Pictures at an Exhibition: Personal Icons @ Mindy Solomon Gallery

 These pictures are a selection taken at the opening of "Personal Icons" at MSG. It was the opening of the show preceding the one opening tonight, "Florida Souvenirs". 

This is Patrick McGrath Muniz in front of two of his works, talking about them, giving some insight into his methods and thinking. 

Here is the piece of music that I took the title of this post from: [Link].

Here's one of Patrick's works, "Supersized Happy Holy Meal".  Here's what I wrote about his work in the AT review: "Patrick McGrath Muniz has looked at these icons and recontextualized them into the present, incorporating consumer culture into the iconic style and expressing his concerns about the myths surrounding colonial aspects of globalization, imigration, breast enlargement surgery/identity and many other issues." Note the large, white, fat cat at Columbus' feet at the foreground lower left, by the front of the table.

 Gallery goers gather around a laid-back sculpture. MSG brings a lot of ceramics and sculptures to their space. That's artist Becky Flanders, whose work was in this show, standing on the right. Lots of arts lovers and people who like the arts frequent these events, and get a chance to talk with the artists and Mindy & Sharon, and mingle with very interesting people.

[Not pictured is a bar tended by Mindy's beautiful daughters and others, and hors d'oeuvres.]

Here are two works by Gabriel Parque. They consist of coil-built, stone-ware, white-painted figures of what appears to be a fetal or newborn Jesus figure, identifiable via either the blessing mudra (hand-gesture) or the small icon they hold in the other hand of the world with a large golden cross on it.








Jamex and Einar de la Torre, aka EJT2, make these iconographically rich glass pieces that are extraordinarily attractive. This one is titled "Southern Exposure".

  This close-up of another EJT2 work shows the richness and beauty of these things in terms of textures, colors, details and depth. It seems like there's more no matter how close you get.

















Opening night attendees enjoying viewing the works on display (these are by Patrick McGrath Muniz). I put the pictures up to give a sense of what it's like to go to a Mindy Solomon Gallery opening night. Tonight is another opening night for "Florida Souvenirs" and a chance to see for yourself.  And don't forget to check out the bathroom. There's always an extra work of art in there. One not to be missed.

--- Luis 

Gasp! Arilla Art Show @ Cafe Hey

On March 7th (last saturday), Cafe Hey held an opening night for its Gasp! Arilla art show, held at the same time as the Raymond James Gasparilla Art Show. The Cafe Hey version was small-scale, local, and intimate, much like the cafe itself.

Marie Bydlinski had two paintings in the show.

"Surveillance", Ms. Bydlinski says, is about the difference between the way we present ourselves and how others perceive us. Note how the print coming out of the Polaroid camera is of a vibrant flower, and the image on the LCD screen on the digital Nikon depicted is of a Godzilla-variety creature. The newer technology apparently capturing the old almost conveys a message about our living in a simulation.

The painting depicted at left, titled "Life", is about mortality, and how we move through life knowing it lies ahead.

I found both of these works too literal. More telling  than showing, and locked into one meaning (monosemic). One of the strengths of art is its potential to carry a multiplicity of meanings simultaneously (polysemic).  The explanations provided by the artist also reduced the range of possibilities in the works.


Amber Antonelli had several works in the show, but I couldn't find the name tags.

The above image shows a multimedia work with intricate patterns, a lunar form encircling a heart, flat-nosed pig-like (?) figures around the woman, whose hand reaches toward the heart, with the words "I want her heart" on their necks, which seems like a hint about consumption. I couldn't make out some of the words, but the work is strong and seems like some sort of feminine quest for love and/or self.

Here we see the feminine figure as Fool-Quester, holding a sword (?). She is encircled by what appears to be a torc. The picture is divided in two, and at the lower level, she is reaching for an upside-down heart.

Interesting, beautiful work.

You can see more of Amber's work here: [Link]

Allen Hampton's "Sex and Thrill Hungry", at left, couples a text from a tabloid or detective magazine about a naive, perfect, well-respected housewife that gets taken in by a con man with a picture of a woman wearing a gold-leaf mask. The text leaves us hanging at a point of abduction, we are left to ponder what happened, accept it as a chunk of hypertext, or make up our own lurid ending.

