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ROB DEPIAZZA Since 2004, Rob DePiazza has been bringing new, cutting-edge artwork to the Oldest City. Every two months, DePiazza presents an exhibit of works by international and local artists in his space:eight Gallery, located in the front of Screen Arts, his silk-screen company on West King Street in West Augustine’s. After purchasing the building in 1984, DePiazza remodeled the shop and decided to allocate a space to show art. “The gallery offered a creative outlet to our daily routine of commercial printing and presented an opportunity to show art that didn’t have a venue in Northeast Florida,” says screen-print artist DePiazza, who was featured in a Folio Weekly cover story, “Hero of the Underground,” in December 2008. Since deciding to turn a part of his building into an art space, DePiazza’s discerning taste in handpicking groundbreaking artists and his natural no-bull vibe have resulted in 40 memorable exhibits by visiting artists like Mark Mothersbaugh, Ronnie Land, Bev Hogue, KRK Ryden and Derek Hess and locals including Mark George, Shaun Thurston and Mitch Cheney, along with the current show featuring works by Jordie Hudson (also subject of a Folio Weekly cover story, November 2012, “Drawing Strength,” bit.ly/JordieHudson). “There’s been so many great artists [to] come through the gallery,” DePiazza says, “it would be hard to pick favorites.” He says there has been a surge in similar alternative venues opening up in the area, along with an increase in overall awareness and interest in the arts. This year, DePiazza will present shows by L.A. art icon Donny Miller, Lowbrow favorite Anthony Ausgang and local figurativeportrait painter Chip Southworth. “I think a lot of people appreciate what we do in bringing artists from outside the area,” says DePiazza, who presents these engaging artists at equally funky opening receptions that are unpretentious, notoriously fun and usually feature a DJ spinning sharp tunes, ice-cold beer and an array of tasty junk food. “Plus, they dig our fancy foodstuffs and libations.”
C 12 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | JANUARY 16-22, 2013
CHIP SOUTHWORTH Chip Southworth is creating an impressive body of work that breathes new life into the untapped possibilities of figurative and portrait work. The 41-year-old painter uses large-scale canvases to render the human form in expressionistic-style displays of blues, pinks and shifting flesh tones that have featured figures such as President Barack Obama, local indie poppers Sunbears! as well as self-portraits of Southworth and his wife Rikki. In the past year alone, Southworth was featured in a show at The Grotto with Tony Rodrigues and Mico Fuentes, invited to participate in The Highway Gallery Project, a public art experiment hosted by Florida Mining Gallery and Clear Channel, and held a 30-piece retrospective at DVA (featured in Folio Weekly’s August 2012 issue, bit.ly/ChipSouthworth). Southworth also created the recent cover portrait of John Delaney for our Jan. 2 “Person of the Year” issue. “I have had decent success the past year and a half,” he says, “but it’s time to get down to business.” True to his word, Southworth is currently in the process of creating new pieces and hopes to have nine to 12 finished canvases for his April show at space:eight. The series is inspired by challenges, fears, struggles and other, darker themes than his earlier work. “Often we feel like something is too massive or fucked up to overcome; sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t,” Southworth says. “Either way, it usually requires some certain solitude, faith in something and hitting the wall.” Adding “that turning point is dark and revealing,” Southworth says he hopes to explore that universal junction while making new journeys with his materials. “My work is about the paint as much as the subject matter.” Southworth is encouraged by the “very tight and supportive” local arts community. “Today, Jacksonville has a completely different vibe and energy than it did even five years ago,” he says. “I have high hopes.” “I’d like to see local art collectors buying more local art,” says Southworth, who is also currently in contact with other galleries outside of the region. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm in North Florida for the arts, and we are blessed with some great artists.” “However, for the scene to translate into success for the artists, there needs to be more emphasis on sales … otherwise, at some point, this all goes away.”