About
Bran Palmer
Born in Cleveland, Ohio
Lives & works in Tampa Bay, Florida
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CV
Education
MFA, Painting, 2021 - Present
Savannah College of Art & Design
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MA, Arts Leadership, 2010-2012
Savannah College of Art & Design
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MA, Journalism, 2003-2005
University of South Florida
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BA, Visual Arts, 1994-1996
Eckerd College
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Grants & Awards
1990 - Art Exchange with St. Petersburg, Russia
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Exhibitions & Festivals
• 2021 - “Sweet Sensations”, Morean Art Center, St. Petersburg, Florida
• 2021 - The Gallery at Studio Grand Central, The Off-Central Players, St. Petersburg, Florida
• 2014 - “New Work”, City of Imagination, Gulfport, Florida
• 2014 - “Building Myths: Desecrating Histories”, City of Imagination, Gulfport, Florida
• 2011 - “Monotype/Monoprint Invitational Exhibition”, Elliott Gallery, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg,
Florida
• 2010 - “Works on Paper, The Juried Art Show", Studio@620, St. Petersburg, Florida
• 2009 - “ArtPool Foundation Show”, ArtPool, St. Petersburg, Florida
• 2008 - “Eckerd College Major Alumni Exhibition”, Elliott Gallery, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL
• 2008 - “Members Exhibition at the Morean Art Center”, Morean Art Center, St. Petersburg, Florida
• 2008 - “The Print Show”, Studio@620, St. Petersburg, Florida
• 2007 - “Ringling School of Art & Design Alumni Show”, Sarasota, Florida
• 2004 - “Eckerd College Alumni Show”, Elliott Gallery, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida
• 1995 - “Seventh Annual All Florida Spring Juried Exhibition”, The Arts Center, St. Petersburg, Florida
• 1995 - “Selections at Gallery at 145”, Gallery at 145, St. Petersburg, Florida
• 1995 - “ArtBanc Presents”, Tampa Bay, Florida, Locations
• 1994 - “National Juried Show: All Beliefs Accepted, Visual Representations of the Spiritual”, Artists
Unlimited, Tampa, Florida
• 1994 - “National Juried Show: Black, White, Yellow, Red: Colors of a Nation”, Artists Unlimited, Tampa, Florida
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Artist Statement
Not every mushroom is poisonous. I present the story of the overlooked and the underfoot in the form of the humble fungus, neither plant nor animal, sometimes beautiful, often toxic, and always resilient, as a metaphor for survival and subversion among the many, common and small.
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My work asks for consideration for these subversive, sometimes-toxic Beauties of cautionary tales who are clever, stand up for themselves, drive the Beast over the edge, and manage to survive. I examine the common but diminutive fungi, found popping up in surprising numbers, conspicuously after a rainstorm or wound around the roots of towering trees, often brightly-colored, delicate and delicious looking despite being deadly if ingested.
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The strawberry polka-dotted umbrellas of the Fly Amanita mushroom invite us to take a taste of something resembling a fancy cocktail. Yet, Amanita has spent so much time evolving to sip heavy metals like vanadium from the soil that it has cultivated toxicity, perhaps as a side effect of cleaning up environmental and industrial messes, or perhaps as a kind of self-defense, a poisonousness that is protection from being eaten. These sometimes-toxic beauties of cautionary tales have their own stories to tell.