Michel Delgado maintains that his paintings do not emanate from a singular cause or have a specific catalyst. Although he is often asked about the ideas behind his work, he insists that he doesn’t start his creative process out of a thought, concern, or intellectual design of any kind. Reality is shocking enough, according to Delgado, and the very act of experiencing what already exists is both the fuel and engine of his particular approach to painting. He does not prefer any one experience over another. In fact, he makes a strong effort not to qualify or define his encounters and values them most for the gift of awareness.

"Growing up in Senegal, life and art shared the same space. They were indistinguishable. As a young boy, I learned that art is the tool I have for a direct and honest conversation with my own heart. Art has always been my rescuer, my liberator – creatively, emotionally, spiritually. I’m a self-taught painter, able to create in any media, always painting work that is straightforward and personal, work coming from a place within me that is constantly loud and growing.

My work has been called naive. I fill my canvases with intense and basic colors, crisply painted shapes, and meticulous detail; I make work without conventional representational techniques; my work is free of metaphor, irony and paradox. I paint straightforward narratives, stories of my journey and memories of everyday experiences.

Everything I create and paint comes through my relationship with the world around me, my direct response to my fantasies, my wonder and my spiritual growth. No journey in my life remains as straightforward as painting." - Michel Delgado

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Michel Delgado was born on the West Coast of Africa, in Dakar, Senegal. Throughout the 1980s, he lived in Paris, exploring and participating in the major European city’s art scene. Pursuing artmaking from a young age, his paintings have become an outlet for inquiry, honesty, and memory. 

The painter immigrated to the United States in 1988, setting up a studio in Massachusetts. Delgado now works and creates in his studios in Chicago and South Florida, and frequently travels the country for his exhibitions. His work has become widely known in the past decade, acquired by private collectors and included in prestigious public collections throughout the U.S.

ADRIFT is a symbiosis of drawing, photography, and ceramics by three artists whose ideations on nature result in artworks that are subtle, elegant, and thought-provoking.

When faced with the vastness of LEEANNA REPASS's waterscapes, one has an overwhelming experience of euphoria and awe at the near perfection of her renderings.
BENJAMIN DIMMITT captures landscapes where water and land merge, exposing the beautiful intermingling of both growth and decay.
Utilizing signs, symbols, and traditional patterns, JAN RICHARDSON derives inspiration from non-western cultures in forming her ship-like vessels.

This fusion of three distinct bodies of work within the gallery allows for a multi-dimensional experience on the subject of water and our complex relationship with it, creating an atmosphere of quiet contemplation where viewers are encouraged to examine the interconnectedness of culture, nature, and time.

Davina Shefet's hyper-saturated paintings are inspired by 19th century Bohemian characters pictured within hallucinatory landscapes meant to represent the subconscious. Copper Tritscheller's bronze sculptures of animals are emboldened with anthropomorphic postures and gestures, pushing the boundary between animal and human.

The richly ornamental details and fantastical narratives of this surrealist juxtaposition becomes a delightful dreamscape for the imagination.

This exhibition is co-curated with Lisa Gilmore, principal designer of Lisa Gilmore Design, who has transformed the gallery into a chic Parisian salon!

Babette Herschberger's minimalist compositions emphasize color and surface in both small and large scale. Her signature bold color palette and lively experimentation with form result in exhibitions that transcend traditional presentation. Paintings are unconventionally placed throughout the space. Like the visual rhythms of sheet music, the works are arranged to create melodic relationships as one moves through the installation.

Cole Johnson, a glass artist and instructor at the Green Energy Park in Dillsboro, NC, will present his monumental Canopic Jars, a type of ceremonial container used in ancient Egypt. The artist's interest in this historical reference to the vessel is striking when combined with his own contemporary glass-blowing techniques and minimalist design.

Both artists bring a bold vision to their craft, creating revelatory works with intensity and confidence, and transforming their chosen materials into a complex intersection of plane and form.

The Leslie Curran Gallery is hosts its annual GOOD VIBRATIONS exhibition with a collection of bright, buoyant works just in time for summer.

Presenting work by:

NATHAN BEARD, St. Petersburg, FL
AKIKO KOTANI, Gulfport, FL
ERIN MCINTOSH, Athens, GA
CAMILLE IZUMI PAGE, Hanapepe, HI
ROBERT ROSS, Orlando, FL
YOLANDA SANCHEZ, Miami, FL
XINA SCUDERI, St. Petersburg, FL
RICHARD SEIDEL, St. Petersburg, FL

+ a special work by DAVID HOCKNEY courtesy of Collector's Exchange

DENIS GASTON's grit-and-grind artwork is chock-full of colorful characters playing a part in elusive narrative threads that are personal to the painter while subjective to the viewer's interpretation. GABRIEL RAMOS' evocative wire sculptures are inspired by his vibrant childhood memories of Puerto Rico's energetic culture, with each piece being a fantasyland of rough-and-tumble lines frozen in time and enriched by explorations of the radiant details contained therein.

