“… in order to achieve abstraction, I thought it was important to find a graphic system that would allow me to codify a reality rather than represent it.” Jesús Rafael Soto
Soto: The Houston Penetrable
Jesús Rafael Soto stands in one of his signature Penetrables in 1975. | Image courtesy of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Houston Penetrable has been a project approximately 10 years in the making. Jesús Rafael Soto was a true pioneer whose contributions to the Kinetic Art movement in France and Venezuela gained him international recognition since the 1960s. In 2004, I had the pleasure of inviting the maestro in Houston for the opening of Inverted Utopias, an exhibition that prominently featured his yellow Penetrable outside the museum. That piece was a hit with audiences, with people interacting with it at all hours of the day and it was at that time that we began to discuss a site-specific installation for the MFAH. Soto proposed a work beyond the scope of his previous investigations. This penetrable was his largest to date, and it incorporated in its design a virtual shape of a yellow ellipsis. The architecture, production, and arrangement of the tubes required years of design and testing. Unfortunately, the Venezuelan master did not live long enough to see his work to completion, but we worked with the Atelier Soto, architect Paolo Carrozzino, and producer Walter Pellevoisin to create the piece as he initially conceived it. This is a site-specific environment, designed to be experienced bodily by the viewer. Truly, it is the viewer’s experience that completes the work. I see the reactions have varied tremendously in terms of the memories stirred up by the installation and the metaphors different viewers use to describe their experiences. But with each person I speak, she or he shares a sense of delight and surprise. Even from those who feel a bit claustrophobic by being in the space. And children love it!! Their laughter cheerfully echoes throughout the building. Having experienced various works from Soto’s Penetrable series, I was certain that the Houston Penetrable would be popular. But the response this summer (2014) surpassed my expectations. The work attracted over 120,000 visits in the course of only three months, making it one of the most popular exhibitions at the MFAH in recent years. Some families visited repeatedly throughout the summer. Bill Davenport, artist and editor of Houston’s Glasstire said the Soto is “like a thousand-armed babysitter.” Also, there has been over 10,000 photo posts from the show by visitors using the hashtag #SotoSummer—no other show on record has such a strong social media presence. The Houston Penetrable occupies one of most central and iconic exhibition spaces of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, so we cannot afford to keep the piece up indefinitely. However, the work was designed by Soto to be regularly shown—it is the only site-specific, permanent piece the artist designed. We plan to show it perennially, perhaps every summer or so. Especially as we expect interest in experiencing the piece only to continue to grow. Accompanying the installation was an exhibition nearby of eight exemplary pieces from the various phases and series of Soto’s career—including his Plexiglas boxes, and selections from his Agujas (Needles), Ambivalencias (Ambivalences), and Vibraciones (Vibrations) series. These works emphasize the artist’s specific contributions to Kinetic art, giving Museum visitors an understanding of the totality and complexity of ideas expressed by the Houston Penetrable. Soto’s Penetrables have been installed around the world over the past 50 years, from the Museo Soto in Ciudad Bolívar,Venezuela, in 1973; to the rotunda of the Guggenheim Museum in 1974; to MALBA - Fundación Costantini in Buenos Aires in 2003; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in 2011.The Penetrables have come to define the fully immersive art experience for generations of participants.
Mari Carmen Ramírez is the Wortham Curator of Latin American Art and Director of the International Center for the Arts of the Americas at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Ms. Ramírez has dedicated her career to the study of Latin American art at museums and institutions in Texas and Puerto Rico. She has received multiple awards for curatorial excellence and in 2005 TIME magazine named her one of the twenty-five most influential Hispanics in America.
Soto: The Houston Penetrable Soto proposed a work beyond the scope of his previous investigations. This penetrable was his largest to date, and it incorporated in its design a virtual shape of a yellow ellipsis. The architecture, production, and arrangement of the tubes required years of design and testing. Unfortunately, the Venezuelan master did not live long enough to see his work to completion.
all Images courtesy of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Jesús Rafael Soto (June 5,1923 - January 14,2005) was aVenezuelan op and kinetic artist,a sculptor and a painter. Works by Jésus Rafael Soto are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, NewYork; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NewYork;Tate Gallery, London; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires; the Jésus Rafael Soto Museum of Modern Art, Ciudad Bolívar,Venezuela; Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; and at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Soto was also influenced by the work of artists Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich, especially in their treatment of geometry and abstraction. Wassily Kandinsky’s text Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1912) was an important resource for the young artist, as he began making works which suggested movement and instability. In 1947, when László Moholy-Nagy’s book Vision in Motion was published, Soto found another resource to support his ideas about movement and the spectator. By the 1960s, he was immersed in projects in which he used almost no color but, instead, explored the vibrations created by line and its dematerialization (through the inclusion of hanging elements). He also began exploring the idea of haptic art: making works to be touched by the viewer. The most widely known example of this phase of his work are the Penetrables, interactive metal and plastic structures through which the viewer moves; Soto created his first Penetrable in 1967. In an interview of 1970, Soto said, “With penetrables, my most recent creations, this participation becomes tactile, even often auditory. Man interacts with his surroundings. Matter, time and space form a true trinity, and movement is the force which demonstrates the trinity.”*
Paolo Carrozzino (left) and Dale Benson in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, art-storage facility with a test hang of the Houston Penetrable. Photography by Carrithers Studio.
Inside Jesús Rafael Soto’s Houston Penetrable, 2004-14 | lacquered aluminum structure, PVC tubes and water-based silkscreen ink, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Museum purchase with funds provided by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund. © Estate of Jesús Rafael Soto | Photography by Carrithers Studio *Source Sicardi Gallery | www.sicardigallery.com
Experience one of Jon Glaser’s spell-binding landscapes and you’ll discover that the photographer’s emotional connection to his subject matter makes his work come to life. With a keen artistic eye and poetic framing of moments that are fleeting, Glaser conveys the grandeur of nature in an evocative way that transports the viewer to the instance where the image was taken. “I love capturing a moment in time.There is something fascinating about the movement of clouds streaking across the sky or waves pounding on the shore,” Glaser observes. From the arid deserts of the American Southwest, to the foggy rain forests of the Pacific Northwest, the frigid Canadian wilderness and Iceland’s primordial terrain, Glaser has crisscrossed the continent and beyond to capture both the tranquility and untamable forces of nature in sweeping, often panoramic compositions that strike one with their inherent visual power.“I travel to National Parks, mostly out west,” says the artist. “I have been to Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Olympic and Glacier in the U.S. and Banff in Canada. I also ventured to the Smoky Mountains, Death Valley, the coastlines of Maine and Oregon, and Iceland, the greenest of lands,” he explains before adding that the Nordic country known for its active volcanoes is one of the most unusual locations he has ever photographed.“I’ve never seen a place as surreal as Iceland,” mention Glaser. “Going there was like stepping back in time. Although the landscape didn’t have an abundance of trees, everything was covered in an endless carpet of moss and vibrantly green as far as you could see.” The 49 year old Glaser was born in California’s San Fernando Valley where early in life he discovered a love for creating pictures. “I first picked up a camera when I was 10 years old, and spent my teenage years behind the lens, until graduating from high school where I worked at the campus’ newspaper shooting football games and other events on assignment.” He says his parents offered support for his budding enthusiasm with a camera. “Like most parents, mine always encouraged me,” Glaser fondly recollects. “In fact, they were the ones who suggested I turn part of the laundry room into a darkroom. So, I did! I was about 12 years old at the time and took it upon myself to move everything out, including our second refrigerator. It took a while and lots of pillows, but I accomplished my mission. It was hard to accomplish by myself but when I was done I had my first ever darkroom”.
Not in Kansas Anymore | Photography, Inkjet print 2012 | Teton National Park, Wyoming
Jon Glaser’s Spell-Binding Landscapes Carlos Suarez de Jesus, Art Critic
Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Olympic Glacier Smoky Mountains, Death Valley, The coastlines of Maine and Oregon, Banff, Canada and Iceland, the greenest of lands
www.imagesbyjonevan.com
In 1989, his family moved to South Florida and that same year he was accepted to attend New York University where he went on to earn a degree at the school’s College of Dentistry. After Graduating, Glaser returned to Boca Raton where he built a thriving practice over the next 15 years.“While practicing dentistry, I used my photography skills to document cases, but never had any excitement towards the art-form until I took a vacation in May of 2009,” he says. But apparently Glaser never gave up his passion for photography and his love for the genre was reawakened during his honeymoon with his new bride in Sedona, Arizona.“ I took a camera with me and began taking pictures of the natural surroundings. That trip lit a fire under me and I began pursuing photography again seriously,” adds Glaser, who soon became inspired by others to continue honing his craft and creating stunning landscape imagery. “I really like the work of a few local photographers, Jack Wild and Lee Gordon, as well as nationally known Nikon Ambassador Vincent Versace,” informs the artist. “Digital is the only way I shoot. It allows me the luxury of taking many exposures without the cost of film or exposure to toxic chemicals,” he says. Typically Glaser says he takes upwards of 300 to 400 exposures of his favorite places before the moment light and form combine in a split-second frame that brings to mind an eternity trapped in amber. Look at his beguiling images such as Power Stream, Ocean Bloom or Tranquility and Still and their evocative beauty conjure the divinity and transformative power of our environment. “I like to listen to music when I’m photographing,” mentions Glaser. “For me photography has become very therapeutic. I really enjoy listening to the Last of the Mohicans’ soundtrack when I’m working and often become so engrossed with what I’m doing I almost expect to see Daniel Day Lewis running in slow motion through a field in front of me,” laughs the artist.
