Art News By Caron Schwartz
FMoPA presents Against the Sea and Dark Mountains
Scott Bolendz is a photographer of dark natural environments. This exhibition brings together two related bodies of his award-winning work.
Against the Sea is a series of elegiac, meditative studies of time-sculpted trees succumbing to the eternal surf, a series Bolendz began as his father succumbed to Parkinson’s Disease. These images give photographic form to a search for solace, understanding, and acceptance during a period of great personal loss.
Dark Mountains transports the viewer to remote, high-altitude environments, brimming with awe and anxiety. A survivor of a rare childhood disease, Bolendz engages with the specter of his own mortality in a series of cathartic, personally transformative, photographic journeys into the mountains. Tampa’s Florida Museum of Photographic Arts Aug. 6- Sept. 12 www.fmopa.org
Fingerprint evidence
London’s Victoria and Albert Museum believes it has discovered Michelangelo’s thumbprint on the surface of a small wax sculpture by the Italian Renaissance master. Last spring, conservators moved the delicate work from an upper gallery to cooler basement storage to protect it from rising temperatures while the museum was closed during lockdown. Wax sculptures “start sweating and looking uncomfortable” and staffers “get anxious” during a heatwave, said Peta Motture, the museum’s senior curator.
“The galleries are south facing and in summer there can be sustained heat.” Five months later, the sculpture was returned to the galleries, when curators noticed a fingerprint on the figurine’s buttocks, which had likely become visible thanks to changes in the chemical composition of the wax.
Yoga at the Dalí?
Join Lucky Cat Yoga on the third Sunday of each month at The Dalí, where Dalí’s energy suffuses the physical, mental and spiritual dimensions of yoga. Lucky Cat teaches vinyasa yoga, an all-levels approach that incorporates an interplay of basic breath work, postures, meditation, and relaxation.
Where: Raymond James Community Room orAvant-Garden
When: August 15 (and every third Sunday) 9-10am
More information: www.thedali.org/events/category/yoga
Then stick around for a special exhibition sweeping in scope and intimate in focus.
The Woman Who Broke Boundaries: Photographer Lee Miller surveys the work of photographer Lee Miller (1907-1977), who is known for her fascinating personal life and remarkably incisive portraiture and photojournalism. She was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, where she became a fashion and fine art photographer. During the Second World War, she was a war correspondent for Vogue, covering events such as the London Blitz, the liberation of Paris, and the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau.
The exhibition features more than 130 images by the groundbreaking female photographer.
Where: The Dalí Museum
When: July 3 – Jan. 2, 2022
More information: www.thedali.org/exhibit/photographer-lee-miller
New exhibits, hours for The Florida Holocaust Museum
The museum holds a large art collection created by survivors, children and grandchildren of survivors, and those who may not have a direct connection to the Holocaust but have been moved to confront the subject in their art. A new exhibit from this collection is Her Response: Women Artists from the Permanent Collection. The exhibit explores the many aspects of the Holocaust, observing the way art goes beyond traditional and academic examinations of the event. Artists include Daisy Brand, Joyce Lyons, Kitty Klaidman, Pearl Hirshfield, and Toby Knobel Fluek. On display through Dec. 26.
Jehovah’s Witnesses: Faith Under Fire, an exhibition that focuses on Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Holocaust, is also on display. Jehovah’s Witnesses, a community of 35,000 in Germany and occupied lands, refused to conform to the Nazi ideology and suffered severely for their nonviolence and rejection of racism. Thrown into Nazi camps, they became eyewitnesses of Nazi genocide. On display through Jan. 2, 2022. Please visit www.flholocaustmuseum.org for ticketing information and health and safety guidelines. Open Wednesday-Sunday 10am-5pm, with the last admission at 4pm.
Pretty and practical
(Photo Left: Ewer, 1882, Glazed stoneware, Extended loan from Davidov Family; Right: Designed by Hannah B. Barlow, British, Vase with Sheep, 1882, Glazed stoneware, Extended loan from the Davidov Family)
Throughout the 19th century, Doulton Lambeth was well-known for its industrial ceramics. The company then presented a small selection of purely decorative vases, bowls, and jugs at the 1867 Paris world’s fair. These artistic works, later collectively termed Doulton Lambeth ware, were the genesis of a new, uniquely British ceramic style. These sturdy yet beautiful pieces of stoneware fascinated British society. Like the long artistic tradition of British landscape, rural genre scenes, and sporting imagery, Doulton Lambeth ware’s designs are tied to the countryside. Decorated in subtle earth-toned glazes, the line imitates nature. Much of the wares’ delicate incised and applied designs owe to the work of sisters Hannah and Florence Barlow.
