For some, walking along Lincoln Road in the stifling summer can feel like an eternity in a furnace of unquenchable fire. With its flocks worshiping at the altar of mass consumption and parading surgically enhanced physiques, the only salvation might be a frosty beer at Zeke's Roadhouse.
800 Lincoln Road
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Category: Galleries
Region: South Beach
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But for organizers of "The Afterlife," a new exhibit at ArtCenter/South Florida, the lure of eternal rapture is a salve that unites us all — even amid the simmering hedonism of South Beach.
"For most people, regardless of their chosen religion, the goal is ultimately to land in a good spot for all eternity," says Byron Keith Byrd, one of the three artists participating in the intriguing show, which explores notions of the sweet hereafter using iconic religious symbols. "A belief in life after death is the one thing every religion has in common. Personally, I think it has to do with mankind's ego and a desire to see their loved ones again."
Byrd, Alex Heria, and Franklin Sinanan have created a cultural amalgam of contrasting works in diverse media to convey their notions of how faiths — ranging from Judaism to Catholicism, from Buddhism to Islam, even from Santería and vodou — view the great beyond. The works fluctuate from Byrd's cliché-riddled visual puns, to Heria's kitschy depictions of Jesus and the resurrection, to Sinanan's multiculti altar piece riffing on ancestor worship and mysterious spirit realms.
Inside the glass-walled space, Heria's Sweet Jesus anchors the exhibit and is reminiscent of a carnival sign that might be found welcoming true believers at the gates of Heaven. The mammoth installation spells out the words of its title in soaring letters covered in pink glitter. It is surrounded by red and white light bulbs connected to relay switches, casting the sign in a flickering glow that gives the piece a lurid halo effect.
Heria's work is the most polished of the uneven show. The ArtCenter alumnus, best known for his photography, presents several sculptures he created using Swarovski crystals and plasticine statues of Jesus purchased at South Florida botanicas and dollar stores. Heria festoons the religious figurines with bling before placing them in ornate, gold-painted frames typically found in many Hispanic homes.
Heria says his mother, Angela, who passed away in January, often helped him apply the jewels to his Christ sculptures.
"She would tell me, 'Only the best for Jesus,' and lend me the crystals from her notions box," Heria recollects. "My mother would critique the sculptures that were sort of my little take on gay sarcasm and the underbelly of religion." He says before the exhibit opened, he dreamed of his mother calling him "long-distance from el mas aya," the afterlife.
Byrd's mixed-media works, meanwhile, also exude a sense of the gaudy in religion and veer toward the theatrical in their presentation. For example, Religious Trap is made from 312 spring-loaded mousetraps arranged to form a huge Christian cross. Another work, titled Bible Belt, is crafted from a belt nailed to a section of wood, while Thee Crutch is an underarm crutch wrapped in sections of the Hebrew Pentateuch and gold leaf.
Unlike Heria's work, which purposely plays up the kitsch factor of its dollar-store religious iconography, Byrd's stab at taking fundamentalist zealotry to task with irreverent one-liners borders on camp and ultimately falls flat.
Originally from Trinidad and living in Canada before his residency at ArtCenter, Sinanan explores the ritualistic nature of religion in A Life's Journey Altar. It's an eerie installation, chock-a-block with a pastiche of contrasting beliefs.
Sinanan, who refers to himself as an "outsider artist," has created an altar boasting blackened Styrofoam wig heads, African and Buddhist masks, vodou candles, plastic flowers, a wooden rosary, feathers, sundry liquor bottles and offerings, and a plastic slave ship. The discomfiting installation appears not unlike a cross between a Rob Zombie movie set and a Santería shrine.
"We as humans want the afterlife to be true," Byrd intoned on a recent weekday afternoon while installing his artworks on Lincoln Road. "It's life or death's greatest mystery, I think."
Unfortunately for visitors, the trio's work does little to peel back the veil on anything otherworldly. Sinanan's idiosyncratic altar is a prime case in point. The artist, who readily admits "not being too familiar" with the Afro-Caribbean religions he's referencing, juxtaposes imagery as if he were tossing wet noodles at a wall and hoping to see what sticks. The results, much like this show's overall concept, are half-baked at best.
Spectators seeking a more palpable sense of the ineffable should venture a few blocks north to the Bass Museum, where a modest solo show by New York-based artist Charles LeDray instantly transports viewers via powerful works of a profound, contemplative nature.
"Charles LeDray: Bass Museum of Art" marks the artist's first exhibition in Florida and comprises just four works that are both haunting and poetic. Displayed in the museum's second-floor galleries, the works are presented with a meticulous detail that bestows upon them an almost sacred quality, as if they were priceless relics or testimonials to a sense of sorrow or absence.
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The ArtCenter/ South Florida is a cultural jewel among the tourist oriented, Euro-themed restaurants and cafes that litter the Lincoln Road promenade. Inside this center, there are dozens of artist studios.... each with a big window, so you can look in and see them working. This center provides a unique opportunity to not only become inspired artistically, but to observe and chat with local clever craftsmen up close.
The most recent exhibition, "The Afterlife" with works by Byron Keith Byrd, Alex Heria and Franklin Sinanan explored the concept of the afterlife in a bizarre and inquisitive way. Indeed, whether an individual believes in God, Allah, Buddha, Jesus, Zeus or a Higher Power, the afterlife is a core concept for most religions. Below are some insights from my walk around: Upon entry, I was a little affronted.
First, I saw the "Religious Trap"... where 312 spring-loaded mousetraps were arranged to form a huge Christian cross. Next, I saw an illuminated "Sweet Jesus" sign that was reminiscent of a sign outside of a Deep South tent revival. It is, after all, sometimes, low lying fruit and popular to dissect the errors with organized religion. Thus, I was uninspired and bored. However, I went back again with a more open mind. It isn't fair, after all, for one to dismiss a whole exhibit after a cursory walk-through. Perhaps, these artists can peel back the veil on something otherworldly.
First, I came across the colored photograph, "Blue Jesus" that was embellished in a gaudy floral golden frame. In the photo, Jesus was blessing me in 3D while dressed in a bejeweled robe. The features of his face were not in porcelain, rather they were of plastic. He was illuminated by a stream of light that elegantly shone through trees in the backdrop. That particular stream of light was the only item that looked true in the photo. As Jesus was bejeweled, 3D, plastic and in an exaggerated frame... the piece to me represented the man-made version of him. Under those man-made layers and illusions, may lay truth.
Afterward, I went over to the "Life's Journey Altar" that was made from blackened Styrofoam wig heads, African and Buddhist masks, voodoo candles, plastic flowers, wooden rosaries, feathers, crosses, sundry liquor bottles, offerings, and a plastic slave ship. I hypothesize that it was a motley mixture of artifacts constructed by global cultures trying to understand the mystery of what happens after death in a tangible form.
There was an untitled piece of mixed media in the back that caught me off guard... for it had a white doll with a crossed out neck holding a yo-yo while inside a womb. The piece also contained a half man/dog over a fire, bones, skulls, a coffin, piranhas, candles and tulips. Similar to life... it was incredibly complicated and mysterious. In addition, it represented a complimentary dualism of sorts as it had prints of life, death, light and dark.
At the end, there was a painting of a dead black bird with an illuminating quote underneath. The quote read... "Flee as a bird to your mountain... for LOOK! The wicked bend their bow... they make ready their arrow or string and they may shoot secretly upright in heart." Indeed, the history of man is not only wrought with war, but with dogmatic religions that replace mystery with certainty. Don't be ensnared. Respect the mystery and the journey. Remember, we are free. We are free.
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