Won’t Let Go | Photography, InkJet Print 2014 I Carrabelle, Florida
Jon Glaser’s Spell-Binding Landscapes
imagesbyjonevan.com
It’s almost as if Glaser takes upon himself the role of a conductor to patiently tease the majesty of nature from his subject matter at the precise moment of peak resonance.“My photographs reflect an affinity for movement and sound; the latter reminiscent of a song, starting calmly, building strength, power and energy, until the shutter releases and the image is recorded as the ultimate crescendo. I love to create images that showcase both the beauty of nature, and the relationship between color and light that give the viewer a “sense of place” he concludes. Nature – as with a painting or sculpture – only becomes significant when we make an active connection with it. Like a canvas in a gallery, a landscape or aspect of the natural comes to life in the eyes of the people who look at it.
I Feel Cloudy| Photography, Inkjet Print 2013 | Banff National Park, Canada
The De La Cruz’s Igniting Miami’s Culture
Image courtesy Liam Crotty Photography | www.liamcrotty.com
There’s no denying that Miami is on the midst of a tectonic cultural transformation. Last year our city embraced the Perez Art Museum Miami on the shores of Biscayne Bay in a breathtaking building designed by award-winning Swiss architects, Herzog & De Meuron, with great fanfare. The Magic City is also home to major collections owned by Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, Mera and Don Rubell, Ella Fontanals Cisneros and Martin Margulies. Wynwood’s graffiti murals and galleries and the burgeoning Downtown Miami art scene have made a lasting impact on our cultural community as have other institutions such as Cannonball and Young Arts Miami. And the presence each December of Art Basel Miami Beach and dozens of satellite fairs that convert all of South Florida into a sprawling county-wide installation during Miami Art Week and draws legions of art world glitterati to our region, contributes to our role as a major player on the international stage if only for a brief moment. But if you ask an emerging crop of homegrown artists and their educators who is making the largest footprints in efforts to build an enduring infrastructure for Miami’s cultural future they’ll likely tell you it’s the de la Cruz Collection and Contemporary Art Space and its founders, Rosa and Carlos.That’s because since opening their space in the Design District back in 2009, the Miami power couple and uber-collectors have sponsored vital learning programs that take local students on study trips to New York City and Europe in an unmatched educational initiative that’s drawing raves from local arts schools
Natasha Kertes Photography | www.natashakertes.com
current climate is the lack of funding for arts education and the paucity of options for young people eager to pursue a career in the arts. “One of the issues behind that is that in the current American landscape the wealthy are becoming wealthier while the middle class is sinking deeper into poverty. Here in Miami some believe that we developing into an anti-intellectual community and never want to admit our problems,” she said. Although de la Cruz says that the presence of Art Basel Miami Beach has had a positive impact on South Florida’s cultural development, local universities need to create graduate programs and that our local museum’s need The de la Cruz Collection currently has several educational travel programs in to build up their permanent collections that are often overshadowed by the superior partnership with the Knight Foundation that are leaving an indelible mark on the future quality of the private collections in town. “Many people here feel that because of the of local arts students. In the NWSA Summer Travel Program the school’s Bachelor’s presence of Basel and the galleries in Wynwood, Miami has transformed into a world Fine Arts graduates travel to Europe where they have visited the Venice Biennale, Rome, class art center. But the truth is that Basel is only here for five days in December and Florence, Berlin, Barcelona, Kassel and Sienna in recent years. As part of the DASH while tourist may enjoy seeing the graffiti in Wynwood our museums still lack cohesive Takes Manhattan Pre-College Program dozens of students from Miami’s Design and collections,” de la Cruz observes. Architecture Senior High School (DASH) have spent three weeks touring New York City in collaboration between the de la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space, “There’s no denying that we live in a beautiful city, but for the most part all we do here the School of Visual Arts in New York and DASH the past five years. During a recent is celebrate ourselves and create these fantasies. For us to be respected as a true art afternoon scores of young participants from both programs, their teachers and school capital on a global stage we must first create and enduring educational infrastructure to administrators, crowded into the de la Cruz Collection main gallery where they huddled support our emerging talent,’ she adds. For his part, Snitzer, who has had a front row around Rosa as if she was their mother hen. “I think it’s important for young people to seat as an inside observer to the Miami art community’s growing pains for close to four travel and see lots of art as part of their formal education,” de la Cruz explains. “It decades, says that the de la Cruz’s socially conscious contributions are paving the way amazes me that some of our students have not had the opportunity for a new generation of rising Miami talent to succeed. “When we go on these trips, to visit Art Basel Miami Beach or travel outside the city” she said. whether it’s to Berlin, Paris or the Venice Biennale, she goes out of her way to deliver a Afterwards the philanthropist mentioned that one her concerns for in our society’s top class experience. and teachers. “Rosa’s educational contributions are extremely unique in our community. She is supporting our young artist first with her money and resources and physically by taking all of my students, every senior in our BFA graduating class the past several years, on study trips to Europe. She really puts her money where her mouth is,” says Fredric Snitzer who teaches sculpture at the New World School of the Arts (NWSA) and is also a long-time Miami arts dealer.
Rosa De La Cruz, Noor Blazekovic and Ibett Yanez during photoshoot.
For Rosa, the acquisition of works is less rewarding than the ability to foster a thriving local arts culture. With that in mind, the de la Cruzes have also established residencies for artists and invited them to create site-specific installations. The De La Cruz Collection is located at 23 NE 41st St. Miami, FL delacruzcollection.org.
Natasha Kertes Photography | www.natashakertes.com
Image courtesy Liam Crotty Photography | www.liamcrotty.com
De La Cruz Collection it’s all handled by a very positive team, with a tremendous passion to help and educate: above: Ibett Yanez (Director), Daniel Clapp, Juan Gonzalez, Melissa Wallen and Carlos Ascurra. Admision is free of charge.
These students, some of which have never been on a plane or traveled outside of Miami before, don’t sleep on the floor of a hostel when they arrive in Europe,” Snitzer says. “Rosa makes sure they are staying in the finest hotels and having great dinners in the best restaurants. She is also tireless when giving tours of the museums and collections and also uses her vast network of contacts to make sure the students are met by museum directors, curators and artists when we visit. A good example of her far-reaching influence is that when we recently visited Paris, Rosa was able to organize a tour for us at the new Louis Vuitton Foundation designed by Frank Gehry before it opened to the public or anyone else saw it and I have to tell you it was an amazing experience,” he says. What Snitzer and other educators and academic administrators also find astounding is the knowledge the de la Cruz’s display while acting as tour guides for local students during their jaunts to New York or Europe and their ability to leverage their influence to make certain students participating in their programs are treated like royalty. “Because of Rosa and Carlos hundreds of our students have been able to enjoy life-altering experiences in NYC and encounter its incredible cultural resources, many of which many have never had these opportunities under other circumstances,” says Dr. Stacey Mancuso, the principal at DASH. “Rosa is relentless in her determination to help South Florida arts students and her educational study programs are unique in all of Miami-Dade County. She not only funds these initiatives but Rosa and Carlos serve as tour guides on these three-week trips and are both expert tour guides,” Mancuso says. “Afterwards our students receive three college credits upon completing their visits. The de la Cruz’s are phenomenal advocates for these students who are selected and they make sure they want for nothing while visiting NYC as part of the program, making sure no child goes unattended,” the DASH principal adds. These days Rosa de la Cruz is seeing the seeds of her efforts to provide a solid platform for Miami students to compete on the global art world stage bear fruit and can’t imagine a greater reward she says. “When we take these students to see the Sistine Chapel in Rome or the David in Florence, they become thirsty for learning. What excites and inspires me is that when we travel with these students to the catacombs of Rome, to Sienna, to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, which was part of the pilgrim trail, or France’s Chartres Cathedral, you can see on their faces that they are experiencing a part of history they have never been exposed to and its magic,” beams de la Cruz. Carlos Suarez de Jesus, Art Critic
The Girls’ Club Collection Francie Bishop Good + David Horvitz
Lisa Sanditz, If you didn’t know it’s the Swiss Alps, you might believe you’re there, 2003, Mixed media on canvas, 72 x 68”
Chantal Joffe | Kristen | 2008, Oil on board, 96 x 72 in.
