St. Pete may be known for its Second Saturday but Tampa is cornering the market on First Friday art action. This weekend, the offerings are especially plentiful with a wide array of shows to visit Friday night and throughout the weekend.
First Fridays Seminole Heights: On the first Friday evening of every month, art galleries and related businesses in and around Seminole Heights extend their hours to allow people to browse some impressively unique exhibitions.
This month's installment offers eye and brain candy galore with Janine Awai: Supersubsurface (featured in this week’s Visual Art column) and Quaid’s Fling Cleaning, a solo show featuring the work of Chase Sherman, both at Tempus Projects. Pyramid Inc. — which assists learning-disabled adult artists in creating imaginatively skilled works — presents the more-than-a-mouthful Anthropomorphization. The show highlights quirky and haunting human-like creatures by Kaieshia Morris, Amanda Martin and Alvin Hamilton. Concurrently in the facility’s Wing-4 Space, The World of Wolli (pictured, right) highlights transcendent new works by Yanuary Navarro, whose imaginary storybook scenes reference of real and imaginary worlds with a nod to Latin folk art.
Stop by the Rialto Theatre to see the The Gilded Rag II by the Epoxy crew (the gallery is gone but the art lives on), plus Phoenix Glass Studio, Centre for Girls, Vintage Post Marketplace and A Modern Line are also extending their hours. Find out more at facebook.com/ffseminoleheights.
ART on 12th — Channel District’s Premiere Art Walk Experience: Thirty-plus artists from both sides of the bay, including Laura Spencer, Zulu Painter, Aurailieus Artist, Derek Donnelly, Nathan Beard and many more, invade Bamboozle Tea Lounge and other venues at Washington Street Park in the Channelside District, Tampa. Music, performance and more. Click here for venues and artists.
University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum: With Hidden Noise opens Fri., June 5 and continues through July 25. The exploration of sound art asks museum visitors to spend time listening more carefully, revealing the richness of sound in the world. Evocative sounds from sundry instruments and field recordings, with some sounds filtered through electronic processes, will be featured. Artists include Stephen Vitiello and Teylor Deupree, Jennie C. Jones, Pauline Oliveros, Andrea Parkins, Steve Peters, Steve Roden and Michael Schumacher. Performances and other events will be featured throughout the run. Museum at Work also runs June 5-July 25. View collection artworks as they are packaged, framed, installed and photographed in their galleries. Workshops and more will be offered in conjunction with the show. Visit cam.usf.edu for a schedule. USFCAM is at 3821 USF Holly Drive, Tampa.
Museum at Work Lunch Workshop: Get an early start on Friday at USFCAM — and get some lunch — when the museum presents a free workshop that allows visitors to with CAM staff as a display is being installed. Design, staging and hanging techniques will be discussed and demonstrated. Visitors will also have the option to take a tour of the museum’s workshop, collection and storage areas. This workshop is free. USF Dining will be on hand to satisfy your hunger from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. includes a $5 chicken and vegetarian taco bar with lettuce, pico, cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, black beans, chips and salsa; includes a Coca-cola canned soda or bottled water. In addition, Jamba Juice samples of Strawberry Wild and Razzmatazz will be served.
FMoPA First Friday & Artist Talk: Photographer Seva Granin: Attend the kickoff of an exciting new exhibition and hear the artist's stories about the making of Beijing Yoga, his visual essay documenting cultural and economic transformation in China through a striking series of photographs depicting bicycles in various states of disrepair. $10; members get in free. The museum hosts First Friday events like this each month. Find out more at fmopa.org.
Swede Fest Youth Film Festival: Be entertained by imaginative and humorous low-budget remakes made by budding filmmakers ages 5-17. If you have such an auteur in the making in your household, submissions are still being accepted. Sat., June 6, 6-8 p.m., at 4D Studios LLC, 2511 W. Swann Ave., Suite 100, Tampa. Admission is only $5.
Pound and a Bear Hug: Last two days to see Florida artists Bask & Tes One revisit their first show together with a new collection prints, paintings, and more. The exhibition celebrates the 10th anniversary of the artists’ collaborations. Free. Through June 6, 7 p.m. Cass Art Studio, 2722 S. Macdill Ave., Tampa. Read CL's Visual Art column on the show here
