St. Pete, FL

FloridaRAMA Project

The Illuminating Gaze, Sculptural Installation

Paul LeRoy Gheres’ diorama combines their love of art history with iconic Florida structures and stories. This FLORIDARAMA, drawing inspiration from Marcel Duchamp, invites guests to peer through holes in a wooden door. Upon peeking through this mysterious door, they will find an elaborate and glittering display portraying Andy Warhol’s trip to Miami, Florida to save art deco. The scene encased in the ever-recognizable Brillo Box mimics the historic photo of Warhol in front of what is now known as the Versace Mansion. Leroy says, “the idea for presenting this historic Andy Warhol moment was born from my interest in Paul Thek’s 1965 Meat Piece (a meat sculpture placed inside one of Warhol’s Brillo Boxes). LeRoy intended to capture the spiritual and religious themes found in the works of Warhol, Duchamp, and Thek through the FLORIDARAMA. By designing his diorama in a way that requires viewers to kneel down in order to see inside, they symbolically evoke the act of prayer in Catholicism.

Bio—
Paul LeRoy Gheres is an artist known by many pseudonyms (LeRoy “King of Art”, LeRoy More Hole, Lucky LeRoy and more), taking on characters to fully immerse themselves in their art. Originally from Greenville, PA, LeRoy moved to New York City to attend The Cooper Union and received a BFA in studio art. While in New York City, LeRoy earned their nickname “King of Art” after having illustrations published in Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine and The New Yorker in addition to designing for fashion designer Anna Sui for over a decade. In 2001, LeRoy decided to trade in their love of spray paint and the city for a new adventure in the nature of Pennsylvania, earning an MFA in Studio Art from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Upon moving to Florida in 2013, LeRoy felt that they found the best of both worlds in St. Pete: an inspirational cityscape surrounded by nature and the beach.

LeRoy’s work has been exhibited all over the country, including at The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Stonewall 25 and The Pittsburgh Biennial. Warhol, who worked out of his infamous studio “The Factory” in New York City, is one of LeRoy’s main inspirations for their artistic persona “LeRoy More Hole”. It is fitting that LeRoy’s practice currently resides in the arts campus known as The Factory St. Pete, where you can find them creating art and interacting with the public on any given day.

“Art is the basis of my mental health, I couldn’t survive without it, it transports me to comfort,” said LeRoy, “When I’m making my art I’m just completely at ease and it’s where I always want to be.”