OXH Gallery Setting the Stage for Women Artists in the Heart of  Tampa

In dialogue
Motherhood Mediated installation view, courtesy OXH Gallery

Odeta Xheka, an artist, curator, and mother, has been an avid advocate for women in the fine arts. Her latest endeavor is an ambitious and exciting one, as she opened OXH Gallery in the heart of Tampa’s Ybor City Historic District just a few months ago. I’m sitting down with Odeta to discuss her new gallery, her mission, exciting collaborations, and the current two-person show Time Shards, which will be on view through March 20th, 2025.

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L.W.D: Rooted in LA

In Dialogue
Courtesy of the artist

L.W.D. sees himself as an observer of modern society—a world that has, in many ways, passed him by over the last three decades. L.W.D.’s work is rooted in the assertion of his personal identity within the fractured American society. His art reflects the painful shift from childhood to adulthood, a transformation that feels almost brutal, marked by the loss of innocence in the face of America’s historical realities. His perspective of the American way of life, capturing both the disappointments and fleeting joys, recalls the social commentary of Philip Guston—particularly in the simplicity of his cityscapes, yet with a distinctive handwriting, palette, and choice of subjects. L.W.D.’s visual language fuses the emotional character originating from blues lyrics and the iconic symbolism of Roy Lichtenstein’s pop art. Working within the tradition of the naive picturesque narrative, L.W.D. incorporates the humor of a comic book while maintaining his focus on the historical and the social.

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T.D. Motley: The Art of Farming

In Dialogue

Thomas Motley’s first novel, The Art of Farming: Sketches of a Life in the Country, is rooted in stewardship—a shared responsibility for the earth, animals, and one another. This theme has become more central to his paintings over time, though respect for nature has always been part of his work. His non-fiction writing and lectures on organic farming have also reflected this idea.

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Margaret Koval: The Uncanny Valley of Everyday Life at ArtWRKD

In Dialogue
Margaret Koval in her studio. Photo courtesy of Kate Hammett.

The paintings in Margaret Koval’s latest exhibition, The Uncanny Valley of Everyday Life, capture a sense of disorientation—recognizable urban and suburban scenes where something is slightly off. They are rich in color and composition, drawing viewers in with pleasing views, yet an underlying unease lingers. Like waking up to find someone has rearranged your furniture overnight, they create a feeling of estrangement within the familiar.

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Eileen Ferara at Guttenberg Arts

In dialogue

the Immense Activity of Being Alive II, 20 x 26 in, Lithograph with watercolor and colored pencil

During her time at Guttenberg Arts Residency (STAR), Eileen Ferara spent much time in the Gutten Garden, an urban community garden maintained by the organization. The plants—fruits we eat and companion plants we call weeds—became the focus of her drawings. She collected soil, seeds, and leaves, bringing bits of the garden into the studio to keep that connection alive. The Guttenberg Residency offers three months of access to professional workspaces for printmaking and ceramics. Eileen used goldenrod and indigo plants to dye paper for her prints. In the print shop, she worked through the process of stone lithography, gaining a hands-on understanding of the medium.

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Heather Cox: Roundels at Hudson Guild

In Dialogue
Artist Heather Cox at Guild Gallery II. Photo by Monika Graff

Heather Cox, a sculptor and photographer, discovered an unexpected medium in snapshots. Years ago, when she had her camera film developed, the 1-hour photo lab often provided double prints. Over time, these duplicates, along with countless other photos, accumulated in boxes. Unable to part with them, they lingered in storage—until the COVID pandemic brought a sudden shift.

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A Glimpse into Elza Kayal Gallery: with Eniko Imre

In Dialogue
Gallerist Eniko Imre with the artwork (photo by David X. Levine). Artwork: Katie Heller Saltoun, Endless Ordering (Virgin Mary Cupboard), 2020, ink wash & pen on paper, 51.5” x 77”

Throughout her fifteen years in the art world—spanning fairs, events, curation, and non-profits—Eniko Imre built her career on a deep passion for art, a close-knit community of artists, and the trust many placed in her discerning eye. A year after COVID, during a visit to Tribeca, she was struck by the neighborhood’s burgeoning gallery scene. “Small one-woman spaces were thriving alongside multinational galleries, the blocks around Broadway bursting with art,” she recalls. Inspired by this wave of reemergence, she felt determined to carve her own path and be a part of it—on her own terms.

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In and Out of Lineage: Tracing Artistic Heritage Through SUNY New Paltz Faculty 

Eva Zanardi, the guest curator of the group show—In and Out of Lineage: Tracing Artistic Heritage Through SUNY New Paltz Faculty—observes that many times in her life, art has raised her awareness and consequently even made her reconsider her point of view on important issues. Zanardi says that the prerogative that should belong to most art is to be thought-provoking; as the educator and activist Cezar A. Cruz says, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” Eva Zanardi shared some of her curatorial process and gave us here a brief guide through the show.

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Erica Stoller: Find and Form

in dialogue

Outcropping, Erica Stoller’s recent solo show at A.I.R. Gallery, which ran through November 10th, utilized cardboard cuttings, formerly boxes, and packaging, as its exclusive material. When walking through the gallery, one noticed the show has three sections– a corner piece that covers two walls, floor to ceiling, a grid of individual cardboard compositions hung on the wall and a third “sandwiches” station that allowed viewers to pick up layered cardboard batches. Proceeds from the sale of the “sandwiches” go to Feeding America. An interesting survey of installation art—a site-specific installation, painting-like works on a wall, and an interactive piece. Stoller often works with space in curious ways. In Item # 25-033, her 2022 solo show at A.I.R. Gallery, she created a single wall-to-wall installation using Manilla rope and elastic bands. The rope cut through the gallery space, creating framed planes between ceiling pipes, wall hooks, and the floor.

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