The Dalí Museum opens Architecture of the Dali May 2. This exhibition uses archival photographs, historical documents and more to trace the museum back to its humble origins in the 1980s to its current, Dalí-inspired structure on the bayfront.
A three-dimensional model will provide a close-up look at the Dalí Museum’s upcoming expansion, designed by Beck Architecture and PBK with Yann Weymouth FAIA.
More than 70 paintings, drawings, photographs and more from The Dalí Museum’s collection are collection for Dalí in America, opening May 9. Museum administrators say it’s all about “the artist’s discovery of what he called a ‘New World’ filled with possibility, reflecting his vision of our country as a land of reinvention.”
READ MORE: Dalí Museum announces $65M expansion
Wolves: Photography by Ronan Donovan opens May 9 at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art. Created by the National Geographic Society and the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the exhibition of photography and videos depicts wild wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic.
“The way that a culture views wolves can reveal a lot about how a society interacts with their environment—is there a belief of power over animals, or is there a collective shared landscape? As a visual storyteller, my goal is to portray my subjects in their most authentic way by showing the challenges they face as well as the tender moments between family members.”
Ronan Donovan, Photographer
Wolves will remain at the James Museum through Sept. 7
From “After Venus,” by Babs Reingold.
Multidisciplinary artist Babs Reingold’s solo exhibition After Venus debuts May 15 at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg. Through large-scale drawings, paintings, monotypes and encaustic collages the artist, who resides locally, explores the world of women’s bodybuilding, “finding a sense of empowerment in the chiseled bodies of female weightlifters that strikingly contrast the soft, curvilinear female ideals of the past.”
The forms, Reingold explains, are “juxtaposed to iconic male masterworks and ancient symbols of women and fertility.”
After Venus will remain at the MFA though Aug. 30.
Coming May 16 is the art museum’s family-friendly Painting in the Park event. They’re looking for art station volunteers (info at this link).
FloridaRAMA and St. Petersburg Month of Photography (SPMOP) are sponsoring a contest in celebration of Photography Month, for which those interested can register at this link.
The April 30 launch party (5-7 p.m. at FloridaRAMA) will go into further detail, but here’s the gist: Photographs must be shot inside the whimsical, walk-through art installation itself (before the May 11 deadline); participants will have the chance to have their work featured inside FloridaRAMA, and win a year-long membership.
At the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts: Photographer Unknown, Six Men Posed with Cigars, c. 1910, gelatin silver print, Burns Collection & Archive.
The rich history of Ybor City as a cigar-rolling capitol is explored at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (in Tampa) with Cigars! Photography, Industry, and Identity, running through July 19. The exhibition commemorates the 140th anniversary of the first cigar rolled in Ybor City on April 13, 1885. At one time, there were 150 cigar factories in the city.
On view at Florida CraftArt May 2 through June 13 is Florida NOW, a curated exhibit of new works from around the state.
Head in the Sky, Feet on the Ground, making its entrance May 9 at the Morean Center for Clay, features work by multidisciplinary artist Charles Morrison. His works are based on figures from ancient mythology (and the giraffe, which fascinates him) to illustrate what he sees as a (sometimes necessary) disconnect between idealism and the realities of current life and society. The exhibit will remain through May 30.
Happy Anniversary to Gulfport artist Brenda McMahon, whose self-titled gallery will celebrate its 7th anniversary May 1 with a 6-9 p.m. reception, with live music from the Podheads, a featuring one of the gallery’s jewelers, Berkeley Grimball.
Artists, museums and galleries: Please add the Catalyst to your email lists: bill@stpetecatalyst.com. Thanks!