Nov 092023
 

The University of Tampa’s Scarfone/Hartley Gallery is currently showing the creatively displayed B.A.S.K.: Because Art Should Kill, work by Aleš Bask Hostomsky aka BASK. The exhibition also allows visitors a chance to participate by adding their own marks to a wall in the show.

From the gallery-

Known for his iconomorphic revisitation of contemporary images, BASK’s work highlights the transformative ability of hybridization. Offering layered deconstruction and reconstruction, each piece pushes viewers to look anew at culturally infused images and text, in order to consider what they say about the viewer and the culture that developed them.

BASK’s bricolage style takes the known and familiar, the distressed and destroyed, and merges them to create windows through which visitors can explore places of unanchored interpretations and ask a multitude of questions of the piece and of their interpretations.

This exhibition closes 12/15/23.

 

Nov 082023
 

The image above is Boris Anisfeld’s Clouds over the Black Sea-Crimea, 1906, from Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition Monet to Morisot: The Real and Imagined in European Art which highlights European art from the 19th and early twentieth-century from their collection. The exhibition “focuses on a period of significant societal transformation, when artistic techniques, subject matter, and patronage underwent profound changes”.

About the painting from the museum-

Boris Anisfeld’s canvas presents a vertiginous view of the Black Sea from the top of the Ayu-Dag mountain in southern Ukraine. The viewer has the sensation of being placed in midair, looking down through billowing clouds at an expanse of blue water, in the midst of which is a small boat. Although the scene represents a vast space, the artist’s complex composition challenges the illusion of depth in traditional landscapes by flattening the elements-cloud, land, and horizon-onto a single plane.

This painting was included in the 1906 Salon d’Automne in Paris in the Russian galleries organized by the ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev, for whom Anisfeld designed stage sets and costumes. After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the artist came to the United States, and within a year the Brooklyn Museum hosted his first American one-person exhibition.

This exhibition closes on 11/12/23.

 

Nov 072023
 

Featured artist at Art Harvest- Michelle Mardis

Paintings by John Maurer

Paintings by John Maurer

The weather this past weekend was perfect for enjoying two big outdoor art events in the Tampa Bay area- the annual Art Harvest juried art show in Dunedin and the autumn edition of the biannual Art in the Yard event in Gulfport (the next one is next year in March).

Wendy Boucher’s collages made entirely of paper on canvas

More work by Wendy Boucher

Linda Heath’s work

Linda Heath (work above) uses the Gyotaku technique to make prints from the fish she catches in the Gulf of Mexico.

Below are a few artists from Art in the Yard-

A homemade sign from Art in the Yard

Art in the Yard is a great way to interact with local Gulfport artists and to see their creations. Stopping at the home of The Oiseaux Sisters (Susan Andrews and Carolyn Fellman), is a journey into their whimsical world. The head above was filled with little cards with their website and a different word, like a fortune, on each. My card read “Surrender”. All around their property you can find work hidden among the vegetation, on walls, and in among tables of materials they use for their work.

Outside at The Oiseaux Sisters’ home

Outside at the The Oiseaux Sisters’ home (the upper left work is a recreation of an image of Tallulah Bankhead turned into a movable figure)

Mixed media works by Dorian Angello

Jayne van der Voordt’s house had lots of fun decorated mannequins and mannequin body parts

 

Nov 042023
 

Jenn Ryann Miller’s charming creations, seen above, are currently on view at Tempus Projects in the Kress Contemporary building in  Ybor City for her solo exhibition, Hobby House.

From the gallery-

Hobby House– where art meets self-indulgence, subversion meets humor, and creativity meets absurdity. With ceramics, sterling silver, a little photography and a lot of gemstones Hobby House presents objects that are meticulously crafted for no good reason other than looking fabulous. Hobby House contemplates the places and practices of art making with humor, irony, and a little wit.

Jenn Ryann Miller explores materiality and aesthetics through sculpture and painting. With a background in functional ceramics, her work subverts tradition and process through the experimentation with oblique materials and forms. Miller has been part of numerous solo and group exhibitions in Florida and the United States. Originally from Connecticut, she received a BFA from the University of Connecticut and MA from the University of South Florida. Miller currently teaches ceramics at the University of South Florida.

In another of the Tempus Projects gallery spaces is Justin Myers‘ exhibition, What Did We Use To Say, seen below, which uses collage along with a video and sound installation to explore the concept of memory.

From the gallery and artist-

What Did We Use To Say? Trying to remember things from the past from distorted and fragmented memories. Is that really how it happened? With intention, the mind has the ability to erase just as easily as it does create. The mind decides what stays and what gets purged for the new. Are you in control? Or is the subconscious doing as it pleases? In this work, I explore deconstruction, recomposition, and sampling, and their impact on memory and perception.

Justin Myers, a Tampa Native, is a member of music projects Justin Depth, Alien House, and Diamond Man. He also is the co-founder of Tampa-based record label, Image Research Records.

Justin studied printmaking at HCC in Ybor City and began experimenting with sculpture and installation-based works during his time there. Myers finds inspiration from discarded imagery, random thought, and spontaneous actions. Over the last 10 years, Myers has participated in numerous exhibitions at Tempus Projects, including the T-shirt shows, Mix Tape Show, Return to Sender, and an offsite window installation as part of a partnership with Downtown Tampa and more. In 2020, Myers partnered with his brother, Jeremy Myers on a virtual exhibit with Tempus Projects titled, “One Day of Perfect”. Justin has been involved with Tempus Projects since his music project Alien House made its debut performance in November of 2011.

Both of these exhibitions are on view until 12/14/23.

