Albert Paley: Sketches & Steel

March 31-June 23, 2012
Gallery I & II

Albert Paley’s use of steel can be described as industrial poetry. His large sculptures combine an apparent heaviness with an almost lost sense of gravity as unfurled and animate forms construct massive works of art. Upon seeing his work, it is surprising to learn that Paley completes for each piece a planning process that includes an abundance of preliminary sketches and cardboard models. This exhibition will focus on both sides of Paley’s creative process: the plan and the end product. His steel sculptures will be on view alongside the initial sketches Paley produced to create the sculptures. By understanding Paley’s process, viewers will gain a new perspective on his constructed steel creations.

Sponsored by:

Heacock

and The Men of Iron

Hunt Slonem: An Expressive Nature

December 17-March 24, 2012
Dorothy Jenkins Gallery

Contemporary works by New York- and Louisiana-based artist Hunt Slonem are sought after by collectors from around the world.  His vibrantly colored works can be found in nearly 100 international museum collections and countless other corporate and private collections. Slonem’s expressive paintings pivot between the fantastic and the natural. As a youth in Hawaii, he developed an early affinity for nature, especially the various species of tropical birds living on the island. These natural forms ultimately became the subjects for his artworks, appearing in large lavishly colored paintings and constructed sculptures. As an artist, Slonem is fascinated by the many expressive faculties of color. His paintings are layered with thick brushstrokes of vivid color, often cut into in a cross-hatched pattern that adds texture to the overall surface of the painting. This surface patterning combines with the rich colors and recognizable subject matter to create paintings that are as physically exciting as they are aesthetically rich.

Günter Wirth

November 19-February 26, 2012

Murray & Ledger Galleries

Günter Wirth is a German artist who has dedicated his artistic career to the exploration of geometric forms, primarily rectangles and circles. He studied at the Academy of the Fine Arts in Berlin and later received a degree in civil engineering. As his work developed, he became increasingly interested in exploring the potential within two-dimensional space. He flattened and minimized his use of color and began using a rectangle, which he viewed as an “O” with squared corners, as a means of extending the space of the picture beyond the frame. The rectangle also serves as a counterpoint to the more organic or more fluid imagery within, behind or beyond the rectangle.

From the Flat Files

March 3 – May 26

Murray & Ledger Galleries

Most museum-goers only ever get to see a fraction of a museum’s collection. Due to the cost, time, and space required to frame and house artwork, a large portion of museums’ pieces go unframed and are stored in flat files, cabinets where artwork is laid flat in drawers. These pieces are unfortunately hidden away from the rest of the world, only seen by a select few of the museum staff. In From the Flat Files, the museum will reveal some of its never-before-seen treasures.

The Blues

October 15 – January 21, 2012
Perkins Gallery

Color is a complex thing.  Throughout art history it has been studied, categorized and subjected to a variety of interpretations.  From these years of study, we realize that the three primary colors (red, yellow and blue) are the fundamental colors and the key ingredients to produce any other color of the spectrum.  That makes blue a rather important player in the art world.  It has traditionally symbolized sorrow and, ironically, happiness.  In abstract paintings, blue’s cool tone is typically used to give the impression of receding space on the two-dimensional canvas.  In more natural or representational paintings, blue is often mixed with other hues to depict realistic shadows caused by natural light.  Musically, blue is the label for an entire genre of music founded by African-Americans in the Deep South during the 19th century to express grief or distress.  In conjunction with its annual Red, White & The Blues celebration, Polk Museum of Art pays homage to the cool color by displaying works from its Permanent Collection wherein blue is a major component.

Annual Exhibition Fund Sponsors:

• The Muses
• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• Peterson & Myers, P.A.
• National Endowment for the Arts
• Mr. & Mrs. Robert Puterbaugh
• The Reitzel Foundation
• SunTrust Foundation
• Agriculture and Labor Program Inc.
• Mrs. George W. Truitt
• Fleetwing Corp.
• Tinsley Family Concessions
• Mr. & Mrs. Andy Hernandez
• Dr. & Mrs. Emilio Montero
• BCI Engineers & Scientists

