Ohio Art Shows- “RETOLD: African American Art and Folklore” at Akron Art Museum

 Akron, Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Collage, Conceptual Art, Digital Art, Drawing, Mixed Media, Ohio Art Shows, Painting / Painters, Photographers / Photography, Printmaking, Sculptors / Sculpture, Video and Film
Feb 262024
 

Willie Cole, “American Domestic”, 2016, Digital Print

Tom Laidman, “Broadway”, 1993 and “Bois Ma Petite”, 1999, Lithograph on paper

Currently on view at Akron Museum of Art is RETOLD: African American Art and Folklore, a collection of art from the Wesley and Missy Cochran collection, organized into themes exploring aspects of African American history and culture. The show features many well known and lesser known artists including Amiri Baraka, Beverly Buchanan, Willie Cole, Trenton Doyle Hancock, William Pope.L., Tom Laidman, Jacob Lawrence, Alison Saar and more.

From the museum about the exhibition-

African folklore has been around as long as humankind, and the African diaspora in America has added new dimensions to its rich history. African American folk stories teach about culture, the mysteries of life, and the survival of a race of people bought and sold who continue to thrive in an unjust society.

“RETOLD: African American Art and Folklore” focuses on four themes: Remembering, Religion, Racialization, and Resistance. These themes provide a comprehensive retelling of the works featured in the exhibition. In many of the pieces, the artist’s muse connects closely with stories that have been told generation after generation. Folklore texts are featured throughout the space as a means to retell a richer, deeper story of African American culture.

There are more than forty artists represented in this exhibition, all holding one similar truth: their story of joy and struggle in the African American experience.

In addition to the artwork, there is also an educational video produced by Josh Toussaint-Strauss of The Guardian that explores the misconceptions about Haitian Voudou that is worth a watch.

How ‘voodoo’ became a metaphor for evil

Florida Art Shows- St. Petersburg College Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition at Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Ceramic Art, Conceptual Art, Digital Art, Drawing, Fiber Arts, Florida Art Shows, Illustration, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Photographers / Photography, Pinellas County, Printmaking, Sculptors / Sculpture, Tarpon Springs
Dec 072023
 

V.J. Hagenbuckle, “On Mars”, 2020, Oil on canvas

Paintings by V.J. Hagenbuckle

There are many incredible artists living and working in the Tampa Bay area and quite a few of them also teach. Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs is currently showing work by faculty from the Visual Arts department at St. Petersburg College. In addition to a statement about their work, each faculty member also contributed their teaching philosophy.

Artists included in the exhibition- Jonathan Barnes, Nathan Beard, Ragan Brown, Mason Gehring, Barton Gilmore, Kevin Grass, Marjorie Greene Graff, Jennifer Guest, Jim Hagenbuckle, Elizabeth Indianos, Kim Kirchman, Michaela Oberlaender, Krishna Sadasivam, and McKenzie Smith.

Tonight, 12/7, Jim Hagenbuckle will be giving a talk at the museum at 6pm.

This exhibition is on view until 12/17/23.

Michaela Oberleander, “Bleed Out”, 2010, Acrylic on canvas

Kim Kirchman, “Cultivating What Might Be Lost”, 2022, Terra cotta with slip transfer

Work from Nathan Beard’s “LIFE LINES”

Nathan Beard’s description of this recent personal and intriguing project (pictured above)-

The Memory Map works on view here are my very newest attempt at understanding the role that fallible memory plays in the shaping of culture and self. These small watercolor studies are Phase II of LIFE LINES, a grand 3-part project in which I am examining my family’s memory of themselves and making artwork that tells their story. I plan to collect all of these studies into a singular book that can be handed down through the generations, or perhaps even preserved in a museum for everyone to see.

To create Memory Maps, I have created a survey for each family member. I ask them some general genealogy questions, since this survey will also function as a historical record, including their three favorite colors. I then ask them to try to remember each year of their life, from birth til now, and assign a rank between 0 and 5 for a) how clear their memory of the year is; b) how important that year was for them; c) how “good” or “bad” the year was. I add these columns together to get an “Accumulative” data set that I use to create a skeleton composed of alternating pentagons and hexagons that rotate as they expand. This part is important since it incorporates movement through time and space as we grow outward. Using the fact that our life’s journey always wavers, I then connect the points and end up with a “map” that resembles the cross-section of a tree, and contains all the metaphors associated with tree rings and natural growth cycles.