David McKirdy's mixed media works draw on repetitive mark-making as a way of measuring the passage of time. He illustrates an astonishing level of patience and self-awareness achieved through skillfully meditative states of endurance, and the resulting objects are monochromatic masterpieces in the study of optics.

Larry Allen's ceramic vessels feature delicately carved designs inspired by the iconographic patterns found in African and Native American art.

Both artists bring a mechanical precision to their craft, presenting awe-inspiring patterns that are elegant, subtle and sublime.

In conjunction with the 2019 Glass Art Society Conference, the Leslie Curran Gallery @ ARTicles and the EDGE Business District Association present a Public Art Unveiling and Sculpture Exhibition, JAMES BRENNER | ON EDGE.

EVENT DESCRIPTION

This event celebrates a solo exhibition of sculpture by artist James Brenner in conjunction with the unveiling of the newest St. Petersburg public art installation “ON EDGE” by James Brenner for the EDGE District Gateway Project. The public art project consists of 10 sculptures made of glass and steel, installed throughout the EDGE District. Twisting towers of jade glass are contrasted with the natural rust surface of weathered Corten steel to create powerful and iconic identifiers of one of the city's most exciting districts. The Leslie Curran Gallery, the EDGE District's award-winning fine art gallery, will feature an array of monumental sculptural works by Brenner featuring his signature combination of glass and metal elements.

The unveiling ceremony and ribbon cutting will be hosted by the EDGE District and City officials at the site of one of the sculptures. The artist will be in attendance at the unveiling and the following reception at the Leslie Curran Gallery.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

James Brenner owns JAMES BRENNER SCULPTURE in Northeast Minneapolis and produces work that ranges from large-scale, steel, glass and light sculptures; to community driven, site specific, public art projects; to synergistic iron casting events.

In the more than 20 years of his professional career, Brenner has served as a Core Artist for the Chicago Public Art Group, the Director of Chicago Sculpture Works, and the Director of the Columbus Area Arts Council’s Annual Cast Iron Event and Artist Residency Program in Columbus, IN. Brenner has participated as a visiting artist on over 20 occasions nationwide and internationally. He has completed over 40 public and corporate arts commissions, and his work has joined numerous public and private collections across the country and abroad.

Brenner has received MSAB Artist Initiative Grants in 2014 and 2017, an Open Studio Fellowship at Franconia Park, an Art as Energy Grant in 2013, and the Northeast Minneapolis Vision Award for leadership and commitment in the service of the arts, artists, and culture in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District in 2017.

Brenner received his Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

PUBLIC ART PROJECT INFO

A national search by the EDGE District Gateway Marker Committee resulted in a remarkable number of submissions followed by a rigorous selection process. The project was spearheaded by the EDGE District Main Street as part of its new district improvement plan, with goals to enrich the landscape with public art that engages its visitors and embodies the district’s character and heritage. Winning artist James Brenner is the recipient of the prestigious $249,000 award.

An intertwining of medium and message permeates the artwork of Helen Gotlib and Patrick Dragon, in both cases offering us intimate views of densely fantastic alternative worlds. Their juxtaposition in the gallery setting presents 2D and 3D environments full of dreamily aqueous fields, a deep color palette, and a zen-like celebration of nature.

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HELEN GOTLIB was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A life time interest in art led Helen to study at the University of Michigan’s School Of Art And Design where she divided her time between printmaking and scientific illustration. This lead her to develop a process oriented drawing style characterized by extreme detail.

Gotlib's travels in Europe, Asia and the Middle East have influenced her work, manifesting itself in the vast body of drawing, painting and printmaking she has produced over the course of the last decade.

Most recently Gotlib has made an extensive exploration of a deceptively nuanced subject of flowers. By following the life cycle of flora, she has managed to create images of unexpected beauty and emotional power.

Gotlib’s work has been exhibited in numerous juried shows across the country. She currently lives and works in Dexter, Michigan.
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PATRICK DRAGON is a nationally known ceramic artist with twenty years as an educator. He has over forty years experience of exhibiting his work, and over three hundred awards.

His ceramic work is in numerous national and international collections including The White House Collection of American Crafts, the City of Higashiomi, Japan, Maitland Art Museum, Gulf Coast Museum of Art, City of Ann Harbor Michigan, and City Hall Orlando, Florida.

