“Breonna Taylor” by Zulu Painter Credit: Klara Miller

The Morean Arts Center is one of my favorite places to see art, mainly because it offers so many opportunities for Florida’s contemporary artists to show their work.

Emerging artists often get their start in St. Pete submitting single works to the Morean’s themed pop-up shows. Once they’ve created a larger body of work, they dream of solo shows in Tampa Bay’s art galleries. But sometimes that doesn’t happen right away.

Many St. Pete artists create a following painting murals and showing their work in bars before they ever get their first solo show in a formal gallery setting. Jennifer Kosharek, Zulu Painter, and Aurailieus Artist are three excellent examples of local artists who’ve taken this path.

IF YOU GO
Zulu Painter: “Conditions May Vary” / Aurailieus: “Fairly Local” / Jennifer Kosharek: “Woman’s Work”
Morean Arts Center, 719 Central Ave, St. Petersburg
Open through Oct. 29.
Meet the artists Thurs. Oct. 29, 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
INFO

"When we were putting up the show it occurred to me that for all three of them, I'm 99.9% sure, that this is their first solo show ever, as Aurailieus put it, ‘that isn't in a bar,’” says Morean Curator of Exhibitions Amanda Cooper.

Yet these three artists are so prolific, most St. Pete residents have probably already seen their work by accident. If you’ve ever been to Emerald Bar or Bar 548, then you’ve probably encountered Aurailieus’ Bob the Robot. It’s hard not to notice Zulu Painter’s enthusiastic participation in Mize Gallery’s annual Black History art show each February. And Jennifer Kosharek doesn’t paint in bright pink for us to ignore her many murals around town.

“These are artists who are well established here, and they certainly deserve to have a show,” says Cooper. “They each have a good following; they have murals around town, and their work is very high quality.”

I was surprised to find out that there were people walking into the Morean Arts Center who’ve never seen Aurailieus’ Bob the Robot before, but Cooper assures me it’s true. The people who chance upon artwork in downtown bars are sometimes different from the folks who actively seek out artwork in local galleries and art museums.

“We kept the gallery open while we were installing,” says Cooper. “It was fun to see some of the diverse groups of people coming in. There were a lot of older people coming in while we were installing, looking at Aurailieus' work and kind of scratching their heads like, ‘What’s this robot?’" She laughs. “So we would talk to them about it, and people really liked it.”

Cooper loves introducing St. Pete’s colorful characters, like Aurailieus’s Bob the Robot and Kosharek’s Gretchen dolls, to new audiences, and it seems this trio of shows is already doing that.

For those unfamiliar with the work of Aurailieus Artist, Zulu Painter and Jennifer Kosharek, these October art shows at the Morean are a great introduction. Check out the Morean’s website for an online preview of the exhibitions with artist bios (click the artists’ names in this paragraph to view).

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