The most important visual development presented itself with Cate Clark, where I allowed myself the freedom to incorporate representational imagery. I asked my wife about her favorite place ever, and she surprised me with the family trip we took to Letchworth State Park in upstate NY. I found a picture from that trip with our daughter Vera standing at the edge of wood, and proceeded to paint that memory in resemblance of an antique plate. I also allowed myself the freedom to stray away from the tree ring aspect, while still using the data skeleton to place the bursts of color.

For more information, his artist talk is available here.

Work by Jonathan Barnes

Sculpture by Jonathan Barnes

Sculpture by Jonathan Barnes

Soda/Salt Fired stoneware by McKenzie Smith

Acrylic on canvas paintings by Mason C. Gehring

Relief and silkscreen by Marjorie Greene Graff

 

Artists continue on page 2.

Florida Art Shows- Pinellas County High School Student Exhibition- “Visual Metaphors”- at Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Ceramic Art, Conceptual Art, Digital Art, Drawing, Fiber Arts, Florida Art Shows, Glasswork, Illustration, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Photographers / Photography, Pinellas County, Printmaking, Sculptors / Sculpture, Tarpon Springs
Dec 072023
 

Lilian Butler, “Wave of Emotion”, Drawing

Lilian Butler, “The Value of Grey Thinking”, Drawing

Currently on view at Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs is Visual Metaphors, an exhibition of impressive work created by Pinellas County public high school students. Hopefully this is just the beginning for these young, talented artists.

From the museum-

Presented in partnership with Pinellas County Schools (PCS), this exhibition presents a selection of two- dimensional and three-dimensional work from public high school students in grades 9-12. Like its namesake, Visual Metaphors are comparisons used to create a heightened awareness or emotional connection to a statement, a figure of speech, or condition. Think “raining cats and dogs,” “rollercoaster of emotions,” or “tongue in cheek.” A visual metaphor represents a person, place, thing, or idea by means of an image that shows a particular association or similarity. The students asked themselves “How will I convey a visual metaphor through my art? Will I illustrate a metaphor that is part of everyday speech, a cliché, a poem, or a lyric? Are there seemingly unexpected images that I can combine to create a metaphor? Will the metaphor be humorous, subtle, or overt?”

Now on view at the Leepa Rattner Museum of Art (LRMA) for the first time, this installation of Visual Metaphors is a continuation of an exhibition series, which was previously hosted at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, for the last thirty years. LRMA is proud to continue our partnership with PCS, as well as showcase the incredible talent that makes up our student communities.

This show will be on view until 12/10/23. Below are a few more selections.

Jonah Williams, “Life’s But A Walking Shadow”, Photography

Asalyn Schrotenboer, “Hands On”, Painting

Siena Van Beynen, “Handle With Care”, Sculpture

Emily Delucia, “At The Center of A Web”, Digital Art

Trinity Breha-Huffman, “Burnt Out”, Painting

Sela Marks “Power is A Fire That Can Be Controlled or Released”, Drawing, and Mia Lemmons “Her Star Shines The Brightest”, Sculpture

Throwback Thursday- Edgar Heap of Birds at MoMA NYC in 2021

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Conceptual Art, Painting / Painters, Printmaking
Nov 172023
 

Above is Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds’s work Surviving Active Shooter Custer, 48 monoprints, 2018, from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, on view in 2021.

From the museum about the work-

The term “active shooter” is one we hear too often in today’s news. Here, Heap of Birds uses this contemporary phrase to characterize massacres committed by United States troops against Native Americans in the 1800s. Each of this work’s panels contains six lines of text evoking the violence of not only this country’s history but ongoing acts of oppression against Indigenous communities. The prints on the right are “ghost prints” of those on the left, made by using the residual ink remaining on the printing plate after the first print was produced. For the artist, these prints recall the “ghosts of a whole culture.”

In the video below from the museum, the artist discusses the work with two of MoMa’s curators.

Tampa Art Shows- Jenn Ryann Miller’s “Hobby House” and Justin Myers “What Did We Use To Say” at Tempus Projects in Ybor City

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Ceramic Art, Collage, Conceptual Art, Digital Art, Florida Art Shows, Installation Art, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Photographers / Photography, Sculptors / Sculpture, Tampa, Video and Film
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.

Florida Art Events- Ybor Arts Tour- Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (FMoPA), The Bricks, and Marcolina’s Fine Arts Gallery

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Books, Ceramic Art, Fiber Arts, Florida Art Shows, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Photographers / Photography, Printmaking, Tampa
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.

