Arts & Entertainment

Art Capsules

Current shows

By Carlos Suarez De Jesus 

Ziggurat: If every generation must build its own city, then Glexis Novoa lays out the blueprints for a utopian rebirth via his graphite-on-marble works in which the archaic cohabits with the futuristic. His cities seem to be in a state of perpetual animation: Statues raised to failed ideologies stand cheek to jowl with corkscrew skyscrapers, and monuments to the past are borne aloft by hot-air balloons. His panoramic views suggest skylines simultaneously in evolution and devolution, always changing but never coalescing into a whole. His works remind that history is permanent and that attempts to build a future from scratch might ultimately lead to a dead end. — Carlos Suarez De Jesus Through November 25. Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, 3550 N. Miami Ave., Miami; 305-573-2000, www.bernicesteinbaumgallery.com

Material Terrain: A Sculptural Exploration of Landscape & Place: This exhibit at the Lowe unites 11 artists whose large-scale sculptures provoke thoughts of our uneasy relationship with the environment in a high-tech world. The works are varied, often huge, and created from a wild arsenal of materials ranging from poured fiberglass, deer carcasses, polyethylene, aluminum, and even wheat grass. The show aims a laserlike focus on the complex and urgent issues humanity faces if the planet is to survive our destructive tendencies. It succeeds in raising these questions while reminding us that nature is quite capable of biting back. — Carlos Suarez De Jesus Through November 27. Lowe Art Museum, 1301 Stanford Dr., Coral Gables; 305-284-3535, www.lowemuseum.org.

Place of Mind: A freestyle fellowship has developed between painter John Bailly and poet Richard Blanco. Their exhibit at the downtown branch of the Miami-Dade County Library System marks the culmination of a two-year project and features prints, paintings, and book art Bailly created in dialogue with Blanco's poems. The gang of two has spun what might be read as dynamic visual diaries by engaging in a conversational collaborative process. Bailly, a fellow of the honors college at Florida International University, and author Blanco have responded to each other's work on a gut level. — Carlos Suarez De Jesus Through December 15. Miami-Dade County Library, 101 W. Flagler St., Miami; 305-375-2665, www.mdpls.org.

Nomad: Enrique Martinez Celaya has eschewed the tar bucket and come over from the dark side for his current outing at MAM. His show features five evocative large-scale paintings mining issues of rootlessness and migration through the prism of seasonal change. Anchoring the exhibit is a garage-door-size canvas rendered in multiple tonalities of black and white paint in which an African leopard is marooned in a stark wintry scene. Four other richly colored canvases, representing each season of the year, depict a solitary young girl with the dead beast draped on her shoulders as she navigates space and time. She brings to mind the legend of the Wandering Jew, emotionally desolate, freighted with fleeting memories, and doomed to walk the Earth alone until the end of time. — Carlos Suarez De Jesus Through January 13. Miami Art Museum, 101 W. Flagler St., Miami; 305-375-3000, www.miamiartmuseum.org.