The Girl’s Club Collection | Image courtesy Glavovic Studio, Fort Lauderdale | www.glavovicstudio.com
Vera Iliatova | Practice 2011| Oil on canvas, 42 x 36 in
Works from The Collection of Francie Bishop Good and Da vid Ho
rvitz
Founded in 2006 by For t Lau derdale couple Francie Bis hop Good + David Horvitz, Gir ls’ Club is a 501 (c)3 foundation and alternative space with the unique designation as the world’s only private collection of contempor ary art by women open to the public. Started informa lly, the collection now encompas ses cutting edge works in painting, drawing, photograp hy, installation, sculpture and vide o from the 1960s to the present.Year-long curated, thematic exhibitions are installe d each autumn, and are augmented by a year-round pro gram of events to which the public is invited. Artist talks and demonstrations, film screenings, collaborative/multi-d isciplinary projects in dance and theater, and pro fessional and educational opp ortunities for artists by artists all ser ve to connect aud iences to the collection and to new developments in contemporary art in engaging and innovative ways. Gir ls’ Club has always run along “ar tist-centric” lines, which is not surprising, as Founder and President Franice Bisho p Good is an artist, as is Gal lery Director Sarah Michelle Rupert and Cre ative Director Michelle W einberg. Bishop Good believes “I think you bring a spe cial understanding to contem porary art when you’re involved as a maker of art firs t.” Her artist-centric ethos has informed all that Gir ls’ Club does, at every level. Fro m creating opportunities to adv ance career s for local artists to providing rare on-the -job training for budding art administrators in Gir ls’ Club’s internship and fellowsh ip programs, to incorporating the program ideas of an annual writer-in-residence from Broward County, to collaborati ng with local curators, Gir ls’ Club is truly a hub of fem ale contemporary art activity. It’s no coincidence that the Gir ls’ Club office space resemble s a hive. The exhibition facility is a dynamic, multi-func tional building created by AIA award-winning designer Margi Nothard of Glavov ic Studio in For t Lauderdale. Aft er meeting with Bishop Good, Nothard took away key elements from the artist’s wo rk - transparency and light - and translated them into a container for viewing art. The facade, when lit at night, resembles a glowing fore st of slender tree trunks, and also evokes the local marine industr y, re-purposin g materials originally intended for use in yachts. These seemingly disparate visual ide as coalesce seamlessly, creatin g an impressive stage for Gir ls’ Club and the adjacent arti st studio belonging to Francie Bishop Good. It’s quite possible that this convergence of art, artists and architecture could only occur here, in For t Lauderdale.
The Moment. The Backd
Curated by Michelle Weinberg
, Sarah Michelle Rupert
rop. The Persona.
The Moment.The Backdrop.The Per sona. is an examination of the uses of narrative in contemporary art.The exhibit ion of works in drawing, painting , video, photography and new media reveals the con tinued power of storytelling in art today, and the myriad forms it takes. The des ire on the par t of the artist to tell a story, and on the par t of the viewer to glea n one – in painting, photograp hy, video, performance and more – is irresistible to the human spirit. To recognize the prevalence of narrative in art of the moment, the exhibition of works by mo re than thir ty artists from the collection of Francie Bishop Good and David Horvit z invite the viewer to experience a singular isol ated moment, an evocative backdrop or a deeply imagined character, sometimes a combination of two or mo re. Mostly the work of female contemporary artists, many of the stories channel arc hetypal narratives from mythology and fair y tales. Others examine contemporary relationships across a vast range, from sober examin ations of self and environment to high melodramas with a cast of larger-than-life cha racter s. Art works by Nina Chanel Ab ney, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Kate Gilmore, Chantal Joffe, Rosemary Laing, Natalya Laskis, Lori Nix, Lisa Sanditz, Dasha Shi shkin, Su-en Wong and others are included. Public programming throughout the year includes artists talks, workshops, experiment al theatre, readings and other events involving the public in the dynamic occupa tion of storytelling. A catalog will document the exhibition with an introductio n by the curators Michelle We inberg and Sarah Michelle Rupert, essays by pro minent national and local wri ter s and a chapbook of poetry inspired by the exh ibit by Laura McDermott, Gir ls’ Club’s current writer in residence. Exhibition Dates November 7,
2014 - September 26, 2015 girlsclubcollection.org
Francie Bishop Good
Mothers and Children, Samantha
Francie Bishop Good was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and raised in nearby Allentown. She is a photographer and multimedia artist and her sensibility is strongly reflected in what she and her husband David collect. Their collection include the work of seminal photographers Tina Barney, Sophie Calle, Rineke Dijkstra, Sally Mann, and Catherine Opie, as well as up-and-coming photographers Katy Grannan, Loretta Lux, and Alesandra Sanguinetti. Important works in painting and sculpture are represented by Ingrid Calame, Tara Donovan, Inka Essenhigh, Ellen Gallagher, Elizabeth Murray, Wangechi Mutu, Cornelia Parker, and Amy Sillman. She is twice recipient of the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship, and the State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship. Her list of solo museum shows include the Allentown Art Museum, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, Florida. Her work was the featured exhibit in 2013 at the Art and Culture Center in Hollywood Florida. Recent museum acquisitions include the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Wadsworth Atheneum, The Patricia & Philip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University, and the Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale. Bishop Good is represented by David Castillo Gallery Miami. She also received the First Place Award for Good’s series Mothers and Children photograph “Tulip” in the “Texas National 2010” art exhibition presented by the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art. “This series juxtaposes the innocence of the children against the somewhat rough and tough facade that the mothers wear like badges.” she said.
“The annex” Bishop Good shares some of her own artwork in “the annex,” the antechamber of the studio next-door to the Girls’ Club where she has been working for 20 years. Even visitors who have followed her career for much of that time may have been surprised not to see the photographs for which she is best known, colorful candids of people caught in the acts of their everyday existence, most recently featured in solo shows at the Art & Culture Center of Hollywood last winter and the David Castillo Gallery in the Spring. These glimpses of unvarnished humanity often feature awkward encounters with her friends and family, but Bishop Good is able to capture intimate expressions even when shooting strangers on recent trips to Cuba and mothers interacting with their babies in a local shelter. Yet her latest works represent a return to painting, her primary medium in art school, with abstract swaths of pigment embedded with beads that nearly obscure digital prints of old compositions and fragmented photographs. “I’m recycling myself and regenerating,” explains Bishop Good, who found it cathartic to incorporate some of the costume jewelry left behind by her mother’s recent passing.
Mothers and Children, Samantha Pigment Print | Edition of 5 2010 winning image of the South Florida Cultural Consortium Grant.
It was a circuitous, windy, and emotional path that took my work to this present place. I have always photographed and painted, working on each separately and together with each media informing the other. After my mother passed away, I had the daunting task of dismantling and sorting her life’s possessions. I did not know where to start, but photographing the objects, jewelry and ephemera helped me deal with and understand this emotional task. I discovered family heirlooms and keepsakes from past generations, however many of the objects were left broken, and in sad shape. There were funny things too, like the I.D. bracelet that my mother had made for my father inscribed “Hands Off This Man Belongs To Ruthie” that were among the detritus of found objects. I discovered the process of mending and photographing the jewelry, healing and creative. A eureka moment came to me, in the middle of the night months after her passing. I would add her broken jewelry to my new fusion canvases. I used the jewelry and beads to highlight areas and build up a sculptural effect. Seen and unseen, buried and sparkling, the jewels became a metaphor for decay and renewal. The hide and go seek nature of this addition is liberating and healing. August 2014
Photography by Natasha Kertes| www.natashakertes.com
Philanthropists and Business leaders
Funding Arts Broward (FAB): A perception that the arts weren’t beingprioritized by Broward County politicians amid the budget cuts of the early 2000s spurred Bishop Good to take action on a collective scale by co-founding the grassroots organization Funding Arts Broward. What started 11 years ago in her studio with a small gathering of people who pledged $100 each to fund arts initiatives has since enriched the quality of life in Broward County by $2.5 million. “Francie has been a driving force in the community for culture. She’s a key motivator of the arts scene here,” says Bonnie Clearwater of her friend for 20 years. “She’s great at encouraging people and motivating and inspiring them.” A Clearwater Vote of Confidence: Even Clearwater was not immune to Bishop Good’s powers of persuasion when the longtime board member at both the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami and the NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale (MoAFL) kept insisting Clearwater seriously consider the possibilities MoAFL would present to a director and chief curator. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer,” recalls Clearwater. The Fort Lauderdale/Broward Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) as part of their 27th annual “National Philanthropy Day Awards,” recognizes contributions made by philanthropists in the community. The general public nominated outstanding Broward individuals whose contributions have made a significant impact in the organizations they serve and the community as a whole. Francie Bishop Good was nominated by NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale for Outstanding Philanthropist;
by Margery Gordon
d av i d c a s t i l l o g a l l e r y. c o m franciebishopgood.com
Understanding Excellence in Arts Education Collectively known as the Characteristics of Excellence for U.S. Museums by the American Alliance of Museums, MOAFL continues asserting its public service role, placing education at the center of that role.We all know that museums and galleries are no longer seen solely as repositories of information and objects but instead are viewed as social hubs with links to community at a local, national and international level. The broadening of roles has resulted in institutions being more responsive demonstrating the impact they have on people’s lives, the community in general and, the economic value they create through their programs and activities. The traditional functions of art museums—to collect, preserve, interpret, and present works of art, and to inspire and educate the public—are constantly in flux*. Located in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida the Nova Southeastern University’s Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale was founded in 1958. In 2008, the museum became part of Nova Southeastern University, one of the largest private research universities in the United States, one of only 37 universities nationwide to be awarded with both the Community Engagement and “high research activity” classifications by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The merger with the museum expanded the college’s creative campus, and helped support NSU’s degree programs in fine arts and arts administration. The museum’s distinctive modernist building opened in 1986 and was designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, (1915-2004), who also built Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center and the Dallas Art Museum, and additions to the Carnegie Museum of Art, in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Los Angeles’s Hammer Museum. The 83,000 square-foot museum contains 25,000 square-feet of exhibition space, the 250-seat Horvitz Auditorium as well as a bookstore and café.The museum’s 6,000-work permanent collection is recognized for its extensive holding of works by the American painter William Glackens, paintings by the CoBrA group of expressionists, and a highly prized collection of works by Latin American artists. In addition to the collections the museum maintains a special focus on photography and presents an active education program through its dynamic AutoNation Academy for Art + Design, which is located in an adjacent 11,000 square-foot building, and provides year-round studio instruction and classes for adults, children and teens taught by locally and nationally known professional artists.