Tampa Art Shows- Department of Contemporary Art Tampa, FL in Ybor City- “Degrees”

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Conceptual Art, Digital Art, Drawing, Florida Art Shows, Illustration, Installation Art, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Printmaking, Sculptors / Sculpture, Tampa
Oct 252023
 

Anthony Freese “State of Emergency”, 2023 vinyl and “Termination”, 2023 3D print

(L to R) Jay Giroux “Slow Burn”, 2023, waterborne acrylic on aluminum sign panel mounted to MDF; Ryan Lagasse, “This Isn’t Sunshine”, 2023, acrylic on wood; Blake Bailey, “Solar Pressure”, 2023, linocut relief print

Ryan Lagasse “This Isn’t Sunshine”, 2023, acrylic on wood

Jay Giroux, “Drug Store”, 2023, acrylic on primed MDF

RJ Martin, “Cold projections”, 2023, digital print on signboard and “Truth in blue”, 2023, 3D print

(left) Edgar Sanchez Cumbas, “Where There Is Brown There Is Gold”, 2023, digital print embellished with wax, acrylic, and charcoal on Arches cold press 140lb paper; (right) Joana Hila “Equilibrium of Insect & Flora”, 2023, mixed media

The works above are from Department of Contemporary Art’s latest group exhibition Degrees, organized with Tampa’s Greater Public Studio. It explores the multiple uses of the word “degrees” including in climate change, education and history.

Artists included in the exhibition- Blake Bailey, Anthony Freese, Jay Giroux, Joana Hila, Ryan Lagasse, Richard Martin, Julia Parrino, Alex Roberts, and Edgar Sanchez Cumbas.

About Degrees from the gallery’s website-

In this exhibition, we unravel the layers of meaning behind ‘Degrees’. From the nuanced shades of truth that shape our perceptions to the tangible degrees of temperature that influence our environment, the exhibition creates a dynamic dialogue between different dimensions of this concept.

Situated in a pivotal battleground state, the exhibition also contemplates the intricate relationship between degrees and the pressing issue of global warming. Delving into the political discourse, we examine how degrees of belief and denial intersect, particularly in the context of climate change debates.

Furthermore, the exhibition prompts contemplation on the notion of an art degree. What does it signify? How does it define one’s creative journey? These questions guide us through an exploration of artistic qualifications and the degrees of expertise they represent.

A journey through art history reveals the connection between degrees and lines, as we delve into the associations between angles, perspectives, and the progression of artistic movements. This collection invites you to ponder how degrees of inclination can shape artistic expression and historical narratives.

Join us in this immersive exhibition, where degrees of interpretation converge, offering a multi-dimensional encounter with the concept of ‘Degrees’.

Tomorrow (10/26/23) from 6-9pm is the last chance to see the show.

Tampa Art Shows- Ya La’ford at HCCFL’s Gallery 114 in Ybor City

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Conceptual Art, Drawing, Florida Art Shows, Installation Art, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Printmaking, Sculptors / Sculpture, Tampa
Oct 202023
 

Currently on view at Hillsborough Community College’s Gallery 114 in Ybor City is Ya La’Ford’s solo exhibition HENGE- unearthing ancestral memory. The exhibition includes the sculptures seen above as well as several prints. The geometric work taps into universal themes of cross cultural connectivity through form.

From the gallery about the artist and the exhibition-

Ya La’ford (b. 1979, Bronx, NY) is an internationally recognized multimedia artist whose bold, geometric work explores themes of transformation and transcendence. Her solo exhibition HENGE – unearthing ancestral memory in Gallery114@HCC invites viewers to reconsider symbols from ancient civilizations as keys for navigating the shapes and patterns of modern life. Concepts such as connection, excavation, reverence and memory are woven together for an immersive and multi-sensory installation. Inspired by forms such as Neolithic henges, kivas, and other ancient architectural monuments, these new works by La’ford investigate ancestral messages and reimagines them for contemporary audiences.

The prints, seen above, strike an intriguing balance with their delicacy to the more solid forms of the sculptures.

About the prints from the gallery-

Many numbers have symbolic associations. For example, sets of three can sometimes indicate cycles of time, such as past, present, and future.

The prints included in HENGE are titled in a series as Seven שבע. In ancient near eastern and Israelite culture, the number seven can be used to communicate a sense of fullness or completeness (שבע “seven” is spelled with the same consonants as the word שבע “complete/full). The number seven can also be associated with intuition, wisdom, spiritual revelations, a growing self-awareness, or upcoming shifts that may have a positive impact on one’s life.

