SHARK Exhibit Features Celebrated Creatures Of The Sea
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) – Do you love sharks? You'll love a new South Florida art exhibit featuring nothing but these celebrated creatures of the sea.
SHARK is the new exhibition that opens Saturday May 12th at the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale along with Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center.
"I think anybody will connect with this exhibit whether you like sharks or not," said exhibition curator Richard Ellis.
Ellis is an acclaimed wildlife artist, author, and environmentalist. In this artistic underworld world of sharks, the exhibit teems with more than 70 artists' perspectives on sharks portrayed as predator, victim and even pop culture icon. In all, there are more than 130 original pieces of work on display.
In addition to drawings of all the known varieties of sharks in the world, the exhibition contains photographs, sculptures, paintings, and video as well as a section devoted to the sensational impact of the 1975 Steven Spielberg film "Jaws."
"There's a shark carved out of automobile hub caps, there's a shark made out of a golf bag , there's sharks made out of washing machine parts," explained Ellis.
The exhibit SHARK curated by artist Richard Ellis has been in the works for two years.
Sharon Zalkin is one of the first to see the exhibition.
"Absolutely incredible and overwhelmingly fabulous," said Zalkin. "Who knew? It's really, really special."
The underwater journey takes you on a journey of the long history of sharks, including the gallery dedicated to the film "Jaws." The "Jaws" gallery features original storyboards, illustrations, posters and memorabilia from the film and its sequels.
"Everybody, everywhere thinks about sharks at one time or another. You can't say that about giraffes or whales or wombats but you can certainly say it about sharks," said Ellis.
"As you go through the exhibition you'll find in the end the story of the shark, not so much as the predator anymore but as the prey," said Irvin Lippman, executive director of the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale.
SHARK also includes well-known marine artists Guy Harvey and Kent Ullberg, as well as noted photographers Chris Fallows, Ron and Valerie Taylor, Daniel Botelho, David Doubilet, and Rodney Fox. There is also a dramatic installation of watercolors of 400 shark species by British wildlife illustrator Marc Dando.
Admission to SHARK includes general admission to the Museum. Adult admission is $10, seniors and military is $7, children ages 6-17 is $5, children 5 and under and Museum members are admitted free.
For a more interactive experience, visitors can download the SHARK mobile integration onto smart phones and tablets. It's a family-friendly program that offers gaming, shark facts, shark tracking and a family resource guide. It can be downloaded via a mobile bar code or a link on the website www.moafl.org.
The Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale is located at One East Las Olas Boulevard at the corner of Andrews Avenue in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale.
The SHARK exhibition is open until January 6, 2013.
