Recent Press
"Self Encounter Group," Joe Walles, on display at C. Emerson Fine Arts.
Two complementary exhibits featuring film and photographic artworks open in downtown St. Petersburg this weekend -- and each offers a different viewpoint from the same curator. At C. Emerson Fine Arts, gallery owner Lori Johns dons her experimental hat, unveiling Film Lingual II, a showcase of video projections and mixed media installations that aim to reprise the success of a similar show last year. At Nova 535 Art Lounge, where Johns acts as guest curator, Coming Into Focus takes a back-to-basics approach with photographic still lifes, landscapes and portraits where composition and attention to detail are emphasized over edgy effects. Nova follows up with a series of film screenings featuring established and emerging local and national artists through July and August. Film Lingual II, through Aug. 16, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed.-Sat., C. Emerson Fine Arts 909 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 727-898-6068, c-emersonfinearts.com; and Coming Into Focus, through Sept. 6, with a free film screening hosted by Dana Plays at 7:30 p.m. Mon., July 21, open Mondays and by appointment only, Nova 535 Art Lounge, 535 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N., St. Petersburg, 727-821-6682, nova535.com.
By Lennie Bennett, Times Art Critic
Published Tuesday, April 8, 2008 6:05 PM
ST. PETERSBURG
React.
Such an interesting word.
And such an interesting exhibition at C. Emerson Fine Arts that takes the word for its title. My dictionary lists six related meanings for "react" and all of them apply to the eight artists in this show in one form or another.
In a group of collages, Eva Eun-Sil Han, a South Korean who currently lives in Belgium, responds to the cultural legacy of that northern European city. Familiar images found in religious paintings and still lifes from the Renaissance are cut and pasted into bizarre new configurations that suggest a torrent of confusing associations one would experience in an alien country.
As a Croatian living in Florida, Daniel Mrgan also transplanted himself to a foreign country, but his simple drawings couldn't be further stylistically from Han's dense collages. The four in this show are wood burnings. They're contained moments of imagination that spring from common turns of phrase, riffed and tweaked with wit. Remember the old saw about grabbing a tiger by the tail, an exhortation about taking risks? Here's Mrgan's take on it in Grab This: A tiger bites down on a stick, wielding scissors already fixed on its tail. Another paw stands ready with bandages. A bird covers its eyes, unable to watch the self-mutilation. Moral of the story is . . . Go for it? Don't? Don't know. Or all of the above.
Lee Lee was born in Colorado and still lives there, but she has a broad world view shaped by her travels. Works from several series created after visits to Cuba, Myanmar (also known as Burma) and India, for example, address social issues she encountered in each country. Yet they are more observations of conditions than politically loaded statements. The "Torched Angels" series came from a visit to Havana graveyards. She photographed angel statues and transformed them into dense mixed media pieces on paper. A partial meltdown by a blowtorch renders them battered but still intact, like so much of the country in which the statues reside. A single, new work shows her drafting skill: a drawing of a woman Lee met in Bosnia whose son is a combat medic. The mother is surrounded by scorched paper (the artist likes singeing her surfaces a lot) and fabric fragments that give her the appearance of being in the middle of an exploding bomb. Her expression remains impassive; the violence is a future fear playing out in her mind. Gallery owner Lori Johns says that this is the first in a new series Lee will be showing later in the year.
After a fire about three months ago that destroyed his Dunedin studio and almost his entire body of current work, Denis Gaston could be expected to produce some grim work. On the contrary, the two oil and acrylic paintings on paper have an unexpected lightness and playfulness. Sister Moon and Moon Coin Jig have a density of layers that are transparent enough to allow them all to show through, even to the drawings Gaston has painted over, giving them a physical complexity that contrasts with the simplicity of the images. He said in a telephone interview that they were in progress before the fire, on his work table.
"For some reason, I put them in a drawer in my metal flat file that day. They were among the very few to survive."
So glad they did.
C. Wade Brickhouse has the most conceptual works in the show. Small, nicely finished wood planks are mounted with rusty found objects and paired with thick, squishy-looking paper that is sometimes overlaid with thinner embossed paper. They're both rich and cerebral in their celebration of form and texture.
