Two Jellies, 2008. Acrylic on canvas, 18″ x 24″.

We are delighted to feature this stunning example of sealife-inspired artwork by our good friend and visual artist Kristen Pobatschnig. Expect many future snapshots documenting the age-old symbiosis of art and sea on the Morphologic Blog.

I took this photo at the Morikami Japanese Gardens in Delray, Florida this past Sunday. It seemed to me to be a terrestrial equivalent to the lush aquatic worlds created by Takashi Amano. In Amano’s case, spheres of CO2 form on aquatic mosses under intense light in aquaria. Here It is a water droplet, held almost perfectly spherical by moss growing on the base of a bonsai tree.

This is the last graffiti sea creature left on the back wall of an abandoned parking lot located on the corner of NE 17th st and NE 2nd ave north of Downtown Miami. This basking shark was once just one of many alien (but accurately represented) deep-sea creatures painted over the length of this 100′+ wall. I drove past it for years, and never took a photo of the complete mural, and now this is all that is left of it.

The wall is now covered by another aquatic motif; one that is less ‘true-to-life alien’, and more ‘day care, Technicolor Yellow Submarine’. In the grand scheme of urban art , the new one is still nice, but not nearly as cool as the dark blues and blacks of the abyss. But then again, it had been there for at least 4 years or so, so I guess it had the fresh paint coming. It seems that the new artists decided that they didn’t have the heart to cover the last remaining fish at the far right end: a majestic basking shark in all of it’s plankton-straining glory.

If anyone knows who the artist was of this fish, I’d really like to know…

Whilst perusing eBay for rare corallimorph morphs, I happened to stumble upon these radical stamps, featuring corals from around the globe. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity (perfectly good reason to justify their purchase…), so for a total of $6 (including shipping) they are now part of the Morphologic collection. I say “yes” to these stamps, and encourage more developing coral reef-fringed nations to do the same (I’ll keep buying).

Discosoma (Rhodactis) sanctithomae: totally awesome Caribbean coralllimorph.

Pseudocorynactis caribbeorum: non-photosynthetic, cryptic Caribbean corallimorph.

Blastomussa merleti fluorescence photograph from Noumea Aquarium, New Caledonia (1979).

“huh-huh-huh, huh-huh-huh, that coral is like, horny, Beavis”
Sorry, too easy, I couldn’t resist.

I went out last night to the ‘Art Walk’ that takes place on the second Saturday of every month. I hadn’t been in a few months. Last one I perused was in November, right before Art Basel.

First gallery is called “Gallery Diet“. Apt I guess. Dead lobsters make an interesting (and fragile) clock.

The highlight of the night came at the Kevin Bruk Gallery. I was exceedingly impressed with the work of artist Gina Ruggeri and her series of large grass/dirt/cloud/stump works. Her brushwork really gives her pieces multi-dimensionality. It can be hard to find ‘organic’ art works in this city’s galleries, so this was a great find. These pieces are about 8 feet wide to give you an idea of scale.

A gallery that makes its home in an old caboose car sitting in the back of an empty lot (I’ve never been sure of the name) had some interesting South American anthropological art.

2020 Gallery had a really cool laser light installation, but it was in a dark room, so no pics.

Sara Stites had some interesting pieces in her gallery. Some nice and uncomfortable juxtapositions of bones, skin, and hair. Good stuff.

I was glad to see some inspiring work. I hope this town keeps it up.