A Thriving Art Scene at FGCU
Gallery director John Loscuito brings fresh focus to the season’s exhibitions
A s Florida Gulf Coast University’s gallery director, John Loscuito plans installations more than a year out, incorporating local, regional and national artists. Each year he embarks on studio visits with gallery coordinator Anica Sturdivant to meet artists and view their works. He recently returned from a trip to Asheville, North Carolina.
While next year is being planned, there’s much to celebrate during this 2019-2020 season at the Wasmer Art and ArtLab galleries. The compelling lineup includes art exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and music and poetry collaborations.
Several shows are curated by students, including the 22nd Annual Student Juried Exhibition, The Digital Media Workshop, Senior Projects Exhibition and a student guest curatorial debut in the first exhibition at Wasmer Art Gallery. Titled “Open to Interpretation,” it features selections from the permanent collection. It is the first time the collection is being used for a different purpose—by having student Farah Alkhadra be a guest curator.
Loscuito’s mentorship helps Farah Alkhadra face any challenges along the way. As she installs one part of the gallery, Loscuito works on the other side—and sometimes works in the middle on large ceramic installations—about 100 pieces that require puzzle and geometry skills.
Loscuito explains, “Another aspect to this installation features one of FGCU’s gallery donors, Bob Feir, who will be showing pieces from his private collection. They are ‘glimpses into how he lives with the work.’ The exhibit is a way to engage the public and talk about why he collects and about those pieces that are meaningful to him. Then we will show some new acquisitions.”
This season celebrates Latin American works more heavily than previously. In the ArtLab, an exciting show, “Nosotros,” will feature two American artists of Latino descent who are FGCU alumni. Adriana Flores and Felipe Maldonado explore their heritage through sculpture and painting. “Flores deals a lot
with visual storytelling of family members. Maldonado does more ceramic work that includes patterns representative of his heritage,” adds Loscuito.
Exciting exhibitions in Wasmer Gallery include Enrique Chagoya and Ran Adler. “Enrique Chagoya is a noteworthy contemporary artist today,” Loscuito says. For example, in his painting titled Road Map, Chagoya points out what is visually more important by the way he depicts the world view of South America versus the scale of North America.
Chagoya’s work covers his political and social activism through his innovative prints and paintings, which depict historical images with pop culture icons and current events. His work literally explodes with turquoise and corals across maps and paintings—as in the piece titled Everyone is an Alienígeno.
According to Loscuito, “The explosion represents a lack of being recognized, being smeared over or just reduced to a color— whatever the case—but that idea of reducing people to nothing. It shows his interest in ‘cultural appropriation.’” Chagoya will also host an artist talk on opening night.
Adler’s work uses organic materials such as mahogany pods woven in wire installations, in which the piece resembles fabric folded over a driftwood branch. His 3-D exhibit will feature new large-scale installations that show his draw to nature’s roughness, randomness and disorder. They also highlight his ability to meditatively sew together something harmonious through rhythm, color, mood and repetition.
FGCU jazz instructor Brandon Robertson will talk with Adler about his process. For the opening reception, Robertson will then compose music with his students as a response to Adler’s sculptural works.
For more information about the 20192020 season, visit artgallery.fgcu.edu.
The compelling lineup includes art exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and music and poetry collaborations.