This Exotic Marigold Weekend, May 17th-20th.

This is a somewhat slow arts weekend, but there's enough to go around.

HCC Dale Mabry "Sacred Folk" and HCC Ybor, "No U Turn"-- Tonight, Thursday, May 17th, there are two opening receptions, both at HCC, one at the Ybor, the other at the Dale Mabry campus. In HCC Ybor, Theo Wucjik, one of Tampa's premier artists, Theo Wucjik, has a show at HCC Ybor Gallery that is already open, but the Opening Reception is being held this Thursday, May 17th, at 5:30-8:00 PM. The artist will speak at 6:30 PM. Free and open to the public. 2112 N. 15th St. Ybor City, Tampa.

At HCC Dale Mabry : Gallery 221 @ Dale Mabry HCC Campus' Secred Folk show is currently open. The reception will take place on Thursday evening, May 17th, 5-7 PM, with the Folk Art Talk @ 6 PM. Gallery 221, 2nd floor library, Learning Resources Center, Dale Mabry Campus, 4001 W. Tampa Bay Blvd. Across from Raymond James Stadium.

Contact: Katherine Gibson, Gallery Director/ kgibson7@hccfl.edu /813-253-7386. 

The works in the show are from Jeanine Taylor Folk Art. There are over twenty artists represented, incuding Mose Tolliver, Missionary Mary Proctor, Butch Anthony, Jerry Coker, Alyne Harris, Michael Banks, Carl Knickerbocker, Cornbread, Theresa Disney, Anthony Pack, Jim Shores, and from Hillsborough County, Ruby C. Williams. Gallery summer hours are: Monday through Thursday, 8 AM - 8 PM. Free and open to the public. For info call 813-253-7386.
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A hundred years, One hundred chairs @ Tampa Museum of Art - A traveling exhibit from the Vitra Design Museum comes to TMA after starting out in 1996 (!). They cover a fast-changing era in art and design. Tampa Museum of Art, 120 W. Gasparilla Plaza, downtown Tampa. Opens Saturday, May 19th, and closes Sept. 16th. Admission $10 for adults. For other information check [Link]
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Art on the Water @ Harbour Island - Eighty artists set up by the water (and Jackson's Bistro) on Harbour Island, Sunday, May 20th, from 11 AM to 6 PM Free. Tampa.
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Global and Local Studio Glass on the West Coast of Florida @ Museum of Fine Arts - 100+ works from some of the world's best glass artists on display. MFA, 255 Beach Drive, St Pete. Admission is $17.00 for adults. [Link]
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"Who Let the Dogs Out?" Opening Art Reception

May 17, 2012 at 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

104B 8th Ave

Giugliotta Gallery on St. Pete Beach. Show runs through July 1 during regular gallery hrs: Wed-Sunday 11-5 PM. Hours subject to change. Call first at 727-455-1510. Neverne Covington is one of the artists featured. 
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The closing party for the Andy Warhol Show at FMoPA is this Friday, May 18th. They have recreated the Factory in the Museum and will have a Cash Bar, Lite Bites, and the exhibit (which was reviewed here). $10.00 Admission for non-members. Members get in free.

Honoring My Ancestors @ The Morean Arts Center

Risser Gallery, Morean Arts Center

The Risser Gallery is behind the galleries at the front of the MAC. A long, narrow space, bigger than many entire galleries in the area, it's easily overlooked specially if one has just gone through one of the exhibits in front. The Risser is worth a trip of its own. Currently, it is showing Honoring My Ancestors, a project of the Word and Image Arts in Education Partnership funded by the Hough Family Foundation.

Work by Kiana Kumaneng

 Honoring My Ancestors involves area public school students' visual art accompanied by text addressing the visual elements and answering the questions: Who do you honor in your family? How has this person shaped who you are?
 For Kiana Kumaneng, it was her native country, the Philippines. The text read:

"My country that is the Philippine, land of gold and flowers, Even a bird with the freedom to fly, Cage it and it cries, Nest of my tears, what more a country totally exquisite. My desire, to see you completely free."

(From "My Country", written by Jose Corazon de Jesus, in 1929).
 An ethereal image, with a flowered hand and forearm reaching into the middle of the frame. It wears a blue beaded (?) bracelet. A necklace of the same color floats to the left. A cat-like blue creature (or spirit) waves from what looks like an earthenware jar. In the grass, a lotus flower and a drum.