The most literal interpretations of the exhibition's theme come from Rebecca Sexton Larson and Frank Strunk III in the reactive processes used to create their work. Strunk's metal sculptures are composed from sheets of metal he subjects to various surface finishes. Rivets are used to connect the sheets and as artistic tropes that guide the eye across the plane. The best of three is Convexed, a curved panel nodding toward Richard Serra.
Finding where photography ends and painting begins in Larson's work is almost impossible. She uses both to meld old and new images, personal and public references for her lovely hybrids. The darkroom nuances she coaxes from negatives made from a pinhole camera are enhanced in her prints with sometimes impenetrable details. Figuring them all out is beside the point; swallow them whole for a visual feast.
Reaction here is not limited to the art and artists. Paula Allen's cast of ceramic characters, clustered like village eccentrics against a painted backdrop, beg us to play with them, to move them around in new combinations and relationships to each other. You're encouraged to do so by the artist.
That, of course, is the most visceral way we are invited to react to this exhibition. Like all art, the more it asks of us, the more it gives.
Lennie Bennett can be reached at
(727) 893-8293 or lennie@sptimes.com.
"Heavy", Daniel Mrgan
Art should evoke a response, whether it's anger, appreciation, awe or just huh?. That's the idea behind React, a new exhibit at C. Emerson Fine Arts designed to spark a wide range of thoughts and feelings in viewers. The premise has a double meaning in that some of the works on view incorporate materials subjected to natural reactions: Daniel Mrgan's drawings, made by meticulously burning images into wood, depict surreal and whimsical figures; and age and patina bring weighty character to Frank Strunk III's metal sculptures. Also on display are Paula Allen, C. Wade Brickhouse, Denis Gaston, Eva Eun-Sil Han, Lee Lee and Rebecca Sexton Larson. An opening reception takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. Fri., April 4. The exhibit runs through April 26, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Sat., C. Emerson Fine Arts, 909 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 727-898-6068, c-emersonfinearts.com.
By Lennie Bennett, Times Art Critic
Published March 6, 2008
Neverne Covington has a gift for making the mysteries of everyday life. I, for one, will never look at my static shrubbery in the same way after seeing her interpretations of native plants as mystical objects alive with some sort of inner life that goes beyond botany. See new work by the artist at C. Emerson Fine Arts, 909 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, that includes prints, paintings and drawings and really new "books" she has made using rusted tin ceiling tiles. She presses paper into them, and exposes the paper to rain so that the paper becomes imprinted with their patterns. She adds to the images with drawings, intaglios and lithographic images printed over them. They're bound with the tiles as covers.
A free opening reception is from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday; there's a free gallery talk by the artist at 7 p.m. Saturday. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday and Tuesday,10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. (727) 898-6068 or www.c-emersonfinearts.com.
Tea at C. Emerson Fine Arts
http://www.tampabaymetro.com/arts_tea.html
Artist – Bridgett Conn, 2007.
Few traditions extend as far back in human history as the urge to make visual art, but drinking tea may be one of them. Cultivated in Asia for centuries—and riding a current wave of popularity in the U.S.—the idea of tea is rich with diverse associations, from the timeless ceremony to new age health remedies. “Every time you ask somebody, they have a different idea about tea,” said Lori Johns, owner of C. Emerson Fine Arts.
In January, the St. Petersburg gallery takes on tea with an exhibit of installations, sculpture, ceramics, photography, and more by ten artists devoted to the leafy brew’s myriad meanings. For Georgia artist Bridget Conn, tea is an avenue back to the lost tradition of family meals, but for St. Pete’s Wade Brickhouse, it’s motivation for making sleek, geometric vessels. Don’t miss an opening reception with teas served in handmade cups by local ceramic artist Charlie Parker.
Tea runs Jan. 11-Feb. 23 with an opening reception on Fri.,
Jan. 11, 6-9 p.m. C. Emerson Fine Arts is located at 909 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. For more information, call 727-898-6068 or
go to c-emersonfinearts.com.
