Creativity: The Flowering Tornado, Art by Ginny Ruffner

June 19 – September 5, 2004

Dorothy Jenkins and Emily S. Macey Galleries

This exhibition is a beautiful installation of glass and bronze artworks created by Ginny Ruffner of Seattle, Washington. This touring exhibition has been organized by the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. In this installation, Ruffner features suspended picture frames that incorporate sculpted items including chains, bear traps, flowers, hearts, and arrows, with the focal point being a large tornado with wings. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 1975 and, soon after, learned how to flamework glass. In 1984, she taught the first flameworking class offered by The Pilchuck School of Glass in Seattle. Her work is in the collections of the American Craft Museum, the Corning Museum of Glass, Detroit Institute of Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art.

A Long Paper Trail: Selections from the Museum’s Collection of Graphicstudio Prints

May 15 – August 29, 2004

Perkins Gallery

Since 1989 the Polk Museum of Art has been a subscriber to the artworks produced by Graphicstudio, one of the most important print studios in the country. At present, the Museum owns over 80 works from Graphicstudio.

A Scholar’s Eye: Selections from the Rosenzweig Collection

April 3 – June 6, 2004

Dorothy Jenkins Gallery

This exhibition is sponsored by Charles H. and Dorothy Jenkins and Mark and Lynn Hollis.

Dr. Daphne Lange Rosenzweig (A.B., Mount Holyoke College, M.A. and Ph.D., Columbia University) is an art historian specializing in East Asian art. After extensive study in Asia, as a Fulbright Scholar, she has taught at several major universities and is currently a faculty member of the Liberal Arts Program at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. She teaches courses in Asian art history and culture.

Dr. Rosenzweig is a member of numerous Asian studies and art history learned societies, and a fellow of both the American Oriental Society and the Royal Asiatic Society-Korea Branch. She has organized many museum exhibitions, including Power and Pride: Later Korean Painting, which was exhibited at the Polk Museum of Art in 1996. Dr. Rosenzweig is the author of over 45 publications on Asian art, particularly the jades, paintings and ceramics of Qing dynasty China, classic Japanese prints, and Korean painting; she also reviews books for professional journals. She is a frequent guest lecturer at Asian cultural institutions, professional conferences and museums, and a nationally recognized appraiser of Asian art.

Many of the items in the Rosenzweig collection are related to the marriage between Daphne and Dr. Abraham Rosenzweig. The wedding took place in 1969 in a Confucian ceremony at the Taipei Law Court, on an auspicious day chosen by the Director of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. Other works have been collected through the years, and represent the specific interests of either Daphne or Abe, or represent their collective interests. Some reflect the kindness of friends and relatives who have donated works to the Rosenzweigs over the years. Because of Daphne’s career as an educator, she has sought out objects that are particularly well-suited for teaching purposes. Many of the objects simply reflect the taste in art shared by Daphne and Abe: an appreciation of tactile surfaces, monochromatic statements, and individual artistic efforts rather than workshop collective efforts. This taste is most evident in the 20th-century Japanese prints in their collection, where simplicity is valued over ornate decoration.

The Essence of Nature: 16th – 18th Century Chinese Paintings from the Matthew Edlund Collection

April 3 – June 6 , 2004

Emily S. Macey Gallery

This exhibition is sponsored by Charles H. and Dorothy Jenkins and Mark and Lynn Hollis.

The extraordinary paintings in this exhibition come from the collection of Dr. Matthew Edlund of Sarasota. Dr. Edlund has amassed a collection that includes a large number of hanging scrolls, hand scrolls, albums of calligraphy and paintings, and other Asian objects such as sculptures and ceramics. Some of the most important works in his collection are these paintings, which range in date from the early 16th century to the late 18th century, an era that brought much to change to art and life in China.

The Ming dynasty began in the year 1368, after a revolution returned the rule of China back to the Chinese from the Mongols. We know much about the painting styles in China from the mid-15th century onward thanks in great part to the rise of art criticism, particularly those who began writing in the late 16th century. The imperial court supported the arts well during much of the 15th and early 16th centuries, bestowing upon artists honorary titles to keep them close to the emperor.

This flourishing of the arts led to an increase in collecting art by middle-class merchants. Likewise, this increased demand spawned the development of numerous schools outside of the court, including the Zhe School, an artist from which produced the painting Men on Boat with Twinned Pine Trees in this exhibition. Many of the artists of the Zhe School came from humble beginnings and painted with extraordinary passion.

