Sarasota Art Museum

During the month of November, four exhibitions open, two close and 23 others continue their runs.

Shazam! That’s the name of the blue sculpture that the Sarasota Art Museum has just installed in its courtyard. It stands 12 feet tall by 10 feet wide and is a striking example of contemporary Constructivist sculpture. Created by Brooklyn-based sculptor John Clement, “Shazam” pushes the boundaries of the genre by transforming utilitarian materials into playful, gravity-defying structures.

Southwest Florida’s museums regularly curate traveling art exhibitions as well as artworks from their permanent collections. During the month of October, seven new exhibitions open, six close and 15 others continue their runs.

They look like whimsical wisps of color and shape and gently rolling landscapes. But Selina Roman’s new body of work actually consists of parts of her own physique that she’s turned into modernist-inspired abstract images. Sarasota Art Museum’s Executive Director Virginia Shearer explains the artist’s rationale.

Art Deco was known as the Golden Age of Illustration. To celebrate its centenary, the Sarasota Art Museum opens an exhibition at the end of the month that features 100 rare fine art advertisement posters created during the 1920s and ‘30s by some of the world’s earliest, master graphic designers. Executive Director Virginia Shearer explains why these posters are so rare.

On the third floor of the Sarasota Art Museum is an environment that envelops visitors in a world of shimmering Caribbean color and mysterious shadows that creep along the historic schoolhouse’s gray walls and wood floors. Nassau-born, Atlanta-based artist Lillian Blades calls her suspended assemblages veils.

Southwest Florida’s museums regularly curate traveling art exhibitions as well as artworks from their permanent collections. During the month of August, five new exhibitions open, eight close and 16 others continue their runs.

Printmaking is an art form that has been around since the Renaissance. To ensure that it continues to flourish, some fine art printing presses regularly invite painters, sculptors and mixed media artists to come in and work with a master printer to produce fine art prints. Paulson Fontaine in Berkeley, California has done this for 25 years and through August 10, the Sarasota Art Museum is hosting a traveling exhibit of some of their prints.

On exhibit at the Sarasota Art Museum is a body of work that examines memory, childhood and the notion of archive through large-scale chalk drawings and handmade ceramic sculptures. Titled “Where We Never Grow Old,” it features work by Chris Friday. Executive Director Virginia Shearer says that Friday is an artist whose career is ascending.

Southwest Florida’s museums regularly curate traveling art exhibitions as well as artworks from their permanent collections. During July, two exhibitions open, one closes and 24 others continue their runs.