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May 2005 Exhibitions
WHEN: May 27 - July 9, 2005
OPENING RECEPTION: May 27, 2005 5:30 - 7:30
CLOSING NIGHT PARTY: July 9, 2005 5:30 - 9:00
WHERE: Arts Center, 719 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL 33701
The Arts Center is proud to present an exciting new show of contemporary photography and film-based art, ranging from the lavish found-object Polaroids of Barb Oosting to Peter Schreyer and Rick Lang's haunting photographs of rural Florida (Schreyer's were most recently seen in a four month exhibit at the Swiss Camera Museum in Vevey, Switzerland).
Rounding out the exhibition are Nancy Cervenka's latest film sculptures, taking the Mainsail Best of Show winner in an entirely new direction, and Ric Savid's quietly profound photographs.
Barb Oosting -- Love: Lost and Found
An intimate peek into the cherished "lost and found box" of Oosting's life -- filled with glamorous remnants of eras past, ephemera of today's disposable pop culture, and a sly nod to the yearnings and desires that follow emotional rebirth. Like a silent screen stage-set, her richly textured dioramic photos create an exquisite aura of femininity under fire, boldly reclaiming itself.
Oosting is relentless in her examination of herself, yet does so in a playful, provocative way. Her work, epic 20 x 24 Polaroid images created using a large-scale camera she purchased on e-bay, draws the viewer into a world where action figures search for love in old photographs, where elaborate drapes hide forbidden family secrets, and the small becomes the heroic.
Nancy Cervenka: Coming into Focus
Winner of Mainsail's Best of Show Award in both 2001 and 2003, Cervenka continues to expand the medium of film, both in a stylistic and physical sense -- a task made easier by her past life as a cinematographer and filmmaker.
She continues to manipulate film, but the linear story line and subplot has given way to sculpted vessels, airy hanging pieces and installations -- all employing an organic, seemingly live blend of color, movement, intricate patterns and flashes of light.
This contemplative new look to her work is the culmination of a process leading back to once again creating films -- a process ironically funded by her award winning static sculptures.
The strands of film she weaves and spirals to create her pieces move in entirely new ways and continue to tell a story -- look closely for recognizable and abstract imagery, as well as a larger dialogue on the relationship between filmmaker and subject. This dialogue is reflected poignantly in her never before-seen video installation Outside-Within, in which the artist is seen on a video projection at the bottom of a film sculpture, struggling to escape the confines of the sculpted piece.
Cervenka will also present a rare screening of her 16 mm films, ranging from the deeply personal Mother's Day 1979 to some of her more experimental works. This unique opportunity is a chance to witness the path Cervenka's work has taken -- from graduate student and fledgling director and editor, to manipulator of film strands, and back again to a filmmaker engaged in an intimate dialogue with her medium.
Peter Schreyer and Rick Lang: Where Two Roads Meet
Schreyer and Lang, Executive Director and Director of Photography, respectively, at Winter Park's acclaimed Crealdé School of Art, establish more than a photographic record of lost Florida. They reclaim the heritage of Florida's small towns and the people who live there -- with insight and a love for their subject that imbues their often humble images with dignity and majesty.
Ric Savid: Portraits
Savid's work is steeped in his monastic spiritual teachings -- honed years ago as a young idealist living austerely in a grass hut in Mindinao, the Philippines. This rich inner life has led to a career creating emotional images that need no words to convey strength, the darkroom bringing to light the deeply buried emotions of his subjects.
