Art Center Sarasota’s New Exhibitions
March 16–April 21
Spectrum II
This experimental installation embeds the work of three artists.
Beginning to End: Peppi Elona
A poetic tale of an artist’s search to expose the sensory delight from a found piece of fabric, presented in collages.
Intangible Corporeal
A group show merging documentation of the body with the physicality of materials.
From Within
An open, all-media, all-subject juried exhibit.
Opening reception for all four exhibits is
Thursday, March 16, 5-7 p.m.
(Sarasota, FL) Art Center Sarasota’s 2016-2017 exhibition season, entitled “Common Ground,” continues with four new exhibits. “Spectrum II,” in Gallery One, is an experimental installation that embeds the independent work of three artists—Cody Berringer, Caitlin Burns, and Shawn Pettersen. “Beginning to End: Peppi Elona,” in Gallery Two, features fabric collage works by Peppi Elona. “Intangible Corporeal,” in Gallery Three, is a group show by several artists, including Dale Rieke, Noelle McCleaf, Mark Anderson, Eli Viszk and Maralie. “From Within,” in Gallery Four, is an open, all-media, all-subject juried exhibition juried by Tom Winchester, a photographer, art critic and instructor at Ringling College of Art and Design. The opening reception for all four exhibits is Thursday, March 16, 5-7 p.m. Art Center Sarasota is located at 707 N. Tamiami Trail, in Sarasota. For more information, call 941-365-2032 or visit www.artsarasota.org.
“Spectrum II,” curated by Nathan Skiles, is an experimental installation that embeds the independent work of three artists—Cody Berringer, Caitlin Burns, and Shawn Pettersen—within the “context of installations of visual and thematic patterns created by their fellow exhibitors,” says Skiles. The works include manipulated digital photographs and a Swarovski crystal on velvet wall installation by Pettersen, neon-colored animations, and a 3D wall mural by Burns, with new works-on-paper and a large-scale gridded wall piece by Berringer. “While each artist looks to the state of Florida as both context and state of mind, Pettersen’s fascination with exploration, both terrestrial and cosmic, evokes a playful tension between a romanticism of American mythology and an optimistic longing for the future,” says Skiles. “Caitlin celebrates the complexity of living as a digital and cultural nomad, at home amidst a mercurial landscape populated by Kawaii eccentrics and erratic internet oddities. And, like a vaporwave composer, Berringer melds the iconic vibrancy of a gulf coast sunset with the mind-melting graphics of a 1980’s trapper keeper cover.”
Artist Peppi Elona says her exhibit, “Beginning to End” is a “personal, poetic tale of an artist’s search to expose the sensory delight from a found piece of fabric, presented in collages.” The artist integrates red velvet fabric that she found hidden in a stack of rolled textiles under a work table. “When I spotted the magnificent cloth, lying unnoticed along with other rolled up textiles, I could not resist using it in my art,” says Elona. She adds that “this particular fabric is a marriage of two completely opposite materials. The plush glimmer and sexuality of velvet is appliquéd gracefully into the warp and woof of the coarse strength of the loosely woven linen burlap. Combined they are one glorious pattern.” Elona integrated some of her previous art work with the fabric, creating an unexpected relationship between old and new. “When the drawings blend with the fabric, the combinations become unique works of art, transporting old and new ideas as they become cohorts whose beauty and elegance are unique artistic expressions,” says Elona.
“Intangible Corporeal” is a group show that includes Dale Rieke, Noelle McCleaf, Mark Anderson, Eli Viszk and Maralie. Curated by Dustin Juengel, the exhibition includes large sculptural works, a free-standing bronze sculpture by Mark Anderson and several wooden benches crafted by Dale Rieke, which will be arranged to read as a single sculptural form. There will also be several photographs, including some of Noelle McCleaf’s large archival pigmented prints from medium format negatives, as well as video works and projections showing performance pieces by Maralie and Eli Viszk. “The artists either document themselves or others as they engage with the physicality of their bodies,” says Juengel. “One falls short attempting to understand these works through vision alone. They must be experienced in the flesh, with all their texture, weight and smell. Beyond their earthy aesthetic, there seems to be another commonality—a deeply ingrained sense for the spiritual, that contributes an additional dimension to these tangible works.”
“From Within” is an all-media, all-subject juried exhibition open to all artists. The juror for this exhibition is Tom Winchester, photographer, art critic and instructor of Photography & Imaging at Ringling College of Art and Design.
2016-2017 Season: A Quick Glance
North Sarasota County Schools Spring Art Exhibition (April 25 – May 7) features student artwork from elementary, middle and high schools throughout the district.
Booker High School Senior Exhibition 2017 (May 12 – 18) Booker High School VPA senior exhibition will feature art by talented students.
Cycle 5 (May 18-June 30) features “Unlimited Potential,” a juried, members-only show (May 18-June 23); an exhibit of works by Amy Ernst and Amy Ragus; “MASHterpieces IV”; and a fourth exhibit TBA (May 25-June 30).
Cycle 6 (July 6-August 11) features “Florida’s Finest,” an all-media, all-subject, juried exhibition highlighting the talented artists of the Sunshine State, in all galleries.
Cycle 7 (August 24-September 29) features a solo exhibit entitled “World Without Men” by Lowell Gilbertson; a solo exhibit by Carol Prusa; an exhibit TBD in gallery 3; and “Line, Form and Color,” an open, peer-juried exhibit.
For more information about Art Center Sarasota, call 941-365-2032 or visit www.artsarasota.org.
About Art Center Sarasota
Art Center Sarasota was the first arts and cultural institution in Sarasota. It was founded in 1926 as the “Sarasota Art Association” by Marcia Rader, the art supervisor for the Sarasota County schools district. In the early years, the group met monthly and sponsored exhibits in rented facilities. The Association was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1943 and has been in its current location in the Sarasota Bayfront Cultural District since 1949. Art Center Sarasota is now a membership-based organization that offers curated and juried exhibitions, adult and youth education programs, outreach initiatives for underserved youth, and culturally related public programming. Art Center Sarasota’s mission is to inspire individual creative expression, nurture artistic talent and provide the community with accessible and diverse visual art opportunities.
Art Center Sarasota
707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236
Phone: 941-365-2032 § Fax: 941-366-0585
Gallery Hours:
Free admission
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Closed Sunday
