A Flourishing Vision

 

A truly unique exhibition was recently on view in The Gallery at Creative Pinellas with regionally historic significance. After over a year and half in development, the full vision of the exhibition, titled Flora & Fauna, has now come into fruition – a sprawling assortment of over 40 nature-themed artworks by six artists.

With several mystical undertones, Flora & Fauna links each artist’s inner world to the world around us through the doorway of nature, and reminds us of its magic and importance.

The exhibition was produced with the support of a formidable alliance of preeminent institutions in the local, statewide, and national level – the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the State of Florida, Creative Pinellas, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners, as well as a partnership with the Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation.

 

The Opening

 

The opening reception was held on May 23 with a packed crowd of over 300. In attendance was Creative Pinellas Senior Director of Arts & Cultural Programming Beth Gelman, Creative Pinellas CEO Margaret Murray, most of the featured artists, several collectors, and members of the community.

Perhaps most notable was an appearance by art collector, philanthropist, and entrepreneur Rob Canton. Canton has a well established career of working with several prominent figures as past clients, including former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, the Walt Disney Company, Marriott International, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Now dedicated to the philanthropic sphere, his A+C Foundation helps celebrities launch and run their own charitable foundations. Canton is also a collector of Edel Alvarez Galban (known artistically as A. Galban), the initiating force behind Flora & Fauna.

The Gallery at Creative Pinellas in Largo proved to be the perfect stage to host the high caliber of artwork assembled. Far surpassing any traditional gallery, the site has won design awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Boston Society of Architects (BSA) for its lofty, yet organic architecture which imbues an ambiance perfectly suited to the exhibition’s theme.

Entering the space you pass through immersive foliage surrounding the property. Once inside, you continue to connect with nature though elegantly curved high ceilings with skylights that allow natural light to filter in. Its history and legacy as the former Gulf Coast Museum of Art site is evident, bringing a world-class, museum-level grandeur to the show’s overall impact and quality.

Not surprisingly, there were already sales closed on opening night, underscoring the immediate effect of the exhibition. Its success has not gone unnoticed. In addition to its steep attendance on opening night, the exhibition has also attracted the attention of ABC Action News WFTS Tampa Bay in a televised segment with Sean Daly, who interviewed featured artist Leslie Hiatt, as well as FOX 13 Tampa Bay, which interviewed co-curator Tarin Mohajeri.

The exhibition also spawned an artist discussion event featuring A. Galban, Adriano Nicot, Jorge Dans that was held on May 25 and live streamed online.

The Vision

 

The exhibition reveals an eclectic collection of works from the six artists. In an interesting twist, five of the six artists are of Cuban heritage, bringing colorful and vibrant perspectives informed by tropical settings.

The bilingual exhibition catalog was written by art critic and multimedia director Raysa White. In it White notes that the number six is numerologically symbolic of the element of earth, harmony, and nurturing qualities, each reinforcing Flora & Fauna’s nature theme.

To bring this vision to life, A. Galban recruited independent curator Tarin Mohajeri as his co-curator for the exhibition. Mohajeri’s impressive background of high profile achievements made her a natural fit to join the Flora & Fauna team and help realize its potential.

She was previously responsible for arranging famed photographer Clyde Butcher’s first major exhibitions in the area – America’s Everglades: Through the Lens of Clyde Butcher (2022) and El Arte: Echoes of Cuba (2023), both in the Clearwater Main Library.

Mohajeri was also program coordinator for the Dalí Museum’s Dreams of Dalí virtual reality experience for the Clearwater exhibit in 2016. The project was a milestone achievement as the museum’s first foray into immersive digital experiences, helping to cement it as a global pioneer in integrating cutting edge technology into fine art museums.

Dreams of Dalí also went on to be the museum’s first digital project to win awards internationally, including the prestigious Cannes Cyber Lion GOLD, as well as the Facebook Silver Award and Webby People’s Voice Award.

Putting these experiences into practice, Mohajeri was instrumental in helping to secure The Gallery at Creative Pinellas as a venue for the exhibition and in the grant writing process for the National Endowment for the Arts and other grants.

 

The Artists

 

Flora & Fauna’s artists bring their own noteworthy elements and a unique background of impressive achievements that elevate the exhibition’s importance on several levels. It marks the first exhibition in Tampa Bay of the renowned artists Josignacio and Adriano Nicot. It also features work by two international artists, Jorge Dans and Froilán Escobar, who are based in Switzerland and Costa Rica, respectively.