“EN PLEIN” SIGHT: Paintings by Lilian Garcia-Roig

September 17 – December 10, 2011
Dorothy Jenkins Gallery

Lilian Garcia-Roig is a native Cuban and currently a professor of art at Florida State University.  Although her work is rooted in historical convention, she transcends the typical definition of a landscape painter.  Her large-scale, surface leavened works pivot between the recognizable and the abstract.  Her intent is to reconcile these two opposing styles by picking up where Vincent van Gogh left off: painting outdoors (or en plein air) with thick thrashes of paint to produce lavish landscapes.  Yet, Garcia-Roig invents a tangent by allowing the landscape to dissolve into an arrangement of abstract forms; as you approach her paintings, they begin to appear less like natural landscapes and more like arrangements of abstract forms.  Her chosen painting style only contributes to this oscillation between realism and abstraction, combining brushwork with thick globs of color forced directly onto the canvas from the paint tubes.  These paintings arrive at being unconventional by way of progressing what was once conventional.

Jessica Lange: In Mexico

September 17 – December 10, 2011
Emily S. Macey Gallery

Throughout the recent decades, as photography has finally seen itself thrust onto the scene as a legitimate art form, photographers have increasingly defined themselves more personally.  Far from mere reputations as journalists or commercial sentimentalists, photographers have become the eyes of the art world and the bridge between manual creation and technological production.  Jessica Lange is certainly no exception when focusing on the personal side of contemporary photography.  Through Lange’s photography, we witness a fusion of intimacy and curiosity. Her portfolio titled Mexico, showcased in this exhibition, consists of compelling slivers of her experience with the country’s culture.  Although unmistakably Mexican, these scenes are more than glimpses into another culture; Lange successfully uses a photographer’s sensibilities to conjure a broad representation of her own experience.

Exhibition Sponsors: Robert & Malena Puterbaugh
Reception Sponsor: Fleetwing Corporation

Recent Acquisitions

December 17-March 24

Gallery 2

The Museum is constantly updating and adding to its Permanent Collection. This exhibition will showcase some of the newer acquisitions, including photographs by Ansel Adams, André Kertesz and Alfred Eisenstaedt, all purchased by the Art Resource Trust. In addition, the exhibition will include two pieces of artwork purchased during the 2011 MIDFLORIDA Mayfaire by-the-Lake: a sculpture by William Kidd and a seascape by Richard Currier. The show also will include a small Rembrandt etching donated by William and Norma Roth.

Figuration

May 28 – October 8, 2011

Perkins Gallery

This exhibition will focus on artworks from the Permanent Collection that feature the human figure.

Annual Exhibition Fund Sponsors:

• The Muses
• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• Peterson & Myers, P.A.
• National Endowment for the Arts
• Mr. & Mrs. Robert Puterbaugh
• The Reitzel Foundation
• SunTrust Foundation
• Agriculture and Labor Program Inc.
• Mrs. George W. Truitt
• Fleetwing Corp.
• Tinsley Family Concessions
• Mr. & Mrs. Andy Hernandez
• Dr. & Mrs. Emilio Montero
• BCI Engineers & Scientists

The (Lost) Art of Drawing

August 13 – November 13, 2011

Murray and Ledger Galleries

In our contemporary world defined by experimental art media and digital design, the simple act of drawing seems to hold a less important role in the art world.  Despite its apparent absence, drawing is still a fundamental basis for fine arts and has been reformed to relate more to preliminary sketches, printing techniques or digital design.  This exhibition includes artworks from the Museum’s Permanent Collection that exemplify how drawing remains an important component of creative process.

Annual Exhibition Fund Sponsors:

• The Muses
• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• Peterson & Myers, P.A.
• National Endowment for the Arts
• Mr. & Mrs. Robert Puterbaugh
• The Reitzel Foundation
• SunTrust Foundation
• Agriculture and Labor Program Inc.
• Mrs. George W. Truitt
• Fleetwing Corp.
• Tinsley Family Concessions
• Mr. & Mrs. Andy Hernandez
• Dr. & Mrs. Emilio Montero
• BCI Engineers & Scientists

Form/Function: Decorative Arts From the Permanent Collection

July 2-September 10, 2011

Dorothy Jenkins & Emily S. Macey Galleries

The correlation between artistic design and functionality has always been a defining characteristic of Decorative Art. Furthermore, this is a major pivot point when discussing the differences between works that have traditionally been deemed fine art and those that are considered decorative art. With this exhibition, PMoA will explore this relationship as exemplified in numerous works from the Permanent Collection. Decorative Art objects from various cultures and time periods will be displayed, from Georgian silver to Asian porcelain to Pre-Columbian ceramics. Each artwork will be displayed according to how its form relates to its intended function. Will your artistic sensibilities persuade you to view these beautiful objects as being purely decorative, or will you focus more on their utilitarian characteristics?

