News Article - FLAG Annual Exhibition

ENTERTAINMENT: News
May 27, 2007

This new exhibit truly is all Florida

By LAURA STEWART
Fine Arts Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- Before any of its fine details emerge, one aspect of the Florida Artist Group's new exhibit is clear. The more than 100 recent works at the Museum of Arts and Sciences are absolutely Florida: full of light, color, energy and, most of all, fun.

There are the usual sorts of Florida studies: bright flowers, lush landscapes, dreamy abstractions that evoke the sound, feel and even scent of marsh, dune and sea. But the wide-ranging collection of works by members of FLAG, a statewide artists' group that was founded in 1934, goes well beyond the expected and the familiar.

"Morning Glow," a large oil-on-linen landscape by Daniel Ambrose of Ormond Beach, does more than capture the luminous beauty of the dawning day. It also establishes a strong sense of place and expresses the emotions associated with it. Green and gold, viewed through a soft haze, its depiction of low-lying Central Florida terrain is vivid, and irresistible.

Just as fresh, though far more moody, is "Afternoon Gone By," an exquisite prisma-colored photo-print by Lakeland artist Cynthia Epps-Smith. The small print shows an old kitchen worktable and a few homey items -- a box of salt, a roll of paper towels -- and implies the rest. Light falls softly through tall double windows behind the table, illuminating the implements of a dinner-in-the-making or, possibly, a lunch already eaten. Epps-Smith's subject isn't a kitchen, however; just as Ambrose painted atmosphere in his landscape, her domestic interior depicts a state of mind.

Also gently true to its time and location is a watery batik by Wendy Tatter of St. Augustine. A small sign leans against a rundown storefront in "Bike at the Beauty Shop," directing viewers into the Aquarius Beauty Salon. And, eloquently delineated with Tatter's muted pinks, turquoises and lavenders, is the spirit of the salon named after the zodiac sign -- or maybe the ancient water-bearing god.

What makes the works in the FLAG show so memorable isn't so much their variety and overall high quality as it is their cumulative impact.

A move from "Morning Glow" to "Bike at the Beauty Shop" and on to "Afternoon Gone By" reveals three very different styles, mediums, subjects and techniques.

At the same time however, it also creates a series of impressions that blend into a powerful mood.

Factor in the big, abstract ceramic construction by Richard Rosen of Naples, "Gotham VI," and the dark, glowing forms of "Night Mall," a nocturne by Sally Sloan of Sarasota, and the impression crystallizes.

Florida is a place with many faces and multiple moods. And its artists, from one end of the state to the other, respond to their single subject vibrantly, even passionately.

Whether as wistful as "Hieroglyphics for the Heart," a mixed-media "book" by Gretchen Ebersol of Jacksonville, or as lyrical as "Transformations," a lapping, swirling composition by Cecily Hangen of West Palm Beach, the FLAG show leaves nothing to be desired.

Given the quality of these artists, the state's art is in good hands.

laura.stewart@news-jrnl.com

If You Go

WHAT: Florida Artist Group Exhibition, works by members of the statewide organization

WHEN: Through Sept. 3; 9 a.m. to

5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Museum of Arts and Sciences, 352 S. Nova Road, Daytona Beach

ADMISSION: $12.95 for adults, $10.95 for students over 18 and senior citizens, $6.95 for children 6-17, free for children 5 and younger and for museum members. For more information, visit moas.org or call (386) 255-0285