SWFL arts in the spotlight

An internationally acclaimed artist, 20 years of the Florida Rep, sizzling performances and film arts highlight the cultural season.

Visual Arts Spotlight: Marcus Jansen

Abstract painter Marcus Jansen is taking Germany by storm with two touring exhibits and companion books exploring the evolution of an artist who got his early inspiration from street graffiti.

The Fort Myers-based artist is credited with essentially creating urban expressionism — moody, visceral abstractions that often include gritty images and symbols telescoping his worldview on societal issues and the human condition. Today, his sometimes-apocalyptic works can command over six figures and are sought by art collectors and investors. 

When he gets a break from touring nationally and internationally to celebrate an opening reception and give talks, the Gulf War veteran is back at his studio in a turn-of-the-century warehouse on the edge of the Dunbar community, making his enamel paintings that are so large-scale that he must sometimes trim his vision into three smaller pieces to form diptychs or triptychs for ease of packaging and transport.

Locals who haven’t caught up with Jansen are in for a treat this summer, when his first solo, mid-career retrospective, “Marcus Jansen: DECADE,” is shown at a United States museum — and it will be here at the Baker Museum at Artis–Naples.

“I’m excited. Considering everything going on overseas, it’s just great,” Marcus says.

This season, the Baker Museum is featuring the type of thought-provoking, world-class exhibitions it is known for, such as “Languages of Art,” which showcases 100 works from the museum’s permanent collection arranged thematically, and “French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850-1950” from the Brooklyn Museum. It’s atypical for the Baker Museum to mount a show featuring “local artists,” though clearly, Marcus reaches far beyond.

Baker Museum Director and Chief Curator Frank Verpoorten says “DECADE” goes back to 2008 and represents “the depth and breadth of his output as an artist. Marcus has been a force in Southwest Florida for several years now. I have carefully followed the development of his career, especially during the past few years. This is the appropriate time for the fine-art museum in his backyard to recognize him through a retrospective of his work and career.”

Marcus, 49, opens his UNIT A studio to the public when he gets the chance. He is represented in Naples by H.W. Gallery, specializing in modern art. His work is included in the collections of the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies Program, UNESCO in Paris, France, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. “Marcus Jansen: DECADE” runs May 19 through July 22 at the Baker Museum in Naples.

Widowed with two children, Marcus says he’s hoping to pause long enough next year to marry his fiancé, local pianist Sabrina Gruper.

Performing Arts Spotlight: Florida Rep celebrates two decades

Playwright and screenwriter Sir Tom Stoppard famously noted: “We do on stage things that are supposed to happen off. Which is a kind of integrity, if you look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.”

Robert Cacioppo’s exit into a new reality came 20 years ago when the board of directors of the Pirate Playhouse on Sanibel Island forced him and his actress-wife, Carrie Lund, out. At the time, downtown Fort Myers was struggling to redevelop and the historic Arcade Theatre between First and Bay streets, built in 1908, was sitting empty, with only 35 days of usage.

While at the Pirate Playhouse, Carrie, Robert and a small pool of talent had rejuvenated an abandoned one-room historic schoolhouse with widely received musicals that were so popular, a new Pirate Playhouse theatre was built on Periwinkle Way. (The story really begins in 1985 when Carrie arrived to the Sanibel playhouse, and Robert followed after her in 1987.) Carrie and Robert, the artistic director of the new Pirate Playhouse, turned the community theater into a professional one, and proved their grist through a decade of commitment and passion.

In the December 1997 “year in review,” The News-Press noted for the year’s milestones Princess Diana’s death, Oprah Winfrey’s controversial tirade against beef — and Robert’s firing. On the way out the door, he vowed to start a new theater company, becoming the founder and producing artistic director of Florida Rep. “I was highly motivated, and the community was incredibly supportive,” he recalls. Half the board, the audience and the staff followed them into town, he says. “Carrie and I get a lot of credit, but I am the guy who represents the tip of the iceberg of years and years of talent,” says Robert, 60. “It showed a theater is not a building, it’s the people.”

Today, as the Florida Repertory Theatre in downtown Fort Myers goes into its 20th season, Robert reflects, “Arts organizations come and go. We have not only gotten to 20 years, we are strong and large. We are putting our best foot forward.”

