Sep 282023
 

“Ripening Shadows”, 2023, Colored pencil on toned paper

It was great to see Lauren Mann’s drawings again, this time at Art Center Sarasota for her exhibition The Ephemerality of Being. Her work was previously part of 2022’s emerging artist exhibition Fresh Squeezed 6 at Morean Arts Center, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The artist’s statement about the show-

Growing up and getting older is seeing time pass and recognizing you can’t do anything but try to take in every moment. It’s exhausting. It’s taking a deep labored breath and deciding to rest in the peaceful aftermath of the realization that your time on earth is finite.

This work combines delicate portraiture with the rich symbolism of inanimate objects to create new, contemporary still lives. Bright, sanguine memento moris. By carefully veiling these reminders of humanity’s brittle ephemerality behind the facade of beautiful and nuanced illustrations of ordinary characteristics and relationships found in everyday life, it compels the viewer to reflect on their own lived experiences and feelings towards mortality, comparatively to those conveyed in these works.

This exhibition closes 9/30/23.

Sep 282023
 

“Paolo and the Bomb”, 2023, Assemblage of diverse materials

“Lions Escape from the Zoo or Portrait of Andy Kaufman”, 2023, Assemblage of diverse materials

Center work- “Hive, Helmet, and Butter Brick”, 2023, Assemblage of Diverse Materials

“Colossus in Repose”, 2023, Assemblage of diverse materials

“All Their Friends Are Rabbits”, 2023, Assemblage of diverse materials

After visiting Ry McCullough in his studio back in May to see what he was working on, I was very excited to finally see his exhibition SUPERPOSITIONS at Art Center Sarasota. His mixed media sculptures capture the imagination as the viewer imagines the connections between the objects in the work. The titles provide often humorous clues, but make sure to check out his Instagram for more background on his inspirations.

About the work from the center-

McCullough’s practice engages the fields of printmaking, creative writing, drawing, sound, and sculpture to create unique systems that probe the margins and boundaries of how art crafts language and communicates meaning. Using these systems of making as a guide for a range of media processes, they articulate parameters that can expand or collapse, generating opportunities for discovery in thematic investigations of the philosophical, abstract, and fluid state of being across time and space. SUPERPOSITIONS is inspired by an affection for the traditions of still life, modernist abstraction, and humor.

Artist Statement-

The SUPERPOSITIONS project comprises works of collage, sculpture, and wall-bound hybrids that exist between two-dimensional and three-dimensional space. The tension between these two spatial expressions is celebrated within this project through the playful application of collage. More than a tradition of material operations, McCullough views collage as a bundle of behaviors, a toolbox, and a signifier of fragmentation that forms an ethos of revision and reorganization.

McCullough is attracted to humble materials such as plywood and paper, concrete and plaster, foam and found things, essential stuff that requires intervention to establish meaningful presence through the relations it forms to other components in each work. The formal language is idiosyncratic; combinations of hard and soft edges, geometric and organic form, and a buffet of color with a penchant for balance. These works are propelled by the forces of potential change, by the energies of process, and by developing a poetic and clumsy status of unfinishedness.

This exhibition closes on Saturday, 9/30/23.

Sep 152023
 

Angel Rivera Morales, “Dystopian Paradise I, II, and III”, 2023, Acrylic and oil on canvas

Gilbert Salinas, “As We Speak”, 2022, Mixed media on canvas

Juan Nieves Burgos, “Germinar de patria” and “Mundo sin tiranos”, 2019; Carmen Rojas Gines, “She Warrior-SW3 “Guerrera”-G3″, Steel metal

Valentin Tirado Barreto, “Salcedos Death- La Muerte de Salcedo” and “Rebellion of the slaves- Rebelión”, Acrylic on canvas

Currently at Creative Pinellas is the group exhibition Keepers of Heritage: Hidden Tales / Custodios de la Herencia: Cuentos Ocultos, on view until 10/15/23.

From the Creative Pinellas website-

Keepers of Heritage is an extended collaborative effort whose purpose is to document, present and promote the contributions of artists of Puerto Rican artists in the Caribbean archipelago and abroad.

Its roots go back to 2015 with the presentation of the “La Diaspora” exhibition at the Terrace Gallery in Orlando City Hall. Since then, the collective has expanded and traveled to institutions such as the National Museum for Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Chicago, the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, and the Albin Polasek Museum in Winter Park, Florida.

Over eight years, the collective has documented and presented the work of nearly 30 artists whose artistic practices include a diversity of mediums such as painting, drawing, sculpture, engraving, multimedia, and photography.

Artists included in this exhibition-

Brenda Cruz

Alejandro de Jesus

Jose Feliciano

Carmelo Fontanez Cortijo

Domingo Garcia-Davila

Francisco García-Burgos

Martin García-Rivera

Michael Irrizary-Pagán

Juan Nieves-Burgos

Yasir Nieves

Angel Rivera-Morales

Rafael Rivera-Rosa

Carmen Rojas-Gines

Pablo Rubio

Aby Ruiz

Gilbert Salinas

Joan Emanuelli Sanchez

Luis Soto

Valentin Tirado Barreto

Rigoberto Torres

For more work by the artists head to the next page.

Aug 192023
 

Clearwater Main Library is currently showing Cuba: The Natural Beauty, a selection of photographs by Clyde Butcher. Butcher is famous for his large black and white photos of nature, taken with a large-format 8×10″ or 11×14″ view camera.