This exhibition is on view until 11/2?23.

Second Saturday ArtWalk at The Factory in St. Pete

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Ceramic Art, Collage, Conceptual Art, Drawing, Fiber Arts, Florida Art Shows, Glasswork, Installation Art, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Pinellas County, Printmaking, Sculptors / Sculpture, St. Pete, Video and Film
Oct 182023
 

Keith Crowley “Longwood Run (Nocturne)”, 2019, Oil on linen (left) and “Mooring Fields (Twilight)”, 2021 (right)

Kenny Jensen, “I Didn’t Forget You (The Clearing)”, 2023 (left) and “I Didn’t Forget You (Papa’s Van)” 2023 (right)

Alison Tirrell “untitled (It’s all under control)”

Elizabeth Barenis, “The Creek Drank the Cradle”, acrylic on canvas

The Factory is a massive space in the Warehouse Arts District in St. Pete that houses numerous galleries and artist spaces, as well as the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, Museum of Motherhood (MOMMuseum), Fairgrounds St. Pete, and Daddy Kool Records. This past Saturday (10/14/23) was Second Saturday ArtWalk and there was a lot to see. On this page and the ones that follow are some of the highlights.

In Studio B, a temporary gallery space, was the group exhibition Soft Spoken (images above), which included artists Keith Crowley, Kenny Jensen, Alison Tirrell, Elizabeth Barenis, Raheem Fitzgerald, Kate Cummins, and Alfredo Christiano. This show remains on view by appointment with the artists.

In The Factory’s gallery space was the group exhibition Medium (images below).

Oil paintings by Luke Vest

Laurent Waldron “Road Killer”, 2023, Latex and acrylic paint, rubber tire and “Last Rodeo” 2023, Acrylic paint, wirebrush frame

At the Florida Wildlife Corridor’s gallery space Wild Space is Mickett/Stackhouse Studio’s Circle of Water, a collection of paintings, drawings, and video by artists Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse continuing their explorations of environmental issues. This exhibition will remain on view until 1/13/24.

Work by Mickett/Stackhouse Studio– “Mitigation Paintings: Green Shade Oak, Whale Pump, Mangrove Family, Mangrove Sea Wall, Green Swamp, Green Swamp Aqua Feeder, Whale Pump & Plankton, Shade Oak”, Watercolor on paper

About the above by the artists-

Mitigation Paintings further explore the ways in which natural resources can help to remedy and even forestall the damages of climate change. The swamps, whales and trees depicted are all “carbon sink,” in other words they absorb CO2, among their other contributions.

Work by Mickett/Stackhouse Studio at Wild Space Gallery

Florida Art Shows- “PLAY On” and “LOL: Funny Papers” at Dunedin Fine Art Center

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Books, Collage, Digital Art, Drawing, Dunedin, Fiber Arts, Florida Art Shows, Illustration, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Photographers / Photography, Pinellas County, Printmaking, Sculptors / Sculpture, St. Pete
Oct 122023
 

Cardboard sculpture by Richard Entel and his 5 year old daughter Emily; Photographs by Jane Housham

Jane Housham, “Color Squares”

Meryl Bennett, “Fountain 3”, epoxy resin

Sculptures by Richard Entel and his daughter Emily

Every autumn Dunedin Fine Art Center chooses a universal theme that runs through all of their galleries. This year they chose PLAY. It’s a wonderful choice and makes for a delightful time in the various galleries.  This is the last week to see two of the exhibitions- PLAY On!, a selection of wonderful artist made toys and toy related art (photos above), and LOL: Funny Papers, a juried selection of  art work incorporating comics, illustrations, zines and mixed media collage (photos below).

Catch both of these shows before they close on 10/15/23.

Barbara Hubbard, “Quantum Entanglement #5”, print collage/hand colored

Cory Robinson, “Just a Reminder”, spray paint and acrylic (left); and Cort Hartle “You’ll Come Back to Haunt You” acrylic, and “We were running hand in hand”, ceramic

Michael Crabb, “Spaceman Spiff”, mixed media

Kaitlin Crockett/ Print St. Pete, “Rizo Zoo” and “Welcome to My Adult Life” risograph zines; Denis Gaston, “Fear of Flying”, book

Yhali Ilan, “Meanwhile”, acrylic

Corey Robinson’s work can also be found every week in the Creative Loafing Tampa Bay newspaper.

Print St. Pete, founded by Kaitlin Crockett and Bridget Elmer is a small community letterpress and risograph printshop which offers studio access, workshops, and custom printing.

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