Nicole van Beek
Inquiry
Mixed media
2007

REDUCED, a black-and-white show at the West Tampa Center for the Arts, opens Friday evening from 6-10 p.m. I went by for a preview this afternoon, and there’s quite a bit of good work in this show—particularly considering that the highest price tag you’ll see is $200.

Perhaps the best example is Brooklyn-based Nicole van Beek’s dainty mixed media works. The one above might even be a bit prosaic—too lovely for its own good—while the others have a “strange fruit” quality that gives their prettiness a little tang. In my personal favorite, decorative scrolling reminiscent of a henna tattoo surrounds a pair of long-nailed and leathery gorilla paws.

[5]art queen bee, Tracy Midulla Reller, also debuts a show of her own work titled Connectivity and Austerity.

Without pigeonholing her, I’d like to say that Midulla Reller has developed her own particularly feminist iconography. In her paintings, umbilical cords are often connectors between women, children, animals, and ideas (and silhouetted nipples are always enviably perky). The viewer comes away with the experience of a feminine ideal that’s youthful, vibrant, and open-ended rather than constricting.

Also not to be missed, the talented Julie Weitz closes out her exhibit, Hidden or Missing, which I wrote about in this earlier post.

Here’s the article about all three from Creative Loafing this week.

REDUCED and other fine exhibitions
Fri., Dec. 14, 6-10 p.m.
West Tampa Center for the Arts
1906 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa