James Rosenquist and the Grand Painting

James Rosequist and the F -111

86 foot long painting!

                                            from you tube


If you had any doubt why James Rosenquist (click)would need a three football field long studio, then this will put them to rest. Few galleries can ever exhibit this piece, so count yourself lucky if you have ever seen it in person.  It is quite remarkable.  His studio in Aripeka, Florida(click)gives him the bright clear light he desires for his painting.  He goes back and forth between New York and Florida.  Locally he has been a tremendous force and supporter of the arts.

James Rosenquist/Aripeka Studio

This is James Rosequist in his Aripeka studio. I first heard him speak at an event for the Tampa Museum of art. He is an affable man with a generous spirit. He always seems to have time to help out in the local Gulf Coast area to support the arts. This is one section of his studio, there is a much larger section that is the size of two football fields to hang his massive canvases as he works on them. He travels between his New York studios and the Tampa Bay area. I read once he chose the area for the clear sunlight for his painting. A fire destroyed one of his studio's and a large portion of work several years ago.

I believe he has since rebuilt. Another article written about him references Rosenquist as the "King of Pop".

Some of his canvases are massive tracing back to his experience as a sign painter in his earlier years, not unlike, Jackson Pollack.

Florida has been fortunate in having some really wonderful artist reside here....I especially love the two R's...Rauschenberg, and Rosenquist!

Quirky Florida Holiday Drive

Aripeka, Florida

is a tiny dot on a map. It might be easy to miss if you didn't know where to look, but is a wonderful old Florida town that time has left by, and kindly so. There is only one or two stores that sell everything from bait to snacks. No chains stores, no condo's, and there is still a quiet beauty that has been left fairly unharmed. These pictures on a holiday drive a year ago. Florida is not snow, sleds, and hot rum drinks around the fireplace. Real Florida is palms rustling in the gulf breeze, beautiful clear sunshine, cool evenings in the winter and pleasant days, egrets and herons wading along the shore.

Florida can be quirky too, red beach chairs, a Christmas wreath that holds a pack of cigarettes just right, a creative naive painter who captures the beauty of the tropical environment that they inhabit, a store that defies any hint of organization or Madison avenue advertising placement, and all of that right on the front porch of nature. It did not go unrecognized by a famous New York artist. James Rosenquist made it his home away from home, built a huge hanger size studio the size of two football fields here, and paints in the clear crystal light that cannot be found on cloudy winter days in New York City.