Dragon was featured on the Ceramic Monthly and articles about his work have been published in numerous publications. He has juried numerous shows such as A.C.C. Baltimore, American Craft Exposition, and the Disney Festival of the Masters.

This exhibition is full of sumptuous textures, elegant details, and surfaces that are not what they seem.

Much of the work has a three dimensional quality, from freestanding sculptures by Nin McQuillen, Janos Enyedi, and Jerry Meatyard to Joyce Scalzo's porcelain wall pieces and Irina Moldovan's deeply textured gold leaf paintings. Akiko Kotani's silk stitched works appear flat from afar, but closer inspection reveals a beautifully tactile stitched design on highly textured hand woven silk fabric, and Michael Crabb's paintings are all about depth, with numerous layers revealed through his unusual painting technique.

Joyce Scalzo's porcelain sculptures defy gravity, with thin layers that ripple and fold, they look more like paper than clay. The surface of Janos Enyedi's sculpture maquettes is breathtaking, but viewers are always taken aback when they realize the objects are made of paper and Illustration board, not the Corten steel that they mimic.

Many of the works are small in scale. All are elegant, thoughtful, contemplative pieces with richly layers surfaces, delicate nuances, and a certain peaceful balance.
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REVIEW
Well Balanced: Petit Four
by Maggie Duffy
Tampa Bay Times
Dec 20, 2018

"The Leslie Curran Gallery’s physical space is great for displaying a wide variety of art, colorful or stark, minimal or complex, large-scale or miniature. It’s not a large space, but the combination of light that pours in from the front windowpane and its crisp white walls make it feel airy. The team there is talented not only at curation but also at displaying work in a way that never feels crowded. The current exhibition, Petit Four, is a testament to how beautifully a mix of textures, surfaces and scale can be shown all at once.

During the holiday season, the inclination can be to pack in as much work as possible, but with “Petit Four,” just seven artists were selected. Many of the works are small in scale, gifts for an art lover. Even against the white walls, Joyce Scalzo’s creamy porcelain wall sculptures make a statement in delicacy, resembling folded paper. In the center of the gallery, Janos Enyedi’s sculpture maquettes look like his large-scale, richly patinated industrial metal sculptures, yet they’re paper. Speaking of maquettes, a number were discovered in the studio of the late sculptor Jerry Meatyard. Cleaned up, they look meant to be paired with Akiko Kotani’s elegant silk stitched “drawings,” pictured. Michael Crabb’s abstract paintings arranged with his graphite and ink drawings is a delicious juxtaposition. Nin McQuillen’s minimalist sculptures remind us why less is more, while Irina Moldova’s grids of rich color and gold leaf make the case for extravagance."

PASSIONATE: Heike Mueller, is an exhibition of paintings inspired by vintage family photos, a source material she discovers in flea markets, antique shops and used book stores.

The Swiss artist returns to the U.S., exhibiting a series of paintings inspired by leisure. The series of “painted snapshots” captures moments of pleasure, reviving and reclaiming them into modern paintings.

Continuing the theme of her 2016 solo exhibition at Leslie Curran Gallery, the artist takes inspiration from the oddly comforting fragments of photo albums. Many of her source photos document family vacations long past—circa early 20th century—moments of leisure, on the beach, at a picnic, or on a hike, with archetypal scenery and visual cues that evoke the quintessential family vacation. Her compositions on paper and canvas transform these anonymous, informal, and often incidental snapshots into new narratives that seem strangely familiar.

Thus, the resulting paintings feel like déja vu. One might almost recognize a figure in one of Heike's paintings as a beloved relative from childhood, with all the warm emotions that evokes but none of the specificity. Faces are often obscured or left blank to reiterate this ambiguity.

Mueller's strength lies in her expression of the excitement she feels about discovering these open narratives, then breathing new life into stories lost to time.

By recontextualizing the imagery, fragmenting the composition, adding her signature color and pattern, and obscuring some details, she creates new stories that express a certain distinct energy that is difficult to describe, but not unlike meeting Heike herself—simultaneously joyous and reserved, casual and enigmatic. Each painting holds its own story, and the viewer's own memories and associations are an important part of unraveling the mystery.

After studying art education and painting in Basel and Amsterdam, Heike Mueller continues to teach and maintain a rigorous studio and exhibition practice while building a family. Widely represented in Germany and Switzerland, Mueller has exhibited extensively in galleries and art fairs throughout Europe for the last 20 years. She now lives and works in Basel with her husband and three sons.

