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An Iconographer of the 20th Century at The Boca Raton

In the rarefied air of mid-century photography, few names hold the same resonance as Harry Benson. His lens is equal parts surgical and sympathetic. He has traced the contours of the 20th and 21st centuries with a precision unmatched by most of his contemporaries. Now, in Harry Benson: Royalty, Rebels, and Rockstars (opening April 17, 2025), Sponder Gallery offers a revelatory selection of Benson’s most iconic and intimate black-and-white photographs, exhibited in the chic and storied interiors of The Boca Raton’s Sadelle’s Living Room | Harborside.

The exhibition, on view through Spring 2026, is more than a celebration of Benson’s career; it is a visual anthropology of power, intimacy, and transformation. Each photograph here is not merely a record of a cultural icon but a rupture in time; an era-moment-glance where the mythos of celebrity, politics, and personal ritual converge.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1929, Benson came of age during an era when photojournalism was not just reportage, it was more of a cultural authorship. His early training at the Daily Sketch prepared him for the unflinching speed and ethical ambiguities of documentary photography. But it was his 1964 assignment to photograph The Beatles in Paris (and later, on their first U.S. tour) that skyrocketed him into the stratosphere of visual history. The infamous "pillow fight" photo taken at the George V Hotel marked a new form of candid celebrity photography: playful, immediate, and deeply human.

This March, Sponder Gallery is making an unprecedented move, showcasing the work of internationally renowned artist Alex Katz in two concurrent locations—a testament to both the gallery’s influence and Katz’s enduring legacy in contemporary art. The two major exhibitions, one at The Boca Raton Tower at The Boca Raton resort and the other at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, will highlight the artist’s signature minimalist aesthetic. 

At its most potent, contemporary art functions as both an aesthetic investigation and an ontological inquiry; one that negotiates the boundaries between materiality and meaning, between the tangible and the metaphysical. In this tension lies the core of artistic practice: the act of constructing, deconstructing, and recontextualizing form to articulate new modes of perception. Sponder Gallery’s presentation at Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary exemplifies this dialectic, assembling a diverse group of artists whose practices explore the fluid interplay between abstraction and figuration, between formalist purity and conceptual rigor.

Through a synthesis of gesture, structure, and medium, these works collectively interrogate the aesthetic, social, and philosophical conditions of contemporary visual culture. From the gestural, Abstract Expressionist dynamism of Dan Christensen’s Red Riser (1991) to the spatial complexity of Max-Steven Grossman’s photographic bookscape compositions, the exhibition resists monolithic interpretations of contemporary practice, instead embracing an expanded field of artistic production that acknowledges historical legacies while challenging their limitations.

One of the defining features of this curatorial selection is its engagement with process and materiality as vehicles for expression. Gabriele Evertz’s There Will Be Singing (2017) and Doug Argue’s Untitled (2024) operate within distinct yet complementary systems of abstraction: while Evertz's chromatic linear structures adhere to a systematic logic of optical interaction, Argue’s layered arrangements of fish forms evoke an aleatory complexity reminiscent of linguistic patterning. These works, alongside Holton Rower’s poured compositions (1 AP 22 C, 2024), position painting as a space of both control and contingency, where chance and precision become inextricably linked.

Harold Garde (1923–2021) stands among the most significant post-war American painters, forging an artistic language that reflects a profound engagement with the ideas of Abstract Expressionism, Surrealism, and Constructivism. Born in New York and shaped by the turbulent climate of the World War II era—he served as a soldier before studying art under the G.I. Bill, Garde came of age in the immediate aftermath of the war, immersing himself in a milieu that privileged spontaneity, process, and a reimagining of form. 

Under the tutelage of pioneering figures such as George McNeil, a protégé of Hans Hofmann, and Ilya Bolotowsky, a leading voice in Russian Constructivism, Garde was exposed early on to both painterly gesture and structural rigor, elements that he sustained and enriched over more than seven decades of production.

In the dynamic world of luxury hospitality, the newly transformed Beach Club at the Boca Raton stands as a symbol of refined sophistication and cultural depth. Set against Florida’s famous Gold Coast, this iconic destination has not only elevated opulent leisure but also serves as a platform for contemporary artistic expression. At the core of this transformation is a thoughtfully curated art exhibition, "Tides & Textures", presented by Sponder Gallery, a Boca Raton institution celebrated for its discerning selection and dedication to visual excellence.

As we approach the 2024 Miami Art Week, Sponder Gallery of Boca Raton offers a curated selection of artists that embody a commitment to dialogues around artistic legacy, environmental awareness, and innovation. This year, the gallery’s exhibit brings together works that bridge historical and contemporary sensibilities, uniting artists across epochs to reflect both enduring traditions and forward-looking practices. Highlighting these themes, the exhibition calls on a rich roster of artists whose works resonate with themes of environmentalism, materiality, and cultural memory, demonstrating art’s power to transcend its own time.