Annual Exhibition Fund Sponsors:

• The Muses
• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• Peterson & Myers, P.A.
• National Endowment for the Arts
• Mr. & Mrs. Robert Puterbaugh
• The Reitzel Foundation
• SunTrust Foundation
• Agriculture and Labor Program Inc.
• Mrs. George W. Truitt
• Fleetwing Corp.
• Tinsley Family Concessions
• Mr. & Mrs. Andy Hernandez
• Dr. & Mrs. Emilio Montero
• BCI Engineers & Scientists

Young Curators: Montessori Selects

April 22 – August 20

Murray and Ledger Galleries

The spring of 2011 will mark the end of Montessori Middle School’s first year of holding classes at Polk Museum of Art. To mark this occasion, PMoA offers these students an opportunity to participate in deciding what is displayed in two galleries. The 40 students have been divided into pairs and will choose an artwork from the Permanent Collection. Each team will then provide their own commentary on their decisions. This exhibition will introduce us to their perception while also allowing the students to become more involved with the curatorial processes at PMoA. These ‘young curators’ are sure to impress and add a new perspective to the exhibition experience.

Annual Exhibition Fund Sponsors:

• Cowles Charitable Trust
• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• The Reitzel Foundation
• The Hazelle Paxson Morrison Foundation
• Mrs. George W. Truitt
• BCI Engineers & Scientists

Annie Leibovitz: Women

April 2 – June 26, 2011

Dorothy Jenkins and Emily S. Macey Galleries

Exhibition Reception: Friday, April 1, 6:00 – 8:30pm. FREE for Members, $10 Non-Members.

Annie Leibovitz is one of the most famous photographers working today. Her photographs have been featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and in the often imitated “Got Milk?” advertising campaign. In this exhibition of more than 60 photographs, Leibovitz focuses on the American woman at the turn of the millenium with portraits from a broad spectrum of society. Among the recognizable faces are Betty Ford, Gloria Steinem, Toni Morrison, and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Annie Leibovitz: Women was made possible by the Women’s Museum: Institute for the Future, Dallas, TX.

Annual Exhibition Fund Sponsors:

• Cowles Charitable Trust
• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• The Reitzel Foundation
• The Hazelle Paxson Morrison Foundation
• Mrs. George W. Truitt
• BCI Engineers & Scientists

Women’s Views

February 5 – May 22, 2011

Perkins Gallery

This exhibition will include works from the Permanent Collection which were created by women. With some of the largest museums coming under fire for rarely showcasing female artists from their collections, we devote an entire exhibition to works by some of the many talented women in our collection. Painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers, weavers and ceramicists from around the country will be represented in this exhibition. Artists will include Hung Liu, Barbara Kruger, Fonchen Lord, Jean Yao, Maggie Taylor, Miriam Schapiro, and Dianora Niccolini.

Annual Exhibition Fund Sponsors:

• Cowles Charitable Trust
• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• The Reitzel Foundation
• The Hazelle Paxson Morrison Foundation
• Mrs. George W. Truitt
• BCI Engineers & Scientists

The Big Picture

January 15 – March 26, 2010

Emily S. Macey Gallery

Exhibition Reception: Friday, January 14, 6:00 – 8:00pm. FREE for Members, $10 Non-Members.

It is ironic to think that an artwork’s large size makes it invisible.  That can easily happen within an extensive museum collection; sometimes oversized works are shown less often because of their cumbersome size or the lack of exhibiting wall space. Polk Museum of Art wants to counteract this by devoting an entire exhibition to some of the largest artworks in its collection. The Big Picture will create an opportunity for the Museum to show off the size of its collection while giving our audiences the opportunity to view an exhibition of giants. This exhibition will include works from the Museum’s Permanent Collection by such artists as Hunt Slonem, Theo Wujcik, John Briggs, Gilberto Ruiz and Philip Pearlstein.

