1 Elsewhere. Chances are you missed this wildly weird late-summer sleeper show at the University of South Florida's Contemporary Art Museum. Themes of exploration, tourism, dislocation and migration cropped up in pieces as diverse as Sarah Anne Johnson's photographs and sculptures documenting an eco-tourism trip to the Galapagos Islands and Patty Chang's low-budget video "remake" of the novel Lost Horizon. A voyage to many bizarre and wonderful places curated with vision by USF CAM's David Norr.
2 Informe. While Elsewhere boasted a multinational cast of emerging and established artists, Informe provided a fresh look at the best of USF's graduate student crew. First- and second-year MFA candidates shone in this exhibit that transcended typical student shows. Allen Hampton — who subsequently hijacked Gala Corina 2007 with his dead-baby-pig-in-a-valise installation — showcased his beautiful-but-appalling tattooed cow's tongues and drawings in pig blood. Becky Flanders' performance-photographs of standing female urination were fun and, um, educational. And Shane Hoffman pulled off a coup in the projects room with his zany felt sculptures of imagined mythological creatures.
3 Wearable Art 3. Who knew Dunedin could be so sexy? Time was, the quiet Pinellas city conjured up images of bingo nights and early bird specials — well, that time has passed. Earlier this year, nary a parking space could be found in a football-field-sized lot outside the Dunedin Fine Art Center on the night of Wearable Art 3, a titillating yearly foray into fashion made of unconventional materials including duct tape, plastic bags, dried beans and aluminum. Inside, a raucous crowd let loose at the prompting of a drag queen MC as eye-popping creations by Tia Gugliotta, Rogerio Martins, Carly Champagne, Blackbird and others strutted down the catwalk. St. Petersburg's Frank Strunk III stole the show with his dainty metallic get-ups. With Contain It!, an innovative installation fest coming up in January, DFAC has put itself on the map as a venue to watch in '08.
4 Identity In Progress. Our local community of Latin artists got its own well-deserved showcase at Flight 19 during Arte, the Bay area-wide biennial celebration of Latin American and Caribbean arts and culture. Adroitly organized by Manny Lopez, a longtime collector of local artists, the show mixed well-known practitioners like Edgar Sanchez Cumbas and Guillermo Portieles with rarely seen artists like Cosme Herrera (a former Tampa resident who now lives in New York) and Maria Emilia (executive director of Florida Craftsmen Gallery).
5 Ybor Festival of the Moving Image. This year's fest, the fifth annual, featured the multidisciplinary event's most ambitious smorgasbord of film, video, performance and art events yet. From New York-based Pat Oleszko's innuendo-laden performance as a giant, cigar-smoking head, to live electronic sound compositions by Miami's Gustavo Matamoros, the festival offered myriad sights and sounds in addition to four days filled with film. With work by Charles Burnett, acclaimed black filmmaker and winner of a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, anchoring next year's festival, there's much to look forward to in 2008.
6 At Home With Crafts. Another innovative partnership at Florida Craftsmen Gallery. In a showroom designed to look like one of St. Pete's many new urban apartments, made-in-Florida artworks mingled with furniture provided by Robb & Stucky; construction help was provided by Youth Arts Corps; and sponsors included local developer Grady Pridgen. Creative Clay director Grace-Anne Alfiero can take credit along with FLC for conceiving an event that redirected homeowners and interior designers from big box retailers to handmade crafts.
7 Donna Sweigart's prototype jewelry. As I was compiling this list, I tried to think of at least one visual arts experience this year that really blew my mind. I couldn't help recall a certain interview with artist and jewelry maker Donna Sweigart in anticipation of her exhibit at Florida Craftsmen Gallery. As I sat across from Sweigart at St. Pete's Globe Coffee Lounge, she whipped piece after piece of her beautifully strange jewelry out of a Tupperware box, explaining how each was "printed" in plastic on a rapid prototyping machine generally used to create models of industrial products. The results suggest something an intergalactic hottie would wear to a New Year's Eve party on the fringes of the universe. Awesome!
8 West Tampa Center for the Arts is born. This year, the cigar factory formerly known as Gallery 1906 became the West Tampa Center for the Arts. Once an informal studio space for Tampa artists, the historic former Santaella cigar factory made the leap to aspiring nonprofit status under the watch of the building's owners, the Ellis and Van Pelt families, who hired photographer Maida Millan as executive director. A diverse cast of resident artists — including Millan, Lori Ballard, Kym O'Donnell, Laszlo Horvath, Debra Jo Radke, Alex Espalter-Torres, Linda Chaney and others — continues to draw visitors to open studio parties, but exhibits featuring outside artists and curators from around the Bay area add tremendous new appeal.
9 Trisha Brown. Any visit to the Bay area by award-winning contemporary choreographer Trisha Brown would be a treat, but to have USF's College of Visual and Performing Arts name her their 2007 Distinguished Master Artist, for Graphicstudio's printmakers to collaborate with her to make original etchings, and for student performers to join in a restaging of Brown's famous Set/Reset (Reset) — well, that's something to get your leotard in a twist about. Visitors to Brown's exhibit of prints, drawings and performance videos at USF's Contemporary Art Museum or to the Trisha Brown Dance Company's performances at USF's Tampa campus and the Mahaffey Theater found much to enjoy in her brief-but-wonderful residency.
10 Carrie Mackin's back. Lest an old acquaintance be forgot, Blue Acier's Erika Greenberg-Schneider has roped Carrie Mackin, former owner of the much-missed Covivant Gallery, into curating a show for the new year. Mackin, now a Brooklynite and studio manager for art-world superstar Kehinde Wiley, brings along three of her favorite New York-based artists: Ain Cocke, Chantel Foretich and Trong G. Nguyen. The opening reception coincides with the closing of a show by local printmaker Marie Yoho Dorsey. For more, visit my blog at artsqueeze.com. The Greatest, Fri., Dec. 28, 6-9 p.m., Bleu Acier, 109 W. Columbus Drive, Tampa, 813-272-9746, bleuacier.com.
This article appears in Dec 26, 2007 – Jan 1, 2008.