*The Art Museum Today, Michael Govan, Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, May 13, 2013
The Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) President and CEO, George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D., announced in July 17, 2013, the appointment of Bonnie Clearwater, M.A., as the new Director of NSU’s Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale. Recognized her visionary leadership, scholarship and commitment to artists and education, “Clearwater brings to the museum her extensive knowledge and experience in shaping an institution’s identity and mission, and in developing thought-provoking exhibitions and collections. She shares the university’s goal of expanding the museum’s educational initiatives, partnerships and cross-disciplinary collaborations to fully integrate the museum into both NSU’s academic and extra-curricular campus life and into the broader art world.” “Bonnie has an exceptional track record as a museum director, curator and scholar, and strikes the perfect balance as a creative visionary and administrator with the ability to engage and inspire people of all backgrounds,” said George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D.“Capitalizing on NSU’s academic resources, she will develop new opportunities for synergy between the museum and the university, forging exciting connections between art and education.”
Photography by Robin Hill Courtesy of The Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale (MoAFL)
The Museum’s international exhibition program is overseen by its visionary Director and Chief Curator Bonnie Clearwater, who joined the Museum in 2013.
Bonnie Clearwater
When Julian Schnabel came to Fort Lauderdale in mid-October 2014 for the opening of “Café Dolly: Picabia, Schnabel, Willumsen” – a traveling exhibition Clearwater discovered at the J.F. Willumsens Museum in Fredrikssund, Denmark last fall that will remain on view at MoAFL until Feb. 1, 2015 – not only did she interview him in the sold-out auditorium, but he led a painting workshop for select AutoNation Academy students and museum members. The intimate conference rooms upstairs have been packed for lunchtime roundtables with emerging artists in South Florida like Kevin Arrow, Sri Prabha and the half-dozen artists-in-residence invited to set up studios inside the galleries and create new work with residents from a nearby homeless shelter as part of “Research & Development: Concerning Belonging.” Clearwater has been impressed by the “very sophisticated and engaged audience” that “sees this as the extension of part of their lives.” The museum’s location in the heart of downtown, across from corporate office buildings and condo towers and a few blocks from shops and restaurants, provides easy access to tourists and residents. “It’s such a civic-minded city, with multiple generations that want to be proud of what’s here,” she says. The choice of Fort Lauderdale as her new professional home is already a source of pride, even for her old friends in the area. “Having her here in Fort Lauderdale is one of the biggest things that ever happened,” says Bishop Good. “To me, she’s a rock star.”
Julian Schnabel
Bonnie Clearwater was raised in Rockland County New York in a milieu of artist and intellectuals who treated her as a little adult while she was still a toddler, encouraging her independent and creative nature. Her father, Herbert Janowsky, was a concert producer who exposed Clearwater at a young age to avant garde performers like John Cage and Paul Taylor, as well as folk, classical, jazz and rock music and once even delighted his daughter by presenting her to Big Band legend Count Basie after a show. “It was wonderful,” recalled Clearwater. “I grew up in show business”. A maternal uncle, Dr. Morris I. Stein, was a pioneer in the psychological study of creativity and regularly engaged his precocious niece in intellectual discussions on a variety of topics, including the arts. “As kids we were treated with the same respect as adults. We were always involved in stimulating conversations that have been sort of a springboard for me understanding and trusting how artists work,” Clearwater says. As a young teen she became interested in ideas about conceptual art and attended adult classes every Saturday at the Art Students League while only thirteen years old. Later she studied at New York University where she received on-the-job training at the school’s Grey Art Gallery where she got “a career and a husband out of the job.” Her spouse, James Clearwater, was the gallery’s assistant director at the time, and after their marriage she went on to pursue her graduate degree at Columbia University where she specialized in modern and medieval art. From there she went on to be curator of the Rothko Foundation in New York City before moving on to direct the Lannan Foundation in Los Angeles and the Lannan Museum in Lake Worth, Florida. Previously, Clearwater was the director and chief curator of Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami. In an interview by Hannah Sampson for the Miami Herald George L. Hanbury II, president and CEO of Nova Southeastern University said :”The decision to hire Clearwater was due in part to her knowledge of South Florida and connections with art supporters in the region, she will be tasked with fully integrating the museum into the school, making it an academic asset for students at the university and at the K-12 University School. Clearwater believes the art scene in Fort Lauderdale is poised make a big splash.“It’s almost where Miami was 15, 16 years ago pre-Basel,” she said. “It just needs a catalyst to bring it all together and then to put it on the national and international platform.”
Café Dolly: Picabia, Schnabel, Willumsen October 11, 2014 – February 1, 2015 Organized by the J.F. Willumsens Museum Frederkssund, Denmark and curated by visual artists Claus Carstensen and Christian Vind, and researcher Anne Gregersen, University of Copenhagen
All images Courtesy of The NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale (MoAFL)
Untitled (Self-Portrait), 2004 |Oil and resin on canvas Private Collection |Š 2014 Julian Schnabel Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Portrait of Alba Clemente, 1987 Oil, plates, and bondo on wood |Private collection, New York Š 2014 Julian Schnabel Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
CHANGING THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT.
Doug McCraw is the Founder and visionarie behind FAT Village (Flagler Arts and Technology) a local businessman, and native of Alabama, whom in partnership with Lutz Hofbauer, have carefully paired creative sectors with complementary sensibilities and track records of revitalizing neighborhoods aesthetically and economically. Back in 2000, McCraw had purchased a number of warehouses on NW First Avenue between Fifth and Sixth streets in Ft. Lauderdale; and with the support of Margi Nothard of Glavovic Studio, among few others (Margi Glavovic Nothard is an artist and the design principal of Glavovic Studio Inc. Some of her landmark projects are: Young Circle ArtsPark in Hollywood, Florida, The Bridge-Stair Sculpture at the NSU Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, followed by the art commission Threshold, a site specific artwork, the Girls’ Club, for which Glavovic Nothard invented the representative image and spatial construct, and the Young At Art|Museum and Broward County Library’s LEED gold project with AECOM) all together, lead to what is today The Flagler Arts and Technology Village and the Fat Village Art Walk. “FAT Village is a synthesis of talent and collaboration; a real community.” Much credit goes to the extremely creative minds of FAT Village curators Peter Symons and Leah Brown. In February of 2003 the gallery walks started but it wasn’t until Spring of 2008 that the FAT Village ArtWalk really took off. McCraw reckoned that the edgy vibe of this urban grid would appeal to working artists and youthful proprietors of tech start-ups. While they were calibrating these cells into a vibrant network, other clusters of artists and institutions were growing organically, artist’s studios, galleries, live theater, some of Broward’s top filmmakers, photographers, artists, designers, urban planners and web developers were weaving connective tissue across Fort Lauderdale’s downtown. “The art community here is unstoppable,” McCraw observes. “You can feel it; there’s an excitement that’s palpable.” But the ultimate affirmation, roundly cited as evidence of a creative breakthrough, was Bonnie Clearwater’s recent arrival as director of the Nova Southeastern University Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale after transforming the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami into an internationally renowned trendsetter. Clearwater’s move is already a “seminal” boost for Fort Lauderdale’s art scene, says McCraw. Every last Saturday of the month from 7 to 11 pm, the Fat Village Art Walk takes place bringing the artists community, music concerts, street artists market, and food trucks all together. Upon donation they serve wine, beer and cocktails all night.
by Margery Gordon
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1. New Faces of Hollywood. Leah Brown, Christian Feneck, Jamey Grimes, Jim Hammond, Chris Kuonen, and Peter Symons. 2. The Unmade Room Exhibition curated by Christian Feneck 3. Catalyst Exhibition Curated by Leah Brown and Peter Symons 4. Self Lit Exhibition Curated by Leah Brown and Peter Symons Detail Sculpture: When Does a Mirror Become a Lantern?
