M A R A Art Studio + Gallery Opens On Palm Avenue Friday, November 3

Artist and gallerist Mara Torres González recently relocated MARA Art Studio + Gallery from the Rosemary District to Palm Avenue—a corridor long known for its prestigious galleries. A grand opening is scheduled for Friday, November 3, 6-8 p.m. during Palm Avenue's First Friday Gallery Walk. The gallery is now at 76 S. Palm Avenue, Sarasota. For more information, call (941) 914-8110 or visit MaraStudioGallery.com.

“Our relocation marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for MARA Art Studio + Gallery,” says Torres González. “We've found an inspiring new location that will allow us to showcase even more remarkable works of art and provide a unique experience for all of our visitors.” She adds that she has been “diligently curating a select group of artists and a collection of works that will be exclusive to this gallery.”

Torres also thanks those who “have been eagerly awaiting our return; we can't thank you enough for your patience and unwavering support during our relocation process. Your support has been the driving force behind our determination to create an even more immersive and enriching experience for all art lovers. We can't wait to welcome you back and share the love for art in our beautiful new space on Palm Avenue.”

Gallery Artists

 

 

Mara Torres González

Mara Torres González is a gallerist, curator and artist from Puerto Rico, who started training at the early age of four. She is also the founder of MARA Art Studio + Gallery. "In my artistic journey, I draw immense inspiration from the intricacies of politics, social issues, and cultural landscapes, especially where my country, my people, minority groups, and the oppressed are affected,” she says. “A deep sense of hope, change, and justice fuels my creations, compelling me to bring attention to prevailing situations or problems." Conceptually, Torres González's work is a labyrinth of layers, inviting viewers to embark on a profound journey, peeling back each stratum to reveal profound revelations. "I yearn for my art to evoke an emotional dialogue, even if it means confronting discomfort, as this cathartic experience fosters understanding and transformation." Through her fearless expression, Torres González challenges norms and invites contemplation, encouraging viewers to explore their own emotions and perspectives. Her ultimate goal is to spark conversations that lead to collective growth, igniting a fire of unity and action against injustice. "Together, we will rise, undeterred, and redefine our shared destiny through art's powerful language of truth." 

Torres González is also the author of “209,” a visually compelling account of the people who survived or didn't, Hurricane María, which made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. The book features images of Torres' mixed-media paintings that “tell the story of every Puerto Rican living on the island and every Puerto Rican of the diaspora watching from afar.”

David Erdman

Award-winning artist David Erdman became a major figure in the marine industry—a career and lifestyle spanning 40+ years. This experience greatly influenced his artwork. His wood sculptures often embody the energy, fluidity, and curvature of sailing vessels. The artist maintains an active studio on the Gulf coast of Florida, where the wind and water inspire and energize him daily.

Javier Suárez

Javier Suárez, artist and architect says he is, "not Puerto Rican, I'm not Latino, I'm not African, I'm not American; I am all these things all at once. I am a transcultural mutt, a complex individual with a complex identity, who is constantly stuck in the in between." Suarez's paintings are the exploration of what it means to be “the other,” especially during these times of identity politics, he says, where there is “a push by many towards nationalism and a hardened definition of self and community. A time and place where an inversion and re-appropriation has taken place of what it means to be awake and self-aware of who one is and how their so-called place within the stratum of society is defined.” Suárez says that his work straddles the gap between “rational and expressionism; a juxtaposition of rational thinking (concept) and action (body, feelings). It is the relationship of well-defined, distinct forms and remnants of being. The “in-between” process layers images, objects, symbols with abstract strokes of colors to create something that is full of complex meanings and emotions.

Lori Childers

Lori Childer's paintings are a meditation on subjects connected to home, nature, desire, and uncertainty. The familiar in relationship with the evocative. Childers strives to create an experience with interest and mystery, an awakening from the familiar, a distilled look at our shared landscape, as comfortable as home and a bold contemporary view of something never before seen. 

Midge Johnson

Midge Johnson is an abstract expressionist painter infusing her work with emotion by creating bursts of color, variety of line, splashes of ink and marks made with everything but the kitchen sink. Johnson often presents her work on atypical substrates along with special finishes, as illustrated by her latest series, “SLENDERS,” comprising many paintings which are all six inches wide and varying in length up to six feet tall.  The “SLENDER” series expresses the necessity of standing strong and tall in the face of life's adversities, while, as a practical matter, offering the collector versatility of display in groups or standing alone. 

Ashley Rivers

Ashley Rivers is a multidisciplinary artist living in St. Petersburg/Gulfport. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a concentration in sculpture, from the University of South Florida. Her work focuses on offering feelings, emotions, and thoughts, mostly depicting women encapsulated In moments of self-reflection and showing the strength of the human spirit. 

Pamela Olin

Sculptor Pamela Olin works with steel, which "for me, is a language. A song. A breath. We've been together for almost 30 years, we know each other well. My pleasure is taking a man-made substance and creating organic, sometimes otherworldly, objects that encourage people to see differently."

Jack Shapiro

Canadian artist Jack Shapiro was introduced to ceramics in the mid-1970's and became hooked to it by the range of possible forms, and also by the modern science that explains this ancient medium, in relation to his professional background in metallurgy. Shapiro's sales support local non-profit organizations like Sarasota Contemporary Dance, where he attends rehearsals for inspiration from their dancers.

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