The Qing dynasty was established by the Manchus in 1644. The overthrow of the Ming was violent as the Manchus swept in from the northeast. However, they were great art patrons, leading to the expansion of regional schools of art. This patronage notwithstanding, many artists in the mid to late 17th century created paintings that expressed a longing for the past. Paintings in this exhibition that feature a sense of nostalgia include Autumn Evening Moon over Lake Dongting, Peach Blossom Spring, and Sea Battle.

Also included in this exhibition are a scroll and a book of calligraphy. In China, there is a long historical connection between calligraphy and painting. Chinese characters had their origins as pictures that grew more and more abstract. You can see the similarity in brushstrokes by comparing the calligraphy with the painting of the Eagle or Hawk.

Şangoyemi Ogunsanya: Mythical Forests and Ritual Objects / Funky Spirits

Şangoyemi Ogunsanya: Mythical Forests and Ritual Objects

January 24 – May 9, 2004

Perkins Gallery

Funky Spirits

December 23, 2003 – May 2, 2004

Murray Gallery

Tampa artist Şangoyemi Ogunsanya works in a variety of media to explore her personal blending of African mythology, nature, and contemporary African-American culture. Included in this exhibition are collages, sculptures, and mixed media constructions. The exhibition consists of two parts. The first is a sculpture and video installation in the Murray Gallery on the second floor. The installation, entitled Funky Spirits, explores the relationship between funk music and African-American folk art and seeks to discover the hidden retention of African spirituality and wisdom therein. Funky Spirits will open December 23, 2003 and run through May 2, 2004.

The second part in the Perkins Gallery consists of Ms. Ogunsanya’s blending of African mythology, nature, and contemporary African-American culture. She has said that “cultures around the world have legends that describe magical forests where supernatural beings exist and magical happenings are commonplace. Gods and Goddesses shape shift from human form to forces of nature. Bush and water spirits, fairies, and leprechauns live, thinly veiled from the eyes of human beings among the trees and sacred plants in that Great Mystery which is nature. Although I was raised in the city, since childhood I have loved the forest and have spent many hours walking and camping in forests around the world. The forest is my sacred place.” This portion of the exhibition is open January 24 through May 2, 2004.

Women’s Objects from the Polk Museum of Art’s African Collection

February 7 – May 2, 2004

Ledger Gallery

To accompany Funky Spirits: An Installation by Sangoyemi Ogunsanya, the museum will exhibit highlights from its new collection of African Art.

Legally Represented: Photographs from the Collection of Trenam, Kemker, Scarf, Barkin, Frye, O’Neill, & Mullis, P.A.

January 31 – March 29, 2004

Dorothy Jenkins Gallery

The law firm of Trenam, Kemker, Scharf, Barkin, Frye, O’Neill & Mullis, P.A. in Tampa owns one of the most impressive corporate collections of photography in the country. The Trenam, Kemker collection includes works by American artists who were alive in 1970, the year of the company’s founding. This exhibition examines nearly all of the major movements, techniques, and processes within photography during the twentieth century and includes work by Berenice Abbott, Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, Chuck Close, Walker Evans, Sandy Skoglund, and James Van Der Zee among many others.

The Trenam, Kemker collection has great educational value. The photographers on display, numbering over 80, represent a virtual who’s who of American photography. However, the photographs have been collected based not on the photographer, but on the intrinsic value of each print. The collection includes silver prints, photogravures, dye transfer prints, photo-collages and montages, Polaroid prints, Cibachrome and Ektacolor prints, Hand-painted prints, and Platinum prints. Particular attention has been paid to acquiring works that reflect Florida in the 20th century. Artists including Mitch Epstein, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Lewis W. Hine, Arthur Rothstein, and Joseph Janney Steinmetz have documented the unique qualities of the Sunshine State and are represented in the Trenam, Kemker collection.

Moments of Reflection: Photographs from the Collections of Robert Puterbaugh and Kerry Wilson

January 31 – March 29, 2004

Emily S. Macey Gallery

The passion for photography shared by Robert Puterbaugh and Kerry Wilson has led them to amass wonderful collections. This exhibition features selections from each collection. Included will be a number of works by Birney Imes, as well as works by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Yousuf Karsh.

Print It! Printmaking Techniques and Artistic Solutions

July 5, 2003 – February 1, 2004

Murray and Ledger Galleries

This exhibition, which examines the creative possibilities within a number of different printmaking techniques, will feature a discussion of both artistic and process concerns. Included will be etchings, photogravures, lithographs, monoprints, and combinations of techniques.

