Self-Portrait with Saskia (1636), by Rembrandt van Rijn.
By Sandra Schulman
Women in the arts is the season’s theme in Palm Beach County. The stylish life of Georgia O’Keeffe gets the museum treatment at the Norton, and women’s undergarments are the focus of the Flagler Museum’s new Season of Style exhibit. Meanwhile, tattoo art bares all in Tequesta and FAU shows off political embroidery.
The Norton Museum of Art
A never-ending source of fascination, the life, art and personal style of the renowned modernist artist is explored here for the first time through her clothing and the way she posed for the camera. Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern exhibits key paintings and photographs that show her mastery of projecting her image, one of a strong woman artist who steadfastly saw the world her way – with a dreamy, surreal feminist connection between bones and flowers and earthy landscapes. Along with selected paintings and items of clothing, photographs of O’Keeffe and her homes by Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, Annie Leibovitz, Philippe Halsman, Yousuf Karsh, Cecil Beaton, Andy Warhol, Bruce Weber, Todd Webb, and others will be displayed. Nov. 22–Feb. 4.
The Body Says, I Am a Fiesta: The Figure in Latin American Art draws from the Norton’s collections to confront and juxtapose images and ideas about the body in all its cultural symbols and meanings in contemporary Latin American cultures. With painting, photography, sculpture, and works on paper, the body is shown as something to celebrate. Curator J. Rachel Gustafson says “the human body can communicate, from the political to the sacred, from agents of aguish to places of solace.” Oct. 4-March 3.
www.norton.org 561-832-5196
Boca Raton Museum of Art
The 50th anniversary landing on the moon continues to orbit throughout the media. Carol Prusa: Dark Light, takes a new tack and honors female astronomers who contributed to star maps as well as the mysteries of the cosmos. Inspired by solar eclipses, Prusa gives inspiration props to 18th-century American astronomer and Vassar College professor, Marie Mitchell, who went to Colorado with an all-woman band to observe the total eclipse of the sun. Prusa uses sculpted resin, fiberglass, metal leaf, LED lights, black iron oxide, titanium, and powdered steel to create unusual universe maps of graphite and acrylic works on plexiglas and wood panels; light-speckled domes with internal lights and video. Now through Jan. 19.
Opening next month are two other important exhibitions, including Clifford Ross: Waves. An artist who began his career as an abstract painter, Ross turned in mid-1990s to photography, and in 1996 began creating his Hurricane Waves series. Large-scale photographs from this series star in this major survey of Ross’s work, which also will feature a site-specific installation of wood panels with printed waves.
Also on view will be Tree of Knowledge, an installation by artist Maren Hassinger that is inspired by Boca Raton’s African-American Pearl City neighborhood and the banyan tree that is a major historical marker there. Hassinger, whose sculptures are often influenced by dance, will work with the public during storytelling sessions to roll newspapers and create the roots of a Tree of Knowledge that will be installed in the museum’s main gallery. The Ross and Hassinger shows run from Nov. 5 to March 1. Bocamuseum.org, 561-392-2500
Henry Morrison Flagler Museum
The Flagler Museum, celebrating its 60th anniversary, launches its “Season of Style 2” with Inside Out: Women’s Fashion from Foundation to Silhouette, now on view. Form follows function as this exhibit shows how women have shaped American society and how undergarments in turn shaped them. Inside Out, an exclusive to the museum, examines the relationship between American women and their clothes, set against the ever-changing whims of fashion, societal changes and the political climate. Eight key eras in U.S. history explore the positions of women in American culture from the 1790s to the present, and how those roles have shaped — and been shaped by — what women wear under what they wear. Now through Jan. 5. flaglermuseum.us 561-665-2833
Background illustration for Ghost in the Shell (1995), by Ogaru Hiromasa. (Manga Entertainment)
Morikami Museum
The backdrops and buildings of Anime Architecture examine the architectural other world-building process of Japan’s most influential animated science fiction films. Showcasing the artists, designers, and directors of the backdrops that bring to life the urban environments of anime, curator Stefan Riekeles of Berlin spent years pulling these works together. More than 100 works include clips of Patlabor: The Movie, Tezuka Osamu’s Metropolis, Ghost in the Shell, and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence by famous animators: Ogura Hiromasa, Watabe Takashi, Higami Haruhiko, Oshii Mamoru and Takeuchi Atsushi. This hand-drawn history is a fading unique art form as digital has taken over. Nov. 9 to April 3.
