Events Fort Myers

The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center Presents “Island Time,” by Artists from the Florida Keys

Fort Myers, June 23, 2011–  On Friday, July 1, “Island Time,” an exhibit of artwork from the Florida Keys, will open at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. The exhibit will feature four artists from the Key Largo Art Gallery. Doors will open at 6 p.m. for Art Walk. The Art Center is located at 2301 First Street, in the historic River District, downtown Fort Myers.

Carmen Sotolongo Kelley, a Cuban American artist, is owner of the Key Largo Gallery and one of the featured artists. Her art is bright, bold and big, reflecting her life, her background, and where she lives. Kelley believes that “art is magical, it has energy, an energy that artists transfer to their artwork.” A high school art teacher, she always ends her day at the gallery. Her wish is that she can transfer her love of art to the kids she teaches.

Teresa Kelley, daughter of Carmen, has inherited her mother’s love of art. Her work depicts the beautiful plants and animals that can be seen around the islands.

Annmarie Anderson studied art and interior design at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. She moved to the Keys with her family in 1972 and then studied at Miami-Dade Community College and Florida International University. After 11 years working as a designer, Anderson left the firm to spend more time painting, her true love. Her award winning paintings often reflect the sparkling waters, tropical vegetation, boats and “conch” architecture she so enjoys.

Dan Lawler is a classic Keys painter and a resident of the area for over 50 years. He moved to the Keys from Chicago where he received his formal training at the Chicago Art Institute. Lawler has received numerous awards and ribbons and recently won a grant for four murals that now hang in the Freeman Justice Center in Key West. His work often depicts historical scenes like wreckers, smugglers, seascapes, and local characters. He has painted in France, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, South America, England, Italy and even the Soviet Union.

The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the show continues through July 29.

David Acevedo and the Daas Gallery have something intended for mature audiences only

Skin 2011

In July, downtown Fort Myers’ daas Gallery will celebrate the human body in its natural state. Artists from all over will join in to present their selected works into one of the most talked about exhibitions in South West Florida. These pieces will be selected into the exhibition by three local personalities who are neutral and unrelated to the artists. The opening reception is scheduled for Friday, July 1, 2011 starting at 6pm.

The selecting committee members are:

Nick Grey – Art Teacher at the Canterbury School in Fort Myers, FL

Yohanna de la Torre – Editor/Writer, Gulf Coast Times and gulfcoasttimes.net 

Suzanne Smith – Professional Photographer, owner of SKS Photoshoot, Fort Myers, FL 

The Skin exhibition is a celebration of the nude and eroticism in art. The gallery is expecting a display of the greatest talents of our area and beyond, some of which have never exploited this theme before. Other masters in the field will introduce their latest creations to a public that is expected to be surprised, amused, amazed or simply insulted. Skin is synonymous to freedom of expression in daas Gallery terms. It is an exhibition that embraces our guiding principle of always bringing something new to the area and always thinking outside the box.

There have been others like Gone Fishin, Trans, and Pose down just to name a few. If you know of others let us know.

Hopefully these biker chicks won’t be there.

Relay for Life Downtown has a limited  discounted amount of tickets for the last few shows.  If you have not seen this performance you need to.  For more information about tickets contact Beth Hayes 239-936-1113 or Don Molloy 239-980-1077

“Poked in the Mind’s Eye: The Humorous Perspective of Doug MacGregor”

Opening Reception: Friday, May 6th, 5:00-7:00PM
Exhibiting: May 6-28
Gallery WALK & TALK w/ Doug MacGregor: May 18th, 1:30-2:30PM

On May 06, 2011, the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center will host its first solo exhibition by local resident and internationally renowned painter Marcus Jansen. His recent documentary, A Painters’s Allegory, will show during the reception and throughout the exhibition period.  The show opens at 6:00 p.m., during Art Walk, and runs through May 27, 2011.  The Art Center is located at 2301 First Street, in the River District, downtown Fort Myers.

Jansen is a citizen of the World, a Gulf War Veteran who managed to transform his life from a soldier at war to a soldier in the arts. Since 1997, he has been known for exploring modern settings and often graffiti urban landscapes that deliver social and political commentary of our contemporary world.

Jansen’s work has been published and noted in media publications such as Forbes Magazine, The New York Times, The Kuwait Times, Art News and Art in America Magazine. Work has been included in Who’s Who in American Art and Who’s Who in International Art. His collections include the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, The Moscow Museum of Modern Art, (MMOMA), The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, as well as The New Britain Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian Institution. Jansen may be considered one of the most exciting new painters to emerge at the early part of the 21st Century and has created an international following. 

Jansen’s background is as complex as his art. A world traveler, his work demonstrates a rebellious spirit, an unusual and raw style that rejects traditional norms in painting. Over the last decade, Jansen’s paintings feel like a mix of urban street art crossed with expressionism from Germany. Jansen’s work shows viewers a raw usage of paint and swift interlocking texture changes that create a rhythm that draws viewers in. Jansen’s landscapes show strong North American influences, but he refers to them as universal in nature and not location specific. 

His work can be linked to Jansen’s history. He lived in the Bronx and Long Island in the 1970′s and often traveled to other boroughs of NY City on graffiti infested subway trains as a child. He was facinated by the large cartoon- like characters and letters that decorated those huge dull trains, transforming them into wonders of art. His father, a German businessman and student of history who had traveled widely in Germany, France and England as well as his West-Indien mother who was an artist and sang in choirs, had a strong lasting influence on Jansen’s work. Jansen moved to Germany in 1975, where he learned about German expressionism which made an impression early on during his visits to many European countries in the 1980′s. In 1986 he spent much time in the Netherlands, France and Italy and many other European capitals.

These experiences have found their ways into Jansen’s art, creating powerful visual images that tell stories about where and how people live. In 1990, Jansen joined the US Army and returned to the United States, and shortly afterwards he was assigned to Desert Storm. It was there he started experiencing difficulties from his combat experiences. He decided to dedicate his life to painting before being approached by Museum Director Jerome A. Donson. It was the beginning of a relationship that lasted for several years. Donson was quoted saying, “you are my last find,” shortly before he passed in 2009. He directed many traveling exhibitions for the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) NY, working closely with painters like Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Franz Kline and Willem de Kooning. Donson was also the author of the American Vanguard Exhibitions 1961 and in 2006 wrote the foreword to Jansen’s book, Modern Urban Expressionism, The Art of Marcus Antonius Jansen, which was Donson’s last written publication.

The Alliance with a joint event with Gulf Coast Symphony to bring chamber music to the Foulds Theatre. Saturday, May 21st at 8PM Gulf Coast Symphony’s chamber music ensemble will perform a concert featuring breathtaking pieces by Brahms, Handel, Gould and Danzi. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased by calling 239-277-1700 and online at www.gulfcoastsymphony.org. Seating is limited.