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A trove of treasures awaits
Chill out at a gallery. The art's cool and, hey, you might learn something.
By LENNIE BENNETT
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 20, 2002
Myakka Crescendo by Susan J. Klein at Clayton Galleries in Tampa.
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Even the shadiest park bench has gotten too hot to enjoy during a lunch hour or on a weekend afternoon. It's a good time to seek visual stimulation indoors, a good time to consider visiting an art gallery.
For many years, I was too timid to venture into one, intimidated by the thought of a superior owner looking down her nose at me. The image of Bronson Pinchot as the pretentious gallery worker in Beverly Hills Cop lingered.
What a lot of time I wasted, pressing my nose to the glass, when so much pleasure and education was waiting inside.
Gallery owners are people who love art. Sure, they want to make a sale. But most I know enjoy just as much talking about "their" artists and the work they've chosen to showcase. They are generous teachers who have helped me see art in new ways. We in the Tampa Bay area are fortunate to have dozens of galleries, a few run by artists who show mostly their work, most owned by dealers who have a stable of artists they rotate. Here are two of many I enjoy.
Behind the unassuming storefront of Clayton Galleries at 4105 S MacDill Ave. in Tampa are wonderful treasures. Owner Cathy Clayton represents some of the best artists in the area. Unlike other seasons, during which Clayton mounts one-person or, at most, three-person shows, summer is the time for group shows. The work of more than a dozen artists hangs on the walls right now.
I love the juxtaposition of Stacy Rosende's thickly layered "masks" with the Chagall-like lyricism of Craig Rubadoux's La Casa Blanca; the technical mastery and unblinking realism of Lynn Davison's portraits against Robin Cook's romantic landscapes. The late Billie Hightower's large, mostly abstract paintings seem to have been created with breathless flourish and quick brush strokes, as if he knew he would die too young. And I am mesmerized by Susan Klein's landscapes that recall Van Gogh's, yet are completely original.
Eleven, Rebecca Sexton Larson. PAGE 27
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Like many gallery owners, Clayton keeps an inventory of the artists' work, so if you admire something, she or gallery manager Mark Feingold will be happy to pull more out from storage shelves, or access computer images.
So, too, will Howard Wheat and R. Adrian Atterton, owners of Adrian Howard Galleries at 3000 34th St. S in St. Petersburg. They pack their gallery walls with art from about a dozen different artists, usually highlighting one or two. Because the gallery is within Suncoast Resort, they also carry craft items, usually less expensive, for gifts and souvenirs. Suncoast is geared for a gay clientele, but the art at Adrian Howard is mostly mainstream.
At the moment, they have on one wall a collection of paintings by Vincent Plzak that owe a lot to surrealism and a trio of vivid, arresting paintings by Francesco.
The duo of Packard/de la Vega always creates delightful sculptures in caste paper that make witty references to other art. Tree of Life is a take on Renaissance paintings, except that Adam and Eve are Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Las meninas takes its title from the Velazquez masterpiece. It's a sculpture of the little princess shown in the painting whose voluminous skirt opens to reveal another character from the painting, the dwarf, hiding inside.
Gallery owners such as Wheat and Atterton can explain these references and deepen the enjoyment of the works, just as they can tell you about the Steve Beverage sculpture Puzzled, made mostly of puzzle pieces.
Do I buy something every time I walk into a gallery? No. Mostly it's because I can't afford to, but I've never felt less welcome at a gallery because of that. After all, I tell myself, sometimes pigs fly and today's tire-kicker could be tomorrow's patron.
PREVIEW
Clayton Galleries, 4105 S MacDill Ave., Tampa. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat.
Adrian Howard Galleries, 3000 34th St. S, St. Petersburg. Hours: 1-7 p.m. Wed., Thur. and Sun; 1 p.m.-midnight Friday; 1 p.m.-1 a.m. Sat.
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