The most prestigious of the featured artists is Josigancio, whose participation assured the exhibition’s prominence from the onset and added to its historic significance. This is a rare showing for the renowned artist — his first show in three years, since 2021’s Art Basel Miami.

This year also marks the 40th anniversary of arguably Josigancio’s greatest career development – his creation of the pioneering Plastic Paint Medium in 1984, making him the first known artist in the world to paint with plastic.

Josignacio’s work is also notable for his achievements in the art market and his association with several internationally-renowned figures. He holds the standing global record for the highest price reached at auction for a painting by a living Latin American artist, as well as the first living Latin American artist to sell an artwork for over $3 million dollars at auction.

His many VIP collectors include celebrities (Madonna, Beyoncé, Gloria Estefan and Andy Garcia), politicians such as former President Bill Clinton and four former Mexican presidents (Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Ernesto Zedillo, Felipe de Jesús Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto), Cuban-American business giants (MasTec founder Jorge Mas Canosa, sugar baron José Fanjul, longtime Coca-Cola CEO Roberto Goizueta, and the Bacardi family), as well as Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Adriano Nicot is a leading Latin American Neoexpressionist with an international profile and well-established exhibiting career covered by critics. Nicot began his career as a protégé of famed Cuban Expressionist Antonia Eiriz and has been collected by the UNESCO Secretary of the Cuban National Commission as well as leading theater director Flora Lauten.

Froilán Escobar first became known as an internationally published, award-winning author and is now an accomplished painter with works that often integrate poetry.

Another of the exhibition’s impressive additions is Cuban-Swiss artist Jorge Dans. Dans is a multidisciplinary artist who works within several styles and also has a background in performance. He personally studied under, and was influenced by, several renowned Cuban artists of the late 20th century including Belkis Ayón, Choco and Alfredo Sosabravo.

Dans began exhibiting in Cuba in 1989 and in Switzerland in 2000. He has grown an international base of collectors in the U.S., Canada, Cuba, Switzerland, France, Germany and Portugal — among them, pop star Willy Chirino.

Notably, alongside his visual arts career, Dans is also known in European dance circles for his success in competitive Salsa. He placed 5th globally in 2001 with the International Dance Organization (IDO), and was the Swiss champion in 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2003.

With his bright Pop Art aesthetic, Dans was chosen to design Flora & Fauna’s primary marketing material, including its exhibition flier and poster.

A breakout figure in Flora & Fauna is painter Leslie Hiatt. Hiatt is the exhibition’s only woman and only non-Cuban. A newcomer to the art scene, Hiatt has painted for years but is now making her debut as an exhibiting artist.

As a nurse, she shares both a medical background with A. Galban, as well as being the other local artist of the Tampa Bay area. Like Dans, she is also multidisciplinary with a long history in several professional creative fields, including singing, stage design and woodworking.

She previously worked with Creative Arts Unlimited in St. Petersburg and saw her set designs and custom pieces acquired by Disney, Macy’s and FAO Schwarz. Hiatt utilizes her stagecraft and woodworking background to create her own custom frames for each of her pieces to best enhance the atmosphere and presentation of her works.

 

The Art

 

As one of the leading Cuban artists in the region, A. Galban’s art draws influence from several sources, particularly European and Cuban artists. Galban’s “Fauna” contributions to the exhibition recall the playful and eccentric animals found in Paul Klee’s work.

Some surprising highlights are found in unlikely sources and influences, such as his Antoní Gaudi-inspired roosters and impressive yet understated snails. The latter manage to capture an intimate world with a surprising range of enigmatic moodiness and tenderness between two meeting snails.

A noteworthy addition from his “Flora” works include the Joan Miró-inspired Fleurs du mal series, which is featured in Galban’s Wikipedia page.

Perhaps his most impressive offerings, however, are his criminally underrated Monochromatic Gardens series. They draw influence from leading Cuban Vanguard artist Mario Carreño’s vegetation scenes to arrive at a more spiritual destination – one that shows the felt essence of nature beyond its external forms.

These pieces clearly manifest the prevailing aura of the exhibition theme, pulsing with nature’s wonder and mystery, as well as an untamed wildness that hints of danger.