OTHER WORLDLY examines the places, simultaneously real and imagined, as they are perceived and processed within an artist’s creative mind. The exhibition features two artists who work within the boundaries of a monochrome palette, traveling the world to discover landscapes full of magic and mystery. Both artists compose within neutral fields of space, making “marks” utilizing unlikely media—Henthorne using a camera and Akiko Kotani, thread. The contrast of materials results in surprisingly complimentary bodies of work.

Photographer Henthorne recently captured the unique culture of the stilt fishermen of Sri Lanka, an island located off the southeastern coast of India. These men, bare-chested but wearing turbans and sarongs, jig for the catch-of-the-day using crude fishing poles consisting of nothing more than a long stick, a bit of line and a baited hook. Rarely is photography identified with mark-making, but Henthorne’s newly published collection relies heavily on the vertical black lines recorded by his camera as both subject and composition floating in an abyss of grey.

Kotani’s stitched paper works suggest landscapes from above. Teetering in the realm of complete abstraction, these “drawings” bridge the span of record and myth. Delicate, tactile, and fragile are words that come to mind when examining her work closely—a pairing of elegant fine art paper pierced by hundreds of stitches of black silk thread. No mark is reversible, so every gesture is recorded and an integral part of the resulting composition.

Both Kotani and Henthorne have chosen subject matter that suggests spiritual awakening, memorializing of experience, and an effort towards sharing the sublime.

London-based artist STEPHEN BROOK presents new paintings focused on impressionistic views of iconic urban street scenes. Special guest DAVID DAVID FIGUEROA, whose minimalist metal sculptures hint at abstract architectural forms, reinforces the exhibition's study of the cityscape in both two & three dimensions.

STEPHEN BROOK was born in London in 1957 and after leaving school began working as a commercial artist in an art studio in London designing ad's for newspapers including hand drawn illustrations. In 1977, Brook had a drawing accepted for a group show at the prestigious Whitechapel Gallery in London, which marked a pivotal moment in his early career as an artist. Since that time, Stephen has exhibited in numerous galleries both in the UK and the U.S. and his work has appeared at Art Expo and the Affordable Art Fair in New York.

DAVID DAVID FIGUEROA was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the School of Fine Arts in San Juan, Puerto Rico with a BA in Fine Arts, with a major in Sculpture. As an award-winning student of art, he exhibited his work at the Ponce Art Museum, one of the most prominent Art Museums of the Caribbean. After relocating to Florida in 2000, he began working for a commercial foundry and learned the intricate process of bronze casting.

Since that time, the artist's sculptures have become a favorite at art festivals around the United States, and he has been honored with multiple Best of Show awards. His celebrated work is in numerous public collections, including the Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland, the Museum of Florida Art in Deland, the College of Central Florida in Ocala, and private collections in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Curacao, and South America.

ARTicles partners with local collectors to showcase much-loved works that are back on the market! Highlights include iconic works from some of the most recognized artists in the region. Many haven't been on public view for decades, including great examples from the early careers of several well-established artists.

The coolest part is all works are available for purchase ~ Even collectors need to purge sometimes! To make room for exciting new pieces of art, area collectors are choosing to rotate works and share great artwork made near and far.

The exhibition introduces the latest in a long list of art services provided by ARTicles, an opportunity for our clients to buy/sell/trade works of art, earning cash or credit for your masterpieces. The selection upholds the quality standards you've come to expect from ARTicles. Stay tuned for details and an official announcement about our next endeavor. An additional location for great art offerings in St. Petersburg is COMING SOON!

NOUVELLE VAGUE [new wave]: Jeannine Hascall & Robin Perry Dana, a two-person exhibition featuring new work by the artists.

Jeannine Hascall's latest work is a minimalist combination of radically romantic, cascading textiles complimented by elegant acrylic paintings. Robin Perry Dana's lush and penetrating videos and photographs focus on the essential serenity of our upland watershed. The exhibition delivers a tranquil vision of enigmatic beauty.

Jeannine Hascall's art has radical intentions embodied in its torn edges and shadowy expressionist themes. The result is a striking body of work with a bold color palette, richly layered texture and pattern, and hints of her intellectual journey through life and art-making. These mixed media works primarily constructed of fabric appear like apparitions, a combination of distortion and deterioration that read more so as psychological probing than narrative plot.

Robin Perry Dana's Watershed series explores the lush colors, organic forms, and primordial layers she finds in wetland habitats. Through the medium of photography, she emphasizes the strange beauty and wild grandeur of these isolated places. Her abstracted and decontextualized compositional strategies result in images full of chaos and mystery.

