Events Fort Myers

Unfair: the art of Alex Heria

Opening Reception September 2, 2011 6:00pm-10:00pm

World renowned photographer Alex Heria presents his Unfair collection at daas Gallery during the month of September. The exhibition opens to the public during the monthly Fort Myers Art Walk.

Alexander Heria was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1961. He moved to Miami, Florida at age ten. Heria received a BFA in photography from Florida International University, Miami in 1992, and his MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston in 1994. He has taught photography and graphic design for seven years at FIU, Miami Dade College, and the Art Institute Miami. His photography has been exhibited locally and is in numerous private collections. Currently he is an artist-in-residence at the ArtCenter/South Florida.

“My work has always been a search of a place and a clan I could call my own. Born in New Jersey to Cuban immigrant parents, I am part of a subculture known as Cubichis. Subsequently, I belong to two worlds while being truly integrated to neither. Whether it’s portraits of family and friends or gardens on the roadsides or the personal vision of trees as atmospheric phenomena, there’s a seeking-to-feel-right-and-whole with the subject at a deeply personal level. I enjoy the medium of photography for this quest; it has an uncanny ability to record faithfully the scene depicted while creating surprising new relationships simultaneously. It is the learning and exploring through surprise that interests me most as an artist.”

The exhibition will be on display through Friday, September 30th. For more information about the event, please visit www.daasgallery.com. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

News Flash about Daas Gallery owner

Also The owner and Good Friend David Acevedo has been commissioned to paint a mural upstairs in the Sky Bar area .   David has helped out on many different projects including paint the downtown purple with his Relay for Life window painting at Starbucks as well as MDA.

Fort Myers artist, Lia Galletti, will display her abstract collection “Reflections On Canvas” at the Alliance for the Arts, September 9th through October 1st, 2011. Art enthusiasts are invited to the free opening reception on September 9th from 5:00 to 7:30pm.

Born in Cuba, Galletti moved to New York with her family in 1960. She moved to Miami in 1970, where she worked as a graphic designer and founded her own printmaking workshop and art studio. In 2004, she joined the Fort Myers community and opened her own studio where she continues to create abstract pieces for shows around Florida and beyond. Galletti’s work has been showcased in Miami, Washington D.C., Boston and multiple international locations.

Galletti says her abstract collection, “Reflections on Canvas,” has evolved through experimentation with different mediums. She’s explored printmaking, linocuts and silkscreen. She’s also experimented with different painting media to achieve the graphic impression of printmaking and developed her own water-resist technique, using water under pressure to create surfaces, textures and lines similar to those of an etching. She used acrylic for her collection, “Reflections on Canvas,” and describes the work as, “an expression of an inner journey in which I explore the primal and simple language of the soul through abstract forms, their only representational role being to bring forth the true colors of our feeling and emotions at their purest.” Galletti’s work will be on display for viewing at the Alliance from September 9th through October 1st, 2011.

Galletti’s pieces will be available for purchase. For more information about her artwork or the exhibit contact the Alliance at (239) 939-2787 or e-mail exhibitions@artinlee.org. Alliance member Harriet Williams will be exhibiting in the Member Gallery during Galletti’s show.

 Stacie Krupa’s “Sassy Spicy Soulmates- Seahorses, Sea Turtles & Salty, Socialite Friends” opens on Friday, September 2, at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. Doors open at 6 p.m. for Art Walk, and the show continues through September 30. The Art Center is located at 2301 First Street, in the River District, downtown Fort Myers.

“As an only child, Animals became my pseudo-siblings. They were my best friends who never failed me,” Krupa says. “These paintings represent my best friends and all the fun I had playing with them. Painting to me is Pure Play. It’s a fun adventure every painting to see what evolves from manipulating materials. I use oils and acrylics, bold colors, charcoals, inks, iridescent mediums, wall spackling and glues to manipulate drips, washes and texture with various mediums.”

