Page 6 - Boca Club News - May '21

Page 6, Boca Club News

Boca Happenings

Boca Raton Downtown Library’s Photography Exhibit,

“Beauty in the Ordinary,” On View Through May 31st

The Boca Raton Public Library presents a new google.com/view/giadarobinsonphoto/. through May 31st at the Downtown Library, 400 NW 2nd
photography exhibit, “Beauty in the Ordinary,” by Giada “Beauty in the Ordinary,” a free exhibit, will run Avenue. It is open Monday–Saturday, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Robinson. Visitors to the Art in Public Places area of
the Downtown Library will enjoy Robinson’s stunning
photography, which brings out the beauty in nature and the
human-made items that surround us in our everyday lives.
Currently a high-school student at Alexander W.
Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Robinson has a passion for
the arts. Notes Robinson, “I focus daily on expanding my
portfolio by taking photography classes and trying new
art forms. My goal in this exhibition was to showcase the
fact that our daily lives are a constant reminder of the
juxtaposition of natural elements alongside the creations
that humans have made. I strive to continue these efforts
and dig deeper within the beauty that surrounds us.” See
more of Robinson’s growing portfolio at https://sites.
“An Irresistible Urge to Create,”

Exhibition of Florida Outsider Art at Boca Museum

The passion for Outsider Art runs deep in Florida, where George Voronovsky In her art, as
self-taught artists have forged an indelible mark of special was a solitary in her life, little
attention on the creative landscape of the state. Now, the most figure among a sea comes between
comprehensive exhibition of its kind is on view at the Boca of elderly Jewish Kathy d’Adesky’s
Raton Museum of Art until September 5th. An Irresistible retirees in old South thoughts and
Urge to Create: The Monroe Family Collection of Florida Beach. No one saw her actions. Her
Outsider Art, is the first time a museum has presented this the pictures that were paintings are bold
definitive group of artists with an exhibition of this size tacked up throughout and uninhibited
and scope. Against the odds, many of these artists created his room, painted with cheap watercolors and inexpensive with little interest in delicacy, but they are full of the
obsessively to escape from their worlds that were often full brushes on pizza box tops and other scraps that he had found paranoia and anxiety that fueled their creation. She applied
of deep conflict and personal struggles. in alleys. His visual recollections reflected an idealized past paint quickly and densely. The illusion of flight seems real
“Outliers, boundary-crossers, pilgrims, exiles.” The of his charmed youth in the Ukraine that he preferred to his in her birds, due to the intense energy that she paints into
exhibition presents 86 works, many never seen before, by 44 post-war reality, finding solace through his artmaking. Most them. During her life she has battled with emotional and
Florida artists, including: Purvis Young, George Voronovsky, of Voronovsky’s works have never been seen before. Gary neurological damage. D’Adesky has been diagnosed as
Aurelia “Mama” Johnson, Frank Ritchie, Ruby “Miss Ruby” Monroe has been a custodian of his life’s work for 38 years. schizophrenic.
Williams, Gene Beecher, Kathy d’Adesky, Brian Dowdall,
Floryan (Florian) Ludwig, Reva Freedman, Ozzie Lee “OL” The “inlaid
Samuels, Sybil Gibson, Joey Smollon, Polly Bernard, Milton paintings” of John
Ellis, Janice Kennedy, John Gerdes, Susanne Blankemeier, Gerdes appear
Morgan Steele, Alyne Harris, and Ed Ott. “For these artists, to be made by
making art was as essential as breathing,” says Irvin Lippman, assembling small
the museum’s Executive Director. “Their artistic freedom was wooden pieces, but
a pure, sincere and intimate means of communication.” each one is tediously At ninety-one years of age,
Starting in the early 1990s, the photographer Gary painted to mimic Milton Ellis became homeless
Monroe drove throughout the state of Florida for more than varieties of wood. after a freak tornado barreled
ten years—from Key West to Jacksonville to Pensacola—on He incorporated an through his New Smyrna
a mission to find what he calls “Florida’s renegade artists.” array of textures, knots, and grains to further delight the eye. Beach residence during
Thirty years later, after collecting, protecting and archiving Gerdes’ electronically-driven sculptures are three-dimensional January of 2007. His personal
more than 1,000 works by outsider artists, the result is an versions of his geometric-perspective based artwork. Using possessions now filled two
exhibition that leaves viewers spellbound. discarded computer circuit boards, he constructed elaborate grocery bags, while his large reverse-paintings on Mylar,