The lofty ambitions that drive F.A.T. Village District reach an apex at The Projects, whose co-directors Peter Symons and Leah Brown take advantage of the sprawling raw space with a vaulted 20-foot ceiling to immerse audiences in experiential works and site-specific installations that engage multiple senses. “Here there’s a community-mindedness without sacrificing the work, without creative boundaries,” Brown affirms. “People really want to work together – and we will all benefit from that.” The alliance between Brown, Symons, McCraw and Hofbauer is expanding onsite and off with entrepreneurial ventures spun off from The Projects, now an independent nonprofit that recently was nominated among 75 finalists for the Knight Arts Challenge in South Florida further winnowed to six eligible for the People’s Choice Award.
Contributor Margery Gordon
Photography by Sandro Abate www.sandrophotos.com | Special Thanks to Alejandro Mendoza | Giants in the City featuring Paula Urbano
Joshua Miller, Justin Mein, & Ian Dawson are the creative minds/founders of C&I Studios. Friends since middle school, back in 2006, they decided to come together to form C&I Studios to shoot quality media for individuals and organizations.Then in 2009, they started a non-profit company called C&I Reach.
C&I Reach | Chiquimula , Guatemala
C&I Studios is an idea agency that provides pre to post production in the photographic, design, audio, and video/film industries. Their vision is to create inspiring art with exceptional quality to reach Humanity 2.0. they believe that media can be used to educate, empower, and inspire individuals to greatness. From every service that they provide, C&I Studios supports three international children’s organizations every month (SwaziChild. com, Camp Sonshine International, and FluteMaker Ministries).
helium creative is a studio built on the idea of creating amazing brands. An agency who is passionate about progress, giving thier head and heart to clients who are ready for change. Collectively they are a concept driven, brand-centric studio while individually they follow thier own passions. The company is growing and earning some well-deserved praise. 2014 year helium won BIG at the Fort Lauderdale ADDY Awards, which recognizes creative excellence in the advertising industry, taking home seven golds (including three Best of Show) and two silvers.
ELBISREVERRI
MAGAZINE FEATURED WINNERS 2014
As the state’s only large format magazine competition, IRREVERSIBLE has introduced the work of thousands - local, state, national and international artists working in all media, both emerging, mid-career and established artists. Our annual Featured Artists Competition, currently in its third consecutive edition, reinforces Irreversible’s commitment to artists, provides international exhibition opportunities and reveals a provocative and aggressive glimpse of the art world – all through artists’ eyes. The results of the Featured Artists contest were based on the judge’s extensive experience and knowledge of works that engage audiences with contemporary visual art, creative thinking, and, most importantly, an educational component inspiring future generations. The presentation and technical merits of each entry were extremely important, as well as the quality of the work and the information provided in the application. There is no doubt an artist grows by leaps and bounds when he or she puts artwork in the public eye for feedback and that is what this challenge is all about. History, patronage, commissions, and incredible opportunities have all been prizes afforded to winners of major art competitions. It’s my goal to further the reach and spectrum of opportunities available for an artist of any experience level and medium. This magazine of wholesome fun is dedicated to helping artists grow in basic skills and knowledge, in creativeness, in ability to think and reason, in sensitivity to others, in high ideals and worthy ways of living. My heartfelt appreciation is extended to Babacar M’Bow, Director of The Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami for his invaluable support to this year winners’ exhibition. Noor Blazekovic Founder Publisher/ Chief Editor at large norelkysb@irreversiblemagazine.com Creeping Ivy | Laser-cut Acrylic Mirrors, Hand-cut Vinyl, Wood, Steel |18’ x 32’ x 1.5’
Best in show
Richard Herzog
Rick Herzog received a MFA in Sculpture from the University of Georgia and a BFA in Three-Dimensional Studies at Bowling Green State University. He is currently Assistant Professor of Art- Sculpture at New College of Florida and has taught at various institutions including Herron School of Art and Design, University of Tulsa, University of Georgia and Eastern Oregon University. His installations and sculptures have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the US. His work blends a post-minimal with a constructivist approach to modern issues of our surroundings to alter the viewers’ perceptions of the intersections of society and nature. He typically works in colored and mirrored acrylics, and other factored tailored materials synthing together mechanical forms, which harkens to a glimpse of an alternate universe. As a child growing up I had no interest in reading fantasy or science fiction books-a great contrast to the rest of my family. I devoured all the biographical books and articles I could find. I especially liked reading about inventors, explorers and scientists. My fascination was more than about their accomplishments; it was an appreciation for their determination. These people placed all they had in what they believed, they were willing to take chances, and were willing to risk their lives. They gave me a glimpse into the possibilities in the world. Anything could be accomplished if you had the determination, drive and belief in yourself. My entire family is rooted in the hard sciences; physics, chemistry and mathematics. The explanation of the world, what exists and how it works drives them to explore and learn.They are happy in this never-ending journey, always traveling down new paths looking for answers.
I am not interested in explaining the world, but to put it into a different context. I examine parts of society and nature to bring awareness to these elements and alter the viewer’s perceptions. My goal is to make them look at things a bit different and consider the world they live in more closely. As an artist I do not have the answers, I feel my role is more like an activist. I do not create work with a political agenda nor have a politically motivated view. My role is to bring awareness to the society in which we live and to the subjects, objects and ideas that permeate our culture in a subordinate or subversive manner. My current work explores botanical forms, the lack of interaction between man and nature, our disconnection from this environment and the ‘artificalization’ of nature, natural spaces and all things living. These sculptures talk about organization and the chaotic nature within natural and man-made forms. I look at how items are composed and they’re many parts, then abstract their elements-keeping true to there inherit qualities. Some sculptures are more organic in form as if growing or flowing from group to group, mimicking ivy or spring flowers sprouting here and there. All a combination of a systematic organization of natural forms possessing a chaotic multi-layered visual effect creating a metaphor of our world, dominated by its rapid pace and over-stimulation.
rickherzog.com
BEST IN Digital Media & painting Bear kirkpatrick
Bear Kirkpatrick’s forbearers were an ad hoc mixture of adventurer-navigators, naturalists, whalers, Puritans, dissidents, judges, and witches. He was born in the American south to a mother raised in Brahmin Boston and to a father who was several days after his birth sent across the world to war in the jungles of Southeast Asia. His upbringing was scattered across the Eastern seaboard, resting longest on a farm in New Hampshire during his teen years where he learned the survival skills of tracking, fishing, and hunting. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, the University of Michigan, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has made his living by turns as a stone wall builder, roofer, bookkeeper, furniture builder, and video art installer. Thanks to aCurator Magazine ( a must read acurator.com/ ) we discovered that at aged 5 Bear was diagnosed as deaf; his hearing was repaired, and he says “I have been transfixed, fascinated, and frightened ever since by things that reveal their power to change shape or that contain multiples within.” yet to come is the writing on the Bear’s by Brian Kubarycz “This madness to hazard contact with the wild is constantly acted out in the art of Bear Kirkpatrick. His project is to experience and question what it means not merely to bide time in the worldly state, but far more actively and intimately, to have and to hold an only world, unto death, but in the expectation of new living creatures of awful energies. Kirkpatrick’s art, from its first conception to the full arrival of its finished form, explores the ongoing adventure of creation one must take up and sustain in order to inhabit a world of one’s own, the sole world worth inhabiting.”
Wallportrait Terry: The Temptation of St. Anthony | Archival pigment print | 31” x 31” x 0”
bear kir kpatr ick.com
BEST IN sculpture & Installation NATALIE DUNHAM
Natalie Dunham was born in Riverside, CA in 1985. She received her B.F.A in Painting from Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, AL, and her M.F.A from the Rinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She most recently received the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. I am a process-based artist attracted to the purity of raw form and honest craftsmanship. My approach to art is a back-to-basics one inspired by my upbringing in Lancaster, PA, where I was exposed to the frugal and unadulterated lifestyles of the Amish. My art/studio practice is an active representation of my perspective on life and living. I believe that true craftsmanship is marked by three fundamental principles—dedication, endurance and patience—and that these principles are constantly threatened by the pace and complexity of modern life. My work is an attempt to integrate and revitalize these principles and thereby reveal true craftsmanship. I use primarily unaltered materials, geometric shapes, and basic lines. The purpose of my work is to challenge viewers to pause and appreciate the transformative powers of the creative process, and to call attention to the essentially ordinary origins of even the most extraordinary works of art.