Allen's site can be found here [Link]

  Tim Gibbons had several works cleverly painted on folding movie/slide show projection screens. Here is one example (I could not find a title for it). Like many of the others, they contain intensely American iconography, usually with a twist. Here we have a jet plane in the background, the silhouette of a male figure carrying off a female figure. Is he rescuing her? She seems to be struggling, legs akimbo. Is it an abduction? In the foreground, we have a voluptuous woman in a skimpy outfit who at first appears to be tied up, but a moment later, one realizes she is holding the bindings tight with her teeth. A prisoner of her own device, like so many of us. I got to meet and talk with Tim Gibbons at the show. He's an outgoing, warm, funny guy, who's been doing and teaching art for more than three decades. See more of his work here [Link]

Gigi Lage had this delicate looking work and three others titled "Flours of Hope". 

She can be contacted at: gia.lage@g.mail.com









Congratulations to Cafe Hey for putting together a good show, and for being a great hangout.
1540 N. Franklin Ave., just north of the interstate, downtown Tampa.

--- Luis

Nancy Cervenka's PODS display @ First Night 2011

From the Art Taco archives: Nancy Cervenka's sculptural environment in a PODS container at First Night.

--- Luis

This Weekend: March 11th - 13th

Florida Souvernirs: The Three Esses: Sand, Surf and Sin @ Mindy Solomon Gallery - Freshly returned from a Scope (I think) Fair, Mindy Solomon's new show opens on Saturday, March 12th. 6:30 - 8:30 PM/ Through April 20th. 124 2nd Ave NE, St. Petersburg.  AT recommended. 727.502.0852 Free
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Rx Art @ Artful Living - Art Created by patients, families, health care practitioners, and artists, like Rose-Marie Prins. A presentation of Creative Clay. Opening Saturday, March 12th, 5-8 PM.  On Wed, March 16th, there will be a forum, and performances. Through Mar. 22. 1100 First Ave North. Free.
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Artists Invitational @ Franklin Street Fine Woodwork - Seven Artists, including one of my favorites, Kim Radatz. Opens Friday, March 11th, 5-10 PM. At 1690 N. Franklin St. Free. Donations bar, and hors doeuvres.
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Where the Wild Things Art - Marina Williams puts on her biggest party of the year. Lots of everything!

Saturday, March 12th, 7 PM - Midnight. Tickets can be purchased at Artpool Rules website for $10 through Mar. 11th, or for $16 at the door. 919 first Ave North, St Petersburg.
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Degas @ Tampa Museum of Art - 49 works by Degas, plus a ceramic show, photorealism, Herb Snitzer Jazz photos, and the show from the permanent collection of Roman artifacts. 120 W. Gasparilla Plaza, downtown Tampa. Museum Free on Fridays, 4-8 Pm, courtesy of Hill, Ward, Henderson Law Firm.
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Contain It! @ Dunedin Fine Art Center - Another take on PODS as micro-environments for art. Ten artists will turn PODS interiors into art spaces on Friday, March 11th. On the same day, at the same place, they're also having the "Trashy Treasures", a combination garage sale and silent auction, also starting on Friday at 7 PM, with hot dogs and drinks. Saturday the sale runs from 10 AM to 3 PM. Admission to the Friday night party is $10.00, Saturday is Free.
1143 Michigan Blvd, Dunedin. 727.298.3322.
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Paradise Lost & Found @ The Morean.- The exhibition  is drawing to a close, and this weekend is the last chance to see it. These are two exhibits in one space. One is of Floridian Nature photography. The other is more metaphorical and about the cultural/social landscape. Through March 13th (Sun). 727.822.7872.; Admisasion is $6
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 Charlie's got Big Bowls @ Charlie parker Pottery - Explorations of form and function in ceramics. The work of Kylyn Cervenka and others will be featured. 2924 Central Ave, St. Petersburg. No closing date given. Free
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The Art of Function @ Craftsman House - In conjunction with the NCECA conference. Pottery. Opening reception, Saturday, March 12th, 5 PM - 8:30. 2955 Central Ave. St Petersburg. Free.
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Glass Voyages @ Duncan McClelland Gallery - Works by Stephen Pon & John Brekke. 2342 Emerson Avenue S. St. Petersburg. 727.760.6600.
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Clay X3 @ Craftsmen Gallery - Three clay exhibitions on display. Opening reception Friday March 11th, 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM. 501 Central Ave St Petersburg. Free.
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Kurt Piazza and Ashley Niven at The Independent - Showcasing area indy video artists. Thursday, March 10th, 7-9 PM, $5 'donation', 5016 N. Florida Ave.
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India, Conservation Traditions @ Studio @ 620 - Mia Culbertson and and Madeline Lundquist photographsm film and lecture about the forests. Opens Thursday, March 10th, at 6-8PM. Free.
620 1st ave S.
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Place, contemporary ceramics by three artists - Museum of Art, St. Petersburg. 255 Beach Drive NE.
Admission $16 (I think).
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Kansas Reconsiders Abolishing Its Arts Commission

