The Orlando Museum of Art is giving visitors a fresh way to see its 12th Annual Florida Prize in Contemporary Art: a new look at how this year’s artists borrow from art history to say something new.
The museum’s latest exhibition feature explores the many ways contemporary artists turn to the past for inspiration. Some quote a specific historical painting directly. Others revive age-old symbols, adopt the techniques of an entire art movement, or rework imagery passed down through generations across the globe.
One standout example is Francisco Masó’s The Coronation of Gladiolus (2026), whose gold leaf and narrow vertical paneling echo Jacques-Louis David’s famous The Coronation of Napoleon. Masó replaces the imperial scene with the Damas de Blanco, a group of Cuban women marching silently in white while holding gladiolus flowers.
Elsewhere in the show, Ema Ri’s floral still lifes draw on Baroque vanitas paintings and Roman memento mori art; Danish-American artist Mette Tommerup drags her canvases across sand, rock, and ocean water, linking Color Field painting with the Italian Arte Povera movement; and Jessy Nite blends traditional basketry and knotting techniques with her own sculptural methods.
It all adds up to a joyful reminder that the past is alive in today’s art — and there’s no better place to spot the connections than in the gallery itself. The 12th Annual Florida Prize in Contemporary Art remains on view at the Orlando Museum of Art.
Photo: Orlando Museum of Art (Zaire Aranguren)
