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Living Large At The Leepa-Rattner

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: January 10, 2009

Quick. What do the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art's upcoming photography exhibits - one of dogs and the other of dreamscapes using found objects ranging from feathers to rust - have in common?

Both "It's a Dog's Life: Photographs by William Wegman" and "Sanctuary: Anna Tomczak Photography" feature 20-by-24-inch photographs taken with a special Polaroid large-format camera.

The original version of the camera tipped the scales at more than 500 pounds and now are lighter, a mere 200 pounds. The camera has long been used by artists and photographers, including famed nature photographer Ansel Adams, according to museum director Lynn Whitelaw.

Wegman, 66, a native of Holyoke, Mass., is known for his critically acclaimed portraits of Weimaraners, dogs first bred in the early 19th century for hunting. Wegman's dogs straddle both the human and canine worlds. Often funny - and sometimes puzzling - Wegman's Weimaraners are shown wearing human clothes and doing human activities but they always remain a presence of their own.

Wegman has exhibited his work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum and has appeared on television programs such as "Sesame Street" and "Saturday Night Live."

The Leepa-Rattner will exhibit 29 large-format Wegman Polaroid photographs that were created in the 1980s and 1990s.

The museum will also offer a 40-year retrospective of the work of Anna Tomczak. Although her studio is in the town of Lake Helen, near Daytona, Tomczak also works in New York and Prague, Czech Republic.

Tomczak uses the Polaroid image transfer process, a technique of obtaining images from Polaroid negatives placed face down on water color paper. The results usually have an impressionistic quality and result in one-of-its-kind images.

The exhibit also features Tomczak's early gelatin silver prints, which are hand-painted with oil.

"She delves into hidden places in her psyche to resurrect and interpret what is captured there, using it to reenergize souvenirs of past lives," wrote Barbara Hitchcock of Tomczak's work. Hitchcock is Polaroid's director of cultural affairs and curator for both collections.

The lowdown

The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art's exhibits of large-format photographs by William Wegman and Anna Tomczak will run from Sunday, Jan. 18, through April 12. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with extended hours until 9 p.m. on Thursday. Sunday hours are 1 - 5 p.m. Admission is $5 adults, $4 seniors, children and students with identification free. Sundays are free.

There will be an opening reception 7 - 9 p.m. next Saturday, Jan. 17. Weimaraners from the Florida Weimaraner Rescue will be special guests. The event is free for members and $10 for guests. Entrance fee may be applied to a museum membership. Reservations are needed by Jan. 14. Call 727-712-5229.

The curator of the Wegman and Tomczak exhibits, Barbara Hitchcock, the director of cultural affairs for Polaroid, will speak on "The History of Polaroid Photography" at 3 p.m. on the exhibits' opening day, Sunday, Jan. 18. Cost is $8 for museum members, $10 for nonmembers.

The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art is at St. Petersburg College Tarpon Campus, 600 Klosterman Road, west of U.S. 19.

Cheryl Bentley can be reached at 727-815-1069 cbentley@suncoastnews.com.

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