About the show from the Clearwater site-

Commissioned by the United Nations to create a portfolio of the mountainous lands of Cuba, Clyde Butcher set out on three week-long expeditions into unfamiliar lands. He explored the island country’s varied geographic regions, from the Sierra Maestra Mountains in Cuba’s eastern Granma province, to the southern coast between Manzananilo and Santiago de Cuba. He ventured to places including Baracoa in the northeast, the southern waterfalls of the Serra de San Juan, and the mogotes of the west in the Piña del Rio region.

While taking photographs for the Conference for the Sustainable Habitat of the Mountains, Clyde thought about being part of an event changing history for the better, and enthusiastically saw an opportunity to make a positive difference. His photography transcends political boundaries, challenging us to work together to protect natural places across the globe.

This exhibition will continue until 10/31/23.

This past Wednesday (8/16) Butcher discussed his work at Clearwater’s Capitol Theater. It was a pleasure to hear him discuss his history, his travels in Cuba, his work, a visit with President Jimmy Carter, and life since his stroke. He will often sit for hours, under an umbrella, just to get his shot. It was a thoughtful, humorous, and often inspiring lecture.

It is definitely worth checking out his website to see more of his work and to read about his unique life. His wife Niki is an artist too, and her work is also  on the website.

He has two galleries in Florida- The Venice Gallery and Studio, and Big Cypress Gallery near the Big Cypress National Preserve Oasis Visitor Center in the Florida Everglades. There are places to stay on the Big Cypress property and you can take a guided tour of the natural surroundings.

Aug 172023
 

This mural by Kelie Bowman in Eugene, Oregon was created in 2017. For more work by the painter and muralist, check out her Instagram.

Aug 112023
 

Work by Jenny Granberry (top) and Victoria Block (bottom)

Journals by Eva Avenue (top left) and Laura Waller (bottom left) and photography by Andrew Sovjani

On the second floor of the Dunedin Fine Art Center are photographs by Andrew Sovjani and a collection of sketchbooks from a variety of artists, many of which you can look through- with gloves of course. It’s easy to spend lots of time with all the inspiring books these artists have created.

The exhibition closes 8/13/23.

About Andrew Sovjani, from the gallery-

Andrew Sovjani is a visual artist recognized for blurring the boundaries between photography, printmaking and painting. Raised in a family of working studio artists, art making is in his blood. Andrew has drawn from his life experiences in the scientific world and living in Asia to create transcendent bodies of work that are often extremely peaceful. His award-winning photographs have been shown in exhibitions throughout the U.S., Europe and Japan and are held in many public and private collections. He has won awards of distinction at many of the top fine arts festivals in the nation and was a finalist for the Critical Mass book awards in 2008 and 2016.

Some of the artists whose books are included in the exhibition are- Jenny Granberry, Victoria Block, Eva Avenue, Laura Waller, Dion Dior, Daniel Mrgan, Julia Collver, Coralette Damme, Joan Duff Bohrer, Marjorie Greene Graff, Lukas Mosimann, Luis Colan, Kathy Pollak, Jennifer Kosharek, and Katy Deits.

Work by Eva Avenue

Work by Dion Dior

Work by Daniel Mrgan (top) and Julia Collver

Work by Coralette Damme

Work by Joan Duff Bohrer

Work by Marjorie Geene Graff

Work by Lukas Mosimann

Work by Luis Colan (left) and Lukas Mosimann

Journals by Kathy Pollak

Work by Jennifer Kosharek

Work by Katy Deits

 

Aug 042023
 

The work above is from Regina Durante Jestrow’s current exhibition Free Form Connections at Dunedin Fine Art Center.

The artist’s statement about the exhibition-

This exhibition includes my organically shaped geometric art quilts from various series from 2020-23. I utilize improvisation, repeat patterns and shifts in scale while incorporating colors, textures, and structures representative of the diversity of the people and the natural surroundings of my current home in South Florida.

I use diversely toned second-hand, gifted, or saved fabrics and dyes from locally sourced plants and rust. Textiles are also manipulated with burning and staining with inks and acrylic paint. Other materials, such as neoprene, sequins, and faux leather, reference Miami’s pop culture.

Along with my constant interest in American Folk-Art Quilts, geometric-abstract artists from the mid to late twentieth century are my influencers, including Gees Bend quilters, Elizabeth Murray, Helen Frankenthaler, Anni Albers, and Gego. These artistic voices have driven me to create quilts of scale with strong personal symbolism and narrative.

This exhibition is on view until 8/13/23.

Jul 292023
 

The above painting is Leslie Lerner’s My Life in France: The Oceanside (The Green Day), 2002, currently on view at Tampa Museum of Art.

From the museum’s wall plaque about the work-

Paintings and sculpture comprise Leslie Lerner’s series My Life in France, a fictional travelogue of the artist’s globetrotting alter ego. Inspired by Rococo painter Antoine Watteau (French, 1684-1721), Lerner’s work nods to the idyllic and lush canvases of 18th-century landscape paintings. The Oceanside (The Green Day) depicts a man standing on a grassy cliff and facing the ocean. His size pales in comparison to the vastness of the ocean he faces. Calming shades of aquamarine blue and moss green emphasize the serene beauty of the shoreline.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Lerner developed his artistic practice in San Francisco and initially created installation art. He taught art in various colleges and universities in California for several years before relocating to Sarasota, Florida. For 15 years, Lerner served on the faculty at the Ringling College of Art and Design.

Jul 272023
 

“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.

Jun 292023
 

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.