Daily Loaf

Nova 535 has your Tuesday night covered with an Art Tweet Up and the Size Matters exhibit, which closes this week.

As if you had anything else to do on a Tuesday night besides watch Jeopardy reruns, NOVA provides all the incentive you need to get outta the house at their Art Tweet Up, with free hors d’oeuvres and a collection of artists and art-lovers to hang out with. C’mon; Alex Trebek can wait ’til next Tuesday. Size Matters is an exhibit of large works that play on the idea of size, with pieces by more than 20 Florida artists, including local faves BlueLucy, Frank Strunk III, Hugsmugglers, Tes One, Bask and others. The works are on display through Aug. 21. (Pictured: a Tes One spray paint on wood painting, weighing in at a whopping 10′x11′) Art Tweet Up, Tue., Aug. 18, 6-10 p.m., NOVA 535 Art Lounge, 535 Ninth St. N., St. Petersburg. free, nova535.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to Radar, where we run down the up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. Today’s edition is a fundraising dance party at St. Pete’s trendy new art spot, Nova 535.

This weekend, Nova 535 art lounge hosts Everybody Dance!, a Studio 54-style all night dance party to honor the life of Dr. John Barnett and raise funds for CLIP, the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Lately, Nova has received accolades for everything from best new art space to it’s world-class restrooms (the birch and travertine-covered restroom suites offer a “luxurious, no-touch bathroom experience,” often necessitating bouncers to enforce the, uh, “no-touch” part of the experience when randy couples discover those private bathrooms). Nova’s recent shindigs include the indie kid-approved Size Matters art show and the American Idol-esque Big Bang Gong Show — and tonight promises to continue the tradition of rockin’ events. Whether you dig disco, dance or rock ‘n’ roll, DJ CK kicks out the jams to keep you on the floor. (Pictured: The crowd mingles at Nova’s most recent art show, Size Matters, by CL contributor Denis Baldwin) Aug. 8, Sat., 9 p.m., Nova 535 Art Lounge, 535 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N., St. Petersburg, $35, nova535.com. — Franki Weddington

With images pulled from pop culture of both today and yesterday, Size Matters took over Nova 535 on Friday night. The Vitale Brothers were the stars of the show, with a supporting cast of artists who brought their insight and character to the exhibit. A complete list of artists, plus photos of artwork and partygoers after the break:

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Tes One’s spray-paint-on-wood painting measures 10-ft. by 11-ft.

You know what they say: when the going gets tough, the tough get…bigger?

Despite the ongoing economic malaise—which seems to find Florida in a particularly compromising position—St. Petersburg artist and art party impresario John Vitale isn’t giving up. Though the muralist and owner of Vitale Studio recently downsized out of a company warehouse that doubled as an art gallery, his response to tough times is simply to take the show on the road.

All the way downtown to Nova 535, that is.

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