Jeannine Hascall spent much of her life in Southern Illinois and earned a BFA in painting and an MFA in fiber from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. Since moving to St Petersburg, she has continued to explore new media and ideas in her studio at The ArtLofts in downtown St. Petersburg, with exhibitions at ARTicles Art Gallery, Florida CraftArt, and the Mirella Cimato Gallery at Opera Central.

Robin Perry Dana, a native of Georgia, resides in St Petersburg, Florida where she serves as Gallery Director of Articles Art Gallery and Curator of the Leslie Curran Gallery. She earned a BA in Studio Art from Agnes Scott College in Atlanta and an MFA in Photography from the University of Connecticut. She has exhibited her work up and down the east coast, taught photography in the US and abroad, curated art exhibitions, written on contemporary artists, and worked in book and magazine publishing.

Frank Strunk III grew up in Rockville, Maryland. Raised by Appalachian parents, his formative years were defined by a strong work ethic and a passion for music. As an introverted child, he worked in his father’s printing business, first sweeping up and eventually running the presses. He was mesmerized by the sound of the gears and the movement of the machinery.

Strunk's trademark kinetic sculptures revel in the excitement he first felt surrounded by the mechanical energy of the presses. What is always startling about these works is the delicate simplicity of the resulting motion from such a complex mechanical system. In Exit Strategy, a moth gently flutters, a persistent yet futile effort towards escape.

The self-taught artist moved to St. Petersburg over 20 years ago, developing his signature industrial style through years of hard work and self-reflection in the studio. His striking and recognizable work combines the brute qualities of welded metal sculpture with the profound message of an introspective philosophical pursuit.

"My art is often about the things that I feel matter most. Every great piece of art was fueled by love. It's just garbage metal. I burnish it. I polish it. I want to make things that are beautiful out of things that are nothing."

Influenced by his interest in a diverse array of writings on comparative religion, mythology and the human condition, including Eckerd Tolle, Eric Hoffer, Joseph Campbell and Sam Keen, the artist creates structures that explore themes of masculinity, work, and love.

Innovation and breakthroughs occur for the artist following long periods of solitude in the studio, and the results reflect his own trials and tribulations, his ideas on life and how to live it, and his continuing pursuit of happiness and beauty. A new series of mixed media works read like reliquaries containing sacred vessels of mysterious substances. Adorned with beautifully intricate ornamentation and a richly textured patina, they feel simultaneously contemporary and ancient. The artist offers a hint of a powerful metaphysical energy collected within by ascribing titles to the objects such as Truth Serum and Love Potion No. 9.

Parkhill's monumental sculptures made primarily of reclaimed materials embrace the color, grain, old paint, dents, scratches, and nail holes of its previous use while transforming them into remarkably harmonious and sublime forms. With a background in carpentry, Parkhill is known for creating elegant, abstract objects, both freestanding and mounted on the wall.

"My work has always come out of whatever kind of salvaged wood comes into my studio. The work that evolves depends on the size, species, condition and so on. Oak bends readily and yellow pine barely bends at all without breaking."

Parkhill graduated from the USF in 1972. After completing a Master's degree in Fine Arts from the University of Utah, he decided to buy a house in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa and converted the detached garage into a woodworking studio. Parkhill's return to Tampa Bay has had a significant impact on the area arts community. His work is regularly featured in exhibitions and festivals, and he is the recipient of multiple Best in Show awards at St. Petersburg's prestigious Mainsail Art Festival. His art can be found in numerous public, corporate and museum collections.

Into the Fold surveys the contemporary field of book art, with a focus on collaborative editions produced in the state of Florida. From historic woodcuts and previously unpublished manuscripts to laser cut bindings and experimental structures, the work in this exhibition expands our understanding of the book as an art form and celebrates the artists working in our region.

Programs Featured in this Exhibition Include:
The Coffey Residency for Book Arts (University of Florida)
Graphicstudio (University of South Florida)
The Letterpress and Book Arts Center (Ringling College of Art and Design)
Small Craft Advisory Press (Florida State University)
The Tampa Book Art Studio (University of Tampa)

Book art is, according to the majority of contemporary theorists, a 20th century art form that encompasses many related fields, including artists’ books, altered books, fine press books, sculptural books, zines, and even performance and installation. The unifying factor in all of these practices is that the artists making the work approach the book, in and of itself, as a work of art. Book art often interrogates the traditional identity of the book and it is, by nature, an interdisciplinary practice, integrating the fields of visual art, literature, graphic design, and more, depending on the project at hand. Accessibility is another common theme for book art, as artists often engage the book form with intentions to reach a wider audience with their work. Tactility is also a defining characteristic of book as an art form. Most books must be held and manipulated by the reader to be fully experienced, and this kind of direct physical interaction with an art form is an exciting and rare experience to which many artists and viewers are drawn.

