Art Center Sarasota’s
New Exhibitions: December 10-January 16
Decade: Selected Paintings by Hugh Davies
A rare solo exhibition by acclaimed painter and Ringing College faculty member, showcasing 10 paintings—one from each year of the last decade. A special preview reception with the artist is Monday, November 30, 5-7 p.m. This event is open to the public.
Chalk it UP
An interactive project that invites viewers to get creative with chalk.
Art Center Sarasota Instructors Show
Featuring original works in all media by 31 Art Center Sarasota faculty members.
What Lies Beneath
An open, all-media, all-subject juried exhibit.
Opening Reception: December 10, 5-7 p.m.
(Sarasota, FL) Art Center Sarasota’s 2015-2016 exhibition season, entitled “In the Studio,” continues with its second exhibition cycle, which runs December 10 to January 16, 2016. “Decade: Selected Paintings by Hugh Davies” in Gallery 1, features paintings by this celebrated artist who teaches fine arts at Ringling College. “Chalk It UP,” in Gallery 2, is an interactive installation inviting viewers to pick up a piece of chalk and add their own creative expression to a wall. The Art Instructors Show in Gallery 3, features works in all media by 31 Art Center Sarasota instructors; and “What Lies Beneath,” in Gallery 4, is an open, all-media, all-subject juried exhibition juried by Art Center Sarasota instructor Nancy Goff and artist Morgan Janssen. An opening reception for all four exhibits is December 10, 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.
“Decade: Selected Paintings by Hugh Davies” showcases 10 abstract paintings by this internationally acclaimed artist and faculty member of Ringling College of Art and Design’s fine arts department—one for each year of the past decade. According to Davies, his work, “deals with an attempt to reconcile abstraction and some forms of realism. While those two positions seem mutually exclusive, they share common ground, particularly in the use of the picture plane.” The artist adds that his work also investigates the concepts of time, uncertainty and paradox. “I’ve dealt with these themes both consecutively and simultaneously, moving back and forth between them and combining them in various ways and in different media,” he says. “Despite the inherent differences between these three basic archetypes, I’ve tried to use each of them as a metaphor for the condition of uncertainty, the passing of time, and the relation between the generic and the particular.”
Davies has served on the faculties of a number of distinguished art schools, principally Chelsea College of Art (1980-2003), and as a visiting artist/lecturer at many other institutions, including the University of Oxford, Wimbledon School of Art, the University of East London, Brighton University, Bradford College of Art and Design and Camberwell College of Arts. His work has been exhibited in more than 60 group and solo exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the U.K., France, Germany, the United States and Australia. Writing about Davies’ work, William Packer, the distinguished critic of the London Times stated: “Painting was ever a kind of game, one of which the artist is forever, indeed must always, be changing the rules, rules that yet remain always the same. The paint is paint, the surface flat, and to lay the one upon the other is to move into the deep space of the imagination. And Davies, through the games he makes up with each new canvas addresses these eternal ambiguities with a true seriousness and originality.” A special preview reception with the artist is Monday, November 30, 5-7 p.m. This event is open to the public.
“Chalk It UP” was inspired by an exhibit that Lisa Berger, Art Center Sarasota’s executive director, saw during a visit to the Havana Biennial in May. “It was a very simple and elegant wall drawing by Nigerian artist Victor Ekpuk,” she recalls. “I loved the work’s ephemeral nature—since wall drawings at museums are always destroyed at the end of the exhibition. In ‘Chalk It UP,’ we’ll invite the public to pick up a piece of white chalk in and creatively express themselves on a stark, black wall.”
The Art Instructors Show features works in 15 mediums by 31 Art Center Sarasota instructors. According to Elizabeth Goodwill, the education director at Art Center Sarasota, “Our talented instructors are all professional artists. This exhibit gives them an opportunity to showcase their high level of mastery. Viewers also get to see the amazing diversity of disciplines we offer here.” Goodwill notes that the center offers painting classes in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pastel, ink, mixed media and sumi-e; sculpture classes in assemblage, gourd, mosaic, papier maché and new mediums. “We also offer printmaking, papermaking, bookmaking, photography, and computer workshops and classes,” she says. “We try to appeal to artists working in a wide variety of mediums. Our instructors teach realistic, impressionistic, abstract, portraiture, and still-life—and we recently introduced mosaic and more sculpture workshops.” The exhibit’s featured artists are Donne Bitner, Mary Alice Braukman, Sandy Frick, Ralph Garafola, Barbara Gerdeman, Nancy Goff, Elizabeth Goodwill, Dave Gordon, Nancy Hall, Julie Hanson, Tim Jaeger, Morgan Janssen, Judy Just, Jamie Kirkell, Jill Krasner, Ali Lambert, Fernando Madridejos, Cheryl Martin, Joseph Melancon, Judy Nadler, Janet Rogers, Keiko Romerstein, Tom Ruthz, Jane Slivka, Steve Stennes, and Gail White. Goodwill adds that three of the exhibiting artists—Mary Alice Braukman, Donne Bitner and Janet Rogers—are from out of the region but will be presenting special multi-day workshops at the center in 2016.
“What Lies Beneath” is an all-media, all-subject juried exhibition open to all artists. Online submissions can be entered on Art Center Sarasota’s website, www.artsarasota.org/callartists, November 13-27. Art Center Sarasota will accept hand-carried submissions on December 1, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The jurors for this exhibition are Art Center Sarasota instructor Nancy Goff and artist Morgan Janssen.
Art Center Sarasota’s 2015-2016 season runs through September 30, 2016. An exhibition schedule is attached with this release.