— Megan Voeller
Art Squeeze
Art Squeeze is a visual arts blog written by Megan Voeller, freelance writer and visual art critic for Creative Loafing Tampa.
This show opens Friday, Nov. 30, with a reception from 6-9 p.m.
Matthew Lindhardt
Father and son artists Matthew and Patrick Lindhardt share an obsession with exploring places that are paradoxically mundane and fantastical at the same time. (They just reach their destinations in very different ways.)
Patrick, a master printer and professor at Ringling College of Art and Design, crafts careful drawings and prints that spin yarns about an imaginary place not unlike the Minnesota of his youth. The narratives are alternately prosaic, puzzling, apocalyptic, and disjointed—but they’re always evocatively illustrated and often downright entertaining.
Patrick Lindhardt
Matthew’s work (shown at the top of the post) is new to me, so I’m looking forward to this exhibit. From what I’ve seen, he too captures dream-like experiences a dimension or two removed from reality—but through photography.
Escapes: Matthew and Patrick Lindhardt
Runs Nov. 30 through Dec. 29
C. Emerson Fine Arts
909 Central Ave., St. Petersburg
727-898-6068
c-emersonfinearts.com
Visions in the 'Burg
Art Sunday, December 2
BY LEILANI POLK
Creative Loafing
Published 11.28.07
St. Petersburg sets the creative stage this weekend with three separate and distinct art shows. The artastic fun kicks off at C. Emerson Fine arts with Escapes, an exhibit of surreal and extraordinary landscape prints and abstract photographs by father-son artists Patrick and Mathew Lindhardt. The 12th Annual Holiday Members' Show at St. Petersburg Clay Company features a great range of works by more than 80 ceramic artists. And Bluelucy creative duo Chad Mize and Phillip Clark host an open house party and exhibit new works during SpaceWalk this Sunday. An array of designer graphic tees are offered for $10 or less in addition to "prizes and surprises" all afternoon, and Creative Loafing's newly re-covered newspaper boxes -- which have been creatively embellished by several local artists -- will be unveiled before being moved to various key locations around the Bay area. Escapes, through Dec. 29, 909 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, free admission, 727-898-6068; Members' Show, Through Dec. 2, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun., 420 22nd St. S., St. Petersburg, free admission, 727-896-2529; and SpaceWalk, Sun., Dec. 2, 4-9 p.m., 750 35th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, free admission.
In "Spirituality and Materialism," nine artists use a variety of techniques to depict viewpoints in a philosophical debate with no ultimate conclusion.
By Susan King, Special to the Times
Published November 22, 2007
ST. PETERSBURG
The current show at C. Emerson Fine Arts is small in physical scale, but it invites major ponderings. Can spirituality and materialism exist together? Or are they contradictory strivings? What is the role of spirituality in these materialistic times?
The nine featured artists delve into the topic in different ways, tackling themes that range from the environmental impact of our consumer society to seeking the spiritual in ethereal landscapes.
Topanga Canyon Altar by Oregon artist Phyllis Davidson juxtaposes the sacred and profane, creating a kitschy East meets West tableau. Mother Mary presides over this scene with a backdrop of hot-pink flowers and Chinese figures painted on silk. A nude dipped in gold with Medusalike hair, and a candleholder with the body of an exotic woman flank the Japanese god of long life.
St. Petersburg artist Frank Strunk III constructs a big piece of shiny money out of aluminum and invites viewer participation. Push a button and a lazy mechanical device polishes the almighty dollar. It's about owning more and showing off.
Material possessions and issues of identity merge with psychological subtlety in mixed media installations by Betsy Orbe Lester, also of St. Petersburg. What could be more quotidian than shoes and home? Instead of Dorothy's ruby slippers, she presents papier-mache pumps covered in butterfly designs and redheaded sewing pins. The surreal footwear displays itself on an upside-down doll house roof.
In Open to Change, local artist Chalet Comellas employs silhouettes of tree frogs repeated on several panels. An outline of a delicate frog faces the ground, possibly reminding us that we share the earth.
