You know those portraits of Weimaraners in various awkward poses, wearing dresses or overcoats or seaweed or backwards boots, watching the camera with long-suffering stares, trusting and obedient throughout what must be a rather long and tedious process for a breed of dog that enjoys running and jumping and chasing things? You can credit artist/photographer William Wegman, who’s made a more than 25-year career of capturing his adorable family of Weimaraners on film, his first and most famous subject, Man Ray, named "Man of the Year" by the Village Voice in 1982. This weekend, Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art opens It’s a Dog’s Life: Photographs by William Wegman from the Polaroid Collection, an exhibit of 29 large-format Polaroids taken from the early 1980s through the mid-90s. Also opening is Sanctuary: Anna Tomczak Photography, a 40-year retrospective of hand-painted gelatin silver prints and large-format Polaroid image transfers by Florida-based artist Tomczak. An opening reception with Weimaraners from Florida Weimaraner Rescue, hors d’oeuvres, wine and soft drinks is held from 7 to 9 p.m. Sat., Jan. 17 ($10 general/free to members). At 3 p.m. Sun., Jan. 18, exhibit curator/Polaroid Corporation Cultural Affairs Director Barbara Hitchcock presents "The History of Polaroid Photography" ($8 members/$10 general). Jan. 18-April 12, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. (open until 9 p.m. on Thurs.), 1-5 p.m. Sun., LRMA at SPC, 600 Klosterman Road, Palm Harbor, $5 adults/$4 seniors (free for children and students), 727-712-5762.
Art: It’s a Dog’s Life: Photographs by William Wegman from the Polaroid Collection and Sanctuary: Anna Tomczak Photography
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