Aquatic Life for Landlubbers

You have an unbreakable bond with the sea, which is precisely why you contend with the often unnerving frustrations created by coastal living, like expensive real estate and billowing homeowner’s insurance premiums. Only to make matters more baffling, those financial pitfalls are keeping you from doing what you love most: scavenging the sea for interesting specimens. (Gassing up the boat is expensive, bro.)

Today you can get reacquainted with the underwater kingdom while keeping your feet on dry land at newest exhibits at Old School Square’s Cornell Museum (51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach), “Paintings Beneath the Sea by Jason Mathias,” and “The Maritime Art of James A. Flood.” A graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design, Jason Mathias blends his love of aquaculture with his artful tutelage (see a review in Artbeat). He begins by videotaping the strangely beautiful fish he encounters during snorkeling and diving expeditions, then he studies their structures and unique forms and recreates them on brilliantly colorful canvases. Aqua-lovers have been taking note; Mathias was recently selected as the featured artist for the International Game Fish Association museum and hall of fame. Now, you can see his latest works, along with Flood’s (who, with a name like Flood, was born to be a maritime artist) through August 30. Tickets cost $6 and under; at least one thing in your life is still affordable.
July 17-Aug. 21, 2008