Bay area artist Leslie Neumann's meditative landscapes invite the experience of being present. Forget about the "monkey mind" and those chores and holiday shopping lists. Melt into her encaustic paintings, made from a process in which hot wax meets oil paint. Like some of the sublime, edgier paintings by English landscape artist J. M. W. Turner, land and sea border on the abstract. Enter the white light of Amorphous, take in the golden and stormy in Summer Skies or absorb the energy that crackles in Electrical Storm. Get lost in the texture, drips and colors of earth, fire, sky and sea.
A group show lends itself to juxtapositions. You can hunt for the affirmative "yes" scratched into the wax in Neumann's paintings, then glance to your right to see Wendy Dickinson's three big black X's called Girl Marks. Dickinson's collograph has X's stamped onto wood with a design fashioned out of stockings.
They face off with a photo of a prostitute's grave, Louise the Unfortunate by Diana Lucas Leavengood of St. Petersburg. Photographer Margaret Steward presents us with rows of little Buddhas, blurring as they get closer in Buddha's March.
In brushstrokes that are sure and varied, Colorado artist Lee Lee paints a figure that exudes strength and spirit in Angkor Shrine. In her next four canvases she depicts the impact of unbridled materialism. In Pine, burnt orange and red loosely painted on various views of trees look like raging fires. But the rusty substance is created by beetles that multiply with rapidly warming temperatures, destroying the pines.
Susan King is a St. Petersburg writer completing her master's in art history at USF. She may be reached at susanking2006@tampabay.rr.com.
REVIEW
Spirituality and Materialism
Continues through Saturday at C. Emerson Fine Arts, 909 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday;noon to 8 p.m. Saturday. 727 898-6068.
Living and Worshipping in a Material World
Art Saturday, November 3
BY MEGAN VOELLER
Voeller, Megan,See and Do,Creative Loafing,pp.7, October 31,2007.
19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche announced, "God is dead," most people had the good sense not to take him too literally. One hundred years later, it's clear that God (or various permutations thereof) is still very much alive -- even if many of us have chosen to worship a host of idols (e.g., the iPhone, Gianni Versace, or reality television). The modern tension between earthly temptations and otherworldly revelations creates an intriguing premise for Spirituality and Materialism, an exhibition of artwork by nine artists at C. Emerson Fine Arts. Check out Diana Lucas Leavengood's eerie photograph of a discarded plastic baby doll or Frank Strunk III's kinetic dollar bill buffer. Other artists include Chalet Comellas, Phyllis Davidson, Wendy Dickinson, Lee Lee, Betsy Orbe Lester, Leslie Neumann, and Margaret Steward. An opening reception occurs from 6 to 9 p.m. Sat., Nov. 3. Through Nov. 24, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Fri., noon-8 p.m. Sat., 909 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, 727-898-6068, c-emersonfinearts.com.
Voeller, Megan,"Sketchbook" Creative Loafing,pp.25, October 17,2007.
Art becomes a family affair this month at C. Emerson Fine Arts (c-emersonfinearts.com), also in downtown St. Pete. Sculptures by Sarasota-based Mark Anderson, interim chair of Ringling College of Art and Design's Fine Arts department, mingle with drawings by his son, Jarrod Anderson, an emerging artist living in New York. The resulting show, Interstice, which runs through Oct. 26, makes for a harmonious conversation between two very different artists.
The elder Anderson's aluminum and bronze sculptures of human faces in gentle contact dominate the space, in part because more than two dozen slightly different permutations of them are mounted on the gallery walls. The effect is less one of repetition than an unsettling accumulation of presence, eerily disembodied. A related sort of existential stillness characterizes the younger Anderson's painstaking graphite drawings on slick paper coated with latex paint, which depict floating fragments of his jumbled, post-adolescent apartment. The most affecting include truncated bits of his figure, like an arm grasping a gun-shaped saw or a T-shirt-clad (but armless and legless) torso with an erection.
Voeller, Megan, Unnatural beauty: High-tech jewelry at Florida Craftsmen; shopping-cart photos at C. Emerson Gallery
Creative Loafing,pp.2, August, 2007.