Annual Exhibition Fund Sponsors:

• Cowles Charitable Trust
• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• The Reitzel Foundation
• The Hazelle Paxson Morrison Foundation
• Mrs. George W. Truitt
• BCI Engineers & Scientists

Retrospect and Restoration: Paintings by Humberto Calzada

January 15 – March 26, 2011

Dorothy Jenkins Gallery

Exhibition Reception: Friday, January 14, 6:00 – 8:30pm. FREE for Members, $10 Non-Members.

Humberto Calzada is a leading figure from the first generation of exiled artists to have developed outside of Cuba. He introduces historically charged imagery into a modernist pictorial tradition. His paintings of architectural scenes are based on observations and memories of Cuba. He combines the scientific approach of Renaissance perspective with the state of uncertainty of de Chirico’s piazzas and the experience of 20th-century abstraction with nostalgic sentimentality.

Humberto Calzada was born in Cuba in 1944 and has lived in the United States since 1960. In 1966 he received a degree in Industrial Engineering, followed by a MBA in Finance (1968) from the University of Miami. He began painting in 1972 and since 1976 has dedicated his time exclusively to painting. His work has been said to carry on the classical Latin American artistic tradition: dreamlike realism, tension created by the contrast between calm and conflict, and the use of timeless symbols as a universal language.

Throughout his career, he has applied these themes using architectural imagery. He depicts harmony through the use of natural elements, and he depicts conflict through the opposition of the ephemeral movement of light and water against the static force of stone and glass.

Exhibition Sponsors:

Mr. and Mrs. Andy Hernandez
Dr. and Mrs. Emilio Montero

Annual Exhibition Fund Sponsors:

• Cowles Charitable Trust
• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• The Reitzel Foundation
• The Hazelle Paxson Morrison Foundation
• Mrs. George W. Truitt
• BCI Engineers & Scientists

Visual Unity 2

October 2, 2010 – January 8, 2011

Dorothy Jenkins Gallery

Exhibition Reception: Friday, October 1, 6:00 – 8:30pm. FREE for Members, $10 Non-Members.

Behind the Art, an artists roundtable discussion of the exhibition will be held Saturday, November 13, 1:00-2:00pm. The event is free with regular admission and will feature at least nine of the artists in the exhibition.

What happens when you partner 19 very different artists and tell them to make a piece of art together?

In a reprise of the exhibition Visual Unity that was hosted by the Morean Arts Center in St. Pete last year, Polk Museum of Art is partnering with local artist Rocky Bridges to open a new take on the original. Bridges will serve as co-curator of the project which will include 19 participating artists, divided into nine teams. Each team of artists will work to produce two collaborative pieces for the exhibition. In addition to these mutually produced works, the Curator of Art will select one recent piece by each artist to be shown as an example of their respective styles.

Participating artists include

• Rocky Bridges (Tarpon Springs, FL)
• Jill Cannady (Deland, FL)
• Richard Currier (Micco, FL)
• Edouard Duval Carrier (Miami, FL)
• Monica Eastman (Plant City, FL)
• Ummarid “Tony” Eitharong (Orlando, FL)
• Susan Gott (Tampa, FL)
• Steven Gregory (Tampa, FL)
• Kirk ke Wang (Tampa, FL)
• Jeff League (Winter Park, FL)
• Monica Londono (Sarasota, FL)
• Tim Ludwig (Deland, FL)
• Duncan McClellan (St. Petersburg, FL)
• Carol Mickett/Robert Stackhouse (St. Petersburg, FL)
• Leslie Neumann (Aripeka, FL)
• Tony Savoie (Orlando, FL)
• Lucia Taxdal (Winter Haven, FL)
• Theo Wujcik (Tampa, FL)

This exhibition will focus on both process and product. Artistic collaboration can sometimes yield interesting effects, potentially shifting an artist’s perspective and causing creative reformation within the studio. Throughout art history, artists have always been a communal breed, feeding from one another’s creative energies and ideas, yet keeping enough distance between them to create individual styles and identities. By forcing two artists to collaborate and produce works specifically for exhibition, personalities, styles and natures of media can collide to create beautiful harmonies of expression. The artworks produced and shown by these artists will be viewed not only for their aesthetic and technical beauty, but also for the creative process behind them.