“His intentions were good,”
                                 ---- Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, said of Brownback’s proposal.



In his headlong zealous rush to dismantle and greatly reduce the size and scope of the Kansas Arts Commission, supposedly to reduce the state's deficit, Governor Brownback forgot to do the math. His own republican Legislators didn't, and soon realized that the state would lose more money than they would save in the form of lost Federal Matching Funds and state moneys. They are trying to rein Brownback in towards a sound fiscal reality.

Source: [Link]

Street Art: Look and Listen

"Look and Listen"

This one, part of The Artistic Project, is now gone. Ironically, it was a legal work on space donated by an enlightened property owner. That property is currently up for lease, however, and has been painted over. It was right on Central, west of the Taco Bus, east of the art supplies store. There were others wrapped around the building, and in time, they will be put up here.

--- Luis

Ps. If you know of good or better street art, I would love to photograph it and put it up here. Please send clear directions (not involving trespassing) as a comment. I will be the only one to see it, and will not divulge locations.

What Art is, by Germaine Greer

In this article, Feminist Germaine Greer tells us what art is. Interesting read.

One example: "Our best artists make stuff they know is bad; the difference is that they destroy it themselves. Tracey Emin didn't wait to be told to destroy the paintings that earned her an MA at the Royal College of Art. There are a few dealers around the place who would kill to get their hands on them; she has made sure they never will. That's the kind of thing real artists can be expected to do."

Source: [Link]

An Art Fair Is Born: Art Naples

The Inaugural Art Naples Fair is about to begin, with the first (private) showing on March 17th. The Fair will run from March 18th to the 21st. It will be held at the Naples International Pavillion [Link]. The Fair promises special exhibitions in the form of an installation of brass and glass work by renowned metal sculptor Albert Paley through Habatat Galleries [Link].

Another special exhibit, this one from Forum Gallery (NYC) is titled "Picturing America", with thirteen works by top photo-realist painter Robert Cottingham [Link].

  Dale Chilhuly's Venetian Series Revisited, featuring work done in the 1980's will be shown.

Miamian - Philadelphian based Frank Hyder will exhibit an installation from his year in the cloud forests of Venezuela, which was made possible by a Fulbright Grant [Link].

The Miami Art Dealers Association will have their artists represented in "Miami Wave".

 Art Naples is opening with a lot of strong work, and promises to put on a great inaugural show, all on the West Coast of Florida. Art Taco wishes them well.

--- Luis

Gasparilla Show: The Major Awards

Best of Show ($15k) went to Phillip Noley for a glass and metal urn.
Director's Prize ($7.5k) to Aaron Hequembourg for a mixed media piece.
Roddy Brownlee Award ($4k) Went to Rocky Bridges (reviewed & photographed here in the AT Guide) for his mostly metal mixed media sculptures.
The Mayor's Award ($3.5k) to Jerry Remillard for wood sculptures.

Art Taco's Guide to the 2011 Gasparilla Sidewalk Art Show

Art Taco's Guide to the 2011 Gasparilla Sidewalk Art Show begins with the recommendation that it is best to arrive early. Say, around 10:AM, and walk over to the First Watch restaurant, on 520 N. Tampa Street for a good, hearty breakfast (AT is partial to the Bacado omelette).

