The Ringling museum gives familiar pieces room to breathe

A second gallery contains instantly recognizable works: Thomas Struth's ironic photograph of museumgoers unconsciously emulating the art from his famous Museum series; a Chuck Close photorealist portrait composed of his signature fingerprints; a Philip Guston nude; a Louise Nevelson cast wall sculpture; and a Richard Serra drawing of his dark, curving forms that he has interpreted on a grand scale in metal.

The Mystery of the Blind Lemon is a provocative title for a Larry Bell painting that has its own elements of mystery, technically. It refers to Blind Lemon Jefferson, a well-known blues musician of the early 20th century whose life was something of a cypher. Bell incorporates his trademark fascination of reflective surfaces with subtly embedded metallic particles that cast an eerie glow, more so when combined with an airbrush effect.


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