While growing up in Cuba, Fabian Peña became fascinated by the patterns left by bug splatter on the floors and walls of his home. “My grandfather would swat insects with a rolled-up copy of Granma, and their squashed remains made an impression on me,” he recalls. “Later on in my…
Animals: Although you won’t find a Napoleon, Bluebell, or Snowball in Juan Erlich’s mutant menagerie, his eye-popping c-prints on Plexiglas evoke a sense of Orwell’s Animal Farm. His bizarre beasties appear in lush natural settings devoid of any signs of human life, hinting at a dystopian future, or the aftermath…
With the economy on the skids, it’s hard to imagine getting cranked about investing in culture. Even worse, those $300 government cheese rebates we’ve been rubbing our palms to snag are still months away from our mailboxes. You want us to splurge on art when we can’t fill our gas…
Female Nudes: Blake Fisher’s fetching silver gelatin prints are reminiscent of the photography of Bill Brandt and Lucien Clergue, and exude a timeless quality. Some of his models are bathed in soft natural light; others are cloaked in a dramatic chiaroscuro. Fisher’s images are often rhythmic and fluid, his models…
Although you won’t find a Napoleon, Bluebell, or Snowball in Juan Erlich’s mutant menagerie, his eye-popping c-prints on Plexiglas evoke a sense of Orwell’s Animal Farm. His bizarre beasties appear in lush natural settings devoid of human life, hinting at a dystopian future, or perhaps the aftermath of an eco-disaster…
During Field Work sessions this winter, performance artist and choreographer Octavio Campos found himself treading in strange waters. “It was a really humbling experience for me. I think The Field is something every artist should go through,” he says. The Field’s 10-week workshops brought painters, dancers, performers, video artists, and…
Animals: Although you won’t find a Napoleon, Bluebell, or Snowball in Juan Erlich’s mutant menagerie, his eye-popping c-prints on Plexiglas evoke a sense of Orwell’s Animal Farm. His bizarre beasties appear in lush natural settings devoid of any signs of human life, hinting at a dystopian future, or the aftermath…
Blake Fisher — with the help of some scissors — discovered early on what would become his calling. At an age when most kids would be playing catch in a sandlot, Fisher could be found holed up in his room with scissors and a stack of magazines, squirreling away pictures…
For those in the Big Mango jonesing for a bleeding edge theater, dance, or multimedia performance fix, the Miami Light Project’s Here & Now Festival has been the place for a mainline dose for the past 16 years. This year’s head-jolting lineup includes world premieres by Teresa Barcelo, Joanne Barrett,…
Six 21st-Century Chinese Neo-Pop Artists: Once again, gallerist Virginia Miller has gained access to the as yet restricted, but lucrative, contemporary Chinese art market. The new group exhibition of two-dimensional media at ArtSpace features the work of six young artists based in China. Many of the works are unmistakably political…
At first blush, the image of a scrawny young man dry-humping a plush Snoopy doll seems like an effort to shock. The model in the black-and-white large-scale photo is nude, his body shaven and rail-thin. His eyes are downcast and disinterested. His jutting collarbones are suggestive of the heroin chic…
To distinguish herself from Wynwood competitors, art dealer Cristina Ricci is popping the cork on her new gallery “on the other side of the tracks.” Her pristine 1,900-square-foot space, nestled behind the Bacardi Building on Biscayne Boulevard, will specialize in contemporary photography and something else most Wynwood joints can’t boast:…
Fortunate Objects: Selections from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection: The show features 59 works in a mind-boggling hodgepodge of media by artists ranging from Damien Hirst to Olafur Eliasson and José Antonio Hernández-Diez. It “proposes a playful, imaginative, curious, and unexpected approach to objects used in daily life,” curator Cecilia Fajardo-Hill says…
More than a quarter-century after his death, Cuba’s greatest artist is finally getting his due in Miami. “Wifredo Lam in North America,” on view at the Miami Art Museum (MAM), marks the first large-scale solo exhibition of the Chinese-Afro-Cuban master’s work in South Florida. The beautifully encyclopedic show, organized by…
The organizers of the annual Coconut Grove Arts Festival, now in its 45th year, boast their event is a bigger draw for locals than Art Basel Miami Beach. After all, the weekend-long event — beginning today — draws four times the crowds of Basel. This year the sprawling exhibit will…
Fortunate Objects: Selections from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection: The show features 59 works in a mind-boggling hodgepodge of media by artists ranging from Damien Hirst to Olafur Eliasson and José Antonio Hernández-Diez. It “proposes a playful, imaginative, curious, and unexpected approach to objects used in daily life,” curator Cecilia Fajardo-Hill says…
It’s a recent Monday evening, and Steven Gagnon has brought traffic to a halt a stone’s throw from the Shrine of Saint Philomena Catholic Church in Little Havana. His Border Cruiser “mobile video sculpture” is parked on the corner of SW Sixth Street and 17th Avenue, where a crowd of…
Triangle of Need: Chicago-based theater and film artist Catherine Sullivan will participate in a free screening and talk about her new multichannel video installation, Triangle of Need, which opened at Vizcaya this past fall as part of the museum’s Contemporary Arts Project. The work was filmed primarily at Vizcaya and…
It’s difficult to imagine an artist with brushwork uncanny enough to fool Mother Nature. Gina Ruggeri’s oil-on-Mylar cutouts of tree stumps, piles of rocks, and canopies of leaves are so deftly executed they skewer the viewer’s sense of the real. The New York painter ups the ante on perception during…
View a slideshow of some of Larrain’s Falmenco shots. At Centro Cultural Español, Gilles Larrain stands over a photograph he took in 1983 in Gualdaquivir, Spain, and launches into the first of many memories. “That’s El Cabrero, one of flamenco’s greatest singers,” he says. The man in the picture is…
After an astonishingly prolific half-century in the music biz, saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera shows no signs of slowing down. His most recent album, the heavy-swinging Funk Tango, was nominated this year for a Grammy in the Best Latin Jazz Recording category. Here’s hoping he can add to his collection — the…
He-Man Woman Haters Club: If you see only one show this season, don’t miss the Boyz of Basel at Carol Jazzar’s outdoor gallery. The title is aptly appropriated from The Little Rascals. It celebrates everlasting boyhood and features a variety of 2-D and 3-D media, including outdoor video projections, naughty…