Just as there is a broad continuum of practices housed under the umbrella of book art, there are a wide variety of contexts in which the work is made. For this show, we focus in on the practice of producing collaborative editions of book art in an institutional setting. This studio-based practice finds its routes in printmaking and the model of the atelier, where a master printer and their apprentices or interns work with visiting artists to realize editions of original prints. In the case of book art, it is often an academic institution that hosts this kind of collaborative production, organizing faculty, students, and staff to assists artists in the creation of editioned bookworks. The state of Florida has recently experienced an marked growth in the number of these opportunities. With this exhibition, we hope to shine a light on a selection of the resulting editions and the exciting array of artists making book art in our region.

For decades, Jack Barrett pursued the feminine mystique through artwork ranging from deep, psychologically complex portraits to expressive gestural studies. This selection of the artist's paintings and drawings offers an extensive look at his ongoing celebration of the power of femininity.

Barrett was a prominent illustrator for the St. Petersburg Times & the Evening Independent for over twenty years. He studied at the Carnegie Institute and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and taught figure drawing at St. Petersburg College and the Morean Arts Center. His work has been published extensively, and he is the recipient of many awards and honors including recognition for his remarkable newspaper illustration. He was a prolific artist, exhibited his work throughout the U.S., and is included in many prestigious art collections including Raymond James Financial, St. Petersburg College, Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg, and the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art.

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INFO ABOUT THE ARTIST JACK BARRETT

When considering an artist's work, most people tend to compare it to another artist or categorize it by style. It is more comfortable to relate to something familiar instead of experiencing a completely new and possibly innovative work of art. Jack Barrett is difficult to classify and yet his style is instantly recognizable. Lennie Bennett, a St. Petersburg Times art critic once wrote, "We see the roll call of recurring images: jesters, clowns, doves; the mysterious tangles of people; the bold fields of color that isolate or contain the figures. But just when you think you have him pegged, he breaks out another trick from his immense stylistic bag and you stop thinking of Matisse or Chagall and begin considering Schiele or De Kooning, or any number of other artists whose influence might flicker through by never dominate Barrett's unique vision and visual vocabulary."

Jack was adept at using texture and color to create a totally unique composition while at the same time retaining his individuality. He was fond of experimenting and trying new techniques, but always retained the Barrett signature. He could be abstract or capture the exact likeness of a subject; he was comfortable a either end of the spectrum. His paintings are playful and masterfully executed works of color, composition, shapes, forms and, almost always, figures. Jack's wife Louise loves to relate tales of Jack's vivid imagination and describes the various creatures that would inhabit the house or the studio and eventually end up on his canvas. Jack's characters are unmistakable. Always dancing, playing, flying or creating pandemonium, wearing strange hats and outrageous clothing, they animate much of his work and are a joy to behold.

On February 3, 2008, the world became a little less colorful, a little less whimsical and a little less wonderful, Jack Barrett passed away. An admired artist for over 40 years, Jack left behind a huge collection of paintings, drawings, pastels and sketches.

What followed were posthumous exhibitions at the Morean Arts Center (2008), the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art (2014), and the Museum of Fine Arts, St Petersburg (2017).

The complete collection of Jack Barrett's works are now represented by ARTicles Art Gallery and an exhibition of selected paintings and drawings, Legendary Beauty, has been organized for their special exhibition space, The Leslie Curran Gallery.

The Leslie Curran Gallery presents TEKTONIC, an exhibition featuring the paintings of Robert Ross and the sculptures of Nin McQuillen. Ross's paintings reveal the alluring geometry of alleyways, construction sites, rooftops and other overlooked places. McQuillen's intimately-scaled sculptures in aluminum, steel, bronze and brass are a synthesis of line, shape and surface that evoke the harmony of standing stones and totems.

Robert Ross's paintings convey the quiet stillness often found in abandoned places with the beautiful light and shadow of an early morning walk. "My paintings reveal the beauty, mystery and hidden life in ordinary, overlooked places. Good design is always my starting point. I strive to capture that moment of first perception, when I see how sunlight, shadows and color give shape to what I encounter," explains Ross.

Nin McQuillen begins with dense, solid aluminum block and rod, found and salvaged, marked by years of weathering. Close examination reveals more than monochrome metal assemblages. The hand-sanded and polished surfaces display a variety of luminous tones, from gentle planar gradations to highly reflective accents.

