According to some historical legend, 16th century Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon made a remarkable discovery in Yucatan, Mexico: the Fountain of Youth.
This is a pool of water so restorative that the consumption of the native potion could, as documented by writers and contemporary historians of Ponce de Leon’s years, work miracles as it rejuvenated the bodies of aged men.
Yet as time has and will continue to tell, this myth, like many others, maintains its breath in the push and pull between hope and reality.
Such conflicting dynamic lies at the heart of “The Quest for the Fountain of Youth in Florida History, Mythology and Art,” an art exhibition at the Thomas Center’s main gallery through June 22.
The exhibition presents a group of artworks created by contemporary Florida artists that excavate numerous interpretations of the Fountain of Youth’s relationship to the sunshine state. A project that distinguishes the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon’s arrival to Florida shores, it is part of a statewide commemoration of this important event.
The majority of the artwork showcased was completed specifically for this project and was selected according to artist proposals that best fit the exhibition’s inquiry. From painting to photography and realism to abstraction, the 62 original artworks on display affirm that the subject of youth is merely a concept relative to beholders and open to interpretation.
The exhibition was organized with five themes: history/documentation, continuation, popular culture, mythology and geology. Each of these themes is introduced with a text panel that explains to visitors the ways in which the selected ideas not only connect the Fountain of Youth to the state of Florida but also provide open-ended prompts for artistic translation.
What really stands out within the exhibition is a collection of artworks which are unpredictably harmonious in their perception of the Fountain of Youth’s possibilities.
Cultural Affairs Programs Coordinator for the city of Gainesville Department of Parks and Recreation and Cultural Affairs, Russell Etling oversees the programming of the Thomas Center galleries.
Etling said Mallory O’Connor, curator of the “The Quest for the Fountain of Youth in Florida History,” had been organizing this exhibition for a couple of years.
Funded by the Florida Humanities Council, this exhibition is intended to be a catalyst for questioning ways in which Florida’s history and cultural identity shape public perceptions of the state.
“The artworks in the exhibition are quite diverse — from very traditional, exquisite oil paintings to mobiles of found objects to digital displays,” Etling said. “And the themes are also broad — from historical subjects to wonderful photographs, such as those by Gary Monroe of senior citizens exercising on the beach.”
Other highlights of “The Quest for the Fountain of Youth in Florida History” include, but are certainly not limited to, Gainesville artist Margaret Ross Tolbert’s enormous oil and canvas composition entitled “Silver Glen Well” (2012), a delectably abstract painting engulfed by a rich wash of aqua hues affixed to the canvas by sweeping brushstrokes.
The work shares a wall with two acrylic paintings by artist John Wilton of DeLand. Using a much cleaner, pop-inspired technique, Wilton’s paintings “Searching” and “Finding” employ the silhouette of a scuba diver adrift in a concept of the unknown, which is posited both below and above the water’s surface. Such works are a few of the many examples of visual diversity presented within the exhibition.
“The thing about Florida is that people have been coming here for decades to kind of refine their youth and stay young,” Etling said. “So even though there isn’t an actual fountain, there is a metaphorical one in what Florida means to people.”
“The Quest for the Fountain of Youth in Florida History, Mythology and Art” was curated by Mallory O’Connor of Oconnorart, LLC and ran as a collaborative with an exhibition hosted at the Doris Bardon Community Cultural Center in Gainesville. A traveling show composed of 30 works selected from the two exhibitions is also planned to tour throughout Florida this year.
