Creative Pinellas goes to ‘Eden,’ and other new art exhibits
Opening tonight at The Gallery at Creative Pinellas, Out of Eden is an exhibition of nature-themed paintings and textiles by Cuban-American artist Yolanda Sánchez.
“I am interested in the joyful, playful, or even spiritual properties of light, and believe strongly that we shape the world around us through our perceptions, awareness, and attention,” the Miami-based artist writes. “I would like to offer an invitation to awaken to beauty and delight, to a moment of contemplation, below the line of thought. My current series of paintings reflects a light-hearted, fun attitude, if even, at times, a bit wild and bold.”
Her artist statement reads, in part: “My work is influenced by poetry, Eastern philosophy and the compositional structures of Chinese and Japanese classical ink painting, generating visual images that integrate drawing, writing and painting. My interest is not in making art that looks Asian, but in tapping into the energy or power that lies underneath these aesthetics, maintaining nature as my central element and making work that is spiritually infused.”
A reception for Out of Eden takes place today, from 6 to 9 p.m.
“Imagine Blackness.”
Also making its debut today at Creative Pinellas is Imagine Blackness: Alternate Realities and Collective Dreaming, an extraordinary show of AI-generated images by artist McArthur Freeman II and sociologist Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman.
Although the exhibit opens today, the real treat is the Jan. 28 opening reception, at which both artists will speak. We’ll have more on Imagine Blackness in the coming days.
Details are here.
At the Morean
Today at the Morean Art Center, Tampa photographer Águeda Sanfiz’s exhibition, The Other Pandemic, continues with a 6 to 7 p.m. gallery talk by the artist, with a performance by bay area jazz vocalist Ona Kirei (like Sanfiz, she is a native of Spain), accompanied by guitarist LaRue Nickelson.
The Other Pandemic is described on the Morean website as “The story of the devastating loss of her sister at the beginning of 2020 serves a dual purpose: to stand as a historic record of what life was like for many during this unprecedented time, and to bring awareness to the often-taboo subject of death by suicide.
“ … each frame is imbued with love and tenderness, drawing us, the viewers, into her story of how to celebrate a life even while mourning its loss during epic times, even separated by continents and oceans.”
Details are here.
“Borden Farm Field at Night” by Willow Wright, DRV Gallery.
In Gulfport
Deserie Valloreo’s Gulfport gallery (DRV Gallery) opens Art For a Cause with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. today. The juried show runs through the end of February, and here’s the deal: Nineteen visual artists were asked to paint (or sculpt, or otherwise design) a work to raise awareness of the cause of their choice.
Ten percent of all sales will go towards a charity working for those causes chosen – including mental health, Hurricane Ian relief, education regarding transgender persons, food security, wildlife, et cetera.
View all the work here, or stop by the gallery. Details here.