Work by Alexandra Woodard

 Alexandra Woodard was inspired by her Puerto Rican grandparents about whom she wrote: " My grandparents have taught me the importance of hard work and family. I plan to keep these teachings in my family and hopefully they are passed down even after me."

In the foreground is a young woman in native Puerto Rican dress, in front of a typical house  looking wistfully across the water at an American skyline (NYC?). The colors in this work are carefully ad beautifully modulated.


Congratulations to all the young artists, to the Word and Image Art in Education Partnership, the Hough Foundation and the Morean Arts Center for a very good show.

--- Luis

No U Turn: Theo Wucjik @ HCC Ybor

One of Tampa's premier artists, Theo Wucjik, has a show at HCC Ybor Gallery that is already open, but the Opening Reception is being held this Thursday, May 17th, at 5:30-8:00 PM. The artist will speak at 6:30 PM. Free and open to the public. 2112 N. 15th St. Ybor City, Tampa.

[I wish HCC would give each gallery a different opening night, so I could attend both.]

I have already seen this show and will be reviewing it here soon, but can recommend it without reservation. Theo focuses on global warming on this one.

--- Luis

Sacred Folk Show @ Dale Mabry HCC

Gallery 221 @ Dale Mabry HCC Campus' Secred Folk show is currently open. The reception will take place on Thursday evening, May 17th, 5-7 PM, with the Folk Art Talk @ 6 PM. Gallery 221, 2nd floor library, Learning Resources Center, Dale Mabry Campus, 4001 W. Tampa Bay Blvd. Across from Raymond James Stadium.

Contact: Katherine Gibson, Gallery Director/ kgibson7@hccfl.edu /813-253-7386. 

The works in the show are from Jeanine Taylor Folk Art. There are over twenty artists represented, incuding Mose Tolliver, Missionary Mary Proctor, Butch Anthony, Jerry Coker, Alyne Harris, Michael Banks, Carl Knickerbocker, Cornbread, Theresa Disney, Anthony Pack, Jim Shores, and from Hillsborough County, Ruby C. Williams. Gallery summer hours are: Monday through Thursday, 8 AM - 8 PM. Free and open to the public. For info call 813-253-7386.

Pangea Project No.25: In the Noise Underground Concert in the Warehouse District

The Compound patio

Noise music involves using noise and riffing musically to it, or vice versa. It isn't new. In historical terms it began with the Italian Futurists in theory, with the first concert performed publicly in 1913, the Dadaists did their own form of it in 1917. The tradition cascaded into the present through many top musicians and composers, people like John Cage, the Beatles (Revolver, the last song), Jimi Hendrix, and too many others to mention here.



In a roomy space in the Warehouse Art District (WAD) musicians gathered to play. The amount of talent that pooled there was radiant. Creative power surges synchronized the spirits in the room and more. The level of energy, skill, intelligence and expression at Pangea Project No.25 was impressive.






This time I went into trance witness mode and just took pictures. Here's a selection...

In the Gallery

On the left is a picture of the gallery section of the venue. The featured artist was Brad Kokay, who had his Xerox collages on exhibit, and later did some live collaging to the music in the concert hall.

 <--- Infinite Third ---->

There is a point where signal and noise cross, a still moment where they are equal. The mind, unfettered from the categories, takes flight, if only for an instant.

Trotsky's Watercooler

Stoic

Stoic and Jun Bustamante 

Jun

Nequam Solitus

Nequam Solitus

Nequam Solitus's performance was as impressive visually as it was aurally. Wearing an Iron alien-looking mask, he destroyed several objects making noise to music.

Nequam Solitus

Genre Baptiste

Genre Baptiste

Audience Dancing

Whitey Alabastard

Whitey Alabasterd

Whitey Alabastard, Scott Smith & Christopher Miller

Whitey Alabastard

Congratulations to all the musicians, Jesse & Trey and the crew for an intense show.


--- Luis

Call for Artists: 620 Members Only Art Show

Via Coralette Damme....

The Studio@620 invites you to participate in the 2012 Members Only Art Show!

New and current members of The Studio@620 may apply to exhibit up to 2 pieces of art in this group show. 1st piece included free with paid membership. 2nd piece may be submitted for an additional $10. Exhibit opens during the Studio@620 Birthday Celebration on Saturday June 16.
A closing reception to be held on Friday June 22, 2012 from 6-9 PM.

