Natura @ West Tampa Center for The Arts, Part II

"Game", by Bethany Krull

 Below right is a close-up of the bulls' eye on the left, showing the creature (?) stuck to the board by its spines.














This "game" is like a complete pseudo-darts game, except with these
creatures. At right is a tray full of 'spares' to be used in the game. It came across as a comment on evolution to me.


                                                   

Shane Keena, "Nodusa (Flaveus Cydaneus)". The artist is a scuba diver, and has been paying close attention to that environment and the animals in it. This, besides looking a lot like the real thing, is an object of extraordinary beauty.




On the right & below are Leigh Taylor Mickelson's "Botanicals" numbers 19-29. 

Michael Fujita, "Cloud"

Leaving the "Natura" show and meandering through the WTCA hallways and top floor, I came across this installation on the above left. I spoke with the artist briefly, a very devoted ceramicist, a USF graduate, whose card I managed to misplace. He was recontextualizing familiar every day objects via constructions, juxtaposition, and other devices.

Michael Fujita, "Garden"

Scott Rosenberg, "Home Alone"

Michael Fujita's "Garden" and "Cloud" approach the idea of the multiple and the singlet, among others. These are commonplace forms serialized and formalized into art.

On the above right, a minimalist work by Scott Rosenberg. I almost mistook it for peeling wallpaper.

This is by Maria Albornoz, the same artist who did several of the notably strong works in the front room of the Salt Creek NCECA exhibit. I believe this work, and others like it, have to do with social mobility. They're great metaphors for human networks.

On the right is Christina West, "What a Doll: The Human Objects as Doll". up close, one could see that these dolls were grotesque, and some transgendered, some grimacing. They seemed to emphasize the frailty and pain that goes with being alive.

Congratulations to the West Tampa Art Center and NCECA for putting together a great show and opening, mixing the main show with secondary shows from the studio artists.

--- Luis