Naples has become one of the premier destinations for art galleries in the south, featuring exhibits both popular with local residents in Port Royal, Aqualane Shores, and Olde Naples as well as residents throughout Florida. 3rd ST and 5th Ave have become havens for boutiques and hold events, such as 'Naples Collects, year-round. So if you are looking to live in a nice community like Port Royal and want to be near art galleries, Naples is tough to beat. Port Royal, Aqualane Shores, and Olde Naples real estate offering the opportunity to live in luxury and indulge in the arts.
Joel Kessler thinks for a moment and says, in a bit of surprise, “There’s no Picasso this year.”
That observation from the Naples Art Association executive director gives a hint at the caliber the “Naples Collects” show has come to expect. And even if there’s no Picasso this year, there are works by Roy Lichenstein, Robert Motherwell, Jules Olitski, Robert Wolff, Keith Haring, Larry Rivers and — even more intriguing — James Twitty. Twitty’s paintings number at least half a dozen among a collection of 22 miniatures from names as well known as Robert Vickery -- and from others who are not on the art world radar but still creating engaging work.
“The idea was not to just put a bunch of big names up on the wall. We want to try to mix it up a bit,” Kessler said. He and the association’s curator, Jack O’Brien, obviously enjoyed assembling this year’s show, which opens with a reception Friday and runs through Jan. 9. Some of the works were offered; others they heard about and approached the owners. What was being carried into the von Liebig Art Center this week was a bounty of different styles.
They brought in paintings such as Louisiana and southern regional works from J. Keith Short, market president for Iberia Bank in Collier, Lee and Monroe counties. They brought in an oversized, beskirted seminude in folk-art style. They also brought in a working — or at least plug-embellished — TV encased in an oil tin, by installation artist Edward Keirholz. There's a graphite work by Thomas Hart Benton. The variety, from sculpture to pencil to oil and other, makes for a show worth a second or third turn.
“It’s always a well-attended show,” Kessler said. “This is an exhibition of paintings people don’t normally get to see. And it tells us a little bit about what people here like, not about someone else’s view of what they should like.”
Best Regards,
Brad Johnson
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