No. 11.2138.55_S[2] (detail image) |shims, hardware |36” x 175” x 7”
nataliedunham.com
BEST IN Photography Human Rights JABER ALAZMEH
The resurrection “Al Ba’ath” Consists of 50 portraits of individuals, it address one of the Syrian Government’s most prominent and controversial symbols – the Ba’ath newspaper, a direct by-product of the ruling “Ba’ath” party itself. I began the project as a form of documentation, when the revolution was still in it’s civil activism peaceful phase, portraying individuals who joined the uprising in different ways, some where activists on the streets and some are from the creative sphere of Syria and some from abroad…the portraits where made secretly, quickly & simply when I was still in Syria & somehow in a more creative approach after I left the country. Amongst them are activists, students, doctors, Journalists, artists, designers, actors, gallerists, filmmakers and writers. These individuals were asked to write a comment on an OVERTURNED Ba’ath newspaper, summing up their visions and hopes for the revolution in Syria.
untitled Printed on Cotton Rag Fine Art Archival paper 70 cm x 112.5 cm x 0”
BEST IN Textile Anna Olsson
I am a textile artist. I weave because I want to tell you something.Working as an artist means a great dealof responsibility for me and ultimately being an artist is doing something good. It is one way of taking responsibility in creating a better world. I often work with a cohesive theme. The themes I have worked with have varied over the years; recurring themes are issues social justice and environmental degradation. In the last years I have worked with a theme I call crisis and disaster. I am strongly influenced in what is happening in my surroundings as well as in other countries.Through my pictures I want to visualize what I c onsiders as wrong. Many times my images visualize after meeting people living in vulnerable situations.
“Where have you been living since we last seen? - All Around | Tapestry in linen | 80 cm x 100 cm x 0 cm
tapestr yannaolsson.blogspot.se
BEST IN Photography & text SOCIAL ISSUES BEST IN Photography & text JUDYgelles GELLES Judy
The Fourth Grade Project juxtaposes portraits of fourth grade students with their responses to questions about their lives to create a composite photographic essay that uniquely captures their stories and addresses some of the most pressing issues of our time from their unique perspectives. Over the past six years, I have interviewed and photographed 200 fourth grade students from a wide range of economic and cultural backgrounds in China, India, South Korea, England, and multiple areas of the United States. I asked all the students the same three questions: Who do you live with? What do you wish for? What do you worry about? I selected responses from each child’s interview and superimposed the text on the child’s photograph. In the photos, each child faces away from the camera, allowing him or her to remain anonymous while capturing an easily recognized individuality. Told in their own words, their stories touch on common human experiences and urgent social issues.
Get Shot | USA: Inner City Public School | 2013 Archival inkjet print on canvas, 25 x 20”
judygelles.com
BEST IN MIXED MEDIA installation RANDY BURMAN
I have a serious preoccupation with the intuitive aspects of art making. There is an internal dichotomy that drives my creative process on several levels: I’m compelled to make serious statements, but find myself subverting that goal with irreverent humor. Precise execution is integral, yet playful strategies are often a point of departure. Though I toggle between these parts of my practice, the recurring result is work that engages the alchemy of juxtaposed elements, meanings and scale. Drawing widely from popular culture, art history, information design, and social and political events, my practice is based on bringing together disparate formal elements to reveal hidden, compelling connections, and seeks to reveal the cultural forces that develop unintentionally in the real and digital worlds of objects, material, and ideas. The tone of my work – a back and forth between weighty intellectualism and flippancy – is deeply personal. My involvement in the counterculture movements in the 1960s and 70s led me to question the history of fine art as much as the political and institutional regimes that dominate in the United States, a critique which often gets expressed in the form of humor. These aspects of my own development have also resulted in yet another dichotomy in my practice – the utilization of destruction as a means for creating. Several pieces have involved the poaching of significant works by canonical artists, which are cut up, re-assembled, collaged, and in some cases, completely annihilated. Whether I’m meticulously creating or blatantly destroying for the sake of art, the experience of sublimity is the destination, and wit is often the means of arrival.
Seeyaround | Automative car hoods, aluminum 8’ x 8’ x 4’ | Image courtesy Steven D Morse
r andybur man.com
BEST IN performance poetry OSCAR FUENTES
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BEST IN sculpture fiberglass Taylor Pilote
Detail | slabside slide |fiberglass, reproduction taillight, automotive paint, LEDs |24” x 36” x 72” taylor pilote .com
BEST IN PAINTING ira upin
Strong Man Series Chapter 11 - Zero Gravity |Oil on Panel |36” x 36” x 0” iraupin.com
Boca Raton Museum of Art | 501 Plaza Real Boca Raton, FL 33432 | bocamuseum.org
Irvin Lippman came out of retirement to accept the directorship of the Boca Raton Museum of Art on July 1, 2014. In the months that followed he has worked effectively to bring a new energy to the Museum, which is located in the heart of Mizner Park, Boca Raton, Florida. Lippman is a well known museum executive, the former Executive Director of the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, MOA and the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio. Amongst his contributions, Lippman established an Artistin-Residence program bringing talented artists who created site-specific installations and served as guest curators, underscoring the community dialogue between artists, collectors, and the public.. The Boca Raton Museum of Art’s new path is already demonstrating a commitment to providing the public with physical and intellectual access to the museum and its resources. The upcoming exhibitions include an installation by Israeli artist Izhar Patkin; Magic and Surrealism; and Helena Rubenstein: The Power of Beauty. In addition, the Museum has commissioned a new film by Berlin-based artists Renata Stih and Frieder Schnock for Fall 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII. Phase I of the design project by Miami artists Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt has drastically changed the west side of the colonnaded City-owned Amphitheater which serves as the entrance to the Museum. Their installation has molded a familiar path into one that is both intimate and monumental. They were asked to rethink how visitors approach the Museum so they have devised a plan that links the institution to the bustling restaurants and shops of Mizner Park. Behar and Marquardt have embraced the urban, pedestrian-friendly environment at the heart of Boca Raton, which was recently named by the online site 24/7 Wall Street as “the most livable city in Florida and the 11th most livable city in the nation.”
A New Path
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The pair’s site-specific installation is called The Pursuit of Happiness – a 70-foot long sculpture of multi-colored ribbons that drape the Museum’s windows facing the street and colonnade. It creates an enticing invitation that is both public and private and hints of the exciting art and interactions that are worthy of pursuit inside.
Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt, The Pursuit of Happiness (installation detail), 2014. Gift of Margaret Blume.
A new and exuberantly lush wall mural by Jose Alvarez (D.O. P.A) is the fourth impressive commission. Over thirty-feet long, it fills one’s direct and peripheral vision on entering the transformed Museum lobby. Composed of stylized motifs that suggest flowers, plant forms, and tiny creatures, the mural’s vivid colors and overall composition force viewers’ eyes to move at a fast pace, absorbing the sheer visual beauty while dissecting its many intricate details. As its creator explained, “I believe in the transformative powers of art. The mural’s brilliant colors and psychedelic shapes act as a magnet that draws visitors into a world of enchantment and the magic of art.”
Jose Alvarez (D.O.P.A.), Untitled 2014. Site-specific installation supported with funds from Margaret Blume.
Renata Stih & Frieder Schnock | You Look Gorgeous 2014 | Site-specific installation supported with funds from Margaret Blume. Boca Raton Museum of Art. © Renata Stih & Frieder Schnock, Berlin 2014
Greeting visitors at the Museum’s entrance is Lips, a five-panel, site-specific installation created by Berlin, Germany-based team Renata Stih and Frieder Schnock. According to the conceptual artists, their intriguing images “turn the institution into an opinionated entity that makes comments on the art within.” Lips is a metaphor for how our own outward behavior may be in conflict with our secret thoughts, which happily – at the moment – cannot be read by those around us.
Noor Blazekovic & Paul Klein | Photography by Paul Strabbing | paulstrabbing.com
Klein Artist Works
Demystifying the Artworld Paul Klein’s new book, The Art Rules; Wisdom & Guidance from Art World Experts comes out in the Spring. Klein is a SupporTED Mentor of TED Fellows. He has long been an art advocate and proponent for art in Chicago. He was the Chicago Society of Artists’ 2006 Man of the Year. For the past 10 years Klein has espoused about local art and national by writing and distributing ArtLetter. He is constantly visiting artist studios, galleries and museums; speaking with artists, dealers and museum curators and directors. Like no one else, he knows and understands art, artists and the marketplace and integrity. He was the Managing Director of The Briddge Group, an art succession planner. Klein was the Art Consultant/Curator for the 2.3 million square foot expansion of McCormick Place. Klein owned and operated Klein Art Works from 1981 to 2004. When he first opened in River North he established the area as a new art center. After his gallery was destroyed by fire in 1989, his pioneering move to River West led to the development of the entire area. Via his Klein Artist Works course he has interviewed over 300 art world experts on the subject of artists’ careers. People like Alice Aycock, Jessica Stockholder, Michelle Grabner, Simon de Pury, Jerry Saltz, Nick Cave, Dan Cameron, Theaster Gates, Jason Middlebrook, Dawoud Bey, Martin Margulies, Mark Dean, Sharon Louden and Dave Hickey. Their wisdom appears in his forthcoming book.