Artists included in the exhibition:

• Richard Anuszkiewicz
• Karel Appel
• Fred Burton
• Liset Castillo
• Hirshige II and Kunisada II
• Jasper Johns
• Markus Lüpertz
• Robert Mapplethorpe
• Henri Matisse
• Mette Petri
• Scott Reed
• James Rosenquist
• Hollis Sigler
• Robert Stackhouse
• Carol Summers
• William Wegman
• Theo Wujcik

Florida Visual Arts Fellowship Exhibition

November 22, 2003 – January 25, 2004

Dorothy Jenkins Gallery

With the current status of state funding for the arts, this could be the last exhibition of recipients of the annual Visual Art Fellowships from the State of Florida. Selected by a distinguished panel of artists and art professionals, the fifteen artists in this exhibition represent some of the most imaginative and significant art being produced throughout the state. The specific artworks for the exhibition will be selected by Daniel E. Stetson, Executive Director, and Todd Behrens, Curator of Art, from the Polk Museum of Art. . Following its showing at the Polk Museum of Art, the exhibition will travel to two other Florida venues: The Arts Center Galleries at Okaloosa-Walton Community College, Niceville from June 27 through July 22, 2004; and The Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables from August 7 through September 5, 2004.

Artists selected for this prestigious exhibition include:

• Miroslav Antich (West Palm Beach), painting
• Donne Bitner (Orlando), mixed media
• Gary W. Bolding (DeLand), painting
• Richard Heipp (Gainesville), painting
• Rebecca Sexton Larson (Tampa), photography
• Connie Lloveras (Coral Gables), mixed media
• Douglas Loewen (Sarasota), sculpture
• Allan R. Maxwell (Orlando), photography
• Jean Cappadonna Nichols (Fort Myers), sculpture
• John A. O’Connor (Gainesville), painting
• Raymond Olivero (Fort Lauderdale), painting
• George Pappas (Sarasota), painting
• Carol G. Prusa (Boca Raton), painting
• Karen Rifas (Miami), experimental
• Akiko Sugiyama (Ormond Beach), paper
• John Tilton (Alachua), ceramics

Together, the artists work in a wonderful variety of mediums: oil and acrylic paintings, mixed media paintings and drawings, hand-painted and digital photography, functional ceramics and ceramic sculptures, kinetic sculptures, and paper and organic sculptures. Two of the thematic and often material aspects that link many of these artists are layers of meaning and studies of the collision between the natural and the human-made. Artists including Antic, Heipp, Larson, and Olivero incorporate the idea of layering directly through their subject matter, as they investigate the impact of distance and context in understanding personal and general history. Bolding, Loewen, Nichols, and Rifas study our often unnatural relationships with our environment. Bitner, Lloveras, and Prusa use a wide variety of materials to create literal layering as they analyze our self-awareness and our relationships with broad, often spiritual ideas. Maxwell and O’Connor create layers of information through their techniques, leading our eyes and minds on visual journeys through their processes. Sugiyama and Tilton rely on some of the most basic natural materials of our everyday lives—clay and paper—to create colorful and sophisticated forms, the crispness of which seems far removed from that of the raw materials.

For an exhibition determined by two separate, relatively large committees, the forty artworks seem remarkably seamless in their quality and many of their themes. They speak well to the current state of the art community and Florida and are a powerful rebuttal to anyone who might doubt the quality and value of art funding at the state level.

Beaded Beauty: Art Objects from Southern Africa

November 22, 2003 – January 25, 2004

Emily S. Macey Gallery

The Polk Museum of Art has recently extended its holdings to include African Art. The objects on display come from the collection of Norma and William Roth of Winter Haven, who recently donated 50 textiles, gourds, and ceramic objects from their extensive collection. Ranging from hats and capes to bags and vessels, all of these objects are from the southern region of Africa are adorned with beads. Some of the cultures represented in the exhibition include the Ndebele, Thembu, and Zulu Cultures of South Africa, the Himba and San Cultures of Namibia, and the Batonka Culture of Zimbabwe.

Glass beads have been used by African artisans since the earliest development of glass in Ancient Egypt. The beaded works included in this collection are both beautiful and culturally significant. Beads have not only been used by the peoples of Africa for decorative purposes; their importance lies in the fact that they are used to denote many different forms of social status. Through the use of color, form, and stitching, the people of southern Africa are able to use beads to communicate such things as marital status, political or economic status, and affection for one another. The exhibition includes a great variety of objects including hats and headdresses, skirts and aprons, necklaces, belts, bags, and ceremonial objects.