This year, the show's T-shirts are unusually beautiful. That's the place to get them. They have a deal on t-shirts from past shows, too. Ask.





[The artists I have chosen are those whose work I found particularly strong and chose as highlights for the show. With 300+ artists, your opinion is bound to vary from mine, but consider this a tease to help get you to the show on Sunday.]

This is Ummarid Eitharong, painter and past winner of the Gasparilla Sidewalk Art Show with his newest work. This is a change from his earlier noir-looking B&W work with some military overtones. He is one of Florida's best artists & can be seen at booth 232 and contacted at: 407.761.9935






                 

                                                                                                                                                                                      Edson Campos, Brazilian-born painter with his version of the Last Supper. If I was appointed God and had to rebuild the universe, I would contract Edson to design the women. He does the most exquisite renditions of women imaginable. You can see more of his work and contact him here:
[Link] He can be seen at booth 230.

Laurie Coppedge does beautiful Color and B&W photographs of women and girls. The series in the background of this picture, of girls by (or in) the water with sparklers is dreamlike, and very calming.
Laurie can be reached at 904.233.7755. You can see more of her work at [Link] or email her at lauriecoppedge@yahoo.com

Her work can be seen at booth 227

Ceramicist William Kidd's work is delectably organic. Even though a lot of it looks like extraterrestrial fruit, it's in familiar forms, and often succulent. It was beckoning to my inner foodie. Simply beautiful stuff, extremely well-crafted. He can be reached at: 954.662.2797. See more of his work here: [Link] Via e-mail: claydr47@aol.com
See his work at booth 223 at the Show.

    [Disclaimer: I am friends with Ms. Cleere and an admirer of her work] Carolilna Cleere is an award-winning journalist who turned to art photography a long time ago, doing deeply symbolic, psychological works that look painterly, but are photographically based, comprised of many digitally collaged images. This, one of her latest, is titled "Child's Play". It represents quite a departure compositionally from earlier work, with the subframe, well defined sense of depth and more. She tells me it was the influence of being in Spain, seeing the work in El Prado, and the effects of the Mediterranean. All I have to say is: Bravo! She can be contacted at 813.495.0085. Her work at the show is at booth 220.

                                                                                                                                                             Charles gatewood does oil paintings with delicately nuanced color. Everything from de Chirico - like images of isolation in the city, to eerily empty interiors and architecturals. All extraordinary. He can be contacted at 334.207.4011 or at his cell phone at 706.718.3630. His work can be seen at booth 219

Nancy Cervenka does unique work using film to make sculptures. Her work is in several private collections. The conical forms seen here are movie filmstrips spiraled. The work is simultaneously whimsical and conceptually potent. She can be reached at 727.323.2855. Or nancy@filmsculptures.com
She is at booth 218.

Beth Crowder's pastel landscapes are the kind of artwork one can walk into. Exquisitely composed and colored, with subtleties that articulate throughout the image field. She can be reached at 304.873.2347. Via e-mail at: beth@ crowder.org. You can see more of her work at [Link] .

Nicario Jimenez has been coming to the Gasparilla Show for a long time. I was lucky to notice him the first time he showed, and picked up an unbelievably and beautifully complex crucified Jesus Image that to this day has a premier spot on one of my shelves. Nicario is one of those rare artists that can seamlessly go from Folk Mythological imagery, to American cities, inner-universe meanderings, and politics, all with an unflinching humanistic overtone -- in one retablo. I love this man's work. Contact at: 239.354.0139 e-mail: nicariojimenmez@miondspring.com

You can see more of his work here: [Link] He is at booth 203.

Dave Bruner does woodcut prints. They are made from engraved wood done under magnifying lenses, and printed by him. He's been doing this for three decades, and makes masterful prints. he can be contacted at: 941.953.2554 and more of his work can be seen here: [Link]. He is at booth 192.