Shown together, these works share a passion for creating dynamic compositions from complex geometric relationships. "The installation juxtaposes the loose, expressionist style of Ross's two-dimensional works and the finely-honed solidity of McQuillen's three-dimensional sculptures, while also emphasizing the minimalist aesthetic and complimentary formalist strategies they both utilize to create energy and tension in space," explains gallery curator Robin Perry Dana.
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Robert Ross earned an M.A. from the University of Michigan and B.A. from Oakland University followed by classes at Crealde School of Art in Winter Park, Florida. In 2016, Ross was Artist-in-Residence with the Glen Arbor Art Association and is a member of the McRae Art Studios Collective in Orlando.

Nin McQuillen grew up in St Petersburg, maintains an active studio in St Petersburg, and has been represented by Leslie Curran for over a decade. He earned a BS in Broadcasting from the University of Florida. He spent 1972 studying theatre and art history in London, followed by extensive travel to art museums throughout Europe. Varied careers in broadcasting, advertising, teaching and mental health all served as investigations in human behavior, which continue to inform his 40 years of exploration in art-making.

With a fresh perspective on the Florida landscape, Sarah Hull presents beach crowds from a fascinating view high above. Replete with colorful umbrellas and bathing beauties scattered across the composition, her large-scale paintings show us a familiar subject from an unlikely and captivating angle. “I first began to photo document beach scenes from the top floor of hotels, later in an airplane, and eventually introduced drones into my work practice to capture reference material for this bird's eye perspective,” Hull explains.

Multi-disciplinary artist Catherine Woods, known for her large public art installations, presents unique table-top and wall-mounted sculptures. This exhibition is a rare opportunity to experience the artist's delightfully transformative glass work on an intimate scale. Using an unusual and highly complex process for cast and laminated glass, Woods achieves perfection through skillful craftsmanship. A combination of elegant lines and alluring colors result in objects of substance and depth.

One can clearly see that these artists are inspired by our sunny climate. Shown together, these lively works share a cheerful quality, both sophisticated and joyful. The installation juxtaposes the pictorial style of Hull's two-dimensional works and the atmospheric sentiment of Woods three-dimensional sculptures made even more vibrant by the sunlight flooding in the windows of the gallery. "Catherine Woods' sparkling, crystalline glass sculptures composed of abstract geometries and complimentary colors are the perfect accompaniment to Sarah Hull's vibrant, dreamy, and impressionistic paintings of populated beaches from above, and the perfect antidote to the doldrums of summer," says gallery curator Robin Perry Dana.

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About the Artists

Sarah Hull has been included in numerous national juried exhibitions and was featured in a recent article: "Femme Visuale: Sarah Hull", in Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Among her many accomplishments and accolades, Hull received Honorable Mention at International Art Olympia 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. She studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and the New York Studio School and currently maintains and active studio in Tampa, Florida.

Catherine Woods is a nationally recognized sculptor working primarily in architectural glass and metal with installations across the country. She studied at the University of MD, College Park and The Portfolio Center, Atlanta, GA as well as Brychtova Forum, Craft Alliance, Penland School of Crafts, and the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. The St. Petersburg artist's award-winning work has been featured in “Sculpture Review” and “Public Art Review” magazines and recognized by Americans for the Arts prestigious public art competition “Year in Review”. She is the founder and director of C Glass Studio, specializing in large-scale installations for the public sector.

Multimedia artist, designer, and celebrated curator of countless exhibitions Chad Mize, who has been instrumental in helping generate much of the energy in St Petersburg’s creative community, presents a new body of work inspired by major creative moments throughout his 43 years of life. Come see what this amazing artist, notable for his years as the curator of Bluelucy and designer of the iconic World Tour (Paris, London, Tokyo, St Pete) t-shirt, has been up to lately in this solo exhibition, 4D3.

This solo exhibition features La'ford's celebrated series of stain-dyed paintings, with an earth-toned color palette derived from self-made pigments and paints. Her striking compositions echo the patterns and marks found throughout human history, including warrior masks, traditionally adorned fabrics, and aerial views of unearthed neolithic proto-cities. The artist's installation will also feature several objects from her own collection, gathered from cultures around the globe, including domestic textiles, ceremonial and religious icons, and ornamental objects.

Lissa Hatcher's award winning photographs are highly conceptualized and choreographed productions full of fantastic characters in imaginary places. This exhibition focuses on places in between, worlds that are and are not, and the epic journeys of the characters navigating through. Working as a photographer, art director, and editor, it is often whispered that her shoots look like tiny movie sets where characters play out scenes like actors. Expect to see some of these characters live on opening night, along with objects and ephemera from her sets, with equal parts magical photography and performance.

