PAST EXHIBITIONS

JANUARY 18 – FEBRUARY 8, 2024

Opening Reception Thursday, January 18, 6–9PM

From the exhibition’s accompanying zine:

A NOTE FROM THE ARTIST WHOSE EXHIBITION YOU DID NOT SEE TODAY:

It is likely that you’re reading this because you came to view the art exhibition Swamp Church and, instead, found this act of protest. First, I want to express immense gratitude for coming to support me and my work. I can’t put into words how much joy it brings me to know that my art has an impact on people, that people connect with what I do. I also want to give a shout out to Emiliano, founder/
director of DoCA, for being enthusiastically on board with this idea, and for being a pillar in the local arts community.

There are those who think that artists don’t need to or shouldn’t be political. I disagree wholeheartedly. I believe making art in any
capacity is a political act in and of itself, because art---and the peopl who make it---does not exist in a vacuum. The world acts on me and I make my work. I put my work back into the world, acting upon it in return.

The work of artists is necessary towards all struggles for liberation, as it has the capacity to connect people, to shed light on dark places,
and to imagine different worlds for us to live in. However, the impact of that work is limited so long as it allows us to exist comfortably
within a status quo. I am a human being before I am an artist, and I do not get to hide behind being an artist to excuse myself from
being an active participant in the world around me.

If you have come to support my work as an artist, please consider engaging with this zine instead. The body of work that comprises Swamp Church is deeply important to me and I hope to show it one day in the future, but it is not what I want to use this space for right now.

Thank you,
CH

NOVEMBER 7, 2023 – JANUARY 12, 2024

OCTOBER 5 – 26, 2023

Opening Reception Thursday, October 5, 6–9PM

“In this exhibition, we unravel the layers of meaning behind 'Degrees'. From the nuanced shades of truth that shape our perceptions to the tangible degrees of temperature that influence our environment, the exhibition creates a dynamic dialogue between different dimensions of this concept.

Situated in a pivotal battleground state, the exhibition also contemplates the intricate relationship between degrees and the pressing issue of global warming. Delving into the political discourse, we examine how degrees of belief and denial intersect, particularly in the context of climate change debates.

Furthermore, the exhibition prompts contemplation on the notion of an art degree. What does it signify? How does it define one's creative journey? These questions guide us through an exploration of artistic qualifications and the degrees of expertise they represent.

A journey through art history reveals the connection between degrees and lines, as we delve into the associations between angles, perspectives, and the progression of artistic movements. This collection invites you to ponder how degrees of inclination can shape artistic expression and historical narratives.

Join us in this immersive exhibition, where degrees of interpretation converge, offering a multi-dimensional encounter with the concept of 'Degrees.'” –Greater Public Studio

Featured artists: Blake Bailey, Ryan Lagasse, Anthony Freese, Jay Giroux, Joana Hila, Richard Martin, Alex Roberts, and Edgar Sanchez Cumbas

SEPTEMBER 7 – 21, 2023

Opening Reception Thursday, September 7, 6–9PM

In their debut curatorial endeavor, guest curator Gretchen McCloy (b. 2001, Clearwater, FL) assembles contemporary tableware from fourteen artists working in ceramics. An installation in the form of a table set for a dinner party, It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To is a celebration of community and inclusivity, all the while blurring the line between craft and art, exhibition design and table-setting, function and pure aesthetics.

Featured artists include Maggie Adams, Yael Braha, Kyra Connolly, Tucker Claxton, Fairbrother, Cort Hartle, Kero Johannes, Andrew King, Taylor A Mezo, Dominique Ostuni, Dakota Parkinson, Naomi Peterson, Amy Sanders, and Finn Schult

JULY 8 – 27, 2023

OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, JULY 8, with performances by blacksmith, Get With This, and Postdrome

“these images were made throughout the last three years of my life, from tampa to new york city, and then back to tampa again. bookmarked by the sudden loss of my mother in december of 2020, i wanted to break away from my grief and capture moments that reminded me of her or that felt like places i had seen before, whether in real life or in dreams.“ –Ryan Berger