Becky and Steve Lloyd do incredibly fine hand-carved porcelain. Whatever else you do at this Gasparilla, do not miss this. Make sure you devote some time to this work. The Lloyds are making magnificent contemplative objects of the kind of beauty one happily surrenders to. Contact at 828.246.8846 or e-mail at steve@lloydpottery.com or becky@lloydpottery.com
See more work at [Link]
See at booth 173.

Etchings are a difficult medium to work with, but Grant Silverstein excels at it. The details in these images seem to go on and on as you look closer. Lots of historical and mythological themes there. See at booth 166.
Contact at [Link]. He is at booth

Rocky Bridges does metal sculptures from bits of scrap, parts from cars, etc., but the whole easily outweighs the sum of the parts. A graduate of Cooper Union, Rocky gives each of his works, whether large or small, a deep and intense expression. He can be contacted at: 727.940.4260 or rocky.bridgespolk-fl.netSee at booth 162. 

Stephen Palladino does very Noir black and white paintings of people and places in the area and history of Tampa, almost in a graphic novel style. He also is a fine muralist and paints in other styles. Last time I saw Steve it was at the Live Paint on Central a couple of weeks ago. He can be contacted at 727.458.4703 or sdpalladino@gmail.com, or see more of his work at: [Link]. 

Bill Turner does mystical landscapes that remind me of something out of a David Lynch movie, but more romantic. The song of the road, the long road, is audible in these paintings. He can be contacted at 770.301.1784 or via e-mail at bturner@charter.net
See more of his work at [Link]
He can be seen at booth 149.

Lynn Whipple is standing in front of her 4x8 foot mixed media work titled "The List". It seems part memory and part things yet to come, like life in flux. My favorite things are three paper fortune-telling devices left blank. Beautiful work.

Lynn can be contacted jxlwhipple@aol.com

More work can be seen here [Link]

Michel Delgado has strong work in the Naif/Art Brut tradition, with a kind of hot-wired connection to the subconscious.

Contact at 305.923.7673

or delgadom44@bellsouth.net

Marlene Rose works with sandcast glass sculpture in forms that are mystical and serene in nature. It is easy to imagine a garden with some of these pieces, a little rushing water, a place to meditate and healing station. Her display at the show (and her infectious smile) immediately unplug you from the tremors and the din and let you float downstream. Her glass Buddha heads are grand.

Contact at: 727.7092620
Or marlene@marleneroseglass.com
See more at: [Link].  See at booth 49.

Lance Rodgers, at booth 14, Does very eclectic art. In this show he has one excellent piece on the oil spill, and others on Floridian themes, all strong.

Contact at 727.365.4662

See more at [Link]

Don't forget your dogs! They enjoy an art show easily as much as humans, as these two did. They were taking a break before returning to the action.

Gasparilla this year is wonderful. I intend to go back Sunday, now that I have the Guide completed, and take my time. Hope this helps and remember, the Tampa Museum of Art is open and free. From 11AM to 5 PM.
Enjoy!

--- Luis

 

Arts Education on the Budget Chopping Block. What next?

It's not like there's a lot of it left, but the Obama proposal for a cut in the budget to make nice with the Republicans and keep government from coming to a halt includes a $16 million dollar cut out of the $40m budget for the Kennedy Arts Center and VSA. And the entire program's budget is on a proposal to be cut for next year. Obama is proposing a substitute $246m grant at the state level, though that is very unlikely to go unchallenged.

Source: [Link]

So what happens next? An impoverished landscape for the arts.

About 80,000 years ago, a volcano called Toba erupted in Africa. It was one of the biggest eruptions in millions of years. Eight feet of ashes fell, killing most plant and animal life. Man, too. Our numbers were reduced to around two-thousand individuals, and they survived by changing strategies to fit the new Wasteland. No longer able to hunt on the African Savannah, they retreated to the shores and learned to make canoes/rafts and turned to fishing to survive.

Artists must change strategies to meet the new economic wasteland.

