Art Center Sarasota's 'Art of the Spectacle' honors the human experience behind the scenes

"The Art of the Spectacle"

"The Art of the Spectacle" showcases how visual artists translate the world of live performance. Fox13 photojournalist Barry Wong has the story.

SARASOTA, Fla. -  As juror, Maria Schaedler-Luera viewed the submissions for the Art Center Sarasota exhibition "The Art of the Spectacle", she drew from her own experiences of the world's live performance. 

"I felt seen by these artists in different ways, whether I connected with their art form or not, I could still recognize a moment and understand how that spoke to my experience as a performer," Schaedler-Luera said. 

The backstory:

"The Art of Spectacle" is the juried show for this round of four exhibitions at the center. Because of her performance experience, Schaedler-Luera was asked to juror the show last year. 

She viewed every submission, picking the pieces for the show. Afterward, she spent time at the exhibition, deciding which pieces would take home awards. 

"For me, you could walk around first contemplating," Schaedler-Luera said. "I think letting the meaning arrive to you and making those connections, I think it's a great way to experience art."

Dig deeper:

One of the prompts of the exhibition is to "create a visual celebration of performance, where costumes, movement, and theatrics take center stage."

"The visual artists here did such a wonderful job of connecting, and it's so beautiful when artists see each other in that way," Schaedler-Luera said. 

Like many art shows, the mediums vary. This show features paintings, photos, sculptures, and a handful of other outside-the-box pieces. 

For the First Place Award, Schaedler-Luera selected a piece by Gary Eisenberg called "Circus Performers Intermezzo." It's a painting of four performers gathered after a show. 

"I am not a circus performer, but I kept walking by this. The first thing that I was able to say was, like, wow, I feel seen," Schaedler-Luera said. "This painting shows the cost of performance. It's not that glitter moment. It's that human experience behind the scenes after the show."

What they're saying:

Schaedler-Luera defines spectacle as glitter, big shiny extravaganzas. While she says that part is well represented within the exhibition, along with storytelling, tension and seduction, she said the winning piece highlights what the audience tends not to see. 

"That's reality too, and it should be honored," Schaedler-Luera explained.