Work by Linda Stein

While Florida is known for glorious sunshine and tropical weather, those conditions didn't exist this winter. It is grey and cold a lot of the time. What is consistent, however, is the art: bright and hot, like the climate should be.

There are other distinctive qualities that define local art in Florida, distinguishing it greatly from our own East End aesthetics. It is mostly colorful, bold and decorative - formal traits that might be frowned upon here in the Hamptons. Yet the emphasis on texture, materials, layering and collage gives a vitality to the work that's energizing and often arresting.

Lo and behold, East Ender sculptor Linda Stein is currently in a group show at Longstreth-Golberg Art in Naples, a large space that's as big and bold as its art. The venue is impressive for many reasons, but mainly because it makes a salient statement in its industrial location far from Naples' affluent Fifth Avenue. (It's like the difference between Manhattan's Madison Avenue and Chelsea.)

Even so, gallery director Peg Longstreth-Goldberg has selected diverse pieces that are subtle and substantial in their own way. Good examples are Stein's familiar torsos of knights, particularly well known in New York. They not only represent the material aspect of Florida art, but also signify the artist's signature work. Especially outstanding is one that's a collage, framed in a glass case. The paper scraps celebrate the art of calligraphy, perhaps derived from Stein's own collection. And while the sculpture possesses Stein's recurring idea of strength and majesty, it is delicate and vulnerable as well. Could the work also introduce another focus concerning medieval knights: the concept of intellect (writing)?