The 10 contemporary artists who are participating as fellows in the retreat are considered trailblazers in contemporary arts
SARASOTA, Fla. — Over the last 22 years, some of the nation’s leading contemporary artists have converged at the Hermitage Artist Retreat in Sarasota’s Manasota Key.
Now artworks from the most recent class are on display at the Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College. One display includes everyday people who walk in and are literarily immersed in the art installation.
“This exhibition showcases some of the best names in the country who are really defining what contemporary arts is,” said Rangsook Yoon, Senior Curator, at Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College.
The 10 contemporary artists who are participating as fellows in the retreat are considered trailblazers, according to Yoon. Some of them are either emerging or mid-career and explore the impact of social and cultural ideas with their artworks.
The artists come from various genres of the art world including theater, music, literature, and visual art, and through the fellowship can interact and exchange ideas with both local and regional artists.
“All based in different cities, but whose stories, whose works really resonate, and can resonate with so many people, including young students who are forging their paths as visual thinkers,” said Yoon.
The aim of the retreat and the exhibition titled “Impact: Contemporary Artists at the Hermitage Artist Retreat,” is to get people engaged in thought-provoking conversations through different expressions of contemporary art.
“It is so closely intertwined into larger national and historical conversations about who we are, and what history is about,” added Yoon.
One of the installations which mimics a cross between an old school record store and a chapel is described as a living art installation. People who schedule a visit to the installation’s recording sessions often become a part of the art.
“I have often been chasing this idea of the fellowship of art and music and coming together to make something. I tried to promote that and be an informant of that in the communities I travel to,” said Ted Riederer, Contemporary Visual Artist.
Session participants lucky to have gotten an early booking get to leave with a digital file of the audio-visual art they’ve created while a vinyl copy stays behind, joining the selection at ‘Never Records’, the title of the installation.
“That’s one of the perks of this project. They can do whatever they want with it and I’m hoping they sell it and they don’t have to give me money or anything and that’s the goal, to edify people that participate,” said Riederer.
The exhibition also honors a local artist and activist John Sims who passed away in December 2022 from a heart attack.
“There are so many passionate advocates for his legacy to continue despite his early tragic death,” said Yoon.
The Hermitage Artist Retreat Exhibition at the Sarasota Art Museum runs until July 7.
