Ligon Fine Art Opens on Lemon Avenue

Arts & Culture

Pictured: Angela Ligon, Curator and Artist of Ligon Fine Art

As downtown Sarasota and its well-heeled outskirts continue their rapid urbanization, more and more contemporary art galleries have opened to fulfil the demands of expanding tastes. For Angela Ligon, curator of the newly opened Ligon Fine Art at 20 Lemon Avenue, this expansion has been a long time coming. “Sarasota is an art community that has been timid about abstract and contemporary art,” she says, “but I think we’re in a good moment for it.” And the moment calls for a spacious gallery in the heart of downtown, with plenty of windows and a polished concrete floor that set an eclectic collection aglow in natural light.

Ligon has assembled a roster of diverse styles, ranging from the layered and dream-like to the abstract and absurd. She curated a gallery in Naples before moving to Sarasota, bringing with her some of her favorite artists. Salop, a 93-year-old former playboy that goes only by the one name, uses crude brush strokes and bold colors to convey an aura that is both childlike and refined. Anna Rac, a world class pianist-turned-painter, captures the paradoxical chaos and control of classical music with her rhythmic pieces. Some artists hale from as far away as Poland and as close as Naples, some have been practicing for over 40 years while others are up-and-coming with a level of skill that belies their experience. Through all the styles and mediums, Ligon says one thing remains constant—“they are all aiming to inspire.”

“I just want to bring in art that makes people feel good,” she continues, and she believes that she has a knack for doing just that. For Ligon, who has some of her own work displayed humbly in a back corner of the gallery, it’s about sharing the love and energy that art evokes. “I have artists that don’t care about fame or money,” she says, “they just want to share themselves with others.” In this spirit of sharing and connecting, Ligon hopes to open the gallery up to more local artists, build a relationship with Ringling College’s talented student body and offer the gallery as an event space. In the meantime, her gallery of contemporary fine art is sure to pique the interest of collectors looking for a framed moment of inspiration to beautify their living spaces.

 

Pictured: Angela Ligon, Curator and Artist of Ligon Fine Art

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