"No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn", Jason Fondren @ Silver Meteor Gallery

                                       

I first saw this painting, titled "Shy Muse", by Jason Fondren, at a Square One event a few years ago. Several things caught my attention. The painting was very realistic, but not merely literal. It looked like it was drawn/painted from life, because it had the qualities of stereotaxic vision, not the monocular flatness of a camera. The figure was not idealized in the usual physical ways. The whole painting had a high skill/quality level. It had the hallmarks of Classical Realism. It also had the qualities of Japanese wabi-sabi, the higher-order beauty of the imperfect, the impermanent. The graceful state of flux that is being alive.



Jason is leaving Tampa for the Janus Collaborative School in Brooklyn, NYC. He explained to me that it's more of an Atelier, wherein one works on their own works in the same studio(s) as the three masters he will be mentored by. This show, "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn" was his last in Tampa. It was held at the Silver Meteor Gallery, and curated by gallery owner, Michael A. Murphy.

This gives some idea of the gallery (multi-tasking) space, and shows earlier paintings by Fondren, which were done for the "Reclaiming our Heritage" group, which is no longer, of historical images of Tampa, based on photographs from the Burgert Brothers collection.

This painting, titled "Muse", is not a generic figure, but clearly a specific one, an individual. The background here gives the figure an epic or iconic quality, a strong gestalt and sense of order.

"Johnny", a portrait of movie icon Johnny Weismuller (of Tarzan fame), shows the actor in an introspective mood, and at the zenith of his physical powers. Very sensuous, his strength and androginy seem to be given equal weight.













                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Here is Jason Fondren (whose resemblance to that of the painter Velazquez in his self-portraits was not lost on me when I photographed him) next to his painting, "Femme X".
Note the stylized, dramatic pose, and exquisitely detailed emphasis on the strain on the body's musculature.

The Classical Realism movement is a return to Pre-Modernist ideas and values, incorporating elements of Academic and Impressionist techniques. I get the feeling that the real strength here does not derive from a mere fundamentalistic return to an earlier era, but a recontextualized and revitalized version of Classical Realism in today's world.



I want to take this opportunity to bid Jason a fond farewell, and to wish him the best with his art. Hopefully, we will be hearing from him in this space.

--- Luis

Wisconsin's Governor Walker Now Going After The Arts.

Scott Walker's budget will be cutting the budget of the Wisconsin Arts Board by 68%. The agency will be merged into the Department of Tourism. Walker's cuts will, unlike those in Kansas, and S. Carolina, keep the agency elegible to receive Federal Arts dollars. All of this will save WI about $.5 million. The financial landscape of the Arts is rapidly shifting.

Source: [Link]

This Strawberry Weekend: March 4th - 6th

Disco Pigs @ Silver Meteor Gallery - SMG presents the play Disco Pigs, by Emda Walsh, starring Dahlia Legault and Nic Carter. March 3rd through March 20th. Thurday through Saturdays at 8 PM. Sundays at 3 PM. For reservations, call 813.300.3585. Special Pay What You Can Day on March 14th @ 8 PM. All at the Art Taco approved Silver Meteor Gallery, 2213 East 6th Ave. Tampa.
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Gasp! arilla @ Cafe Hey - A Cafe Hey Annual Art Show. Opening, Saturday, March 5th, 7 PM - Midnight. Free food & drink, music. performances, and "rebellious enlightenment" (?). WMNF Community Concert Series will provide some of the music. Cafe Hey is an Art Taco favorite hangout, specially for the poetry reading nights. 1540 N. Franklin St. Through March 31st. 813.221.5150.
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Independent Women, Photography @ The HCC Visual & Performing Arts Gallery - A chance to see student's work as well as that of one of Tampa's top artist/photographers, Suzanne Camp Crosby.Gallery hrs Mon and Wed-Fri, 10AM - 4PM. Tuesday, noon to 7PM.
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Video Artists Showcase @ The Independent - Philanthropic Young Tampa Bay and Creative Tampa Bay team up to host the second gathering @ The Independent in Seminole Heights. Kurt Piazza and Tempus Projects member Ashley Niven are featured. They will be showing Video works by area artists.
7-9 PM, March 10th, 5016 N. Florida Ave. Tampa. $5 donation admission.
pytampa.org
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Open Auditions for a Performance Piece by Ellen Mueller - This is for next Friday, March 11th, at 6-7PM, at USF FAH (Arts Building) room 280. The performance involves standing in line in a faux waiting room for 2 hrs. They are looking for a wide variety of people. Auditioners will be asked to present three behaviors of their choosing related to waiting in line. Bring headshot and a resume of past performance experience. Actors will be paid $20 total for a rehearsal and performance. The performance is April 1, 2011, 7-9 PM. The dress rehearsal will be during the week of March 21-25. You must be available for both dates.

