Florida Artists at the Naples Museum of Art

Patricia Schnall Gutiérrez, Behind Our Tutus, 2009, 8 x 6” each, computer manipulated photographs, silk, acrylic and medium on linen. Photo courtesy of the artist.

By Tamar Mitchell

On May 15, the Naples Museum inaugurated “Florida Contemporary 2010,” an exhibition that assembled approximately 70 works created by 46 contemporary artists residing in this state. Director and Chief Curator, Michael Culver, was in charge of the exposition.

The curatorship did not attempt to contend with sophisticated concepts or thematic associations. It was simply limited to rigorously selecting those creators, whose oeuvre does justice to the work and professionalism of Florida’s visual artists. The selection resulted in a diverse range of offerings, which included painting, sculpture, drawing and photography. The exhibition assembled both well-established artists and young artists who have recently debuted on the international scene. Among the participating creators were: Billie Grace Lynn, Carol Prusa, John Henry, Elizabeth Thompson, Arless Day, Elizabeth Condon, Patricia Schnall Gutiérrez, Kyle, Christina Pettersson, Jen Stark, John Sánchez, Hugo Moro, John Brady, Jenny Brillhart, Robert Beck, Angelika Kade, Luis García-Nerey, Alberto Carol, Martin Gates, Mike Kiniry, Barbara Rivera, Kathy O’Meara, among others.

Apart from John Henry’s emblematic sculptures, Elizabeth Condon’s excellent paintings, John Sánchez’s spellbinding accident scenes and the ecologically inspired works by Arless Day and Kyle; there were three pieces that forcibly captured my attention and to which I shall refer in this short text. Among the works I consider the most interesting, of note is the drawing Desdemona Sleeping Beside Death (2009) by Christina Pettersson. Inspired by Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, Pettersson selected the image of Othello’s unfortunate wife, who was murdered by him as she lay sleeping. The author juxtaposes the figure of the murdered Desdemona with that of her resurrected image. Between the two figures lies a mink with a toad in its mouth, alluding to Othello, who in the play declares that he would prefer to suffer like a toad, rather than  watch his beloved betray him. This piece comes from a series of drawings in which the artist imaginarily resuscitates and vindicates women killed in Shakespeare’s writings. Pettersson utilizes her own image to create drawings of exquisite workmanship through which she captures events and personages with which she identifies.

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Christina Pettersson, Desdemona Sleeping Beside Death, 2009, 66” x 70”, graphite on paper. Photo courtesy of Spinello Gallery.

Also with a discourse delving into the intimate, we discovered Behind Our Tutus (2009) by Patricia Schnall Gutiérrez. In this piece, Schnall Gutiérrez chose apparel such as tutus as a symbol of the syndrome, which many of us women have, of always being “on stage” exposed to inquisitive eyes, fulfilling other people’s expectations. We hide behind costumes that respond to the roles that others expect of us, and we often forget to achieve our own personal goals. The artist chose photos of various women whom she admires (actresses, artists, secretaries, nurses, businesswomen, friends, family members, etc.), which she manipulated in Photoshop and incorporated into her installation. This constituted one of the best-executed works in the exhibition.

For her part, Kathy O’Meara in The Past is Another Country (2010) reflects on how the passage of time transforms memory, objects and nature. For this she searched through her own storehouse of recollections and found a handful of fragments that have changed over the years, but which still color the way in which the artist reacts as a human being when faced with new realities. Her oeuvre is proof of how those memories influence the way in which she assimilates culture, the material objects that surround her, her environment and the historic and social context in which she lives.

Without attempting to impose absolute criteria, the exhibition’s curatorship conveys a keen look at artistic activity in Florida. It is an exposition that demands to be seen little by little in order to savor each piece as a unique entity.

Tamar Mitchell is an arts writer based in Sarasota, Florida.