This Spring the art institutions of the Central Florida and Tampa Bay areas are awash with must see exhibitions! I am eager to see some magnificent artwork in the coming months, but my biggest concern is this… trying to see as many exhibitions as possible before they close. What a wonderful “problem” to have!
As I visit an exhibition, I will share my thoughts here on the blog. First up is the Rollins Museum of Art (formerly the Cornell Fine Arts Museum) on the campus of Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. This teaching museum offers free admission and it was the first stop in my springtime art historical quest to see as much art as humanly possible.
While I went to the RMA specifically to see the exhibit From Chaos to Order: Greek Geometric Art from the Sol Rabin Collection, I have to admit upfront that I was truly impressed with all the current exhibitions. In fact, I felt as though the exhibitions were curated in such a way as to be extremely complimentary to each other and offered a little something for every visitor.
Are you looking for religious artwork from the Renaissance and Baroque periods? They’ve got it!
What about Greek bronzes from antiquity? They’ve got that, too!
What about a survey of movements within Modern Art in America in the 20th century? Yes, of course!
What about a gallery dedicated to examining the relationship between art and activism? Don’t mind if I do!
And even with the wide variety of artworks, I didn’t feel all that overwhelmed. The museum labels and didactics were well written and incredibly informative, so congrats to the educational team as well as the curators.
I don’t want to spoil all the wonderful things you will see, so I will simply include a few of my favorite pieces and some things to look for when you visit.
In the From Chaos to Order: Greek Geometric Art from the Sol Rabin Collection exhibition, keep an eye out for the “Zoster (Warrior’s Belt).” Notice the symmetry and the interesting arrangement of elements with an emphasis on the numbers “4” and “52.”
I loved the curatorial decision to have the Greek bronzes in the gallery adjacent to the abstraction survey. Some really wonderful conversations could be had with how the two types of art complement each other despite being centuries apart.
Plus, there’s a lovely piece on view by Carmen Herrera, who just recently passed away at the age of 106.
In the American Modernisms room, the highlight for me is the enormous wall of prints. I have seen this exhibition twice over a four month period and curators are rotating prints on this wall! I love that and I think it makes the exhibition even more exciting because there are always fabulous new prints to see by the heavyweights of American Modern Art. How many can you recognize?
Of course, this is a mere sampling of what you will see when you visit. Definitely check out the pieces in the Legends of the Saints exhibition and spend some quality time in the Art Encounters: Ally is a Verb space.
If you decide to visit the RMA, let me know your thoughts! What pieces stood out to you? What artworks caught you by surprise? Which exhibition was your favorite?
For more information on the Rollins Museum of Art’s current offerings, please visit…
The Wandering Art Historian 