With his reputation and credentials, Josignacio’s name sets a high bar, and his works in Flora & Fauna do not disappoint. Blue Butterfly (2016) is a showstopper, and at $170,000, the most expensive piece featured in the show. Made in his multilayered Plastic Paint Medium on a large scale format to maximize impact, its bold presence brings a fluid and otherworldly magnificence that transcends categories, using multiple shades of blue and his Plastic Paint Medium’s texture to achieve dimension and reflection.

It is one of three works from his Butterfly series on view, which represent an ever-evolving symbol of transformation and hope in his body of work. This rare opportunity to view his art in person is also worthwhile for the inclusion of two of his other well-established series – his Flowers and Fish.

Jorge Dans is currently working in a fresh, Pop Art-influenced Hyperrealist style that places both bright color and focused line work front-and-center while also strongly engaging negative space.

This approach effectively merges elements of several of the major art movements of the last century. Philosophically, his approach also gives renewed importance to draftsmanship, which has seen its value questioned in the era of digital art and Artificial Intelligence.

Dans’ standout works in the exhibition include Flamingo I and Tenderness I (showing a family of giraffes), both from his Color is Life series. These works include Impressionist elements, such as Pointillism, to convey movement and energy within a framework of Pop Art that brings additional universality to his work while maintaining their intimacy.

Adriano Nicot’s works are particularly interesting. While hints of his trademark psychologically intense style are still visible here, this exhibition shows a softer side of Nicot’s art not typically seen in his gallery and museum exhibitions.

Like Galban’s Monochromatic Gardens, it also features Nicot’s rarely displayed Florero series — and fully celebrates it. Each work in the series is executed with Nicot’s signature dramatic monochrome backgrounds, heavy impasto textures, and high-contrast pastel accents for heightened impact on every level.

One of the best is Jarrón, showing a vase resembling a mystical chalice from which a hazy mist of flowers springs forth against an oblique smoky red background, combining hope and foreboding within a seemingly simple still life.

While it is refreshing to see Nicot’s singular take on florals receive well-deserved attention, it is also disappointing that one of Flora & Fauna few missed opportunities was the surprising omission of Nicot’s notable series Los Caballos (The Horses), which include his Nocturnal Horse and his mythical Minotaurs, to the exhibition’s “Fauna” components despite appearing in the catalog.

Froilán Escobar’s works in Flora & Fauna are from his Jardines Invisibles (Invisible Gardens) series. They already have a public profile in the United States, having served as the basis of his 2022 joint exhibition Jardines Invisibles with A. Galban in Miami.

Of particular note is his Jardines Invisibles 1, depicting two peacock lovers gliding through trees and vines to meet in the heart of a forest, executed in another nod to Mario Carreño’s work, but this time to his flattened, abstracted animals.

Jardines Invisibles 1 also showcases Froilán’s unique approach to color in which he sets intricate and sinuous forms within a grayscale, then subtly introduces a wide range of colors to accentuate them.

This approach to color and foliage calls to mind some of the forms and tones in Wifredo Lam’s famous jungles. It succeeds in drawing more attention to the colors that are present and also echoes the delicate realities of environmentalism that the exhibition was spotlighting through its tribute to nature and wildlife.

Lastly, Leslie Hiatt’s work has an unmistakable whimsy and gliding movement to it. Her pieces are mixed media, beginning with a base of acrylic paint for her backgrounds, and then using oil paint for the main subject matter to give them greater richness and sheen.

Hiatt’s style lends itself well to mythological subject matters, guiding us through secret gardens of earthly delight. Her work evokes several ornate eras of European art, such as the Rococo and Post-Impressionism, and would be at home in the Salon-style exhibitions of the late 19th century.

Her most impressive pieces of the exhibition, Sacred Maui Gardens and  Strings of my Harp, are both infused with her already easily identifiable aesthetic of lush, rose-filled florals suspended in sumptuous yet serene dreamscapes.

With opaque dark green backgrounds, they reach into the primordial and palpably embody the exhibition’s environmental theme by making nature feel truly alive, as though you are witnessing Mother Nature herself emerging from each canvas, inviting you to experience her firsthand.

One couldn’t help but feel that connection in various forms throughout the exhibition and I came away with a sense of wonder and appreciation.

Flora & Fauna is a clear high point of the 2024 art calendar, and closed on Sunday July 7.

creativepinellas.org/event/flora-fauna-exhibition

 

Originally published in The Artisan Magazine