Annual Exhibition Fund Sponsors:

• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• The Reitzel Foundation
• The Hazelle Paxson Morrison Foundation
• BCI Engineers & Scientists

Eye See America: Through the Lens of Joshua Mann Pailet

October 2, 2010 – January 8, 2011
Emily S. Macey Gallery

Joshua Mann Pailet is a photographer with a lens for absorbing America. This exhibition will include 66 photographs from his broad opus which will all work in unison to form a visual journy into the American experience. Inspired by the photographic social commentary of artists such as Dorothea Lange, the beauty of natural phenomenon in works by Ansel Adams, and the advertising and documentary character of Elliott Erwitt’s images, Pailet’s ability to combine the American sensation and fine art photography is moving, nostalgic, raw, and always beautiful.

Pailet was born in New Orleans, raised in Baton Rouge, and then returned to New Orleans where he now owns and manages A Gallery for Fine Photography. His extensive travels across the varied landscapes of the United States have provided the people, places and events which became the subjects of these photographs. From his cross-country ride aboard the American Freedom Train in 1976 to his experiences in New Orleans post Katrina and the energy of rock’n’roll concerts, his images capture insights into the country’s recent history, its contemporary national identity and the people who help sustain it.

EXHIBITION SPONSORED BY:

Peterson & Meyers, P.A.

and Robert and Malena Puterbaugh

RECEPTION SPONSORED BY:
Fleetwing Corporation

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM:

WUSF

Annual Exhibition Fund Sponsors:

Dorothy Chao Jenkins
The Reitzel Foundation
The Hazelle Paxson Morrison Foundation
BCI Engineers & Scientists

Modern Masters

June 26 – October 3, 2010

Perkins Gallery

This exhibition will be a survey of works by some of the more familiar names in the Museum’s collection. Artists such as Arshile Gorky, Robert Rauschenberg, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Barbara Kruger, Robert Motherwell, Alexander Calder, and Judy Chicago will be represented in this exhibition. Although recognized now by art history for their innovative contributions toward the advancement of fine art, these artists were often defined by their early critics as being unorthodox. They were, in fact, producing artworks which redirected and reformed the world of art in ways that now define contemporary art. With this exhibition, the Polk Museum of Art shares an attractive sampling of works by some of these Modern heavy hitters.

ANNUAL EXHIBITION FUND SPONSORS:

• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• The Reitzel Foundation
• The Hazelle Paxson Morrison Foundation
• BCI Engineers & Scientists

Loïs Mailou Jones: A Life in Vibrant Color

July 3 – September 25, 2010

Dorothy Jenkins and Emily S. Macey Galleries

The myriad of themes explored by Loïs Mailou Jones (1905-1998) over the impressive length of her 75 year career makes for a dynamic exhibition of more than 70 works, including paintings, drawings and textile designs. During a brief teaching stint at Palmer Memorial Institute, a preparatory school in Sedalia, North Carolina, Jones created several paintings that marked her transition from design to fine art. Jones’ influences were extensive throughout the remainder of her career. Her lush oil paintings of the French countryside and traditional fruit and flower still lifes highlight her skillful observation of nature. Her marriage in 1952 to noted Haitian graphic artist Louis Vergniaud Pierre-Noël instigated a change in the subject matter and palette of her paintings. Her frequent trips to Haiti re-energized her strong design sense and inspired vivid acrylic and watercolor paintings that displayed a marked fascination with Caribbean culture. After additional travels that included African countries, her work became characterized by brilliant color, rich patterns and a variety of Haitian and African motifs.

Loïs Mailou Jones: A Life in Vibrant Color is organized by the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC, in collaboration with the Loïs Mailou Jones Pierre-Noël Trust, and toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC.

Exhibition Sponsored by:

ALPI

Tinsley Family

Additional Support by:

Blackmon Roberts Group, Inc.

WUSF

ANNUAL EXHIBITION FUND SPONSORS:

• Dorothy Chao Jenkins
• The Reitzel Foundation
• The Hazelle Paxson Morrison Foundation
• BCI Engineers & Scientists