Three Groundbreaking Art Shows in Wynwood

It's been a good month.

Comments (0) By Carlos Suarez De Jesus Thursday, Sep 25 2008

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Another artist who craned necks during the recent Second Saturday openings in Wynwood was Maria Fernanda Cardozo, who peeled the curtain back on Oz at the Bernice Steinbaum Gallery. In her solo show, "Mimicry," the Colombian artist who lives in Australia, adopts the emu, that nation's emblem, as a metaphor for exploring the landscape and survival there. To survive in the outback, the emu alters its feather colors, and the artist has used its plumes to create head-turning outfits as a commentary on how humans use fashion to blend in as well as stand out in contemporary society.

During Cardozo's opening, four models paraded around wearing her jaw-dropping Emu Wear gowns.

From Christian Curiel's "Collapsing Inwards"

Details

Collapsing Inwards: Through November 11. Kevin Bruk Gallery, 2249 NW First Pl., Miami; 305-576-2000, www.kevinbrukgallery.com. Process/Processed: Through October 4. Fredric Snitzer Gallery, 2247 NW First Pl., Miami; 305-573-5810, www.snitzer.com. Mimicry: Through October 4. Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, 3550 N. Miami Ave., Miami; 305-573-2700, www.bernicesteinbaumgallery.com

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The must-see exhibit contains videos, photographs, and emu feather sculptures riffing on humankind's complex relationships with the natural world. A Garden of Insects That Looks Like Plants, housed in museum display cases, contains a variety of dead insects with a knack for camouflaging themselves from predators and disappearing in plain sight.

If this winning trifecta is any indication of the quality of exhibits brewing on the back burner, art lovers will be stampeding local galleries this year.