Stacie Krupa attended the University of Central Florida where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. As a student she worked in clinical environments where she could combine psychology with her artistic skills and knowledge. While she found great satisfaction in helping clients deal with addiction and develop coping and life skills, she decided to pursue her true passion. She began her education in fine art and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from UCF in 1994. She then attended a post-baccalaureate study program at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia, the oldest art school in the United States, where notable artists such as Mary Cassat and Thomas Eakins had studied and worked. She later attended a prestigious graduate program at the Maryland Institute College of Art, on scholarship. She continued her graduate studies at the University of Miami, and in 2001 was awarded her Master of Fine Arts in Painting.

In 1996, she opened her first gallery, the Stacie Krupa Gallery, in Winter Park, Florida. This SoHo-style gallery was focused on providing investment level original art and education to residents and visitors in the metropolitan Orlando area. After moving to Islamorada in the Florida Keys in 1998, she opened the Stacie Krupa Studio Gallery of Art, built on the SoHo- style concept of the Orlando gallery. She recently opened Stacie Krupa’s Corner Grill Gallery of Sanibel. Krupa paints every day. Her trademark, intense gestures create large images, monochromatic shemes, and raw, edgy canvas creations that command attention and warrant repeated viewing. The sea-life of Islamorada has had significant impact on the direction of Krupa’s work over the last 11 years.

“I find my animals elegant and playful and soothing since they represent the oceanic environment that I love,” adds Krupa. “The sound of the ocean waves has always relaxed me and painting the oceanic environment and sea life is my happy.” She loves creating sea horses and sea turtles. “I find their anatomy fascinating and quirky.”

Come experience the intensity of this Islamorada artist and see what critics call her “bold, powerful, in-your-face” expressionistic paintings.

Remember 9-11 Tenth Year
Follow the Canvas

Internationally acclaimed artist Leoma Lovegrove
is embarking on a unique commemoration
of one of the darkest days in America’s history ~ September 11, 2001.
On this day, over 3,000 people lost their lives when our country was attacked.

Her vision is to have a billboard size canvas (10′ x 18′) travel to six locations in SW Florida. Each location will represent one of the locations where the 9/11 attack victims lost their lives that tragic day: the World Trade Center in New York City, American Airlines flight 93 which crashed in a field in PA, United Airlines flight 175 and American Airlines flight 11 which were flown by terrorists into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and American Airlines flight 77 which terrorists crashed into it.

Members of the public will paint the names of the victims from the 9/11 tragedy. The names of those who lost their lives will be differentiated by location through using different colors of paint. For example, those who perished at the World Trade Center will be shown in red, those on Flight 93 in dark blue and so on, layer upon layer.

When the names are completed, the canvas will be taken to the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in Fort Myers where the Ten Year Commemorative Event will take place on September 11, 2011. During that event, artist Leoma Lovegrove will paint an American Bald Eagle superimposed on top of the names. The names thus are the basis of the painting and the completed painting of the eagle represents the strength
of our American heritage and an affirmation that freedom prevails.

The Remember 9-11 Tenth Year Art Project is a reminder that we must
never forget and never stop supporting the 9-11 families and survivors.

The first venue will be The Franklin Shops on July 1st during Art Walk. Names of those who lost their lives at the World Trade Center will be painted in red. At subsequent locations, different colors will be used for the names from the Pentagon and the four airplanes. Lovegrove will be there to assist with the painting of the names. Members of the NYPD 1013 Local groups and the American Airline Suncoast KIWI9/11 Memorial will also be there to speak with the crowds.

The canvas will be completed by Lovegrove during Remember 9-11 Tenth Year at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre on Sept. 11, 2011, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Lovegrove and many others have partnered with her on this project to make sure that those who lost their lives are never forgotten and to honor those who conducted rescue efforts. Members of the NYPD 1013 Local will take part at the event as will members of American Airlines Suncoast KIWI9/11 Memorial.

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.