As part of its ongoing expansion of arts programming across the bay, the USF College of The Arts’ Contemporary Art Museum (USFCAM) presented the inaugural GENERATOR exhibition on the St. Petersburg campus. GENERATOR is an expansion of USFCAM, which seeks to be an incubator of new ideas and a place for expanded artistic experimentation.
The opening exhibition is titled SUPERFLEX: This Is The Tip Of The Iceberg, which explores a world where human life depends on coexistence with other species. The installation immerses viewers in two parallel and interconnected realms – a terrestrial space unsettled by rising water and a submerged space in the ocean’s depths – to signify the impacts and consequences of climate change, especially relevant to Florida and its coastal communities.
The free exhibition will run from October 6 through November 22 in the Harbor Hall Gallery at USF St. Petersburg.
“GENERATOR will offer a new cultural dimension to St. Petersburg’s prominence as an arts destination, offering free public access to an inclusive space for creative exploration, research and dialogue,” said Sarah Howard, the curator of social practice at USFCAM.
The first exhibition is by internationally renowned Danish artist collective SUPERFLEX, which is known for blurring the lines of art, science and activism using humor, play and imagination to offer creative perspectives for challenging global social problems.
An opening reception for the exhibition was held on October 6 at 6 p.m. in the Harbor Hall Gallery. The event was kicked-off with a talk by SUPERFLEX founder Bjørn Christiansen.
“The city of St. Petersburg is an art mecca, with so many great museums, galleries and artists that create such a vibrant culture. It is only natural for our campus to not only provide a stellar arts education to students, but foster events and programming that contribute to the growing art scene in our city,” said Christian Hardigree, regional chancellor of USF St. Petersburg.
SUPERFLEX was founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Bjørnstjerne Christiansen, and Rasmus Rosengren Nielsen. SUPERFLEX projects have taken the form of energy systems, beverages, sculptures, hypnosis sessions, paintings, plant nurseries and public spaces. Represented in prominent public and private collections in Europe, North America and Australia, SUPERFLEX has been recognized for their award-winning public urban space Superkilen (2011) and interdisciplinary collaborations.
The SUPERFLEX: This Is The Tip Of The Iceberg exhibition will feature the viewer responsive animation Vertical Migration (2021), first exhibited in a 500-foot-high projection on the United Nations Secretariat Building in New York City during the 76th United Nations General Assembly. Highlighting the role of biodiversity as critical to the health of our oceans, the installation invites an intimate encounter with a siphonophore (a relative of the jellyfish) whose complex organisms function collectively.
GENERATOR: USFCAM and its programs are generously supported by USF College of The Arts; USF St. Petersburg; the Florida Department of State, Florida Arts & Culture; the Lee & Victor Leavengood Endowment; the Stanton Storer Embrace the Arts Foundation; and the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership. Additional support was provided by Danish textile company Kvadrat.
This is The Tip of The Iceberg is courtesy of OMR Gallery. Vertical Migration was developed in close collaboration with Kollision and co-commissioned by ART 2030 and TBA21-Academy.
The exhibition hours are Monday-Friday from noon-6 p.m., and Saturday from noon-4 p.m.