Sarasota artist goes back to ‘Square One’ with group show and new gallery and studio space

Marty Fugate
·4 min read

“Going back to square one” implies hitting the reset button. The “Square One” exhibition at MARA Art Studio + Gallery lives up to its name.

It’s the gallery’s first show in its new Palm Avenue location. For artist and gallery owner Mara Torres González, it’s definitely a fresh start. For her, it’s also about getting the band back together. The digs may be new, but the talent remains the same. “Square One” reaffirms the gallery’s solidarity with its 10 core artists.

Mara Torres González’s “Energetic” is on display in the group show “Square One” at her MARA Art Studio + Gallery.
Mara Torres González’s “Energetic” is on display in the group show “Square One” at her MARA Art Studio + Gallery.

Along with Torres González herself, Ralph Berger, Lori Childers, David Erdman, Midge Johnson, Pamela Olin, Ashley Rivers, Jack Shapiro, and Javi Suárez are the creators in question. Some hold a mirror up to life; others are untethered to the real world. Representational or not, their art is straight from the heart.

Here’s a sample of their work in this premiere exhibition …

Abstract expressions

Abstract art is visual music without lyrics. It’s also a language of form. Oddly, it’s a blunt tool for expressing abstract ideas. But it’s a great way to express emotion.

Torres González is fluent in this abstract vocabulary. In her multimedia paintings, she speaks with shapes and colors, nothing more. That sounds like a serious limitation, but it’s not. She’s got a lot to say, and never repeats herself.

Her “Energetic” (2019) is a deep-green storm cloud, crackling with yellow energy. That sounds scary, but it’s not. It’s a playful piece, with no sense of threat. In contrast, the artist’s “Imprisonment” (2022-23) has an oppressive, mazelike vibe. The painting conveys a sense of compression, as if the walls were squeezing together like a giant trash compactor. The connection isn’t explicit. But the cages of INS detention centers are clearly implied.

“Forms” by Ashley Rivers, who is known for figurative pieces created from casts of her own body.
“Forms” by Ashley Rivers, who is known for figurative pieces created from casts of her own body.

Rivers is known for figurative pieces, created from casts of her own body. There are four examples here. But her “Forms” (2019-20) is as abstract as it gets. A single fired stoneware piece made from two elements. Two arches, interlocked together. Not rectilinear. Imagine the post and lintels of Stonehenge, but made of wax and slightly melted. The piece’s striated texture has a rough, organic quality, like muscle tissue or tree bark. Musculature. What does it mean? To quote Steve Winwood, whatever you want it to be.

Erdman’s “Full Sail” (2023) walks the no-man’s zone between abstraction and representation. A sculpture of Cuban mahogany with a polygloss finish. A beautiful shape — which happens to be the shape of a ship’s prow. That’s the form Erdman’s sculpture takes. (No coincidence. With his background in the marine industry, he obviously knows his boats.) Aside from the piece’s title, you’d never know. But it’d still be a beautiful shape.

Jack Shapiro’s “Child’s Pose’ is a bronze cast of a clay sculpture featured in “Square One” at MARA Art Studio + Gallery.
Jack Shapiro’s “Child’s Pose’ is a bronze cast of a clay sculpture featured in “Square One” at MARA Art Studio + Gallery.

Imitations of life

Shapiro combines a background in metallurgy with figure studies of local dancers. His “Child’s Pose” (2006) clearly draws on that knowledge. This bronze cast of a clay sculpture depicts a woman in the “child’s pose” posture, one of yoga’s classic asanas. The figure’s curled up like a pocket ruler, her arms stretched out in front of her, palms flat to the floor. She’s blissfully relaxed and utterly tense — at the same time. Shapiro makes you feel the paradox of the pose.

Lori Childers’ “Saucer” creates a sense of movement in painting.
Lori Childers’ “Saucer” creates a sense of movement in painting.

Childers’ oil-on-canvas “Saucer” (2023) evokes the centrifugal spin of the classic playground spinner. A multicolored wheel with metal handrails. The wheel is stationary, but you feel a sense of motion. No children can be seen, but you hear their laughter.

Arts Newsletter: Sign up to receive the latest news on the Sarasota area arts scene every Monday.

2024 Exhibition Series program: Selby Gardens to feature work by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama and Georgia O'Keeffe

“Notorious R.B.G.” by Javier Suarez is featured in the group show “Square One” at MARA Art Studio + Gallery.
“Notorious R.B.G.” by Javier Suarez is featured in the group show “Square One” at MARA Art Studio + Gallery.

Suárez’ “Notorious R.B.G.” (2021) is a limited-series, giclée print depicting Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the late Supreme Court justice. (The title is a spin on Notorious B.I.G., the stage name of the late rapper.) His straight-on, face-forward portrait is overlaid with Ginsberg’s defiant quote: “Women belong in all places decisions are being made.” The artist’s heroic portrait has a graffiti art quality. It’s raw and direct, not fussy and precise. Like the heroic justice it depicts, it gets straight to the point.

According to Torres González, her new exhibition space empowers all ten artists to get their messages (or ambiguous hints) across. She adds that the move to “Square One” is definitely a step up. While the location has slightly less square footage, there’s a lot more visibility and foot traffic. “It’s all about being seen,” she says. “Here on Palm Avenue, we definitely will be.”

‘Square One’

Through Dec. 22, at MARA Art Studio + Gallery, 76 S. Palm Avenue, Sarasota; 941-914-8110; MaraStudioGallery.com

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota art studio highlights 10 artists in new downtown gallery