Membership levels range from $31 to $620 and payments may be made on a monthly installment basis. If you're not a current member you may join online, email membership@studio620.org, or call The Studio@620 Administrative Office at 727-895-6620 for assistance.

There will be Prizes! A “People’s Choice Award” will be announced during the closing reception on Friday June 22, 2012.
Winner is determined by voting which will take place during the Studio@620 Birthday Celebration on Saturday June 16, 2012. Both events will be free and open to the public so encourage your friends to attend! Also, for the grand prize, the Artistic Director(s) will select two artists to share an exhibit to be held at The Studio in the coming year.

Deadline for entries is May 29, 2012

For more details relating to the Members Only Art Show please visit our online application.
http://www.studio620.org/620/enews/2012/documents/membersartshowapplication_000.pdf

First Saturday Indie Market #3

One of many elephants @ Oleson's

Part of this First Saturday was my preceding post on the Oleson Gallery and his making of the fiberglass 4x4' Elephants that will be painted and soon placed all around Tampa.

As with the other First Saturday Indie Markets (FSIM), the 600 block was alive with throngs of people walking around, buying art talking and having a great day.

B.C. Woo in his gallery

B.C. Woo only has a few of his beautiful paintings of fish left in his main gallery. He sold most of the paintings in it recently. Bravo! There were several stretched canvases ready to paint stacked against a bench. The painting in the upper left of the photo on the left is in 3-D and ultra-colorful. These are really portraits of fish, individuals, not generic.

Emmelle Lee

Work by Emmelle Lee

 Emmelle Lee makes custom leather gifts. She can be reached at oneloveleather@gmail.com

John Rosa

Local legend John Rosa made an appearance to jettison some tomes from his extensive library.

Betsy Bell and her work

Betsy Bell makes beautiful custom, handmade pillows and nature-themed prints. You can see more of her work at: [Link]

Frank Strunk III's stand

Frank Strunk III brought a large heart and hand grenades in several sizes, among many other steel sculptures.










Greg Francis, graphic designer and iPhone photographer (recently reviewed here) was there with his prints, which are quite good. His website: [Link]

Laura Spencer

 Artist and Illustrator Laura Spencer had fascinating votive candles of celebrities as saints, and prints for sale.
For more of her work: [Link]

Bill Drugan showed me his new gallery at space # 14 in the Crislip arcade. He's a well-traveled artist with works having a broad range of influences from around the globe. His colors and figures make a trip to his gallery worthwhile.

Sean Reid with this work, which was shown here on the blog post on First Saturday #2 and is now finished. It can be seen at Derek Donnelly's Saint Paint.








Congratulations to all the participants in the FSIM and to Rosie Williams for keeping it going.

Elephants: Herd About Tampa Bay.

Remember the painted turtles once seen all around Tampa Bay? Or the Manatees? They were inspired by the original idea which took place in Switzerland, with sculptures of cows that were painted by artists. They drew world-wide attention, and thus have been imitated to the point of becoming a genre ever since. With the Republican National Convention headed to Tampa this summer, this tradition is being revived with elephants.
 

The mold

These four-by-four foot fiberglass elephants are being made on the 600 block in the back of the Oleson Gallery by James Oleson and his brother. The project is headed by a partnership between the Tampa Bay Host Committee and the Outdoor Art Foundation to Beautify the Community. Dozens of the pachyderms will be placed around Tampa and the Bay area. 



Businesses pay $2000 for the total cost of the sculpture. The artists who paint them will be paid around $500. The first artist chosen was Carl Cowden, renowned Tampa muralist and master printer at University of Tampa. Some will be going up around June, but most will not go up until Convention time.

 They're technically half-elephants, which will go up against walls or other flat vertical structures. This cuts the costs of pedestals and reduces the chances of vandalism.

James Oleson and Elephant sculpture

I had the pleasure of watching the Olesons in the process of making these sculptures. Normally, James works in metal, but the fiberglass work looks great and is coming along well. I look forward to seeing these painted and on location. Congratulations to James Oleson for getting the job!

--- Luis

Salt Creek Closes

I just received an e-mail from a trusted friend saying:  "I am sure you have heard about the sudden closing of Salt Creek Artworks.". No, I had not, and it comes as not unexpected, yet terrible news. The official closing date is Juy 1st.