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
www.artsarasota.org
Gallery Hours:
Free admission
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Closed Sunday
Art Center Sarasota’s
New Exhibitions: December 10-January 16
Decade: Selected Paintings by Hugh Davies
A rare solo exhibition by acclaimed painter and Ringing College faculty member, showcasing 10 paintings—one from each year of the last decade. A special preview reception with the artist is Monday, November 30, 5-7 p.m. This event is open to the public.
Chalk it UP
An interactive project that invites viewers to get creative with chalk.
Art Center Sarasota Instructors Show
Featuring original works in all media by 31 Art Center Sarasota faculty members.
What Lies Beneath
An open, all-media, all-subject juried exhibit.
Opening Reception: December 10, 5-7 p.m.
(Sarasota, FL) Art Center Sarasota’s 2015-2016 exhibition season, entitled “In the Studio,” continues with its second exhibition cycle, which runs December 10 to January 16, 2016. “Decade: Selected Paintings by Hugh Davies” in Gallery 1, features paintings by this celebrated artist who teaches fine arts at Ringling College. “Chalk It UP,” in Gallery 2, is an interactive installation inviting viewers to pick up a piece of chalk and add their own creative expression to a wall. The Art Instructors Show in Gallery 3, features works in all media by 31 Art Center Sarasota instructors; and “What Lies Beneath,” in Gallery 4, is an open, all-media, all-subject juried exhibition juried by Art Center Sarasota instructor Nancy Goff and artist Morgan Janssen. An opening reception for all four exhibits is December 10, 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.
“Decade: Selected Paintings by Hugh Davies” showcases 10 abstract paintings by this internationally acclaimed artist and faculty member of Ringling College of Art and Design’s fine arts department—one for each year of the past decade. According to Davies, his work, “deals with an attempt to reconcile abstraction and some forms of realism. While those two positions seem mutually exclusive, they share common ground, particularly in the use of the picture plane.” The artist adds that his work also investigates the concepts of time, uncertainty and paradox. “I’ve dealt with these themes both consecutively and simultaneously, moving back and forth between them and combining them in various ways and in different media,” he says. “Despite the inherent differences between these three basic archetypes, I’ve tried to use each of them as a metaphor for the condition of uncertainty, the passing of time, and the relation between the generic and the particular.”
Davies has served on the faculties of a number of distinguished art schools, principally Chelsea College of Art (1980-2003), and as a visiting artist/lecturer at many other institutions, including the University of Oxford, Wimbledon School of Art, the University of East London, Brighton University, Bradford College of Art and Design and Camberwell College of Arts. His work has been exhibited in more than 60 group and solo exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the U.K., France, Germany, the United States and Australia. Writing about Davies’ work, William Packer, the distinguished critic of the London Times stated: “Painting was ever a kind of game, one of which the artist is forever, indeed must always, be changing the rules, rules that yet remain always the same. The paint is paint, the surface flat, and to lay the one upon the other is to move into the deep space of the imagination. And Davies, through the games he makes up with each new canvas addresses these eternal ambiguities with a true seriousness and originality.” A special preview reception with the artist is Monday, November 30, 5-7 p.m. This event is open to the public.
“Chalk It UP” was inspired by an exhibit that Lisa Berger, Art Center Sarasota’s executive director, saw during a visit to the Havana Biennial in May. “It was a very simple and elegant wall drawing by Nigerian artist Victor Ekpuk,” she recalls. “I loved the work’s ephemeral nature—since wall drawings at museums are always destroyed at the end of the exhibition. In ‘Chalk It UP,’ we’ll invite the public to pick up a piece of white chalk in and creatively express themselves on a stark, black wall.”
The Art Instructors Show features works in 15 mediums by 31 Art Center Sarasota instructors. According to Elizabeth Goodwill, the education director at Art Center Sarasota, “Our talented instructors are all professional artists. This exhibit gives them an opportunity to showcase their high level of mastery. Viewers also get to see the amazing diversity of disciplines we offer here.” Goodwill notes that the center offers painting classes in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pastel, ink, mixed media and sumi-e; sculpture classes in assemblage, gourd, mosaic, papier maché and new mediums. “We also offer printmaking, papermaking, bookmaking, photography, and computer workshops and classes,” she says. “We try to appeal to artists working in a wide variety of mediums. Our instructors teach realistic, impressionistic, abstract, portraiture, and still-life—and we recently introduced mosaic and more sculpture workshops.” The exhibit’s featured artists are Donne Bitner, Mary Alice Braukman, Sandy Frick, Ralph Garafola, Barbara Gerdeman, Nancy Goff, Elizabeth Goodwill, Dave Gordon, Nancy Hall, Julie Hanson, Tim Jaeger, Morgan Janssen, Judy Just, Jamie Kirkell, Jill Krasner, Ali Lambert, Fernando Madridejos, Cheryl Martin, Joseph Melancon, Judy Nadler, Janet Rogers, Keiko Romerstein, Tom Ruthz, Jane Slivka, Steve Stennes, and Gail White. Goodwill adds that three of the exhibiting artists—Mary Alice Braukman, Donne Bitner and Janet Rogers—are from out of the region but will be presenting special multi-day workshops at the center in 2016.
“What Lies Beneath” is an all-media, all-subject juried exhibition open to all artists. Online submissions can be entered on Art Center Sarasota’s website, www.artsarasota.org/callartists, November 13-27. Art Center Sarasota will accept hand-carried submissions on December 1, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The jurors for this exhibition are Art Center Sarasota instructor Nancy Goff and artist Morgan Janssen.
Art Center Sarasota’s 2015-2016 season runs through September 30, 2016. An exhibition schedule is attached with this release.
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
www.artsarasota.org
Gallery Hours:
Free admission
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Closed Sunday