The Sponder Gallery art fair roster includes significant figures like Doug Argue, Stanley Boxer, and Lynn Chadwick, whose foundational modernist practices anchor the exhibition and continue to inspire generations. Their contributions, alongside Dan Christensen, James Austin Murray, and Donald Martiny, reflect an era of rigorous experimentation and abstraction, laying the groundwork for today’s explorations in form and meaning.

However, Patrick Tagoe Turkson’s contributions stand out as a vital, contemporary expansion of these dialogues. Tagoe Turkson’s work brings an innovative ecological and cultural perspective. With each assemblage, Tagoe Turkson explores the relationship between environmental degradation and cultural memory, creating textured, patterned works that evoke the rhythms of textile traditions and address the socio-environmental impacts of global waste.

In a thrilling premiere, sculptor Scarlett Kanistanaux will be making her Art Miami 2024 debut with Boca Raton-based Sponder Gallery, offering a rare opportunity for South Florida collectors to experience her deeply spiritual work firsthand. Known for her evocative ceramic and bronze portraits inspired by Buddhist monastic life, Kanistanaux’s sculptures capture the serene dignity and quiet power of young monks and nuns—a resonant and timely choice for the culturally diverse art lovers of Miami.

For Kanistanaux, who hails from Erie, Colorado, this appearance with Sponder Gallery marks an exciting milestone in her career. Sponder Gallery has long been a fixture in South Florida's art scene, and this collaboration highlights the gallery's commitment to showcasing artists whose work resonates with universal themes. Kanistanaux’s introspective portraits align seamlessly with the gallery’s vision, creating an ideal fit for both artist and gallery.

Beverly Cuyler, Sponder Gallery Director, expressed enthusiasm for bringing Kanistanaux’s work to the prestigious Art Miami stage. "Scarlett's work touches on themes that are profoundly universal—compassion, introspection, and a quest for peace," said Cuyler. "We are thrilled to introduce her powerful sculptures to the Art Miami audience and share her vision of harmony and reflection with South Florida's passionate art collectors."

Minimal and Post-Minimal: Sculpture Beyond the White Cube by Annalisa Rimaudo 

What you see is what you see” declared Frank Stella (1936-2024) of his work, neatly summing up one of the central characteristics of Minimal Art, in contrast with the Abstract Expressionism that preceded it. If we are to take this phrase literally, what “we see” is essentially the work of male artists. When F. Stella started work on his radical black striped paintings in 1959, however, the Cuban artist Carmen Herrera (1915-2022) had already been producing striped acrylics since the early 1950s.

Minimal Art has undeniably been historicised as masculine, a bias that is evident when we look at the creators chosen by art history to represent the movement: they are the omnipresent characters of the time, part of an art scene structured by a powerful patriarchy. The movement has been theorized mainly by men and not only by artists, such as Donald Judd (1928-1994) and Robert Morris (1931-2018). The term itself was introduced by Robert Wollheim in his article “Minimal Art”, published in Arts Magazine in 1965, in which he analyses this then-dominant artistic movement as a fundamentally reductionist form, resting on ideas of non-intervention as applied to the found object and the essentialism of monochrome inherited from two great male artists, Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) and Ad Reinhardt (1913-1967).

Yet one cannot deny that women artists and critics are also protagonists here. And, though the qualifier “minimal” has historically been favoured over “ABC Art”, the term put forward by Barbara Rose, several women artists represented the movement, both “in” and “off” the scene, from its very beginnings.

The Kx2 exhibition Ripple Effect is on view at Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery 10/3-11/9

Deeply concerned with the urgent environmental issues facing our world, artist duo KX2 is excited to present "Ripple Effect" at the Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery. This exhibition is a culmination of their ongoing exploration into the fragile relationship between urbanization and the environment, focusing on critical themes such as water infrastructure, climate change, flooding and the diminishing access to potable water. Through this body of work, the artists aim to not only reflect upon the impact of climate change on infrastructure but also to provoke a dialogue about the future of our communities and our planet.
 

NEAR THE RIVERS THERE ARE MANY LARGE SPRINGS | MILENA ARANGO, DONNA RUFF, KX2 (RUTH AVRA AND DANA KLEINMAN)

Near the rivers there are many large springs is an exhibition that highlights the Florida landscape from the lenses of four South Florida artists that use historical elements, raw data, repurposed materials, and nature to create awareness of the changing environment in the area. Milena Arango’s leaf imprints on paper and textile using natural pigments extracted from the teak tree serve as a reflection of her personal journey. Her 197-feet long VTG (Vestigium Tectona Grandis) exposes traces of leaves and the effects of land and water from multiple landscapes. Donna Ruff’s interest in history and the tropical landscape led her to discover archival landscape photographs in a 1920’s book by John Kunkel Small.