Home Grown: Florida Artists from the Permanent Collection

November 29, 2003 – January 18, 2004

Perkins Gallery

Florida is home to some of this country’s most talented artists and the Polk Museum of Art has a rich collection of their work. In conjunction with the Florida Visual Arts Fellowship Exhibition, Home Grown will feature works from the Polk Museum of Art’s permanent collection that were created by Floridians, many of whom are current or past recipients of the annual Visual Art Fellowships. Artists in the exhibition include Rocky Bridges, Clyde Butcher, Akiko Sugiyama, Margeret Tolbert, and Anna Tomczak.

Some Assembly Required: Collage Culture in Post-War America

August 30 – November 2, 2003

Dorothy Jenkins and Emily S. Macey Galleries

This exhibition explores what is perhaps the dominant aesthetic of the 20th century—collage. Curated and organized by the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York, Some Assembly Required examines the history of collage as it has unfolded in the United States in the fifty-plus years since the end of World War II. From its beginnings in Cubism around 1912, when the term described the act of gluing bits of newspaper and other everyday objects onto the surface of paintings, collage has evolved to include works that combine found objects, photographs, and images from popular media. In addition to revolutionizing the way artists make art, collage can be appreciated for the way it has accompanied and fostered some of the most momentous shifts in art and society during the post-war period. Some Assembly Required consists of 45 works done in various types of media including paper, photomontage, sculptural assemblage, digital art and video. The selected works vary from traditional to cutting-edge with a wide diversity of conceptual aims.

Pieces of Art: Assemblage Works from the Permanent Collection

August 16 – October 26, 2003

Perkins Gallery

Collage and mixed media artworks are an important component of the Museum’s Permanent Collection. As a compliment to the major exhibition, Some Assembly Required: Collage Culture in Post-War America, the Polk Museum of Art has assembled this exhibition of works from its permanent collection.

Artists in the Exhibition:

• Rocky Bridges
• Sheila F. Crawford
• Ummarid “Tony” Eitharong
• Jane Kaufman
• Jeffrey Kronsnoble
• Barbara Kruger
• Pat Lasch
• Bruce Marsh
• Steve McCallum
• David McKirdy
• Howardena Pindell
• Judith Powers-Jones
• Robert Rauschenberg
• James Rosenquist
• Miriam Schapiro
• Erika Schmidt
• Alan Sonfist
• Keith Sonnier
• Jerry Uelsmann

Stepping Away from the Mirror: Expressive Figurative Works from the Polk Museum of Art Permanent Collection

June 28 – August 24, 2003

Dorothy Jenkins and Emily S. Macey Galleries

For the first time in several years, Polk Museum of Art will exclusively feature works from our Permanent Collection in our two main galleries. This exhibition presents over 50 works centered around artists’ interpretation of the human figure. As the viewer enters the main galleries, the style of the works moves from very naturalistic to increasingly abstract, a decision that was meant to allow the viewer to consider all of the options that artists have and which ones have been chosen for each work. Color, scale, gesture and pose are considerations for the composition, but there are many more that relate to the ultimate purpose of an artwork. For example, a portrait that is rendered as accurately as possible is frequently not the most suitable subject for a particular artwork. Remember as well that any portrait is itself an abstraction to some degree since it is composed of some artistic medium rather than flesh, blood and bone. Since many artists want to address more theoretical and imaginative issues, they must step away from physical reality or its reflection and create unique forms that expand upon our current modes of visualizing the world.

In addition to the artists listed below, the exhibition also includes selections by unidentified artists from our Asian Arts and Pre-Columbian collections.

Artists in the Exhibition:

• Downing Barnitz
• Thomas François Cartier
• Maria Castagliola
• Sandro Chia
• Edward S. Curtis
• Lynn Davison
• Leslie Dill
• Ummarid “Tony” Eitharong
• Domenico Facci
• Nancy Graves
• John Gurbacs
• Victoria Hirt
• Marcia Isaacson
• Graciela Iturbide
• William King
• Irving Kriesberg
• Jeffrey Kronsnoble
• Robert Kushner
• Norma Liebman
• Patty Margerum
• Marino Marini
• Chaz Meissner
• The Mekons
• James Michaels
• Alice Neel
• Carla Nickerson-Adams
• Ed Paschke
• Philip Pearlstein
• Tall Rickards
• Gilberto Ruiz
• Miriam Schapiro
• Kenny Scharf
• Keith Sonnier
• Mark Tobey
• Rigoberto Torres
• Jerry Uelsmann
• Bob “Daddy-O” Wade
• Vern S. White
• Andy Woung
• Theo Wujcik
• Yoshitoshi Tsukioka

Seeing the Forest: Landscapes by Jerry Cutler

May 24 – August 10, 2003

Perkins Gallery

For years, University of Florida professor Jerry Cutler has been exploring wooded landscapes for allusions to our lives as well as to our longings for the past. Forms link the natural to human even as the subject matter can demonstrate humankind’s self-imposed alienation from nature.