JUNE 10 – 25, 2023

OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 6-9PM

Anything Rembrandt Touched is a solo exhibition of work by Raheem Fitzgerald (b. 1997, St. Petersburg, FL) rooted in the artist’s exploration of the canon of art history from the Renaissance and the Baroque period to Fauvism, Cubism, and Conceptual art. Created over the past two and a half years since acquiring studio space in the Factory in St. Petersburg, this body of work includes meticulous recreations and imitations of work by artists like Raphael, Caravaggio, and Henri Matisse. In this way, the artist has engaged in a quasi-apprenticeship with his favorite artists across time and history, learning by looking and responding, and taking the time necessary to sufficiently replicate their imagery. Additionally, Fitzgerald engages in a process of remixing works from Johannes Vermeer and Marcel Duchamp, and sampling works by Titian, Pablo Picasso, and Willie Cole as compositional devices juxtaposed with contemporary iconography and the artist’s own commentary on the current state of art and culture. These gestures, which are emblematic of contemporary black music, art, and design (in essence the American avant-garde) reflect a refreshing optimism—one which takes to heart Virgil Abloh’s words after completing his first runway show as Artistic Director of menswear for Louis Vuitton: “you can do it too…”

Anything Rembrandt Touched, a video companion to the exhibition

MAY 4 – 25, 2023

OPENING RECEPTION: THURSDAY, MAY 4, 6-9PM

Department of Contemporary Art Tampa, FL is proud to present Duplicator: a collaborative exhibition with Print St. Pete featuring prints and zines exploring the magic of RISO printing. The RISO Printer-Duplicator, or Risograph, is a digital duplicating machine developed by the Riso Kagaku Corporation in Japan. Functionally a cross between photocopying and screen printing, a Risograph is a highly-automated type of mimeograph machine that makes prints by creating a stencil from a master document, wrapping the stencil around a drum, and pushing soy-based ink through the stencil on to paper at high speeds. Since their release in the 1980s, Risograph machines have become widely popular among artists, designers, and zine-makers for their ability to produce a high volume of prints in distinctly vibrant colors at a relatively low cost and low environmental impact. All of the work in Duplicator at DoCA Tampa, FL was printed at Print St. Pete, a community letterpress and Risograph print shop in Gulfport founded by Kaitlin Crockett and Bridget Elmer.

Featured artists include Kaitlin Crockett, Digital Disco, Eleanor Eichenbaum, Joe Frontel, Tyler Gillespie, Jujmo, Mia Makes It, Noelle McCleaf, Becky Rudolf, Chris Sellen, Emiliano Settecasi, and Jeff Williams.

APRIL 6 – 27, 2023

OPENING RECEPTION: THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 6–9 PM

Featured Artists:
Jason Hackenwerth
Kenny Jensen
Littlebull_4u
Babs Reingold

Organized in conjunction with the debut of designer Littlebull_4u’s SS23 collection Mono No Aware, Beauty in Climax is an exhibition featuring work that speaks to the Japanese concept on which the fashion collection is based, “mono no aware” or roughly translated as the pathos of things, or an awareness of the ephemerality of existence and a heightened appreciation of beauty as a result of acknowledging its transience. The exhibition features a piece from the Mono No Aware collection as well as the work of well-established artists Jason Hackenwerth, Kenny Jensen, and Babs Reingold, who each offer unique perspectives on the ephemerality of beauty and art making as a means to capture, preserve, and create new beauty out of inevitable loss.

MARCH 18 – 30, 2023

OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 6–9 PM

Ivana Cajina (b. 1990, Worcester, MA) is an artist and photographer currently living and working in Tampa, FL. Mi Familia Y Sus Cosas features a selection of photographs taken by the artist in October 2022 while visiting Managua, Granada, and León, Nicaragua, her family’s homeland. The photographs memorialize her first time meeting relatives from her father’s side of her family, hearing their stories, spending time in their houses, and seeing their treasures and mementos, all while absorbing the sights, sounds, flavors, and idiosyncrasies of Nicaragua. In Mi Familia Y Sus Cosas, Cajina’s first solo exhibition, Cajina honors her family’s history by embracing it as integral to her own identity and inviting her community in Tampa to meet her family and experience their beautiful country through her lens. Cajina describes this exhibition as a love letter to her family; to her motherland, Nicaragua; and to Tampa—the city that raised her. Having grown up in Tampa and contributing to its aesthetic culture with her photography for many years, Cajina is very much ingrained in a broader Tampa family, such that as we join our sister Von in her process of discovering her roots in this exhibition, our understanding of ourselves, our own family, and Tampa’s identity expands in kind.