One of the aspects of Florida living that I really enjoy is the architecture -- the modern architecture, to be specific. And by modern I don’t mean the latest gated-community McMansion development next to the strip mall. I mean modern as in 20th-century. The kind of architecture that is geometric and clean with open spaces and lots of glass. The kinds of surfaces that are flat and minimal and have no need for decoration to stand out in the neighborhood.
When I moved here a few years ago I rented office space in downtown Sarasota for my graphic design firm. As I became familiar with the side streets and back alleys I began to notice a fascinating artifact that was the merging of this modern architecture and street culture. Or should I say modern art and street art.
To some people the modern architecture was a beautiful clean canvas on which to create art -- in this case graffiti art. The reaction to this type of public art is of course to cover it up by painting over it. The resulting images you see here are these amazing paintings of bands of color that are reminiscent of Mark Rothko’s abstract expressionist paintings from the 1940’s and 50’s.
It’s this unintentional art that makes the backside of America so beautiful.
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