Heidi Martin Kuster's work extends from an interest in memory, and the evidence of time's passage in the surface of stones. She uses oil, acrylic, and gouache paint, along with plastic, plaster, canvas and paper to make beautifully intricate works both large and small.

Paired with the equally thoughtful cast silver sculptures of William Joseph III, this exhibit quietly makes a deep impression. Each delicate piece is painstakingly handcrafted and magical to behold.

In this exhibition, Cervenka's ongoing exploration of movie film as sculptural material is paired with the wildly gestural mixed media works of Thomas. Both artists use unconventional materials to create strong linear marks that defy 2 and 3 dimensional picture planes.

The internationally known collaborative artists' new installation combines iconic imagery of water and the moon. As an installation, the work reminds us that our world, as do we, moves in intimate concert, and the artists create an opportunity to sit in an environment ready for quiet reflection.

Steven Kenny's celebrated paintings of the human figure paired with elements found in nature are full of symbolic juxtapositions that often make reference to journeys of self-exploration and discovery. David David Figueroa's monumental sculptures are studies in power and restraint made from minimalist combinations of wood, steel, bronze, stone and found objects.

Sallie Hackett Brown's sculptures called "Reconstructions" transform found objects
into striking visual representations of her challenging observations on familial and societal issues. Terry Brett's large black and white compositions have the immediacy and power of action paintings that express more raw emotion than pointed narrative.

This exhibition pairs Richard Seidel's lively figurative paintings inspired by coastal trips and artist residencies in Venice, Madrid, and the French Riviera with Alison Sigethy's innovative kinetic glass sculptures, Sea Cores, which combine water, light, bubbles and glass to reflect the dazzling visual array of deep sea environments.

Rabideau focuses on the exploration of discarded materials found in the urban landscape and how these materials can be utilized to create a connection between the forgotten/past to the new/now. By using found/salvaged pieces of wood and discarded furniture, he creates works that have direct connections to the these urban neighborhoods while also referencing ideas of history, gentrification, cultural wastefulness, and hidden beauty.

Hudson's solo exhibition, inspired by modernism, minimalism, and pop art movements, features large-scale abstract geometric paintings full of bold color and pattern. See works on paper and canvas by the artist, accompanied by a sampling of art that inspired the series - selected sculptural works from his remarkable collection of 20th Century Art.

This highly anticipated showcase of more than 30 of the area's premiere photographers features selections juried by Robin O'Dell (Museum of Fine Arts), Beth Reynolds (Morean Art Center), and Chuck Vosburgh (Morean Art Center + Tappa).

Moldovan's acrylic paintings combine richly colored backgrounds with gold leaf laid in grid-like precision. Paired with Oleson's heraldic animalia made of metal, the exhibition emphasizes the colors, media, and symbology often associated with royalty, magic, and other forms of power.

The artist presents a series of atmospheric paintings inspired by the mysterious and extraordinary experience of seeing a massive flock of starlings twisting and turning in unison.

The Swiss artist returns to the U.S., exhibiting a series of paintings inspired by source material gathered during her sabbatical in St. Petersburg in 2015.

After studying art education and painting in Basel and Amsterdam, Mueller continued to teach and maintain a rigorous studio and exhibition practice while building a family. Widely represented in Germany and Switzerland, Mueller has exhibited extensively in galleries and art fairs throughout Europe for the last 20 years. She now lives and works in Basel with her husband and three sons. This is the first solo exhibition of Heike Mueller's paintings in the U.S.

Parkhill's monumental sculptures made primarily of reclaimed materials embrace the color, grain, old paint, dents, scratches, and nail holes of its previous use while transforming them into remarkably harmonious and sublime forms.

This exhibition features the large-scale abstract paintings of Ummarid "Tony" Eitharong and the ceramic works of Robert Lawarre. Eitharong has been a mainstay and multiple Best in Show award winner in fine art festivals around the country for more than 30 years, creating an expansive body of work that reflects his own personal and spiritual evolution. Robert Lawarre's richly textured ceramic works are full of rich texture, vibrant color, and storybook narrative.

Neumann's encaustic paintings are inspired by the raw, primitive energy of the wetlands, as well as the vast cosmic night sky of her home in Aripeka, Florida. Erdman's sculptures of luxurious wood, informed by studies in architecture and a successful career as a yacht designer, evoke the elegantly flowing lines of wind in sails.

Nathan Beard's new series of pastels on paper, Pond's Edge, depicts the commingling of water and plant life by contrasting celebratory gestures with a soothing color palette. Nin McQuillen's intimately scaled sculptures are a synthesis of line, shape and surface that evoke the harmony of standing stones and totems. With these bodies of work, both artists explore new media in pursuit of beauty.