Great Minds Create Alike

When two worlds collide, mayhem or genius can ensue. Consider the freestyle fellowship that has developed between painter John Bailly and poet Richard Blanco, and the latter rings true. “Place of Mind,” an exhibit opening tonight at the downtown branch of the Miami-Dade County Library System (101 W. Flagler St., Miami), marks the culmination of their two-year project. The show features prints, paintings, and book art Bailly created in dialogue with Blanco’s poems, punctuated by a poetry reading by the critically acclaimed Blanco himself.

The gang of two has spun what might be read as dynamic visual diaries by engaging in a conversational collaborative process, which allowed the raw intensity of their personal dramas and musings on history to flow. Bailly, a fellow of the honors college at Florida International University; and Blanco, author of City of a Hundred Fires and Directions to the Beach of the Dead, have responded to each other’s work on a gut level, leaving the relationships among their images and words to do all the talking. Viewers can wax lyrical upon the inspired project this evening beginning at 6:00, and the exhibit will run through December 15.
Oct. 4-Dec. 15, 2007