From the catalogue which was produced to accompany this exhibition:

“Until 1989, Cutler was primarily a painter of the human figure and this experience affected his earliest landscapes. Most of his work contains references to universal experiences throughout nature such as life and death. The forest is a place in which life, growth, decay, death, and rebirth are played out in clear ways. Passion Play I is the earliest painting in this exhibition and refers specifically to his memories of his childhood in rural Wisconsin. Even though he had lived in Florida for ten years at the time of this painting, Cutler’s idea of “land” was still very much attached to his youthful experiences. Pitfall is another early landscape that typifies his unique combination of land and body imagery. Though it is recognizable as a landscape, the individual parts of the painting are not so easy to decipher. They seem to relate strongly to the human body from external form down to the most basic structures such as blood vessels.

“Trees and paths took on a more prominent role in Cutler’s paintings of the mid-1990s. Red Bridge, Ring Path, and Hommage Path come from this series of large paintings that placed a human presence within the image through lonely paths to uncertain destinations. Each explores the idea of a journey into places both strange and familiar.

“After working with landscapes for a number of years, Cutler began to incorporate some aspects of traditional Romantic landscapes. Using a lower horizon line gave him the freedom to increase the intensity of the lighting and, therefore, the shadows. In Moonlit Landscape, the low-hanging full moon reflects the light onto the water and through the trees.

“In 1998, Cutler began to focus more of his time painting small-scale works. This scale allowed him a greater opportunity to investigate the effects of foliage within a wooded landscape and to create a more intimate connection between the painted image and the viewer. More important, however, was his experimentation with the form of landscape popularized in the 19th century by Barbizon painters in France and the Hudson River School in the United States. In contrast to these historic movements, Cutler’s contemporary paintings such as Escarpment, Romantic Landscape, and Island at Dusk have a restrained emotional quality, focusing instead on the forms and colors of the natural environment to create vibrant patterns across the canvas.

“Divided Pine and Florida Waters are the most recent paintings in this exhibition. They mark a return to large paintings after a four-year period of focusing on smaller works and reflect the changes that occurred to Cutler’s work during that period. Now, instead of standing detached from the wooded landscape, we stand within the landscape. The patterns of the sky, the eroding bank, and the reflections in the water recall earlier paintings, but the colors of the leaves have a prominent place as well. The cycle of life is clearly presented with a fallen tree in each foreground and an intensely colored young tree growing out of the adjacent bank.”

Form, Function, and Flourishes: The Decorative Impulse in European History

February 8 – June 29, 2003

Murray and Ledger Galleries

This exhibition features a selection of the Museum’s unique collection of decorative arts. Included will be 18th and 19th century English silver pieces, beautiful Italian, French, English, and Spanish ceramic objects from the 16th through the 19th centuries, glass vases, hand-painted 19th century wallpaper samples from France, and historic bells.

A Painting for Over the Sofa (That’s Not Necessarily a Painting)

April 12 – June 22, 2003

Dorothy Jenkins and Emily S. Macey Galleries

This eclectic mixture of nationally recognized artists pokes fun at the idea that artworks are created purely for home decorating purposes. Included in the exhibition are 18 blow-up sofas over which the artworks will be installed. This exhibition has been organized by Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami.

Artists in the exhibition:

• Mario Algaze
• Ida Applebroog
• Ken Aptekar
• Louise Bourgeois
• Edouard Duval-Carrié
• Tim Curtis
• Rico Gatson
• Bruce Helander
• Komar & Melamid
• Hung Liu
• Pepón Osorio
• Karen Rifas
• Miriam Schapiro
• Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
• Federico Uribe
• Joe Walters
• Deborah Willis
• Wendy Wischer

“The exhibition A Painting for Over the Sofa (that’s not necessarily a painting) makes a distinctly art world jest. It plays on the notion, relived all too often by artists and dealers, that there is a segment of the art-buying public whose main interest in paintings, prints, and sculptures is that they not clash with the wallpaper, outshine the upholstery, bollocks the feng shui, or otherwise shame the appointments.

