home > exhibitions > past exhibitions > june 2006

arts center information
arts center information
arts center information

about us
exhibitions
studio classes
youth & teen program
 membership
contribute
news & dates
press_room
contact us
home


site sponsors
St. Petersburg Times

american express

bank of america
exhibitions

Past Exhbitions -- June 2006


Gary Chapman: Chiaroscuro

a piece by gary chapman

Gary Chapman's masterful, and sometimes macabre, paintings illustrate the human struggle for truth and understanding. His solitary, stoic figures affix borrowed body parts to their own, passionately searching for the right combination of seemingly incongruous physical features that will create spiritual meaning and wholeness. An MFA graduate of the Cranbrook Academy of Art and current Chair of the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, Chapman is the recipient of an NEA Fellowship, and his work is included in the collections of the Ogden Museum of Art, the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the Montgomery Museum of Art.


Melissa Gwyn: Rotations

The still-life paintings of feminist artist Melissa Gwyn (MFA Yale) display the dangerous beauty of temptation. Thickly sculpted on a flat surface, the paint seduces and repels simultaneously in each of her pieces. The beauty and ecstasy of temptation give way to a discordant and unruly licentiousness. Gwyn is currently Assistant Professor at the University of California Santa Cruz and recently had a solo exhibition at the Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin.


Jennifer McNeely: And another thing...!

For Seattle artist Jennifer McNeely (BFA Cornish College of the Arts/MBA City University), the female identity is culturally constrained by the compulsion for personal repair. She uses materials which symbolize this need to construct and to conceal, such as nylons, gloves, feathers and curlers, to build sculptures and installations. By breaking down and then reconfiguring these items into new arrangements and contexts, McNeely both questions their original purposes and creates new possibilities for their use.


Babs Reingold
Fall Out: Beauty Lost and Found

Babs Reingold (MFA SUNY-Buffalo & BFA Cleveland Institute of Art) has long been fascinated with the cultural and personal perception of hair. At one time considered sacred and vulgar, hair is an object of beauty to be nurtured and an object of revulsion to be shed and discarded. In this new installation, which explores the idea of "losing beauty", Reingold has collected bits of her hair in Ziploc bags, creating daily "doodles" from each one.


Family Values Portrait Project

The Family Values Portrait Project is a traveling exhibition of photographs created in response to the Board of Hillsborough County Commissioners 2005 resolution to prohibit county agencies from recognizing, promoting or participating in gay pride events. The project, created by Carrie Mackin and Shari Feldman was funded by Covivant Gallery.

The Family Values Portrait Project was one of three events produced by "Just Say Know", a coalition of artists and activists formed to combat anti-gay bias and discrimination in general. For several months, Carrie Mackin along with Bradley Valentine and Mark Marano, photographed all types of families from Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. The photographers allowed the subjects to define what makes a family. The resulting portraits illustrate, as well as remind us, of the important ties that bind our community.


Kidventures in Art: Renée Stout

Local students share their visual and written responses to our recent Renée Stout exhibition.