For more details or questions, contact Ellen Mueller at ellen@ellenmueller.com

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Fragile Suburbia by Gabriel Ramos @ Centre Gallery - Themed around the vulnerable social structure of home sweet home. The artist makes paper constructions then submerges them and photographs them. Opening reception on Friday, March 4th, 7-9 PM. Runs through March 11th. Phyllis P. Marhall Center, USF Campus, Tampa. 4202 Fowler Ave. Parking is $5.
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Gasparilla Festival of The Arts - Yes, it's that time of year again, when 300+ artists set up in downtoen Tampa, on Curtis Hixon part adjacent to the Tampa Museum of Art. Saturday and Sunday, March 5th and 6th. 600 N. Ashley Drive. Free. Best seen early or late.
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Don Reitz Ceramics @ Scarfone/Hartley Gallery @ UT - Thirty-seven pieces by this great ceramicist. Opens Friday, March 4th, 210 N. Tampa Blvd. Free. For more info e-mail dcowden@ut.edu
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Gasparilla Film Festival - Second Friday of each month at Tampa Museum. $8, students (must bring ID) $5. 120 W. Gasparilla Plaza.
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Street Art, a Classic

This introspective, sad head of a citizen of the Dystopia, about 22" high, lies stenciled onto the back of a fuse box somewhere in Tampa.

[I will not say where to prevent it from being destroyed.]

It seems to be a remnant of the glory days of the Xxxx-xx-Resistance, a t-shirt retailer, no less, who daringly took it to the streets and left many works of art, including many sad Madonnas like this one at very risky spots (they favored traffic light boxes at busy intersections) all over the city in their day, which was around 2006. This sad Lady tangled up in blue has been spared so far and is gracefully fading and peeling into oblivion. I visit her whenever I am nearby. She reminds me of the one and only Tina Modotti as seen by Edward Weston. [Link].

The City, all cities, are full of secret grottoes where blooms of illegal art lie undetected by those who would erase it, and waiting for you to see it. 

--- Luis

Ps.  If you know of high quality street art, I would love to photograph it and put it here before it disappears. Please send me very clear instructions (hopefully not involving trespassing!) as a comment, along with your e-mail. The comments are all vetted here before being published, so only I will see it.

Three Artists From Fiesta Day

Gasparilla's come and gone, and it was that time of year again. What with the Flan Tasting, Fiesta Day (FD) proved irresistible this year. While there, I found two artists whose works caught my attention, and ran into a third I know. The first was in the patio of a bar, along with a few others.

Sherri Beguesse (aka "maus") had carefully drawn work of the underground variety, including this one of a Squid as Master of Ceremonies. What is it about squid?

This is Sherri Beguesse/maus by her work on Fiesta Day in Ybor City. Note the Cat-topus, Octopi, heroines and dragons, all well-conceived and executed. To see more of her work, go here: [Link].
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 Over by the Eastern edge of Centennial Park, I came across the work of Mr. Tejeda, a Cuban painter.

 Mr. Tejeda does Folk-style paintings of Cuban scenes and motifs. He has a well-developed style and sense of color. He also does floral arrangements and can be reached at 813.965.4347
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While running around on Fiesta Day, I ran across a friend of mine, Kimberly Hull, who makes innovative, beautiful, one-of-a-kind haute couture designer hats and headbands. They can be seen here: [Link].

Richest Man in The World Donates Museum to Mexico

Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world, presently worth $69.5 billion USD, has donated a new museum in Mexico City. The Soumaya Museum [Link] is celebrating it with a pre-opening this week. It will officially open March 28th. The building cost $34 million USD. His Foundation will underwrite all costs of the museum, with "...no specific budget...". And..."There will be no limits. We will decide what needs to be done at the museum and just do it.”. It will house part of Mr. Slim's 66, 000 piece collection.

