses of hair clumped together with canned beets, pink stained carpet, fabrics, wood, plaster, teeth, rain jackets, and Smurf-themed objects.
KJ’s painted series Burger Time caricatures leering male clientele as flat, monster-like cartoons that interact with a staring waitress to explore gendered tropes and forms of voyeurism. This series reconstructs reality in relation to being female by presenting experiences like getting stared at or groped within a hokey themed attraction called “Burger Time” restaurant. Her series is meant to revolt the viewer through acknowledging the male gaze, while also celebrating its trashiness and the culture surrounding it. She uses humor to poke fun at this harmful and uneven power dynamic. The series presents this sickening concept through more palatable presentation such as expressive cartoon figures and bright colors.
KJ is from Gainesville, FL, but was living on the West Coast until recently. She is back in Florida pursuing an MFA at USF in Tampa.
For more of the artists in the show, continue to the next page.
The latest pop-up exhibition at Chad Mize’sSPACE in St. Pete’s Warehouse Arts District, is Hot Box, which opened Friday 6/9/23. The show includes a LOT of artists and installations as well as, for this past weekend, an immersive performance by Dirty John’s comedy troupe.
There was a lot to see at last Saturday’s ArtWalk in St. Pete, Florida. Below is a brief roundup. Many of these artists and exhibitions can also be seen for the rest of the month (if not longer).
Above is ceramic work by Rebecca Stevens from her exhibition, The Good Life, at Morean Center for Clay. Her work is influenced by her experience as a ballet dancer, ancient Greek art, and by Art Nouveau.
Soft Water Gallery, part of the Arts Xchange in the Warehouse District is showing Abstract Visions, work by Steph Gimson.
Tommy Bayot’s exhibition Lines is on view at The Factory St. Pete, part of their Pride Month celebrations. The show will be on view until 7/2/23 and includes a variety of work, in addition to the abstract pieces below. Check out his Instagram for more.
Tristan Wheelock- “NASCAR Family”, 2014, image from his website
Thomas Sayers-Ellis became the winning finalist and will be the Photo Laureate this year. The 2023 Photo Laureate will create an historical document of events, people and places of Tampa Bay for the next twelve months. The results of this project will be shown next year in a solo exhibition.
Thomas Sayers-Ellis, “The Mirror in Uncle Tom’s Camera”, 2011 image from his Instagram
The best place to see his photography is on his Instagram.
The photo exhibition will be on view until 6/30/23.
Eric “ESH” Hornsby, “Living Daylights 1″and “Living Daylights 2”
Adam Christopher Reed, “The Judge”
Nikita Rosalind, “Peace in the Wild Waves”
The Werk Gallery is an exciting new space in St. Pete that hosts monthly exhibitions in one half and the owners’ curated mix of vintage and modern items in the other. The photos above are from Shiny & New, the first gallery’s first show.
From the artist about his work (via the museum’s website)-
“I am a Black abstract painter. Conceptually, my paintings are rooted in Africentric colors and patterns. I believe art should inspire all people to connect to the liberating power of communal love. Touch in the Spirit of Love is a series of paintings that graphically illustrate the value of love for all humanity. In an imaginary, spiritually enriched context—this series calls all people together to see each other reaching out to one another through the touching of their hands. The hands in my paintings connect people together to express hope for the life-saving power of love committed to community-building. As envisioned by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., hope for a “beloved community” can be realized when people actively join together to show love for social justice. Overall, the paintings in this series visually challenge people to see the need for loving wholeness in mind, body, heart, and soul. Hands of different colors touching each other in this painting series artistically demonstrate the power of love rooted in freedom for all people who have been historically oppressed.”
