Florida Mining presents Tomorrowland, a multimedia exhibition of recent works by Debi Boyette and S Patricia Patterson that explore nuances of memory, nostalgia and imagination and how they shape our perception of both the present and the future. The exhibition opens April 1, 2023 and runs through May. After 12 years of mounting, curating and bringing provocative, community-engaged exhibitions by artists regionally and nationally, this will be the final exhibition at Florida Mining’s current location. The Tomorrowland opening reception will take place on April 1 at 6:30 at 5300 Shad Rd and will include live music, food and drinks for guests to enjoy.
Florida Mining has been a pioneering art gallery since its inception as the only Northeast Florida art gallery dedicated to exhibiting cutting edge contemporary art. Founded in 2011, the gallery showcases the best in emerging and mid-career artists primarily based in the American South. It has served as a resource for artists by providing recycled materials as a medium, including the neon signage materials now a signature of acclaimed artist Marcus Kenney. It has operated as a center of creative community and networking in Northeast Florida for over twelve years. With plans for expansion, the gallery is moving to a new location in the downtown area of Jacksonville in 2023.
“Florida Mining has served as a regional hub of innovation, experimentation and connection for working contemporary artists, and it will continue this important work as we look forward to a new chapter,” said gallery owner and Harbinger Sign CEO Steve Williams. “Tomorrowland is the perfect exhibition to signal not only the impact Florida Mining has had over the past decade on the Northeast Florida arts community and beyond, but also how that impact will shape its future in its next iteration.”
Tomorrowland borrows its name from the Disneyland experience described by Walt Disney at the opening of his iconic theme park in California as “...a step into the future, with predictions of constructive things to come.” The exhibition features works by Boyette and Patterson and embraces how imagination shapes nostalgia and the ways we as both individuals and members of a collective history redefine our past over time. Works on view include watercolor portraits by Patterson exploring the complexities of family and the psychology of memory, in dialogue with a series of foam cloud sculptures by Boyette celebrating the dreaming of childhood and infinite possibilities of the future.
Born in Jacksonville, Florida and currently living in Seattle, Washington, Boyette is a multidisciplinary artist who uses found objects, photographs, and vintage ephemera to create whimsical and at times dystopian imagery. Regardless of medium, her works mock and recognize their established forms, producing a distorted vantage point for the viewer to engage with the paradox of the everyday. Boyette has been included in exhibitions at Ballard Works, Seattle University, Victrola Art, MOCA Jacksonville, Florida Mining, Le Merde, Saw Gallery, Terminal Gallery and Youngblood Gallery.
Atlanta-based artist S Patricia Patterson creates large scale watercolor paintings that delve into the constructs of memory and time, and the psychology of the human condition. Drawing from her family archive of images taken from 1940 through 1980, Patterson explores family reinvention through nostalgia and recollection. Patterson has her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her works have been included in exhibitions at The Zuckerman Museum of Art at Kennesaw State University, Ernest G. Welch Gallery at Georgia State University Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Consult Art, Art Papers Auction Show and many others.
Tomorrowland opens on April 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Florida Mining’s location at 5300 Shad Rd., in Jacksonville, Fla. The reception will include live music, dancing, light eats, and an open bar and will be in addition to the celebration of Harbinger Sign’s 60th anniversary.
Rotating series of works from Florida Mining artists. Shown here: Works by Elise Thompson, Ashley Woodson Bailey, and Marcus Kenney, at Fashion Group International event featuring Miami designers QueenJeaneen and Yesdnilco.
A "gateway to Source, Love, and God," Morgan Goldsmith invites intrepid viewers on a journey through pain, shame, fear, and anger towards a new and reclaimed sense of Self. The arduous story in these works is of healing from birth and other trauma. The fragmented compositions sing a song of a soul torn apart and fighting to be healed, to return home.