In a recent review I wrote: "Salt Creek Artworks is one of the pillars of the St. Petersburg Art community. It is a beautiful exhibition space in a prime location, easily accessible from the downtown area, housing the studios of a wide variety and number of artists. Headed by Pat Burgess for about seven years, and her parents before that, the space has been a haven for art and artists for nineteen years. Only a handful of arts venues in the city have been open that long or longer. Lance Rodgers is the resident curator"

It was all that and more. So many artists and friends. What will happen now? Will the artists scatter? My friend speculates: " I would like to see them be able to put them on Central Ave. (as per the old Cultural Master Plan where First Ave. South, Central Ave. and First Ave. North out to 31 St. would be a creative corridor.) but they might try to 'warehouse' them all in WAD.) "

To all the artists at Salt Creek, my heart goes out to you. Please e-mail me and let me know what is going on with you, where you will be showing. I will miss and remember Salt Creek, that landmark haven for the arts in St. Pete and great private exhibition space.

 Google: Art Taco Salt Creek to read the many reviews I wrote about the great exhibits there. So long, Salt Creek, and thanks to Pat Burgess and the family for the nineteen years. Hopefully something can be done to move the artists there into a new space.

--- Luis

Third Warehouse District Mural: Bask at work

The Third WAD mural at Zen Glass is coming along well. BASK doing his side. Tes One did the oil-black dinosaurs on the left, Bask is doing the "scrubbing bubbles" on the right. (Oil/Clean-up).

Tes One and BASK are two of the top graffiti artists/painters/muralists in the country.

I'll be checking on the progress of this mural tomorrow.

--- Luis

The Kids Are Alright: Scratch The Surface @ Blue Lucy

The Kids are Alright: Coralette Damme and Matt Deterior

 I had XXL reservations about the Scratch the Surface show at Blue Lucy. No less than one-hundred plus artists were either invited or walked in and bought a $20.00 wooden box on which their art would go, then be hung in the show. These things are not done in the fine arts world in larger markets because they normally do not work well, if at all. Without curation, theme, a hundred  artists guaranteed participation for $20, things like this end up bland, distended and inconsistent -- at best -- most of the time.

Not this time. This show wildly exceeded my expectations. Maybe it was Blue Lucy's invitation list,  the walk-ins, and/or a little luck was involved, but for me, it was the caliber of the artists in the area.

In the photo above, Coralette's empowering work, "I am not a deadly sin", and Matt's media comment "Con Man" are in the upper left and right hand corners, respectively.

Reid Jenkins, "One Kind of Night"

 Reid Jenkins' "One Kind of Night"  shows a man and a woman in front of blocks of generic apartment buildings. They are individuated in ther dress. He caresses her loving face, she holds a rose. What kind of night is this? A romantic, love-filled one. One to remember, treasure and build on. Paradise is wherever we choose to make it happen. Note how their hair streams out into the sky. This is a starry, starry night.

Frank Strunk, "Scrutiny"

"Scrutiny", by Frank Strunk III, is an animated metal piece involving a blinking eye and a monocle that slides over it to increase its powers of observation. The plates are rigidly geometric and offset by the multiply joined steampunk arm and associated hardware that moves the monocle.
The Machine is watching us.

Alex Glueck/Stoic, "The Creation of the Annunaki"

"Stoic", A.K.A. Alex Glueck's "The Creation of the Annunaki" has an ethereal, spiritual/ghostly presence. Look at the panel he is painting at Venture Compound and you will see similar figures [Link]. Originally a Babylonian myth, the Annunaki are assigned to their stations, three hundred of them on Earth. The figure, white, its bones visible, curly tongue hanging from its grinning mouth juggles a yellow orb with a scarab on it. It is a weightless moment.

Melissa Loera, "Navajo"

Melissa Loera has focused on animals frequently over the years. I remember an X-ray mixed media piece of a wolf or fox that was extraordinary. Here she has painted a nearly-surreal armadillo, its abdomen wrapped in a Navajo blanket, going about its business in a sandy environment. The blanket is almost like an extra layer of armor protecting it.

Work by Sarah Thee Campagna

Sarah Thee Campagna, of Cybercraft Robots, made "Stowaway Aboard the Orbiting Laboratory", shown on the right. We see a segment of the Orbiting Lab comprised of a patchwork quilt of stressed metal rectangles & squares with screw heads. A series of copper pipes emerge and retreat into the metal surface. On the lower left, there's a porthole where the stowaway looks out. The window is backlit with green light. We humans are on an orbiting lab of sorts, too. 

