This Fiesta Day Weekend, Feb 24th-26th

Meditative Journeys @ Mindy Solomon Gallery - Two Korean artists are featured, painter Sungyee Kim and ceramicist Kang Hyo Lee. Mindy Solomon Gallery, 124 2nd Ave NE, St Petersburg. 8 PM Saturday. Through March 31. Free.
__________________________________

Grand (re) Opening of Santaella Studios - The old West Tampa Art Center is reborn under a new banner. There will be music and a wine tasting. 1906 N. Armenia Ave. Tampa. Friday, 7-11PM. Free.
___________________________________

Robert Rahway Zakanitch @ Scarfone-Hartley Galleries at University of Tampa -  The visiting artist for STUDIO-f is showcased, including his Big Bungalow Suite. Scarfone Hartley 310 N. Boulevard, Tampa. Through March 8th. Free.
___________________________________

SPC Juried Student Photography Exhibition @ St Petersburg College Clearwater Campus Art Gallery - 2465 Drew St. Clearwater. Opens 6-8 Wednesday. Through March 15th. Free.
___________________________________

"Far Out" @ Blue Lucy

Blue Lucy Gallery View

This show was prefaced by Blue Lucy's PODs installation at First Night. Featured artists are Embear, Roman Black, Samuel South, B.Kole. Nate Greco, Josh Sullivan, Phillip Clark, Chad Mize, Sugar Bear, Sleep, Joe Boccia, Adam T., Allen Leper Hampton, Pale Horse, Casey Paquet, Frank Strunk, and Bask.






 It's not only a black light (UV) show, but the works have their 3-D aspects, which are totally lost in the illustrations presented here. Will 3-D come to dominate TV and movies? Will it make a dent in the art world?

 In spite of the 60's-sounding title for the show, no one would mistake these works for anything from that era.  They're recontextualized into 2012.

Pale Horse, "Shamanaut"

Pale Horse's "Shamanaut", a five color screen print, has some three-dimensionality when viewed through the 3-D glasses provided. We see a male figure in lime green (think Life) Chinese Philosopher garb. There's what appears to be an astronaut's helmet on his head, or is that part of his set of multiple  halos? He has 4 arms, like a Hindu Deity and stands on an Axis Mundi Lotus. Behind him is what appears to be a radiant sphere enclosing many smaller white spheres, and behind that, what looks like a Chinese depiction of Heavenly clouds. There are two slivers of an Isis moon in the upper corners and in one hand he holds a miniature version of the cosmic Lotus he stands on.

Casey Paquet, "Bad Hunting Trip"

Casey Paquet's acrylic and enamel om wood "Bad Hunting Trip" is a tableaux of a hearth/mantelpiece with three stuffed animals mounted above it, with a rifle on a rack made of the deer's hooves as the crown of this pseudo-altarpiece. There's a small figure of a duck decoy and a kerosene lantern on the mantel above the fireplace. Thsi came across as a metaphor for the trophies and objects of desire in our lives.

Frank Strunk III, "Machinations of the Heart"

'Kinetic Metal' is the term used by Frank Strunk III to describe the material used to make his "Machinations of the Heart" sculpture, and it is certainly that. A large metal heart, with small 'windows' that let its inner light shine out, more skims the wall from along its edge. In the center is what appears to be a compass.The piece is around 3 feet tall.  The microtopography of the surface has several small dents and stresses on it.

Emily Dyer, "Get High"

 What could be more fitting for a black light show than an allusion to pot smoking? Emily Dyer's "Get High" is a psychedelic-style acrylic on wood painting that brings back the days of flower power, with a touch of humor and irony. There's a foundation of green, on which an orange 'female' bong with breasts and a pentagram just below rests. Literal Purple Haze comes out of it, along with green, stony-looking (I am told) flowers floating about, and a larger green figure, red-eyed, presides over the work. Rainbow colored rays emanate from the Purple Haze.

Josh Sullivan, "Ghosts and Vodka"

 A morose figure holds a burning home in his arms close to his heart in Josh Sullivan's "Ghosts and Vodka". There are leaves falling around the house. The figure looks at the viewer like a witness to his own undoing.












Congratulations to all the artists in this show, and Chad and Philip for an innovative show.

--- Luis







 Through March 4th, 2012. 653 Central Ave., St Petersburg. Free.

Painting The Town, the Street Art

On the left, work by Chris Center. On right, by AKut 

The street art pictured here was done in concert with Duncan McClelland Glass and Dan Painter, and begun on the same night as their parties they were part of the 2nd Saturday parties,which will be reviewed separately in their own context. On the right are the murals by Center and AKut. The one on the right is by AKut, on the left, by Center. These are far from completed as seen here. The work is now to cover the entire wall which extends well beyond the picture's edges. I was told by the muralists on Sunday that it will still take a few weeks, particularly since the back part will require scaffolding.

Chris Center working on his mural.

On the left, a picture of Chris Center working on his main panel in this mural. A series of interlocking pipe-like (looks like an oil refinery or 3-D labyrinth) items with spikes along the edges. It comes across as a post-industrial dystopic landscape. This is a recurring theme in Center's work. I have a paint can from Center with this type of pattern on it, it is in drawings, and has also appeared on the side of the little building at Central Arts, who generously helped sponsor this event. For more on Chris and his work, see here [Link].

Work by Acud-Akut

Acud Akut has a very distinctive style, very clean and carefully highlighted with colors. Another of his works is currently up at that little building next to Central Art Supply, who generously provides it as a canvas for select graffiti artists. Akut often includes dark, natural landscapes along with the geometrics. To see more of Acud-Akut's work, [Link].


This mural serves to highlight the gateway to the nascent arts district on the Five Corners area. There is talk of possibly doing another mural on the side of the warehouse building across the street (24th S). The wallspace for this mural was generously donated by New Dawn Coffee Co. , coffee and tea specialists. John deLangis is the roaster & owner of this and other buildings in the area, and he expressed interest in perhaps getting another wall painted. Remember to support those who support the arts. Mr. deLangis can be reached at: [Link]. I went back this ast Sunday to find the two muralists still at work, and will be posting pictures of this work in progress very soon.

On Emerson, the Avenue that DMG and Dan Painter's place are on, two artists diligently worked into the evening to finish beautiful chalk drawings on the asphalt.

Artist Kumpa Tawornprom at work

On the left is a photo of Kumpa Tawornprom at work. He works in many media, but his main emphasis is on sculpture. He works for a major theme park doing large sculptures of figures. This drawing of a WWII bomber was excellent. He will be at the Hyde Park sidewalk drawing festival coming up soon.
See more here: [Link]

Next to Kumpa, his friend artist Tim Ritter was focused on drawing an Oriental dragon's figure.
He can be contacted at Thai-Ritter@hotmail.com









Congratulations to the four artists, Mr. deLangis for the wallspace, Central Art Supply for the sponsorship, and Duncan McClellan and Daniel Painter for making all this possible.

--- Luis

From The Edo Period: Rare Scroll Imagery

He-Gassen Scroll

 The Edo period took place in Japan around the 18th - 19th centuries. At some point during this era, a Japanese scroll artist painted a rare, but not one of a kind [Link] scroll known as a He-Gassen (Fart Wars). Above is an image of an amused-looking fart-warrior blasting a worried-looking cat into low earth orbit. The black rectangle is there to cover the genitals and make this safe-for-work. 


From the same scroll, on the left is another He-Gassen image, this one of two female warriors levitating a target.

No, it's not April Fool's Day, and these scrolls exist. Pffft!


Source: [Link]