artsculture

Altered Egos performs live

In the words of Pablo Picasso, “Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” And the truth is that the Robot Love Art Show in the budding arts district of downtown Eau Gallie, Florida was a huge success.

Owner and Curator Kevon Greenidge of 321 Agency, top-tier marketing and events promotion agency on Eau Gallie Boulevard presented the show, and with the help of his talented staff transformed the science center adjacent to the Renee Foosaner Education Center into an eclectic blend of talent with an open acceptance policy as space allowed. Under Project Director Cliffton Chandler who designed the space to his specifications, the theme Robot Love was incorporated into the collection via corrugated metal walls, live models frozen in time, body painted jazz dancers, and a large glass robot with a beating heart in the entrance of the gallery.

In honor of the children’s science center being decommissioned with the prospect of becoming a pottery studio the theme Robot Love was birthed as a final farewell to the facility. “Doing it on museum property with the help of interim President Tom Powers we were able to get in here and pull off a really good show,” said Greenidge.

The purpose of this event was tri-fold. It served as a launching site to introduce a serious foray of a genuine art culture into the proposed arts district; the forum encouraged art and encourages people to just be interested in art in general; and there was made available an outlet for many different artists to express themselves in a way they desire, in an environment that they consider glamorous, artists who may or may not be appreciated by typical museums and galleries. “The result is that the people who have come here to this show are genuinely impressed and moved,” said Chandler.

As wide and varied as the art were the gallery patrons including thirteen year olds Sierra Davis and Riley Barber who both enjoyed the eccentric bicycles and the dancers, generally agreeing that the entire show was “really cool.” John Harbough, a teacher at Satellite High School was overly impressed with everything: the imaginative, artistic, beautifully dressed people and the art that matched. “Melbourne continues to surprise,” Harbough said.

Participating artists included photographer Casey DeCotis who said he is inspired by appreciation of everyday objects in everyday life, Stephanie Rose who sold the first piece of the exhibition titled Rose Knows, and Brook DeRosa who debuted at Robot Love with a piece framed by a Baudelaire poem, an eighteenth century poet, transcribed into binary code, choosing it because it defines her as a person as she can easily relate to the words of the poem. 

After three nights with a packed house, spectacular original art, and talented musical performances, it is certain that there is a real need for this sort of venue for artists and the general public, and an arts district in Eau Gallie will be a refreshing and welcomed beacon in the midst of the many outdoor art festivals that have taken precedence for so many years.

In the words of Cliffton Chandler, “You need to be able to take away at least some memories of something fantastic. Otherwise, why did you go?”