Oct 312023
 

“Steelhead” Terracotta sculpture by Ako Castuera

Spooky season may be coming to a close but there is still time to see the ghosts, and the artists behind them, in At Home with “City of Ghosts” at Dunedin Fine Art Center. Thoughtfully curated by Nathan Beard, the exhibition focuses on artwork, in a variety of mediums, by 17 of the artists who helped create the award winning Netflix series City of Ghosts.

Created by Elizabeth Ito, City of Ghosts follows a group of children as they track down and record stories about the history of Los Angeles from the ghosts who also live in the city.

Artists included in the exhibition- Mike Andrews, Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin, Ako Castuera, Alex Cline, Mercedes Dorame, Luis Grané, Chloe Hsu, Elizabeth Ito, Jasmin Lai, Bob Logan, Yulissa Maqueos, Hugo Morales, Keiko Murayama, Adam Muto, Claire Nero, Zen Sekizawa, and Pen Ward, with additional contribution from Decibel Studios LA.

This exhibition closes 12/23/23.

Below are some additional selections from the show.

Chloe Hsu– “Fish Market”, drypoint and watercolor

Jasmin Lai– “The 110 and Downtown LA”, digital print

Acrylic and ink work by Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin

Prismacolor and watercolor work by Alex Cline

Luis Grané– “Pool Maintenance” , acrylic on canvas

“La Mejor Herrencia”, Maqueos-Gonzalez family photos and “Maqueos Music (Banda Oaxaqueña)”, 2023, video by Decibel Studios LA with Los Angeles based clarinet player Yulissa Maqueos

Pendleton Ward (left) and Elizabeth Ito (right) both created Pepper’s Ghost animations for the exhibition

 

 

 

 

Oct 312023
 

This painting was spotted at The Factory in St. Pete. It was one of the works in the group exhibition Medium.

It combines several Halloween staples- pumpkins, bats, skeletons, candy corn and bloody knives.

Oct 282023
 

Photographs by Jerry Uelsmann (left) and Herb Snitzer (right)-“Bette II”, top and “Tennessee Williams”, bottom)

Photographs from the International Photography Competition

Continuing from the previous post about the Ybor Arts Tour, there are three venues that were part of the tour that are also worth highlighting.

The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (FMoPA) is showing some impressive photography in their new Ybor City space. On one side of the museum is Icons of Black and White, a selection of over 60 fine art photographs, by some of the most famous photographers in history including Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston and more. This show will be on view until 12/3/23.

In the FMoPA Community Gallery are the winning photographs from the 2023 International Photography Competition, previously on view at The Tampa International Airport. This exhibition closes 10/28/23.

Kaitlin Crockett of Print St. Pete, “Why?” letterpress monoprint (left) and Chris Sellen/ Kaitlin Crockett, “It’s Only A Matter of Time”, risograph print

Mia Makes It, “[redacted]”, risograph print, and “Molecular Anxiety”, linocut on fabric

The Bricks is a restaurant in Ybor City that also has an event space. For the Arts Tour the space turned into a gallery for Print Mode (2) a selection of work by Tampa Bay printmakers. That show will be up for a few more weeks.

Marcolina’s (seen below) is a relatively new gallery currently showing the group exhibition EDEN: Beyond Paradise until 11/30/23. Check out their Instagram and Facebook to see upcoming events like Nude Model Life Drawing (every third Wednesday) and Deidre Kling’s “The Haunted Flesh” Photography Book Release on 10/28.

Oct 282023
 

Installation by Edgar Sanchez Cumbas

The Ybor City Arts Tour was last week and was a great way to check out the many spaces currently in the Ybor City area. The Kress Contemporary building with its multiple galleries, artist studios, performance space (The Fringe Theatre), and microcinema, was definitely a highlight.

The above images are of sculptural work by Edgar Sanchez Cumbas (he was also in the Department of Contemporary Art group show in the same building). It is just one of the rotating works you can find while walking around the space.

Below are some selections from the event.

Kim Radatz opened her space, currently showing an installation focused on the “C” word.

Screen Door: An Ybor City Microcinema is always showing interesting films from a variety of genres. Pictured are the seating area and the movie posters lining the hallway outside of the film viewing area. For the art tour they were showing past Flex Fest short films.

On the third floor are a large group of artist studios with several walls hanging work by many of the artists.

Work by Jon Pannier

Sculpture by Eileen Goldenberg

Polaroid work by Brian Pannier

Lots of great work by the three very different artists that make up the Y3K Collective- Jon Pannier, Eileen Goldenberg, and Brian Pannier, seen above.

Work by Juan Espinosa (left) and Ashley Cantero (right) of Dluance

Inside Dluance

Creative space Dluance is run by visual artist Ashley Cantero and music producer/ graphic designer Juan Espinosa.

Paintings by Marilyn Binder Silverman

Paintings by Eilzabeth Fontaine-Barr

The work above is from the painters Marilyn Binder Silverman and Elizabeth Fontaine-Barr who share their studio space.

Painting by Karol Batansky

Self taught painter Karol Batansky just moved in to her new studio from the Ybor Art Colony which is closed while currently being renovated.

Mixed media artist Chase Parker makes a variety of work, including the unique sculptures pictured above.

Ron Watson creates highly detailed drawings at his Shades of Gray Studio.

Below is one of the common spaces filled with work by a selection of artists. It’s always worth a trip up from the 2nd floor galleries even if most of the artists are not in their studios to see what’s new.

Work by Jenal Dolson (left) and Michael Jones (collage, right)

The next post will focus on three spaces outside of Kress Contemporary that were also part of the tour.