“A Cut Below”, 2000, Acrylic on canvas
Theo Wujcik’s painting, A Cut Below, is part of Tampa Museum of Art‘s All in Favor: New Works in the Permanent Collection, on view until 7/30/23.
Jul 272023
Jul 252023
Currently at the University of Florida’s Contemporary Art Museum is Rico Gatson: Visible Time. The exhibition includes a collection of the artist’s paintings and works on paper, video works from 2001-present, and a life size mural of author Zora Neale Hurston.
From the museum’s website about the exhibition-
For more than two decades, Brooklyn-based artist Rico Gatson has been celebrated for his vibrant, colorful, and layered artworks. Inspired by significant moments in African American history, identity politics and spirituality, his oeuvre includes images of protests and longstanding injustices—touching on subjects like the murder of Emmett Till, the Watts Riots, and the formation of the Black Panthers—as well as dynamic abstract geometries that celebrate Pan-Africanist aesthetics and Black cultural and political figures.
About the mural, Zora III, commissioned by the museum (pictured above)-
Zora Neale Hurston was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on hoodoo (a set of spiritual practices, traditions, and beliefs created by enslaved Africans in the Southern U.S.). The most popular of her four novels is Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937. Born in Notasulga, Alabama, Hurston grew up near Orlando, in Eatonville, Florida, incorporated in 1887 as one of the first self-governing all-black municipalities in the country. Despite her landmark achievements, Hurston died penniless and in obscurity in 1960-her novels and other writings largely unknown, until they were single-handedly rescued by novelist Alice Walker in 1975. Through his wall painting Rico Gatson extends the monumental impact of Hurston’s legacy-and Walker’s- into a visual arena reminiscent of the Mexican Muralists and hand-painted cinema signs.
“Untitled (Seven Panels)”, 2022 acrylic paint on wood, in seven parts
From the museum’s wall plaque about the above paintings-
According to catalog contributor Mark Fredricks, Rico Gatson’s “panel paintings” resemble “a musical framework.” Arranged together along a single wall, the “rhythm” animating their colorful compositions and their “uniformity of structure” suggest, anthropomorphically speaking, musicians in a jazz combo. One of the many ways in which Gatson draws on music as a lasting influence in his art, his seven panels approximate what legendary jazz player Albert Ayler described as “the healing force of the universe,” but in three dimensions.
“Don” 2022, Color pencil and photo-collage on paper
“Sidney” 2022, Color pencil and photo-collage on paper
“Miles #2″ 2022, Color pencil and photo-collage on paper
Below are images are from Four Stations, one of the five moving image works in the exhibition. For this work, Gatson traveled to Money, Mississippi and took handheld footage along the trail of places and events that led to the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till.
“Four Stations” 2017
On one of the smaller screens is Gun Play, 2001, a film collage that mixes sequences from Foxy Brown and The Good, the Band and the Ugly, combining them together with kaleidoscopic effects.
“Gun Play”, 2001, single-channel video, color, sound
This Thursday 7/27/23, the museum will be showing Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, the last of the three films chosen by Gatson to accompany the exhibition.
The exhibition will close on Saturday, 7/29.
Jul 242023
This mural by Shark Toof was created for the 2015 edition of the SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.
About the mural from the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance website–
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.
Jul 212023
“Precarious recline”, 2015, Found lawn chairs, strap, bottle
This sculpture, Precarious recline, is from Bjorn Copeland’s 2015 exhibition Over Easy at Various Small Fires Los Angeles. It was created using discarded furniture found around East Los Angeles.
The exhibition also included a sound sculpture, Scrambled Eggs, Mexican Radio Edit (2015). It was made in collaboration with the artist’s Black Dice band mates Eric Copeland and Aaron Warren, and combined signals from multiple car radios in an unpredictable and erratic disharmony. The resulting composition was synthesized in real-time and constantly changing.
The video below is for White Sugar, from Black Dice’s 2021 album Mod Prog Sic.
Jul 212023
“You’re Fired”, 2015, Concrete, grill, shredded office documents, charcoal
This sculpture by Josh Kline was located in the Various Small Fires Los Angeles courtyard in 2015.
From the press release-
In the warm breeze of Southern California’s endless summer, the 20th Century dream of life in the early evening after work: a large backyard covered in concrete and grass, a hammock or a lawn chair, cold beer, and a blazing grill. Ground meat sizzling above a glowing bed of charcoal soaked in lighter fluid. Underneath the avocado tree. Or the oak tree. Or the whatever tree. Putting the last 8-10 hours of your day out of your mind and enjoying your “free” time. A nuclear family fantasy repeated across hundreds of millions of suburban and semi-suburban homes and half a century of North American lives.
Pattern recognition is the primordial ooze from out of which living consciousness and intelligence crawled into the minds of animals. The ability to recognize repetitive relationships and recurring phenomena. The habits of food, the faces of your loved ones, and the sounds of human language. From automobile factory assembly line and the discount drug store cash register today to the taxi cab’s driver seat and patent lawyer’s office tomorrow: unconscious software is slowly and not-so- slowly aping the abilities of the living mind.
Reading without eyes. Recognizing without consciousness. The outsourcing of understanding. You’re Fired!
The first U.S. museum survey of his work, Josh Kline: Project for a New American Century, is currently on view at the Whitney Museum in NYC.
Jul 202023
Built Landscape I, 2015, by Paul Davies, was included in Palm Springs Art Museum’s 2018 group exhibition, Eighty @ Eighty.