The Grand Tour now includes Mexico City.

And... it will be free to all. Mr. Slim named the museum after his wife, Soumaya Domit, who passed away in 1999.

Source: [Link]

Synergistic & "New Works" Exhibit @ West Tampa Center for The Arts, Part II

Ariel Baron-Robbins received her MFA from USF last Spring. She is currently an adjunct professor at HCC.
Her focus is on drawing, but she has worked with other media, including conceptual video, in which she "drew" linelessly with her body. I had the pleasure of talking with Ariel at the WTAC opening of her show. Born in Memphis, and raised around Oxford Mississippi, both hotbeds for Southern American artists, she still retains gallery representation in Memphis and locally at Tempus Projects.

These works, all new, involve drawing, collaging with different kinds and cuts of paper, and other media. The one on the left is titled "Sea Tree". There are many effects generated by this kind of construction. One is that of sub-framing. The edges of the paper (sometimes torn, others cut) , create compartmentalized, slightly Cubist spaces within the surface of the works, as seen here. The range of tones in the paper varies, and causes parts of the work to have a layered, and sometimes salient quality to them, creating pseudo-spatial tensions. This, like the other works in the show, borders on the abstract, but doesn't go there 100%. In a way, Sea Tree does come across as a tree in a landscape, but this is nothing like a literal landscape or tree.

From memory, I believe the tile of this is "Fishing".  This large work (although Ariel tells me normally her work has been much larger) with its palm frond-forms along the edges, and tiles in the foreground that become increasingly unstable and disintegrate and shatter towards the center, is quite strong. And what lies at the center?

In this close-up, you can see that at the center is a home, an evanescent home before the debris. I found this work quite moving, evoking feelings of being displaced, not being able to go home again, memories of ancestral homes, the current storm of foreclosures, a sense of loss, and most of all, longing.

The above work, titled "Fenestra" (window), has a voyeuristic sense of looking through a window, but in the work, one also seems to be looking at a window. One thing about these works is their palpable sensuality. In the layers of paper, lushness and delicacy of the tones & compositions, it comes across clearly, beautifully integrated with the rest of the work. Some of these works, like the two above, are rich in Kant's feeling of the Sublime. I left wanting to see more.

This show can be seen at the WTAC, at 1906 N. Armenia Ave. until March 18th. Treat yourself.

--- Luis

Synergistic & "New Works" Exhibit @ West Tampa Center for The Arts, Part I

Collaboration with Rob Fladry,  "Monroe Ohio Has Nothing to live for (RIP Big Butter Jesus)"

Adam Kitzerow is a recent USF MFA graduate whose work was shown on 2/25/11 at the West Tampa Arts Center (WTAC) at 1906 Armenia Ave. In this show, every piece of his is a collaboration with another artist. Adam started the sculptures, made of foam painted in acrylics, with other materials included, depending on the piece, then sent them out to his collaborators, who added to them, and returned them. As a viewer, one is challenged by the fact that every piece has the constant of Kitzerow's input, and the variable of someone else's.

The works were painted sculptures, most about 10x10 inches or less, with some exceptions. Here's some:

Collaboration with Lindsey Maestri, "a Glamrock Valentine to Tampa"

Kitzerow, in his artist's statement says he wants "...the work to change while you look at it". These pieces are extremely sensitive to point of view, effectively changing as one moves around them. Their titles sometimes clarify, and often add more depth to them. They are very organic in appearance. I

Collaboration with Matthew McClure, "What to do...what to do..."

Collaboration with Greg Lesar, "Sacrificial Receptacle"

  Sacrificial Receptacle is an atypical one, large and more complex. It still has the persistent signature of obnoxiousness and sarcasm Kitzerow says he has "taken back" in art. It can be seen to a degree in the work below.

Collaboration with Aaron Rowley, "Square Peg, round hole"

 It's unusual and a treat to see a collaborative show like this one. The exhibit runs through March 18th, at the West Tampa Art Center, 1906 N. Armenia Ave. Call first about the hours. 813.453.4381