Derek Donnelly, "Max Headroom"

Derek Donnelly, owner of the Saint Paint gallery does a lot of celebrity portraits. Here he has brought us Max Headroom. Remember Max? He was a satire of Television 'personalities'. This is an anti-celebrity celebrity, if you will, a tourguide of the Dystopia. Derek, self-referring to the computer-generated Max (who ironically, was analogue in the show!) has extended from the plane of the box into 3-D with a monitor attached to the box, on the surface of which Max is painted. This is a work that turns itself inside out conceptually.

Jennipher Chandley, "Bite Me"

Jennipher Chandley painted a duet of of observant, alert, beautiful and poised Medusae, their hair a mass of snakes. Originally there were three Gorgon sisters. The legend of the snakes came from their dreads. Gorgons were North African High Priestesses who entered Euro consciousness when Rome used that region as its breadbasket.






Congratulations to all 103 artists.  Scratch the Surface is a wonderful show. The best Who's Who of St. Pete artists to date. I still think that uncurated, themeless, buy-into shows are a bad idea in general, but this one worked quite well. The Kids are alright, and so is Blue Lucy.

--- Luis

WTCA Art Warming Show

Entrance, Santaella Buiding

 This is the debut show for the new director of the WTCA, Moira Shiver. With an impossibly short two weeks to throw together a show, there were a lot of Ybor Art Association (YAA) [Link] members's works present. Ms. Shiver has long been affiliated with the YAA, and her husband, Jason Shiver, is still its president.
 The first thing I noticed driving in was the new, in-progress, fledgling sculpture garden by the side of the Santaella building. It's far from finished, but already has a few pieces in it, and there are big plans for it as a space for sculptures and social events extending outside the building.

This show was curated by Samantha Churchill, and Princess Rashid, who are current or ex-YAA members ( listed as members on the YAA website).  

The hallways on the lower floor were lined with Santaella Studio Artists' works. As with any members/rent-a-wall un-curated display, there was inconsistency in the quality of work, and, of course, no theme to speak of. There were some very good works on display. Elizabeth Jeness-Burge's paintings of small (apparently) southern towns stood out for their chromatic sensitivity and somewhat abstract planar forms.

Ofra Friedman, "Energy"

In the main gallery there were a fair amount of sculptures. Here's a trio of figures dancing, made of wire mesh by Ofra Friedman, titled: "Energy". They have a strong corporeal three-dimensional quality.

Marc De Waele, "Mystic Dance"

Marc De Waele's "Mystic Dance", a horned, caped figure engaged in what appears to be a ritualistic dance is remarkably light, made of hammered aluminum and sprayed chrome. He had several other sculptures in the show, many emphasizing the conceptual more than this one.








 Samantha Churchill had at least two of her very expressive, wrapped-aluminum sculptures in this gallery. This one is reminiscent of the "Keep on Truckin'" Crumb character and is titled "Lazy Days".

Mishou Sanchez, "Cancer Scare"

We got a sneak Mishou Sanchez' upcoming show at Hoffman Porges. Here is a large (self?) portrait titled  "Cancer Scare". A woman looks at the viewer. Note how asymmetric the two sides of the face are. She looks between shell-shocked and determined. Around her neck, a set of keys. Look closely, that's not a flower on the black table (?) behind her, but a heart cut in two.

Laszlo Horvath, "Sea weed 2"

Besides starting on the sculpture garden, a roomy new gallery has been opened, near where the bathrooms are. It is called the "Churchill Gallery". It has 3-4 more artists studios, including Jason Shiver's, that have been opened. The effect adds a lot more exhibition space and encourages viewers to walk the length of the hallways.
 Laszlo Horvath's photographic exquisite prints of seaweed stood out. Elegant and intelligently formal, reminiscent of a mix of Edward Weston, Irving Penn and Currier and Ives with
 just enough color.

Brent Thorlton had just moved into his studio and had several beautiful and well-thought out paintings, this one I commented appeared to be influenced by Eric Fischl, and as it turned out, the artist studied in NYC under Fischl himself.


I want to congratulate all the artists in the show and studios. Moira's opening show was rushed, well-done considering the time crush, yet more of a transitional step than anything else. I look forward to the next one. The Santaella resident artists will be having a show of their own next.

--- Luis