PRESS RELEASE Of interest to editors and journalists covering: Art and Artists, Interior Design/Decorating, Entertainment, Florida Business News First Ever Collaboration Between Popular Artists Yields 'Soft Hardware' David Williams and Frank Strunk Integrate Distinctive Styles In Landmark Exhibition at Salt Creek Artworks ST. PETERSBURG, FL - Feb. 9, 2004 /Send2Press Newswire/ -- Florida-based artists David Williams and Frank Strunk today announced a new collaborative exhibit entitled "Soft HardWare," opening at Salt Creek Artworks in St. Petersburg on Friday, February 27th, 2004. "Soft HardWare" is comprised of 18 entirely new pieces created by Strunk and Williams during the past year (www.industrialiving.com). Each artist comes from a different discipline and background, bringing their own sharply defined style. The concept of the exhibition is to show how two very different artists combine their skills to produce a body of collaborative and individual work that conveys a common theme. Williams' award winning work is exhibited in museums and galleries across the country. He extracts images from magazines, television, advertising, and cyberspace, adapting them in his paintings and monoprints. He juxtaposes these images, layering them with vibrant colors and multiple painting styles that change the context of their original intent. His pieces are narratives of men and women, of how they view themselves and each other. "They are images of sex and power, or the lack of sex and power, manipulation and frustration," explains Williams. Strunk's industrial mixed media sculptures have turned heads in shows and galleries throughout the Southeast, taking varied forms including wall pieces, light fixtures, and kinetics. Galvanized steel and found objects are his signature materials. Layered sheets of metal and amorphous textures created by varying gradients of rust are implemented again and again to render his pieces. His kinetic work is punctuated by the gnashing and clanking of metal parts; a metaphor for the artist's observation that much of people's lives are a laborious routine. Strunk is enthusiastic about the Soft HardWare exhibition. "This show is a fertile collision of two vastly different styles and statements. I look at it all together and I'm really excited by it," he says. As friends for a number of years, they ve always respected each other's work and began this project with a sense of confidence and curiosity. Combining their styles provided each the challenge to integrate paintings with kinetics, making sophisticated choices of cutting through one artist's canvas to add the other s mechanisms. As a result, the pieces are technically advanced and the conceptual messages bold and honest, individually and as a series. Williams is equally proud of the effort. "I've worked on several collaborative projects over the past five years, but this time around the process seemed more honest. There was no hesitating or second-guessing each other. We knew what we wanted to achieve, and I believe we surpassed it," he said. "Soft HardWare" opens at Salt Creek Artworks on February 27th from 6:00-9:00pm and runs through Saturday, March 27th, 2004. The gallery is located at 1600 4th Street South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701 and is open Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-4pm. More information: http://www.industrialiving.com MEDIA CONTACTS: Frank Strunk axelgrease@verizon.net +1-727-322-2424 David Williams dwilli22@tampabay.rr.com +1-727-865-9532 /Note to editors: High-resolution preview images available for media use only at: http://www.industrialiving.com/preview.htm / # # # [ source of news = Markstrat Associates, Inc. ] ref: http://www.send2press.com/2archive/2004/pr_04_0209-markstrat.txt http://www.send2press.com/2archivePDF/pr_04_0209-markstrat.pdf --------------------------------------------------------------------------- *IMPORTANT NOTE TO MEDIA: to reach the organization releasing this news, please contact: axelgrease@verizon.net If used for publication, please send specimen copy. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- S2P-n/0c/ FL / St. Petersburg, Florida / Copr. (c) 2004 Send2Press. This release was issued on behalf of the above organization, who is solely responsible for accuracy of content, by Send2Press(tm), a unit of Neotrope(R). http://www.Send2Press.com .