PAUL KLEIN interview by Adrienne Outlaw Photography by Paul Strabbing | paulstrabbing.com
Tell me a little bit about KLEIN ART WORKS that you ran for close to 20 years. I know you moved locations and then you closed. Why did you run it, who did you show, and why did you close? PAUL: My taste and enthusiasm for new and challenging digital, new media art, out-distanced me from my audience so ultimately I sold the gallery. A few years after that I started Klein Artist works. I believe in artists and I want to see more artists be successful. I think that artists can be a paradigm for transition change in society. ADRIENNE: I do too. You know, a lot of what we do at Seed Space is these professional development workshops, which are similar to yours, and what we find is artists, it doesn’t really matter the age, doesn’t matter the success level, still don’t have these professional development skills, which seem to be what you’re teaching with your course. Can you talk about some of the things that you have cover in the course? PAUL: Yes definitely. I think lots of artists have -- are disillusioned and think that it’s solely about making good art. And you know, I wish that was a prerequisite, it helps to make good art but I think you can have a successful career making lousy art. We certainly see some people pulling that off. I teach people how to have a successful career. How the art world works, how to engage with the art world, how people interact, what the customs are. A: What misconceptions did you have or what conceptions have you seen changed while you’ve been doing this course for four years, Paul? P: As a given there’re many things that enable an artist to be successful and one is having a distinctive voice, so that as you express yourself people aren’t getting you confused with somebody else. I think the second thing we need to do, is show up. You’ve got to get your butt out of the studio, you’ve got to get engaged, you’ve got to grow. And the third thing is it really helps if you make good art and as Dawoud Bey points out, if you make good art and you engage with your community, it’s inevitable that good things will happen. So the two things that I have really learned in the four years of doing this that I find so amazing; number one is the significance of relationships and that -- I mean you must see the same thing in the work you do, how people interact and grow. It starts with I like you and how you think and it grows to my being interested in what you believe in. A: I’m sure you see it happen in your course a lot where artists are thinking that either the relationship should immediately lead to getting sold or picked up by a gallery or the artists are fabulous, and they don’t realize they need to focus on relationships. P: Yeah I agree. To be really graphic I think sending your digital images, jpegs, to a gallery and saying here are my images, do you want to represent me; is kind of equivalent to sexting, you know, and sending somebody a graphic picture and saying, would you like to have a relationship? I don’t think that really constitutes a good relationship. A: I also see people -- just scatter shoot, just sending out their resume to everyone. But they really need to research the place and develop the relationship and later approach them after the relationship is developed. P: The thing that I really am at this moment is, impressed with, not only growing relationships, but growing a community. As artists must grow their own community I want to grow mine. The people who have participated in Klein Artist works either via the course or one—on—one mentoring, tutorials, or the book, are all participating in a growing community where artists are helping each other, patting each other on the back, supporting one another, showing each other opportunities, caliing people, encouraging them to finish something on time or do what you said you were going to do. This is a really beautiful support system that I was under the impression artists didn’t really want. But once artists discover other kindred spirits, they just really lap it up. There are over 400 artists who have taken the Klein Artist works course. One hundred of them still meet on their own, in small groups, as an ongoing support for each other. I think that’s amazing. It’s like a microcosm. I’m hoping it reflects really well on society.
P: The book is really based on excerpts from the course and has many of the voices of the experts who’ve participated. There are 300 I’ve interviewed in webinars with and many of them were excerpted in the book. Significantly, after you hear similar perceptions and advice from 100’s of people and it all pretty much sounds the same, you start to notice a trend! A: What are the galleries saying about finding new artists? P: They say they can’t look at everything, that they trust the artists they show and listen to hear who impresses them. For artists, relationships with artists who show with galleries you like is a good start. “If I don’t hear anything about it I don’t really want to see it.” I hear this all the time, if you have a friend who’s a friend of mine, or if we, or our kids, went to third grade together, okay, we can talk. A: Yeah, I’ve found that that actually happens to me a lot. I hear the same thing over and over and then finally somebody has said it in exactly the right way and I’m like, oh, right. P: Another thing is that so many older people have figured this stuff out and so many younger people don’t want to hear about it. They want to make their own mistakes. Oh God, I wasted a lot of time making my own mistakes. A: I’m curious if you’ve met with any resistance within the university systems, in terms of the universities realizing they need to be teaching this stuff to students; because I still at don’t see it figure heavily within course work. P: That’s a question I was hoping to avoid. I think that -- when I began this course four years ago, I began it with the intention of serving artists coming out of art school because I felt the schools weren’t doing a particularly good job with this. And I found that those students were disinterested or overwhelmed or overloaded. Many art schools exist to perpetuate themselves and to propagate some artificial theory. I find that that theory is frequently disingenuous and doesn’t reply to what an artist really needs or deserves. A: I totally agree with everything you said. P: Schools are beginning to teach professional art practice courses. A lot of this is coming from the periphery; wonderful people like Creative Capital and other schools, and also online education. Even Sotheby’s has some piecemeal information. So that these are picking at the periphery, at the edges of censorship and weakening the core. The art schools will ultimately get with the program. A lot of what I like about doing the course and bringing in guests to interview is to have differences of opinion and to be able to say to people you should do what resonates. Don’t necessarily it what I say. I’m not going to tell you that you must go to art school or you must join a guild. I’m not going to say your doctor has to be in western medicine and acupuncture doesn’t work. I’m going to say you know, do what resonates for you, be who you are. I’m not going to say buy into my passion; I’m going to say find yours. A: Is your book going to be more like a guide or is it more, here is what this person said about this and here’s what this person said about this? P: It’s more of a guide which I’ve woven into a narrative. I realized there’re certain kinds of things that I’m not as good at as other people are. So I invited seven other people, other art coaches and mentors to contribute chapters. One art mentor I really like is good at structure and organizing and keeping yourself on a schedule. I barely know what those words mean. A: It sounds really great, I look forward to reading it. I think that’s the thing about your course is that, it doesn’t strike me as one in which you, or the experts you’re bringing in, are talking down to the audience. It’s more that we are all having a dialog and we’re all sharing our experiences and I think that’s very refreshing in the art world and I look forward to seeing that in the book as well. P: The book comes out in February, 2015 the title is The Art Rules, it’s being published by Intellect Books in England and is being distributed in the United States by the University of Chicago Press.
A: I definitely see it in the art world and when I did the webinar with you it was inspiring to speak to artists who are holding themselves responsible. P: Awesome. Yeah, I think that’s a really good point; you need to take responsibility for yourself and even if you create a relationship with an art gallery, that does not mean you relinquish responsibility to that gallery. You still need to work on your relationship with your career. You may be one of 25 artists with a gallery, but a gallery has many more artists than an artist has galleries Artists should work to have more galleries and not have so many eggs in that one basket. I think that’s scary. A: Can you talk about why, I mean this Klein Artist Works seems so successful. Why did you choose to also go forward with the book and what is The Art Rules Wisdom and Guidance from Art World Experts book about?
Adrienne Outlaw
I am a socially engaged, interdisciplinary artist whose work is informed by ethical issues. I am curious about the individual’s function in and responsibility to community, and how individuals can retain autonomy inW an increasingly diverse and rapidly advancing world. I have an expanded studio practice rooted in community engagement, object making, and the production of space. Interested in ways artists can partner with the public to create positive change, I often collaborate with and invite others to participate in the realization of works addressing issues of individual health in an increasingly diverse and rapidly advancing global society.
adrienneoutlaw.com
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Oswaldo Subero “Pintiura Bidimesional #583” 50 cm x 50 cm Acrilico sobre tela. 1994.
artdealermiami 1528 ALTON ROAD MIAMI BEACH FL 33139 USA PH: 305.532.0609 Oswaldo Subero 06 "Trazo" No.903
The Bird Nest 2013 | India Ink, acrylics on canvas | 42”x52”
Julie Ross
A Symbolic Vocabulary of Emotions
By Noor Blazekovic
One of the most powerful aspects of art is that many viewers come to it with openness, a willingness to find beauty, even a new kind of beauty or a new sense of it. Beauty often involves a sense of awe, a feeling that one is seeing something that speaks to our deepest feelings. Julie Ross works in a variety of mediums, which create a luminous quality, imparting a kind of nobility and even divinity to the simple act of holding eggs; “every moment in time can be captured and expressed into the physical experience of making art.” she said.
It is not an easy chore to reconstruct with precision how an artist creates. One way of connecting with the artist’s paintings is looking yourself in the mirror; what do you see? Each scene grabs your attention; her sensibility, the use of color, an interesting juxtaposition of frozen moments in time. From the colors of the hair, to the characters bringing back memories of childhood, each; have taken their rightful place in this world. A self-conscious narrative, it makes you clearly understand; Ross sees all the flaws that the world doesn’t see. Much of the work is playing with form and color. If you know the story, you’re one step ahead of the game, but it’s possible to enjoy the work without knowing the story it illustrates. “My work plays out like an open blank diary; using whatever material I have at hand. My job as an artist is to allow the dialogue to happen; allow the forms to shape with freedom from judgment and fear. I am a huge fan of the line, but an old shoe tread, rusty bottle cap, memory from long ago, are also at times, ingredients necessary for me to create my story.” - “...For years I embarked on a journey that took me to England, Africa, The Caribbean, The Mediterranean, Panama Canal, Hawaiian Islands, finally I ended living in New Zealand. Searching and learning about the world has been of utmost importance in understanding and bringing out my own voice in my work.”