www.morikami.org 561-495-0233
Lighthouse Art Center Tequesta
Tattoo: The Renaissance of Body Art: A one-of-a-kind exhibition, this body ink art show has original art on loan from the wild and wooly Ed Hardy, the iconic Sailor Jerry, and a wide array of 2-D and 3-D tattoo-inspired pieces from contemporary artists across the country. The art and tradition of tattoo is explored here in the fields of primitive, tribal, Japanese, Americana, black and gray, contemporary, and vintage flash styles. In conjunction, the Lighthouse ArtCenter will display custom-styled motorcycles by the internationally known Ron Finch, who creates outrageous custom motorcycles. Through Nov. 2.
Lighthousearts.org 561-746-3101
Cultural Council of Palm Beach County
The teaching artists of Palm Beach County get their due in this group show that highlights the art instructors in the five campuses throughout the county. The variety of media these teaching artist faculty create includes painting, sculpture, digital and more. This exhibition is a semi-juried format that celebrates the new school year with a fall opening. Through Nov. 9. PalmBeachCulture.com 561-471-2901
Society of the Four Arts
One of the more highly anticipated shows for the season is the Palm Beach institution’s Rembrandt: The Sign and The Light, an exhibition of the great Dutch master’s prints assembled for the 350th anniversary of the artist’s death in 1669. As marvelous a painter as he was, he was no less important as a printmaker, and this show brings together 69 of his prints, including self-portraits and the biblical subjects that form such a large part of his output. As always, the Four Arts offers supplemental educational events such as films, bookbinding and printing workshops, plus the chance to see the prints up close through magnification stations crafted by Fort Lauderdale’s IS Projects. Dec. 7 through Feb. 2 at the Society’s cozy Esther O’Keeffe gallery.
The United States saw a huge increase in its cultural growth and sophistication in the years following the War of 1812, including the formation in 1825 of the National Academy of Design, which had as its purpose the promotion of the fine arts in the still-young nation. The Academy closed its New York museum three years ago, but it’s sent out a traveling exhibition called For America: Paintings from the National Academy of Design that should illustrate the pivotal role it’s played in American art. Included in the 100 paintings in this show are representative works by its members dating back to its founding, plus the self-portraits the Academy requires of its members. It’s an education in American art in one show, and should be required viewing. Feb. 15-April 11; www.fourarts.org, 655-7226
Ann Norton Sculpture Garden
Expanding Horizons: Nontraditional Approaches to Photography kicks off the Gardens’s season in partnership with JL Modern Photography, featuring works by Kimiki Yoshida, Bernard Faucon and Steven Wilkes. Yoshida’s creates self-portraits that deal with feminine identity. A winner of the International Photography Award in 2005 for her self-portraits, her work is found in the permanent collections of the Fine Arts Museum of Houston, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. Faucon is a conceptual photographer as well as a poet and philosophical writer with over 200 solo exhibitions. Wilkes is recognized for his fine art, editorial and commercial work. His editorial work has been on the covers of New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Time, and Fortune. Oct. 2–Nov. 17.
The Practice of Optimism: Sculpture by Federico Uribe and Plastic Reef: Uribe’s whimsical sculptures use the overlooked beauty of everyday objects. For this exhibit, Uribe will create a special installation using recycled materials from the ocean along with smaller artworks in the gallery. Jan. 9–June 2.
With These Hands: Sculptures by Jim Rennert: In partnership with the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary Fair, 14 of Rennert’s sculptures will be on display. Rennert portrays the “everyman,” a figure that reflects the daily struggles of modern man. This exhibition includes five monumental works, including Think Big, Rennert’s first public installation in New York, which has since become his most iconic figure. Jan. 9–June 2.