“Those who make a living by art find this attitude annoying and retrograde to say the least, especially because they put a lot of thinking and doing into their exertions, down to the small details. Art people tend to be critical by nature, and their routines embrace the social and political, the psychological and the historical far more often than they dabble in interior design. This is not to mention, of course, formalist daring-do, or the art-critical thickets that headier practitioners like to thrash around when they apply paint to canvas, focus their lenses, or start molding their protoplasmic substances. It’s no wonder that they’re quick with the rude fun when it comes to what might be called bourgeois sensibility.

“What ties this show’s eighteen pieces together is something deeper and more elusive than the admittedly thin premise of a raspberry to clients of heedless taste, however. A Painting for Over the Sofa (that’s not necessarily a painting) goes to great, mostly oblique lengths to show just how unsuitable art is as decoration, how much more it is than accoutrements. The exhibition’s works are observant, droll, argumentative, heart-breaking, off-putting, discomfiting, perplexing, memorable. Anything but demure. These are not knick-knacks for the den that you casually turn your back to. You would not overlook a single one to indulge in gastronomic chit-chat or the exchange of middle-brow fashion statements. In their presence, they are precisely what you talk about.

“It’s not simply that the work is tough, though much of it decidedly is. Or that it is outsized and oddly shaped. Or that it’s put together with a spiny bravura whose harshness is its point. Rather, each of these works has some evident, nagging complexity, rendering it useless as a color spot, overpowering as a pretty picture, too subtle for thick-headed stylishness. It seems that Bernice Steinbaum (who served as curator of this project and organizer of its tour) has convened a group of artists who, all told, are sharp but not brainy, quick with quip, far-seeing, and able workers.

“But let us give some credit to our absent patron, the gilder of living room walls and sunporch nooks, that swine before whom one’s pearls have been cast. This hypothetical philistine is not entirely to be hooted at. Who’s to say that our interloper, when remarking on the lovely tropical pin air of The Door of No Return, which Mr. Duval-Carrié has sweated copiously over just imagining, is not getting to the very stuff that draws us to these works in the first place?

“It may indeed be that it’s nice arrangement of objects, the weight an curve of their lines, their shadows and hue, that provide their inner light. It is a dynamic process that we are considering when we look at artifacts on the wall, a process that begins as pigment touches and canvas and burin scratches stone. These may be the qualities that the artist most deeply considers, the dealer gives a chance to, that you and I, the visitors to the studio, gallery and museum, stop before so we can all begin to talk about the important things we imagine the work really signifies.”

-Joel Weinstein, Miami, Florida extracted from catalogue for A Painting for Over the Sofa (that’s not necessarily a painting)

Defining Paintings: Mixed Media Works from the Permanent Collection

March 1 – May 18, 2003

Perkins Gallery

When we think of a “painting”, we can easily imagine a stretched canvas with a coating of oil or acrylic paint, or a sheet of paper with watercolor paint. But how far can the definition of a painting be expanded? If an artwork has sculptural elements but is covered with paint, can it still be considered a painting? What about a hand-colored photograph? This exhibition is an exploration of the flexibility of paint within artworks. Featuring 22 works from the Polk Museum of Art Permanent Collection, this exhibition gives you the opportunity to rethink your assumptions about what it is that makes a painting, or other type of artwork, what it is.

Artists in the exhibition:

• Rocky Bridges
• Robert E. Calvo
• Roy DeForest
• Edouard Duval-Carrié
• Andrew Ehrenworth
• Robert Farber
• Don Hazlitt
• Roberto Juarez
• Rebecca Sexton Larson
• David Maxim
• William Pachner
• Tony Robbin
• Rose Ann Samuelson
• Miriam Schapiro
• Mark Tobey
• Rigoberto Torres
• Ann Turnley
• Theodore Waddell
• Robert Rahway Zakanitch

The Contemporary Tableau: Beal, Goodman, Leslie, and Witkin

January 18 – April 6, 2003

Dorothy Jenkins and Emily S. Macey Galleries

Organized by Polk Museum of Art with guest curator Dr. August Freundlich, this exhibition will feature artworks by well-known artists Jack Beal, Sidney Goodman, Alfred Leslie, and Jerome Witkin that use a theatrical lighting style to accentuate the dramatic moments portrayed in their works. These artists come from the same generation, now matured, that began under the dominant styles of the New York School. Their large-scale, often monumental works present us with a well-lit set, a tableau, a scene frozen for presentation and contemplation.