by Luke Tarnosky
(edits by arren)
Jimmy Rhea, the professor of sculpture and printmaking at PSC, will be doing his first solo art show at the Pensacola Museum of Art. The show will officially open for public viewing on March 7th and will come to an end on June 1st.
Rhea has been showing his art for over 25 years and has done exhibitions across the nation, with some of his art frequenting hot spots for popular artists like New York and Massachusetts. However, when asked about the importance of this specific exhibition, Rhea said, “This one is big because it’s the art museum in Pensacola. It’s accredited; it’s nationally known. They have big names that go through it, and they have a big collection. It was always one of my goals to show there.”
His exhibition, appropriately titled “To Be Defined,” is all about pushing boundaries. Taking inspiration from a variety of sources like Greco-Roman mythology, world history, and pop culture, Rhea meticulously creates a collection of wildly imaginative and outlandish pieces. The type of art displayed ranges from pieces referencing classics, like an upcycled yet messed-up 3D print of Michelangelo’s classic sculpture “David”, to much more modern-inspired sculptures, like a wooden model of the church from “The Walking Dead.”
Rhea even dabbles with more practical and comedic-centered pieces, such as a wall-mounted mallet described as a “hammer for killing spiders.” Others are made simply for aesthetic purposes, including a pair of Air Jordans welded out of steel and reminiscent of Iron Man’s suit.
One of the most unique pieces in the whole exhibition (and Rhea’s personal favorite) is an arcade claw machine, completely functional and made to be much fairer, where the player can pay 50 cents and play for a chance to win one of Rhea’s miniature sculptures.
These sculptures are cast in a handmade mold and made of plastic or foam. By using more lightweight materials, it allows the claw to easily pick up the statue and carry it to the prize outlet without breaking. The piece plays off the idea of “breaking the fourth wall” by bending the rules of the gallery; in most galleries, touching works of art is forbidden, but in Rhea’s exhibition, touching the claw machine is not only allowed but encouraged.
“I do not like to be limited by just one media,” Rhea explained when asked about the absurdity of his art pieces. “I can make things out of bronze, or I can blacksmith, or I can weld, or I can woodwork, or I can use a 3D printer. Using all these things, I am pushing my boundaries of visual language through the use of mixed materials and objects imbued with multiple meanings. It’s just kinda what I think about every day, how to make something new. It’s my poetry. Instead of using letters to make words and words to make cognitive sentences, I use images.”
We encourage anyone who has an interest in seeing Rhea’s sculptures to come and visit for themselves; admission to the museum is free, it is only 15 minutes away from the main campus, and it is open all week except for Mondays.
Additionally, if you have an interest in viewing fine art but do not want to make the drive downtown to the Pensacola Museum of Art, the Switzer Gallery in the Anna Lamar Switzer Center for Visual Arts (building 15 on the main campus) is open to the public every weekday and regularly exhibits all types of art from a very diverse pool of local, state, national, and international artists.