From the museum’s wall plaque-
Through a rich process of layering, mirroring, and mimicking, Davies explores the fusion of manmade and cultivated natural elements that comprise our environment. Reflecting a contemporary Southern California sensibility, his paintings are at once a dream of an idealized lifestyle made popular by midcentury modern architecture, and a commentary on how such structures interact with and fragment the world around us. This image references the unique periscope-like structure of architect Albert Frey’s first home in Palm Springs.
Davies’ work can currently be seen as part of Stark White gallery’s exhibition Surface Tension in Queenstown, New Zealand, on view until 8/20/23.
Jul 202023
Polly E. Perkins, “Woodstork Portrait”, 2022 from Ferman Center for the Arts
24 Hands is a printmaking collective of Florida Gulf Coast printmakers founded by Marjorie Greene Graff. The group has regular exhibitions throughout the year at various locations in the area.
Recently a group of their artists were showing work at The Ferman Center for the Arts, on the University of Tampa’s campus. Below are a few selections from that exhibition.
For more information on Polly E. Perkins, whose work is in the first image, check out her Instagram.
Linda Dee Guy, “Botanical Shroud”, 2021, acrylic, Inkjet print, Goldleaf on canvas
Linda Dee Guy, “Nucleus”, 2021
Linda Dee Guy, “Seascape”, 2021
For more work by Linda Dee Guy, check out her website and Instagram.
Serhat Tanyolacar, “Untitled”, 2020, Laser engraved relief print
Serhat Tanyolacar, “Untitled”, 2020, Laser engraved relief print
For more work by Serhat Tanyolacar, check out his website.
Ry McCullough, “Meditations in Orange”, 2021, Pochoir, serigraphy, gouache, watercolor, vinyl, gaffers tape on okawara
For more of Ry McCullough’s work, check out his website and Instagram.
Currently at Brooker Creek Preserve’s Education Center in Tarpon Springs is Nature Inspired, another exhibition of work by the 24 Hands collective.
From the exhibition-
For “Nature Inspired”, the artists visited Brooker Creek Preserve in March 2022 and March 2023 to strategize the exhibit and hike around the Preserve. Their love for Brooker Creek and nature has been inspiring and their work represents a variety of approaches from comical to realist to aesthetic abstraction. The exhibition includes prints by: Holly Bird, Saumitra Chandratreya, Tyrus Clutter, Elizabeth Coachman, Marjorie Greene Graff, Mary-Helen Horne, Stephen Littlefield, Ry McCullough, Polly E. Perkins, Christine Renc-Carter, and Rachel Stewart.
Below is work from the exhibition by Mary-Helen Horne. You can also find her work on Instagram.
Mary-Helen Horne, “Floating on Air”, 2023, Monoprint with drypoint, relief and pochoir
Nature Inspired has been extended until 8/13/23. It’s a great show and a chance to check out the natural surroundings that helped create the work.
Jul 172023
I Speak Machine- Santa Monica
I Speak Machine is an audio/visual project founded by Los Angeles based artist Tara Busch and filmmaker/writer Maf Lewis. The song is from the 2o22 album WAR.
I Speak Machine are playing at the Moroccan Lounge in Los Angeles on Friday, 7/21/23.
Jul 172023
This mural by Marina Capdevila was created for the 2022 edition of the SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.
Check out her Instagram as well to see her most recent work.
Jul 142023
The 2023 Emerging Artist Exhibition in Creative Pinellas’ gallery space highlights work from the ten Pinellas County artists chosen by the organization for this year’s Emerging Artist Grant.
Above are sculptures by Amy Wolf. She has written several articles for the Creative Pinellas website which give some insight into her work and are worth a read.
According to artist Kimberly Engel, the paintings above “explore vibrant color interaction while inviting viewers to meditate on an illusive horizon line where sky meets water.”
From the Creative Pinellas website-
Kimberly Engel is a contemporary abstract painter who lives and works in Clearwater, Florida. Her distinct gestural style combines a love for color interaction with spontaneous mark making. Engel’s paintings explore levels of transparency, evoking depth and light. She is inspired by the constant presence and changing states of large bodies of water. She has lived on the shore of Lake Erie in Euclid, Ohio prior to moving to the Gulf Coast.
Engel describes her process as an exploration of herself and ultimately the dissolving of herself mirrored in the process of making and deconstructing works. Her gestural marks have been described as both compulsive and somewhat calligraphic. They undulate and disappear under thin veils of color.
Also check out her Instagram.
Denis DeBon created the unique glass works seen above.
His biography from the gallery website-
Dennis DeBon is the creator of EnergyWebs, which are one-of-a-kind works of modern glass art. He is often been compared to artist Jackson Pollock. Like Pollack, Dennis uses simple artistic techniques and has combined reverse painting on glass with spin art and taken both to a whole new level.
Each EnergyWeb is cut from a large sheet of plate glass, then free-style hand-cut into shape, scalloped, polished then spun. Dennis uses a multitude of application techniques and color combinations when creating each piece before firing and hand-signing them.
Every EnergyWeb is a unique, one-of-a-kind work of modern glass art and he is the only artist in the world creating them.
In addition to selling his artwork at fine art festivals across the country, Dennis was commissioned as the artist to create the Richard Dawkins Awards. In addition, his past creations have been presented to James “The Amazing” Randi, Carl Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan, and the Zora Neale Hurston and the Koi Society of America award winners.
Dennis was born and raised in Buffalo, New York and attended the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, where he studied photography and graphic design.
He now lives in Saint Petersburg, Florida and when he isn’t creating art, you might find him writing screenplays or in the boxing ring . . . working as a professional boxing referee.
For more of the artists in the exhibition, head to the pages below.