Coming to the Museum of Fine Arts: A pair of Kimi masks (headpiece carved by David Sanou in the studio of André Sanou) performing greetings with the lead griot Tchiedo playing his drum behind them, Bindougosso district, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, May 3, 2022. Photo by Lisa Homann.
Friday brings The Art of Banksy to Tampa. This is one of the most-anticipated exhibitions of the year.
Featuring 160 works by the anonymous British street artist (both originals and authorized prints, as well as sculpture and other pieces), The Art of Banksyis installed as a pop-up gallery on the stage of Morsani Hall, in the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.
In this Catalyst interview, exhibit producer Corey Ross goes into great detail on both the art and the artist.
The Art of Banksy will be in Tampa through the end of August. Find all details at this link.
Pop art party
<a href="https://absafricatv9491.live-website.com/is-el-nino-making-europes-wildfires-worse-what-it-means-for-the-gulf/” title=”Is El Niño making Europe's wildfires worse? What it means for the Gulf”>Making its debut Aug. 7 at FloridaRAMA is Warhol Birthday & Pop Art Party 4.0, a free show in the Impact Gallery, curated by Luke Heath. Billed as a “month-long celebration of Pop Art,” it features the work of 30 artists.
The opening reception, 7-10 p.m., includes live music, art installations, a chalk mural, Warhol screen tests, a collection of cosplayers and more.
Ernesto Marenje, “Panther Drinking Water.”
Wild things
Taking its seat at the table Aug. 8, at Wild Space Gallery, is To the Edge of the Wild. It’s an exhibition of paintings by wildlife/wild spaces artist Ernesto Maranje, of Miami. He’s also painting a new permanent mural, Panther and Egret,at Wild Space.
Aug. 8 happens to be the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance ArtWalk day for the month (5-9 p.m.), and artist Maranje will engage (6-7 p.m.) in a conversation with Jenee Priebe, of No Good Deeds Art, and the former director of the SHINE Mural Festival.
Hang on, it gets better. Priebe and artist Laura “Miss Crit” Spencer will conduct a trolley tour, with Star Trolleys, Aug. 9 at 10 a.m. The mission: A tour of the St. Petersburg murals that reference, refer and/or revel in wildlife and wild spaces. The final stop: Marange’s Panther and Egret.
RSVP for the opening reception and gallery talk here; Star Trolley tickets are available here.
Lost in a masquerade
New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations opens Aug. 15 at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg. Organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art, in partnership with the Museé des Civilisations noires in Dakar, Senegal, it’s an exhibition of 13 intricate, colorful, full-body masquerade ensembles from West Africa, with photography, video, and multimedia.
“New African Masquerades invites our visitors to experience African art not as static objects behind glass, but as vibrant, collaborative, and evolving expressions of living culture,” MFA CEO Klaudio Rodriguez said in a prepared statement.
New African Masqueradeswill be on view through Jan. 3.
In other news
The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (Tampa) opens the third annual student photography exhibition, Through Their Lens: A Journey of Self-Exploration,Aug. 4. A reception for the exhibit, which will run through Sept. 20, will take place Aug. 6.
Congratulations to the museum, the only one of its type in the bay area, on its recent 25th anniversary.
Friday, Aug. 7th delivers the opening reception, at Gulfport’s Brenda McMahon Gallery, of The Art of Flight. Eighteen area artists have contributed “bird art” for the show, and 10 percent of sales will go to the nonprofit rescue organization Birds in Helping Hands.
The group’s rescue team will deliver a talk at the gallery Friday. Aug. 15.
Opening Aug. 8 at the Morean Center for Clay: Apricity, an exhibition of whimsical ceramics by Dani Lewis.
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