Ed Pollard
2022_Escher_PR_Covered.Alley_Maurits Cornelis Escher (Dutch, 1898 –1972), Covered Alley in Atrani, 1931, Wood engraving on wove paper, © M.C.Escher Foundation, 2021.40
M.C. Escher: Infinite Variations, on view through Aug. 28 at the Chrysler Museum of Art, spans the Dutch artistís entire career with more than 150 works from the collection of Paul and Belinda Firos of Athens, Greece.Maurits Cornelis Escher†(Dutch, 1898 ñ1972), Covered Alley in Atrani, 1931, Wood engraving on wove paper,†?© M.C.Escher Foundation, 2021.40
Boundary-pushing art shines throughout local galleries this season. At the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida SouthWestern State College, The Exquisite Moving Corpse (running through Dec. 10) is a video installation collectively assembled between more than 60 internationally renowned artists, who passed clips among each other, producing 1-minute segments that riff on the previous. The piece was inspired by the surrealist parlor game, where each artist contributes to the project without seeing their predecessors’ addition.
In one of the most anticipated shows of the season, Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum presents postwar abstract expressionist painter Helen Frankenthaler: Late Works, 1990-2003 (running through Nov. 27), with rarely seen works created later in her career. Then, continuing its upward trajectory of bringing world-class art to the region, Naples Art presents M.C. Escher: Reality and Illusion (Nov. 12 - Feb. 12), which showcases more than 150 works from the Dutch artist’s stellar five-decade career, including the famed Drawing Hands.
Early next year, big exhibits focus on local artists. In Fort Myers, Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center hosts dual shows for local nature-assemblage artist Ran Adler and figurative painter Lynn Davison (Jan. 6-25). And, Naples floral abstract darling Carmelo Blandino’s solo exhibition Bloom Ka-Pow! (Jan. 17 - Mar. 2) at Florida Gulf Coast University’s Wasmer Art Gallery features the artist’s lively, blooming floral paintings.