Sloppy Pose

Highs and lows among fellowship contenders at the Frost

Comments (0) By Carlos Suarez De Jesus Thursday, Jul 19 2007

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At the museum's entrance is Arrechea's spunky installation, Dust, a collection of four life-size handblown glass punching bags hanging from the ceiling on heavy chains. A member of Cuba's well-known collective Los Carpinteros for more than a decade, Arrechea has flown solo since 2003.

The transparent bags are freighted with small mounds of debris the peripatetic artist collected from different locales at which he stayed during 2005. They are labeled with the addresses of his stops in São Paolo, Beijing, Madrid, and Miami, where he lived on SW 30th Road.

María Martinez-Cañas's Adaptation: Welcome to the Museum of Modern Nothing

Details

2007 Cintas Fellowship Finalists: Through September 16. Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, SW 107th Avenue and 8th Street, Miami; 305-348-2890, www.frostartmuseum.org.

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Across from these knockout pieces, Arrechea's Journey into Loneliness chews up a wall. The gorgeously rendered watercolor-on-paper diptych depicts what appears to be a pair of unmanned ramparts designed to keep an unseen force at bay. A gargantuan wrecking ball is caught in midswing on its way to crush the structure on the panel to the right.

At the Frost's exit, a pile of smashed cinderblocks brightly festooned with yellow tape seemed to eerily mock Arrechea's piece. It also conspicuously hints at the way the museum stubbed its toe with this show.