By Lynn Whitelaw
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English author Henry James stated, “It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance and I know of no substitute.” For the past year and a half, art museums in the Tampa Bay area have continued to provide quality exhibitions, but often without the attendances or level of appreciation they deserve.
That is why returning now to one of our great art museums (which health officials consider amongst the safest of public places) may be the best cure for our collective pandemic blues. Here you can experience the creative urge that defines art and, in the most philosophical sense, understand what makes us all human.
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A visit to the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art (LRMA), located on the Tarpon Springs Campus of St. Petersburg College, is one of those places that fits the bill. With six permanent exhibition galleries plus a series of newly installed changing exhibitions there are cultural experiences here that will appeal to the senses, challenge the mind, elevate the spirit and help us escape our current malaise.
In particular, the new exhibitions contrast themes of new expressions in contemporary art and technology with reflective exhibits that are historic and relevant. All provide meaningful engagement.
For the LRMA’s curatorial team, they wisely used months of closure to refurbish the permanent galleries with new graphics and paint colors, install new objects for a fresh look, and write labels and wall text that educate about gallery themes.
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The first permanent galleries provide a look at a family of artists – Abraham Rattner, Esther Gentle and Allen Leepa – and how they respond to the history and stylistic developments of the 20th century. The inclusion of a tableau reconstructing the art studio of Abraham Rattner, provides a poignant introduction for reflection. The whimsical art of Esther Gentle – a personal favorite – and her found object and cut metal sculptures represent the spirit of a pioneering female artist working with welding and assemblage. Her son, Allen Leepa, culminates the 20th century with abstract and expressionist work of existentialist concerns.
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Three additional galleries present highlights from the LRMA permanent collection. These include extensive holdings of 19th and 20th century works on paper (prints, drawings, watercolors, etc.). Currently the Works on Paper Gallery presents Civil War illustrations from Harper’s Weekly by 19th century artist Winslow Homer to compliment the Heroes + Survivors theme in the changing exhibition galleries.
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In the Elemental and Made in Florida Galleries, many works on view are from the collecting foci of the Gulf Coast Museum of Art, which closed in 2009, when its collection transferred to St. Petersburg College and the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art. This includes a gallery of contemporary craft arts from Florida and the Southeastern United States and gallery spaces dedicated to artists who have worked in Florida over the past 50 years. Currently, 45 Florida artists are on display.
I appreciate these galleries the most because there are too few museums where you can see works by artists who we have admired over the years, but do not get to see, including Leslie Lerner, Leslie Neumann, Josette Urso, Rocky Bridges, Denis Gaston and a rotation of others.
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Other Florida artists to highlight in the Leepa-Rattner’s permanent collection are Theo Wujcik, Clyde Butcher, Christopher Still, Steven Kenny, Duncan McClellan, Bruce Marsh, Syd Solomon, Herb Snitzer, Hiram Williams, David Anderson, Robert Fichter and Jack Barret. (All are currently on view except for Chris Still and Clyde Butcher.)
The headliner exhibition at the Leepa-Rattner Museum right now is perhaps the most engaging art exhibit currently on view in the Tampa Bay area – Louis Markoya: A Deeper Understanding.
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A protégé of Salvador Dalí, this retrospective presents the evolution of Markoya’s surrealist style from traditional oil paintings based on classical and surrealist imagery combined with fractal and mathematical references, to cutting-edge new work composed in digital 3-D lenticular prints with LED lighting, as well as a multimedia installation and work referencing our current pandemic.
Kudos to the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art for staging this complex exhibition, which includes technical support provided by the Innovation Lab of St. Petersburg College. The exhibit, shown in two repurposed gallery spaces, is on view through February 6 and is receiving tremendous media coverage. It should be on everyone’s “must see” list.
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The main changing exhibition galleries at the Leepa-Rattner introduce us to the patriotic, historic and ennobled theme of Heroes: Artists as Veterans + Survivors of War. Four galleries explore topics from photographic documentation of the devastation on 9/11, to artwork by veterans as witnesses to war, contributors who advanced the art of camouflage, to the impact that military service had on artists as they pursued artistic expression.
The thoughtfully selected objects in these exhibits reflect the vision and curatorial research of LRMA Curator Christine Renc-Carter who transformed the galleries “into a memorial to the artists from the museum’s collection who have served in the front lines as members of the United States military.”
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This honoring is heartfelt and salutes each artist with label and text information outlining service and military engagement. From major art figures, including namesake Abraham Rattner in World War I, to Leonard Baskin and Jack Levine in World War II, to regional artists Joe Testa-Secca and Theo Wujick, each is a story with impact. A wall has also been dedicated as a special tribute to revered local artist, Dino Kotopoulis, who served in the Korean Conflict and died in 2020.
These thought-provoking exhibitions provide a cathartic experience as we reflect on our own “new” normal and take pause for introspection on the impact of challenge and sacrifice. Heroes: Artists as Veterans + Survivors of War opened on September 11 and remains on view through December 17.
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As a spoiler alert, I am very biased about the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art because I was its founding director, but I believe the current exhibitions at LRMA are stellar and worthy of as much publicity as possible. I encourage you to tour the galleries and exhibitions and the reward will nurture your heart, mind and soul – something we all need at this time.
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Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art
Tarpon Springs Campus, St. Petersburg College
600 E. Klosterman Road
Tarpon Springs FL 34689
727-712-5762 (LRMA)
leeparattner.org
