Watchdog, Mixed Media/Ceramic by Mary Engle, 1995

This presentation of the Gulf Coast Museum of Art Collection and St. Petersburg College Foundation will show, through an artist's hands, how ordinary objects are used as a metaphor for everyday life and are often given great importance through choice of medium or the way the art is executed. The exhibit will be located in the Main Gallery on the lower level through Sunday, August 21 only.

Daily life, as seen through the artist's eyes, becomes a very personal and common theme as artists often paint what they know. There is a comfort level in using ordinary objects that are within immediate reach or people with whom they interact on a daily basis as their subject. Common objects, such as a shirt and tie or a missing shoe, are small details of our personal lives that are not usually given a second thought. Whether it is finding humor in the corporate workplace or discovering the beauty in colorful fruit, the viewer is forced to stop and look at the ordinary and relate to the art on a personal level.

This exhibition in the Chris Harris Gallery on the lower floor gives gallery-goers an opportunity to participate in a "Mix and Match" experience by arranging and re-arranging a unique system of Modular Art Panels (MAPs). The MAPs incorporate various types of imagery and media, such as digital photography, acrylic painting and silkscreen. Members of the public are encouraged to play with themes, shapes, colors and patterns as they recreate the look of the show. The possibilities of ever-changing diptychs, triptychs and 

polyptych will be multiplied throughout the months that the exhibition is on display. 

John Wilton, a retired professor of digital media at Daytona State College, is well known for his multi-media works, digital photography and video. His paintings, often free-association collages of personal impressions and cultural icons, mimic the barrage of popular images we encounter in our multi-media age. Wilton's current work aims to involve the viewers in the creative process, by mixing and matching elements in ways that seem right to them. Unlike "traditional" art, there is no "right way" to recreate each piece or grouping. The show will be a free-association experience, intended as an affirmation of life and art.

OFF THE PAGE : Florida Book Art

Blindspin, Mixed Media/ Ink Jet Prints by Andrew Binder, 2011

 The exhibition is curated by Leslie Madigan and will be on display in the Dorothy Johnson Gallery on the upper floor. It features eight Florida book artists reconfiguring the traditional book into unique works of art, challenging the viewer's idea of what books are. The exhibition poses the question: What is an artist book? Is it a literary, sculptural, paper or mixed media work of art?

 

Off the Page will be curated and organized to allow audience exploration of the issues facing contemporary book artists. All of the works will be selected based on their narrative ability to communicate a story or tradition drawn from southern influence and will offer the public a comprehensive view of contemporary book making. 

 

The included work will be one of a kind with a small selection of limited edition books using letterpress, offset print, digital and inkjet processes.  A library environment with tables and chairs will be installed in one section of the gallery to provide the viewer with a quiet area for intimate observation. This is in contrast to the other spaces filled with books on shelves, wall pieces, and freestanding sculptural book forms.

 

The eight Florida book artists participating in this exhibit are Robert Beck-Winter Park, Andrew Binder-Fort Lauderdale, Linda Broadfoot-Atlantic Beach, Martin Casuso-Miami, Larry Cooper-Sanford, Ke Francis- Orlando, Anthony Rice-Sarasota and Tennille Davis Shuster-Oakland Park. The exhibition will be accompanied by a 36-page catalogue, produced by the Museum of Florida Art and indicative of the exhibition's view of contemporary book making.  The catalogue will be available for purchase at the museum gift shop.