Its repertory is also evolving to include meatier productions mixed with uplifting musicals. Last season saw the staging of “To Kill a Mockingbird” as police shootings were sparking outrage across the nation, in addition to “Best of Enemies” plumbing issues of racial bigotry and friendship. “I can do shows that discuss these things,” he says. 

This season will see nine productions with two works directed by Robert, including “Cabaret,” offering up burlesque and Kit Kat Girls as the curtain rises on Nazism. And finally, after decades of on-and-off germination, Southwest Florida will experience the world premiere of a production that he will not only direct but conceived: “Night and Day: Love Lost and Found through the Eyes of Cole Porter.” 

“This season epitomizes what Florida Rep stands for — a wide variety of productions,” he says.

Film Arts: The Reel Deal

ilm festivals offer something for everyone: the strange, the political, the poignant, the inspiring. Luckily for cinema buffs in Southwest Florida, there’s a plethora of opportunities for delving deeper into new worlds at many film festivals that seem to continue to grow in breadth and programming. Due to the nature of the submission and selection process, specific details for each one are evolving. However, if you are tired of the same-old CGI action films at the corporate theater houses, consider some of these options for getting an indie perspective on these modern times. See you at the movies!

Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs

The Center for Performing Arts Moe Auditorium & Film Center regularly screens films on Monday nights through the end of October. The Films for Film Lovers series launched in the summer, and remaining films include the 2014 Brazilian-British adventure drama “Trash” on October 16 and the 2008 Israeli drama “Lemon Tree” on October 23. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Beverages, snacks and popcorn are available, and the films are followed by a lively discussion.

January 25-28, the center will be the venue for the Bonita Springs International Film Festival, which presents more than 70 carefully curated narrative, documentary, animation and short films from around the world, complemented by a wide variety of workshops, demonstrations and Q&A sessions with filmmakers, writers, directors and actors. The 200-seat auditorium is at 10150 Bonita Beach Road S.E. in Bonita Springs. More information: artcenterbonita.org

BIG Arts

The Sanibel Island organization’s Monday Night Films series runs November 13 through April, with screenings of titles such as “A United Kingdom,” “Patersen” and “Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story” at Schein Hall. In addition, BIG Arts organizes a documentary series that is screened at Island Cinema, 535 Tarpon Bay Road, in March. Award-winners include “De Palma,” “The Eagle Huntress,” “Kedi” and “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.” More information: bigarts.org

Fort Myers Film Festival

Who said Mondays need to be boring? Certainly not the folks at the Fort Myers Film Festival. Monday nights, indie shows are screened at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in downtown Fort Myers during its Thank Goodness It’s Monday series, also known as TGIM, leading up to the main festival in the spring. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with screenings of short films assessed by a panel of three local guest-celebrity judges. Admission is $10 or free to holders of the VIP year-long pass. The FMFF collaborates with other arts venues in the community and culminates with a red-carpet event in March at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. Find out more about what’s in store for the FMFF’s eighth season: fortmyersfilmfestival.com

Fort Myers Beach Film Festival

For the 12th year, the five-day Fort Myers Beach Film Festival will attract independent film fans, filmmakers, actors and producers to Estero Island’s Gulf of Mexico shoreline. Movies are screened at the Beach Theater at 6425 Estero Blvd. One of the fan favorites is the outdoor screening during Film on the Beach or Film on the Bay (depending where it’s hosted); it’s free, open to public and features a family film. In addition, a couple of weekday workshops are spearheaded by visiting filmmakers to help teach and inspire budding filmmakers. The festival, supported by the Greater Fort Myers Beach Friends of the Arts and other organizations and businesses, runs April 25-29 with events for all ages. More information: friendsoftheartsfmb.com

Naples International Film Festival

The Naples International Film Festival has grown so much since its formation nine years ago that it merged with Artis–Naples in late 2016. Festival directors scout events like the Sundance Film Festival to bring in 50 high-caliber narrative, documentary and short films screened at the luxurious, state-of-the-art Silverspot Cinema at the Mercato. NIFF runs October 26-29. More information: naplesfilmfest.com

Naples Jewish Film Festival

The annual Naples Jewish Film Festival offers plenty of film for thought. Information on the2018 festival wasn’t available at press time. This year, it ran February through April with Sunday screenings at 7:30 p.m. at Sugden Theatre on Fifth Avenue South. More information: naplesjewishfilmfestival.org