The Perfect Couple 2014 | Medium: Cypress wood, resin drawings, acrylic, foam, found objects, nails, canvas, ink drawings, bottle cap, broken auto glass. 12”x12”
Feeling 10x10 2014 | Medium: Pencil, ink, acrylic on paper soaked resin | 12”x12”
Her greatest art influence was the exposure to the work of her renowned great-uncle, Benjamin A. “Ben” Stahl (September 7, 1910 – October 19, 1987) who was anAmerican artist, illustrator and author, best known for his religious renderings, whose works were stolen from the Way Of The Cross Museum.To this day the whereabouts of the original paintings remains a mystery. Julie Ross delivers a visual journey that feels ancient and yet modern, archetypical and contemporary, on the human scale and yet vast, quiet but deeply emotional, a balanced composition that is energetic, a transient image that feels permanent, simple yet complex, easy to grasp at first and yet revealing more layers and depth after continued viewings. The best part is that she creates paintings that are spontaneous and candid. Julie Ross attended Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota as a freshman. She transferred to The School of Visual Arts in New York City to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1987. For more information visit julieross.me
The Repetition of the 1% 2014 | India Ink, Acrylics on Canvas 36” X 48” Image Courtesy of the artist and The Archive/Fine Art & Collectibles | thearchive-gallery.com
The Ineffable Inner World of Federico Correa By Carlos Suarez de Jesus, Art Critic
Detail | Los Guapos de San Miguel de Allende 2013 | Acrylic on paper 30 x 44 inches
A ghostly horse gallops beneath a glowing sunset. A farmer tends to his flock under the purple shroud of nightfall as the spectral outline of a nude woman watches him. A pair of pious clowns seems to question our ability to discern truth from error while an unearthly trickster figure mocks their folly and a cascade of heavenly fire rains down upon their heads. These haunting characters, emerging from soaring canvases at Wynwood’s Oxenberg Art, represent the beguiling nature of Federico Correa’s striking work. As one navigates the artist’s large scale figurative oil paintings surprise turns to revelation as it becomes evident that the scenes are depicted without irony, instead conveying Correa’s lifelong journey to reconcile youthful memories with the vagaries of like in a darker, imperfect world. At Oxenberg, his arresting solo, “Federico Correa: Grounded in San Miguel de Allende,” features a suite of monumental canvases that capture the Chicano artist’s immersion into his heritage after moving to the colonial city known for its cobblestone streets and Baroque churches in the cool hills of Mexico. San Miguel de Allende was founded in 1542 and has become a haven for both artists and authors inspired by the picturesque town’s Hispanic and Mesoamerican charm. The city’s impact on Correa’s work is indelible. In his eye-catching series of canvases Correa succeeds in portraying human nature and a wide range of emotional expression, within a context of the unreal. His works reveal an expansive network of cultural references saturated by rich swaths of color and bold expanses of vigorously applied paint that rise not unlike pulsing veins from his densely wrought surfaces. They represent both the sense of belonging he discovered after moving to San Miguel de Allende and the colonial city’s dazzling light and character and the sun-baked fields of his birthplace in Salinas, California. “
I was born and raised in Soledad, a small farming community in the heart of the Salinas Valley,” says Correa. “My parents and the rest of the brood were farm workers. Later my father drove a truck hauling produce from the fields to the packing shed... where my mother worked. I moved to Mexico 11 years ago,” informs the artist. While most other kids were busy at playtime Correa says he discovered he was artistically inclined at an early age and eager to explore his creative side. Correa, who had a strict Catholic upbringing and familial roots in Zacatecas and Aguascalientes, Mexico, says growing up in Salinas also exposed him to sacred imagery that left a lasting impression on his imagination. The world that Correa creates in his work is composed in large part from memories of the landscape he knew as a child, but he shies from too specific a reading.“ Animals were very much part of my early life experiences. We had a host of small farm animals that were regarded as pets. As a young boy.... I found it difficult to reconcile the slaughter of these innocent beings. Animals in my work function as metaphors in the painted narrative.The dog is a common animal in my work,” Correa observes. In ancient symbolism dogs were revered for their intelligence and vigilance and as loyal guardians and companions.The animals were also considered protectors of souls that entered the underworld. In Correa’s work, the canine symbols appear to be spirit guides into the unconscious realms the artist typically immerses himself into. One of the most attention-commanding works at Oxenberg is Correa’s poignant tribute to the influential Irish novelist and poet, James Joyce, the artist titled Portrait of a Young Chicano Artist as a Blonde with Lipstick. “Here I was... and I was not alone.... born in the USA ... yet not part of the bigger picture. My sexuality... my coming to terms with the fact that I was a gay man was yet another hurdle that early on alienated me from many folks. It all surfaces in one way or another in my work,” he says. In addition to finding solace in the words of Joyce, Correa who earned a diploma from the Mount Royale Graduate School of Arts, which is part of the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, says he also draws inspiration from painters such as Francisco Goya, Chaim Soutine and Marc Chagall among others.“Their painted images find a genesis in their sentimientos or feelings emanating from deep within their Corazon,” Correa muses. “I do know it’s about being at peace with who I am and for once I feel connected with the ground I walk on.”
I Dream of Dogs 2012 Acrylic on Paper | 25” x 19” Again the Clown 2012 Mixed Media on Paper | 11 in x 8.5
White Horse – 1987 | Oil on Canvas | 96 x 72 inches
These works are available at Oxenberg Art 153 NW 24th Street Miami, FL 33127 | www.oxenbergart.com
Critic’s Review
Michael Murphenko’s Voice of Ukraine By David Zelikovsky
Murphenko drowns in self-obsessive mires of séanic clouds. His personal battle with the self overspills into a fantastic subconscious incubator of moral debate. Within his world we suffocate from the fog of his tyrannical mania. No relief is found in the continual bombardment of confrontational philosophies. Battles ensue as imagery is beaten with imagery. Daemons resurface from the historic abyss as centuries old conflicts are given a second stage. Murphenko excels in his painterly portrayal of viscose layers piled high, as if building upon the Tower of Babel, surpassing the height of Nirvana. A world where lore and myth and truth lodge deeply rooted opposition resist the pull of Murphenko’s suturing is revealed to even the most benign. Murphenko is uncontainable, his will a constant whisper. As anecdotal secrets seethe through the pneuma, no one is immune to its muses. Questions, confrontations, revelations and disparity converge relentlessly, insisting on acknowledgment and acceptance. Among the clamoring oligarchs of Ukraine sit the “Family” (Andriy Verersky, Dmytro Firtash, Rinat Akhmetov, Ihor Kolomoyskiy, Serhiy Kurchenko, Kostyantin Zhevago) in their kitchen confidential where the vestigial mechanics of the Soviet Union slowly grind down to their inevitable halt. These vestiges of clandestine politics refuse submission and continue in dark corners, quietly disrupting victorious independence, blinded to fate.
Future Sins |Oil on Canvas |150cm x 100cm
David Zelikovsky started his professional career in fine art as a consultant with Circle Gallery, SoHo, one of the largest galleries of its time. For the past decade he has been acting director and curator of Chair and the Maiden Gallery, CATM Chelsea Gallery and now CATM New York. For 5 years he headed an international effort called Art Live (artliveworld.com) and helped launch a not for profit organization called Fund Art Now. catmnewyork.com
At the 2014 International Biennale of Contemporary Art, Argentina, Murphenko debuted his latest offense in a line of visually aggressive commentary on the threat of Ukraine sovereignty. Angry, passionate discussions over “This is Only the Beginning” ensued while others meditatively moved beyond the guttural reaction and allowed its inner workings to unfold. Dream-state induced, they were lulled into taking a melodious journey, opposite its immediate and harsh moral abrasiveness. Murphenko’s voice of destructive calm lay waste to the cobwebbed corridors of Soviet malaise while his outspoken pleas for the preservation of cultural integrity louden. Michael Murphenko has established himself as the preeminent artist of Ukraine. His scorching political commentary acts as a binding encasement, containing a seething body of critical outcry. Naturally feeding off the duress surrounding him, he utilizes its energetic denseness. Despising plays of sympathy, he aggressively attacks age old predicates of war mongering ploys, preferring mano a mano combat in which his opponents are kept righteous, lauding a policy of honesty now foreign to the conventions of war. Leveling the playing field is Murphenko’s just intent as he uses skills of conjuring to bridge unfathomable distances between the unknowable and light of current thought. Fine artist agency, CATM New York, is now working to expand Murphenko’s hypnotic hold over global politics and the human condition. With the ongoing increasing turmoil and ravages of a war that is seen and oddly ignored, CATM can’t but help be insistent that Murphenko’s voice be heard. It is through his unnerving persistence that this veil of catatonic distance can be lifted and true strategic morals be put to the test.