Leave A Message: Urban Art In Florida, St. Petersburg
Urban art — not graffiti and not vandalism — expresses the creative bent of young men (and a few women) who often follow their artistic dreams by mixing mediums in the streets, on concrete and along walls.
What do you get when you pull together the eclectic works of 20 Florida artists who have little in common other than the moxie to keep creating even though they may lack formal education or training and get little public acclaim?
“Leave A Message: Urban Art in Florida.”
That’s the name of an exhibit on display at the Morean Arts Center in downtown St. Petersburg through August 24.
A new video put together by 83 Degrees contributors Megan Voeller, the art critic for Creative Loafing of Tampa, and Frank Rodriguez, the entrepreneur behind Mighty Fine Production in downtown Tampa, captures the essence of the show in interviews with four of the artists and curator Amanda Cooper.
“My view of urban art is art you find on the city streets by artists who don’t necessarily ask permission to create it,” Cooper says. “It crosses boundaries of what people would define as fine art, illustration, graphic design and advertising. There’s a little bit of all of that, I would argue, in every piece in this show.”
Here is a link to Voeller’s critique of the show. The video can be viewed above and or by clicking here.
Diane Egner is publisher and managing editor of 83 Degrees Media. Comments? Contact 83 Degrees.
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