Artists At Home: Photography of Historic Artists’ Homes & Studios: The artists whose homes, studios and landscapes that are now open as public sites, make up the membership of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios Program. Representing the evolution of art in America that arcs over 150 years, the 44 affiliated sites, and the artists associated with them, are displayed with historic photographs drawing from materials in their own archival collections, shining a light on the rich material that these sites have to offer. March 26–June 2020
www.ansg.org 561-832-5328
Cornell Art Museum
The revamped museum at Old School Square opens its art season with Art Couture: The Intersection of Art and Fashion, an exhibition that features illustrations and clothes by celebrated designers, as well as artworks inspired by those designers. Curator Melanie Johanson promises works by Andy Warhol, Tim Weiland, Jane Maxwell, Caroline Dechamby, Stephen Wilson and a host of other names. The show opens Oct. 30 with a gala couture celebration at which some of the artists will be present; the show runs through May 10. Oldschoolsquare.org 561-243-7922
Armory Art Center
The West Palm Beach art studio is a good place to see local artists and their students in action, and its exhibits often feature faculty and pupil work. This season’s No. 4: Bona Fide: Jewelry & Illustration (the number refers to a series of shows the center has been presenting) is curated by instructor Marty Hyman and features works in wax carving and jewelry casting. Nov. 2-29
Terra Duo: Dimensions in Clay is a duo-faculty exhibition featuring work in clay from Armory instructors Sandra Levine in figurative sculpture and Ronald Shaw in multi-dimensional and functional ceramics. Dec. 6-27.
Ceramicist Nikki Lau and sculptor Corran Shrimpton are the center’s current artists-in-residence, and their work is featured in an exhibit Feb. 15-March 7. The center also offers it regularly recurring events such as the West Palm Beach Arts Festival (Dec. 7-8); Bijoux at the Armory, its annual contemporary jewelry sale (Feb. 4-8), and its Grassy Waters photography contest, which features images of the West Palm Beach nature preserve. April 4-11. Visit ArmoryArt.org or call 561-832-1776.
Florida Atlantic University
Hand & I: Twenty artists get busy with their needles and threads in the realm of embroidery to take on society’s pressing issues. Holding viewers in stitches – straight, backwards, stem, chain and blind – this exhibit calls for addressing the problems of climate, race, gender, immigration, and the U.S. prison system. Small but mighty, the growing community of “craftivists” are deeply rooted in storytelling by “writing with a thread.” Nov. 9–Feb. 1.
Shared History: Photographs from the Martin Z. Margulies Collection: Photographs created before 1989 are selected from the renowned collection of Martin Z. Margulies. Shared History takes aim at photography’s unique ability to shed light on unknown spaces to the public. Jan. 24–March 7. This exhibition shares an official opening with Shared Space: A New Era, Photographs from the Bank of America Collection, an exhibition of images from 1987 to the present, that includes Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signing the Intermediate- Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the attendant collapse of the Soviet Union. Feb. 14–April 11. fau.edu 561-297-3000
Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary Fair
The “new” kid on the block, The Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary Fair, has been sold, along with its sister fairs of Art New York, Context, Aqua Art Miami, and Art Wynwood to Informa Markets, who run more than 550 events and exhibitions around the world, including Art Toronto. Two years ago, Informa boughted Yachting Promotions Inc., producers of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, Yachts Miami Beach and the Palm Beach International Boat Show. Nick Korniloff, former owner, has said that Art Miami’s staff will remain in place and all its fairs will continue to run, including Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary through at least next year.
Held in a large tent in a parking lot in the median of Okeechobee Boulevard, the site is earmarked for future development by Charles Cohen, who has plans for a 28-story office tower. The Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary’s outreach is centered on their partnership with the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens in West Palm Beach, where their exhibitors mount sculpture shows, and that will continue. In fact, the partners plan to announce “new elements” in their collaboration before the 2020 fair. This season’s fair is set for Jan. 9-12. www.artpbfair.com 305-517-7977
Art Palm Beach Fair
Art Palm Beach has been running for the last 22 years, and is currently expanding and supercharging its fairs with edgy programming and exhibitors. Last year found artists on site doing mural painting and an alley of interactive booths by Art Plugz that featured a throne made of stacks of faux money and a giant statue by artist Kaws. Expect guest curators to be brought in from Europe, and a lineup of stimulating lectures, events and workshops for fairgoers and residents alike. Art Palm Beach will run from Jan. 16-20; its smaaller sister show, Art Boca Raton, is scheduled for March 19-22. www.Nextlevelfairs.com 305-490-4584
Editor’s note: The posting of this preview was delayed by technical issues.