Brush to canvas: News from the visual art world
Wild Space Gallery, operated by the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation in The Factory St. Pete (Warehouse Arts District), specializes in rotating exhibits by artists, working in various media, who are dedicated to the conservation of Florida’s wild spaces and the power of art to connect, heal, and endure.
There’s a new show opening with a reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m., which just so happens to coincide with the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance’s Second Saturday ArtWalk, February edition.
Timeless: Art, Science and Nature by Archbold Biological Station, running through March 29, includes painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, music, video and more, created by artists and by scientists working at Archibald, a “living laboratory/studio located in the town of Venus, Florida, just west of Lake Okeechobee and a smidge north of the Everglades.
Artists are Dustin Angell, Reed Bowman, Mark Deyrup, Mollie Doctrow, Michele Oka Doner, Maria Eisner, Thomas Eisner, Evelyn Gaiser, Deborah Mitchell and Kristy Sullivan.
To learn more about the pioneering work being done at Archbold Biological Station, visit here.
For more details on Wild Space Gallery, and the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, visit here.
The Second Saturday ArtWalk brings together more than 40 St. Pete galleries and studios on a single day, from 5 to 9 p.m., to welcome visitors who want to see art, talk art, touch art or buy art. This self-guided tour is the closest we non-artists get to the creative process, and it’s a way to view and appreciate just how rich our city’s artist community is.
The Arts Alliance’s map and guide for February is available for downloading here.
Drew Marc Gallery, also in The Factory St. Pete, has an exhibition opening this weekend of abstract paintings by Sarasota artist Claire Desjardins, whose hometown (and residence for six months out of the year) is in Gore, Quebec, Canada.
The Drew Marc exhibit, Ethereal Excellence, also includes works from painter Cobie Cruz, mixed media artist Kathleen Hope and Vivien Collins, who creates geometric wall relief installations.
‘Vacation Time,” painting by Claire Desjardins.
Coming soon
On Feb. 17, the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art will debut Survival of the Fittest: Envisioning Wildlife and Wilderness with the Big Four, Masterworks from the Rijksmuseum Twenthe and the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
The “Big Four” were German Richard Friese (1854–1918) Swede Bruno Liljefors (1860–1939), German Wilhelm Kuhnert (1865–1926) and German-American Carl Rungius (1869–1959). This quartet of classically trained painters emerged post-publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.
“These four artists came at a point in Western history where they were able to travel into the field and study wildlife in its natural environment,” curator Adam Duncan Harris said in a prepared statement. “Back in the studio, they transformed those experiences into works of art that rang true to nature. Earlier artists didn’t have that opportunity or the cultural impact of Darwin’s scientific work.”
Survival of the Fittest (the short title) will be on view through May 26.
Mikhail Mansion. Photo provided.
Coming to the Gallery at Creative Pinellas: Nature Pix, an exhibit of groundbreaking works by Mikhail Mansion, designer, engineer and conceptual artist (and a co-founder of Fairgrounds St. Pete). It includes 16 prints, 16 dye sublimation piece, and 12-16 metal artworks, totaling over 50 new compositions: “Mansion’s avant-garde approach employs a harmonious blend of code and custom-designed electronics to amplify nature’s voice.”
The opening reception is 6-8 p.m. Feb. 22; RSVP here.
Creative Pinellas’ new CEO Margaret Murray is our guest on Friday’s edition of the Arts Alive! podcast.
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