“When I made these journeys across Florida to seek out edifices and occasionally lighting fixtures. which had been rolled-up and stowed away for thirty years,
and connect with these outlier artists, it was before the internet somehow remained unscathed by nature’s fury. Through
and it was quite laborious,” says Monroe. During his decade- monetary gain or acclaim; they just wanted to create. “People these paintings, Milton had expressed his vision of a pending
long quest across the state, Monroe personally met nearly all who admire the independent spirit that unites these artists apocalypse. He elaborated further on this theme in his
of these artists one by one and became part of their lives. At are awed by their sense of urgency. Their art is genuine. manifesto, The Drama of Man in the Universe.
the time, this required a major personal commitment: He had They let it flow from deep within their interior selves, they
to earn their trust to be allowed into their reclusive worlds. did not promote their work,” says Monroe. Most of George controversial terms have been bandied about to describe
“It was an adventure,” adds Monroe. “Especially since Voronovsky’s works, for example, have never been seen them, such as self-taught (in addition to ‘outsider’), but no
there were no cell phones or GPS. Just good old road maps before. “I’ve been a custodian of his life’s work for the past truly definitive name yet. I suggest we call all creative works
and phone booths.” Monroe’s odyssey culminated in 2003, 38 years,” adds Monroe. that are arresting, intriguing, and interesting conceptually,
when his book, “Extraordinary Interpretations: Florida’s The show is accompanied by an exhibition catalog with a as simply ‘art’ and leave it at that. Jean Dubuffet said it best
Self-Taught Artists,” was published by the University Press specially commissioned poem by Campbell McGrath about when he declared that ‘art’s best moments are when it forgets
of Florida. This landmark exhibition of 86 works has already artists’ urge to create. Titled Florida Primitives, the poem what its own name is,’ says Goncharov. “Artists create – that’s
been tapped to travel to two other museums. “It is a new starts: “All Florida artists are primitives, so feral in their soil, what they do.”
project that opens a welcome window into another world. The so lush, endemic and elemental . . . All Florida artists are Until 20 years ago, this work was not widely accepted
world of wonders that lies outside the artistic establishment,” outsiders, outliers, highwaymen, boundary-crossers, pilgrims, as fine art. It wasn’t shown in museums, and professionals
says Mr. Lippman. “This confounds our understanding of exiles . . . ” and ends with: “art is an urge as irresistible as from the art world looked down upon it. “This challenges the
contemporary art, in a good way.” Florida.” The exhibition catalogue, published by the Boca primary beliefs of traditional artmaking and has added a lot
The artists in this exhibition were not interested in Raton Museum of Art, is available for purchase at the museum to the plurality of art,” says Monroe. “Being surrounded by
store: bocamuseum.org/visit/boca-raton-museum-store. such a large collection of artworks made by self-taught artists
The History of Outsider Art. The interest in what is is invigorating. Especially because of their visual resolve to
frequently called Outsider Art began in the early 20th- express themselves without convention.”
century with psychiatrists who studied artists who were Most of the artists in this exhibition worked in total
Captain’s was established in 1980 servicing institutionalized. In 1922, the book, “Artistry of the Mentally isolation. There were no political points to be made. These
Palm Beach County and is a privately Ill,” became influential to the Surrealists. Later, in 1948, are people who created solely by delving into their own
owned and managed company. Jean Dubuffet and others founded the Compagnie de l’Art psyche and expressing themselves purely. Their art is not
Captain’s is committed to providing Brut, a collection of what they called “raw art” – art made part of anything else except their own reality, they were not
dependable, reliable and professional outside the traditions of fine art. According to Kathleen following canon. “There’s nothing between you and their art
ground transportation to and from all
South Florida Airports and Seaports. PBCVH212 Goncharov, the Senior Curator of the Boca Raton Museum because it is so heartfelt,” adds Monroe. “This project gives
To reserve your vehicle: of Art: “This interest has recently increased exponentially, you a glimpse into their psyche, which is so different from
561-798-2180 or 800-634-7890 www.captainsairport.com as more mainstream institutions celebrate these kinds of ours. Their whole being comes across. As the title suggests,
artists. ‘Outsider’ artists are now most definitely ‘In.’ Many they were driven to create.”