Where: Museum of Fine Arts
When: through Oct. 17
More information: www.mfastpete.org
Shoo-be-doo-be-doo-wop
Recreating some of the greatest music in American pop and rock history, The Doo Wop Project performs at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022 at 7:30pm. The Doo Wop Project begins at the beginning, tracing the evolution of Doo Wop from the classic sound of five guys singing tight harmonies on a street corner to the biggest hits on the radio today. They take audiences on a journey from foundational tunes of groups like the Crests, Belmonts, and Flamingos through their influences on the sounds of Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and The Four Seasons all the way to DooWopified versions of modern musicians like Michael Jackson, Jason Mraz, Maroon 5 and Sam Smith. Tickets range from $25-$55 and can be purchased online at www.themahaffey.com.
Members can call 727-300-2000 to reserve their seats.
They’re baaaack!
The American Stage Theatre, elated to return after an extended pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, presents the world premiere of The People Downstairs by St. Petersburg playwright Natalie Symons. “The set of The People Downstairs has stood like a ghost in our theater for 16 months and the lights will finally shine on this delightful story,” said Associate Artistic Director Kristin Clippard. The People Downstairs runs Sept. 15 – Oct. 3, with tickets starting at $20. For more information and to purchase tickets click to www.tickets.americanstage.org. Stick around immediately following these select performances for Chatbacks: Sunday matinee, Sept. 19; Friday, Sept. 24; and Thursday, Sept. 30. Chat with artists and other audience members about the play, the characters, and the ideas aroused by the production.
Party like it’s 1921
(A rendering of sculpture “Intersections” by Ya La’ford is on the St. Petersburg Museum of History’s planned expansion. Courtesy of Ya La’ford.)
The St. Petersburg Museum of History is about to turn 100 years old, and we want you to be a part of the party that kicks off our centennial year! Join us Oct. 16 for live music, dancing under the stars, unlimited Florida cuisine and cocktails, a 1920s fashion show, and more. And of course, shuffleboard! This annual fundraising event kicks off the Museum’s 100th anniversary and will include a not-so-silent auction, a 1920s costume contest, and special appearances by Babe Ruth, Perry Snell, and Museum of History founder Mary Wheeler Eaton.
Where: St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club
When: Oct. 16, 7-10pm
How much: Pre-sale tickets are available online for $75. $90 at the door. SPMOH Members receive 10% off using a promo code provided exclusively to Members.
More information: www.spmoh.com or 727-894-1052
CARES Act cares about the arts
To help small businesses that suffered from the pandemic, the city of St. Petersburg has developed a new incentive package to support St. Pete’s health, local economy, and cultural landscape. Funding for the St. Pete Small Business Resilience + Retention Incentive Package comes from the city’s Fighting Chance Funds and a portion of CARES Act Funding received by Pinellas County, totaling $2,536,000 in dedicated package funding. Grants ranging from $2,500 to $20,000 are available for these programs:
• Business Support Organizations Program
• Non-Profit Event Host Organizations Program
• Small Business Retention and Restoration Microfund Program
• Arts and Culture Business and Performance Program
An organization or entity may apply for only one of the programs, which will be rolled out in a phased schedule and reviewed on first come, first complete basis. For information, dates, and application requirements, visit www.stpete.org/resilience-retention.
With apologies to my namesake, Leslie Caron in Gigi, “I do understand the Parisians”
Access to museums and other cultural venues in France is now contingent on visitors being able to prove that they have been fully vaccinated or have recently tested negative for the coronavirus. The pass sanitaire or “health pass” will be required for venues with more than 50 people. Visitors over 18 will be required to show a QR code with a record of full vaccination, or a negative PCR or antigen test from the previous 48 hours. For children over age 12, the pass will become mandatory after Aug. 30. “If we do not act today, the number of cases will continue to increase,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in an announcement of the change on July 12.