“Divas Go Pop!” Digital Pop Art at Art Uptown Oct 29-Nov 26

“Divas Go Pop!,” a solo exhibit of digital pop art paintings by Bradenton artist Janine Hoffman, opens Oct. 29 at Art Uptown, 1367 Main Street in Sarasota. An artist’s reception is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 4, 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the gallery.

The exhibit features digital paintings of female celebrities done in a pop art style by Janine, who is best known for her colored pencil work. While trained as a painter, earning a bachelor of fine arts degree from C.W. Post at Long Island University, her first love has always been drawing, she related.

“In a way, digital art combines both. The digital paintings in my show were all created on a computer with an electronic pen and tablet. I’m comfortable working digitally, but it requires a very different skill set than putting pencil to paper, so it took a bit of time to develop it,” the artist said.

“The style is an intentional move away from the almost Baroque detail in my pencil work to a very minimal amount of detail,” she continued. “That was major challenge for me. I was trying to capture the essence of a person with three main elements: eyes, mouth and hair.”

Her new digital art is inspired by her work as a comic book illustrator, which she began after graduation. She is also influenced by her love of Manga (Japanese comics) and represents "an ode to Warhol and Lichtenstein," she noted.

“They are meant to be fun and inviting, with images of women who are recognizable to all and who encompass a certain wit as well as beauty,” observed the artist.

Janine’s work has been exhibited and sold widely in the USA, and it can viewed at the Tom James/Raymond James Financial Art Collection in Clearwater, Florida.

She is also an adjunct instructor at Ringling College of Art, and a long-time artist member of Art Uptown. Her work has appeared in various publications, including Beckett monthly, independent comic books and her self-published “Steele Destinies.”

Art Uptown is open Monday-Friday 11-5 and Saturday 10-4. During the monthly First Friday Gallery Walks on Palm and Main streets, evening hours are 6-9. Telephone: 941-955-5409. www.artuptown.com.

Last month the gallery underwent extensive renovations, which resulted in a fresher, brighter space for displaying local art, related Gallery Manager Ingrid Petri. She invited the public to attend Janine’s reception and meet the artist during the next First Friday gallery walk on Nov. 4.

ABOUT ART UPTOWN

Art Uptown is Sarasota’s oldest cooperative fine art gallery, representing the work of 28 area member artists. Abstract, realistic and expressionistic work is offered in acrylics, collage, encaustics, oils, pastels, photography, watercolor, fine art pottery, digital art, and wood. The artists change the work on display monthly, so visiting is always a fresh experience, related Ms. Petri. 

Located on Lower Main Street in downtown Sarasota, Art Uptown provides a refreshing opportunity to see the work of a highly selective group of area artists. Continuously exhibiting work of its members for over 30 years, the gallery presents not only regionally flavored paintings and photography but also creative compositions in ceramic, porcelain and raku, which have been collected and shipped throughout the country and internationally.