Local artists, global influences

The Tampa Museum of Art's sixth ''UnderCURRENT/overVIEW'' exhibit has a range of offerings with little in common but quality.

By LENNIE BENNETT
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 21, 2002

TAMPA -- Group art shows can be problematic. Those that insist artists follow a theme can seem contrived; those that do not risk becoming a disorderly sprawl. "UnderCURRENT/overVIEW6," at the Tampa Museum of Art, avoids either pitfall, offering a diverse mix of mediums and sensibilities.

In its sixth year, UnderCURRENT/overVIEW continues its mission of "exhibiting work by Florida's west coast artists and . . . raising public awareness of their creative excellence," writes Elaine Gustafson, the museum's curator of contemporary art, in notes for the show.

She selected 17 artists from 100 applicants, more than some years but few enough to allow for several works by each. Some are young; sculptor Yudit Naage recently graduated from the University of South Florida. Some, such as Jeffrey Kronsnoble and Leslie Lerner, are highly regarded and established.

It's tempting to seek common threads. Gustafson has organized the show in a thoughtful way that suggests connections, but there are no big or obvious ones, except perhaps that all the artists work in a five-county area. The influences are global.

Kevin Grass' oil paintings on wood have the deep colors, tight brushwork and complex perspectives of northern Renaissance artists, techniques Grass uses in service to classic, Gothic and contemporary images, all exquisitely framed like medieval altar pieces.

Art invites experiential and cerebral responses. Video installations by Robert Lawrence and Joanne Steinhardt are more self-conscious about it, as is the mixed-media sculpture of Andrew Connelly. In Lawrence's case, viewer participation is a major goal. His titles are Web sites we are asked to visit after we have seen the installations, to continue the experience through scripted activities posted on the sites. In one, an old boot is nailed to the wall; below it, a silent video loops a view of two feet, one bare, one boot-clad, walking. They are bisected by a yellow line that is sometimes bisected by a perpendicular line. What does it mean? I don't know. But it generates mental associations you can let flow as you watch the mesmerizing video.

The show is rich in ideas even in the "quieter" works of painters Christopher Deacon, Elisabeth Condon, Richard Beckman and Lerner, who appropriate images of childhood to mine disturbing memories and preoccupations.

Even more disturbing are Naage's sculptures, organic forms that are part fetish, alien invader, loaded with sexual innuendo.

A tonic to them are the plein air paintings of Joyce Ely-Walker and the watercolors of Kronsnoble, whose straightforward watercolor landscapes and abstract paintings are departures from his familiar style.

UnderCURRENT/overVIEW6 does not break new ground, but it once again showcases exceptional local artists and gives patrons a menu of styles that appeal to many tastes.

REVIEW

UnderCURRENT/overVIEW6 is at the Tampa Museum of Art, 600 N Ashley Drive, Tampa, through Sept. 22. Exhibiting are Hugh Barlow, Richard Beckman, Linda Berghoff, J. Jaia Chen, Elisabeth Condon, Andrew Connelly, Carl Cowden III, Christopher Deacon, Joyce Ely-Walker, Kevin Grass, Timothy Kennedy, Jeffrey Kronsnoble, Robert Lawrence, Leslie Lerner, Yudit Naage, Robert Sanchez and Joanne Steinhardt. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday; 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday; closd Monday. Admission is $5 adults, $4 seniors, students and children 6 and older. Free after 5 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. Call (813) 274-8130.

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