There is a difference between contemporary art and modern art. At this late date in the history of the art world, the word modern is itself dated. Modern refers, shall we say, to art of a certain age. The era of Modernism began in western Europe at the end of the 19th century; American Modernism followed close behind, at the dawn of the 20th century. In the U.S., it saw its apex between the world wars; modernism was more or less over when the 1960s began.
Contemporary art is forever young; it is what is happening now. Contemporary art is not a trend, not an “ism.” It takes as many forms as there are artists to produce it.
Viva FOCA! is an exhibition on display now through Dec. 30 at the Center for Spiritual Care, which features paintings and mixed media works by 14 artists currently active in Vero Beach.
The art works range from non-objective and impassioned abstraction to symbolic and lyrical abstraction, and to varying degrees and flavors of representation.
While variety abounds in the show, the artists represented in it have one thing in common – all are Friends of Contemporary Arts (FOCA). Formed in 2020, the group promotes learning, viewing and discussing contemporary art through programs that include lectures, field trips and studio visits. (Full disclosure: This writer is a member of FOCA’s program committee and an exhibitor in Viva FOCA!)
Artist Jill Kerwick (also a Viva FOCA exhibitor) and Sharon Smith Theobald co-chair the FOCA committee. Theobald is a senior member of the American Society of Appraisers and the owner of Appraisal Associates International. Bernadine Speers is FOCA’s treasurer and membership chair. She and her husband are volunteers and philanthropists with historical- and art-based nonprofits. Art historian Danielle M. Johnson, PhD, serves the committee as advisory consultant.
According to Speers, the objective of FOCA is not only to learn about trends in contemporary art, but also to “share the work of artists – local, regional and national.”
After a self-imposed break in programming during pandemic restrictions, the Viva FOCA! exhibition is the planning committee’s way of welcoming a new season of FOCA events, while presenting works by its artist members to the public.
Exhibiting artists are Rita Barone, Ellen Fischer, Xaque Gruber, Susan Hale, Jill Kerwick, Shotsi Cain Lajoie, Madeline Long, Gustav Miller, Janvier Miller, Suzanne Roff, Barbara Rowles, Janet Kipp Tribus, Emily Tremml and Timothy J. Sanchez. When asked why they joined FOCA at its inception in 2020, the artists’ answers shared a common thread. All said they enjoy meeting with others who are eager about art of the now.
Sanchez, a painter possessed of an MFA from Long Island University, a 35-year career in art education and a residency in Vero Beach that spans 20 years, says he was more than ready for a group like FOCA to come along.
Calling FOCA a “long-awaited organization,” Sanchez says “when I heard that there was to be an organized effort to provide artists and others with a vehicle to discuss art, view works and have art professionals speak about topics that have been the core of their existence, I was excited to join it.”
Sanchez is showing two examples of the expressionist collage paintings for which he is popular with collectors. One of these is “Silver Spoons,” a densely packed composition that contains two of the titular objects hidden among dynamic paint strokes and lively scribbles.
Painter and photographer Jill Kerwick says she joined FOCA because “I wanted to spend more time with people who appreciate the process of making art, viewing it and talking about it. The contemporary art world is fascinating, relevant and full of new ideas.”
Kerwick has an MA from New York University; her Bachelor of Fine Arts is from Moore College of Art in Philadelphia. Kerwick is showing a painting on canvas titled “What can be Done.” Its poker-faced portrayal of several small animals confabbing in a flower bed will simultaneously amuse and disquiet viewers.
Suzanne Roff is new to Vero Beach. Until recently she lived in the greater New York City area. There Roff was a faculty coordinator in the Social Sciences at New York University; the same institution awarded her its PhD in Counseling Psychology. After relocating to Vero, Roff says she “sought a group of like-minded friends who appreciate how contemporary art opens us to a new visceral, aesthetic experience that touches our inner world.” Roff is a painter, a writer and a nonprofit volunteer. Her Viva FOCA! contribution includes a painting titled “Honeymoon Ghosts.” It shows a group of people on a long-ago beach posing with a trophy sailfish.
As formidable as its members’ resumes may sound, FOCA membership is not limited to artists or PhDs. Roff asserts that the FOCA experience “is to be shared and enhanced with others as viewers, (as well as) as producers.”
Sanchez concurs. “Art without community is meaningless. FOCA provides that community and for this reason alone is an extremely important undertaking.”
In other words, you need only a desire to see and learn about contemporary art to find community in FOCA.
“FOCA is an interesting mix of artists, art patrons and others who are interested in contemporary art” says mixed-media artist Susan Hale. “FOCA’s lectures, talks and interviews have been stimulating and useful to me in my ongoing quest to learn and appreciate more and more about different artists, and what drives them to paint.”
Hale says that membership in the group has brought her new friends with fresh opinions.
“That is another bonus of joining FOCA. I’m always interested to hear others’ viewpoints and share mine as well,” she says.
This season’s FOCA programs will give its membership plenty to opine upon. After the first of the year the group will take a field trip to the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach and hear a lecture by a consulting curator for European art. Also in the works is a group tour of the upcoming “Vero Collects: Hidden Treasures Revealed” exhibition at the Vero Beach Museum of Art.
Vero-based filmmaker, writer and artist Xaque Gruber is contributing two tender portraits of snowy owls to the Viva FOCA! exhibition.
“I feel happy and nourished when I am around fellow artists in their element,” says Gruber of his FOCA membership. “I am grateful for this special group for providing community, creative energy and conversation with like-minded artists in Vero.”
Gruber speaks for his pandemic-weary colleagues when he says, “COVID turned the world upside down, but artists will be part of the reason why the world will turn right-side up again.”
Photos by Kaila Jones
