Art Center Sarasota's New Exhibitions Include Works by Alexandra Hammond, Jason Hackenwerth, and More!

Art Center Sarasota's 2022-2023 exhibition season continues with four exhibits, December 8-January 21. Alexandra Hammond's "Atmospheric River" exhibit features new oil paintings that invite the viewer to enter compelling imaginary landscapes. In "Empire," Jason Hackenwerth's new body of abstract paintings embody the artist's visceral response to social, political, and personal issues. "Black & White," a juried exhibit, showcases monochromatic works created in a range of artistic mediums. Elana Rubinfeld, the founder of the New Art Agency, will jury this exhibition. The Holiday Shop: Art & Accessories is a sales exhibition of original artwork in a variety of media by seven local artists. Every piece is under $200. The opening reception for all four exhibits is Thursday, December 8, 6-8 p.m. Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. For information, visit www.artsarasota.org or call 941-365-2032.

Alexandra Hammond's exhibit "Atmospheric River" centers around the artist's "Quantum Blue" oil paintings. According to Hammond, they invite the viewer to enter a zone of pure possibility - a field of active emptiness from which all forms arise out of formlessness. In her paintings, a vibrant sky is the common background to a select group of objects that become frames for witnessing the ground of being itself. Hammond's work investigates symbolic possibility. As opposed to uncovering the root meaning of symbols, she invites us to experience how symbols shift, play and influence us on an individual and collective basis. With 18 paintings on display, "Atmospheric River" is set to provoke introspection and reflections on the nature of consciousness. Hammond lives and works in New York City. She holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts and a BA from NYU's Studio Art department. Hammond is a 2022 New York State Council for the Arts grantee developing her socially engaged project, "Boa's Repair Shop." Her projects have been shown nationally and internationally.

Jason Hackenwerth is a multidisciplinary artist who responds to social, political and personal issues with spontaneous creativity. "Empire" reveals the artist's most recent body of work - abstract paintings, bursting with dynamic scenarios and enigmatic messages. "Fool's Bargain" shows the censored smear of a message in a bright field of yellow. Below it, the word "Faust" in graffiti-like cursive - a nod to the tragic the Dr. Faustus who sold his soul in a fool's bargain with Mephistopheles. According to the artist, these flights of imagination are his way of working through the constant bombardment of media and life drama. "As an artist, I see my function as similar to a hiker on a remote trail who piles stones along the way to help others remain on the path," he says. "My work is a continual practice of trying to arrange the stones so surprisingly that they become arresting beacons of assurance that we are not lost; we are not alone. We are life." Hackenwerth's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. He received his MFA in painting from Savannah College of Art and Design and his BFA in printmaking from Webster University. His work has been mentioned in a number of magazines, including Creative Review UK, American Craft, Design Journal, Art In America, Sculpture Magazine, The New York Times, Creative Review, and London Metro. He is a 2011 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Inc. grant recipient, and a two-time recipient of the Creative Pinellas Professional Artist Grant. Hackenwerth lives and works in St Petersburg.

Color has its place but it's hard to deny the intense, evocative appeal of black and white. "Black & White" showcases this beauty in an all-media, juried exhibit. The juror, Elana Rubinfeld, is a certified art appraiser with the Appraisers Association of America and is the founder of New Art Agency, an art advisory and appraisal firm based in Sarasota. Since 2003 she has worked as an artist, publicist, gallery director, curator, researcher, artist liaison and, primarily, an art advisor. She has more than 20 years of experience working at galleries and institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, Yossi Milo Gallery and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and has curated numerous exhibitions at various institutions, including the Orlando Museum of Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Sundance Institute, Lever House and SOCO Gallery.

Just in time for any art lover's holiday gift list, the Holiday Shop offers original works of art by locally based artists for purchase. Even better? Everything is priced at $200 and under, including small paintings and prints, functional and decorative ceramic art and hand-crafted jewelry by seven artists-Nika Zusin, Claire McCauley, Alissa Silvers, Ry McCullough, Jen Kroeger, Brenden Deasy, and Jason Hackenwerth.

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