Trying to evaluate the differences between Miami and New York artists is as fruitless an exercise as comparing apples and oranges.
That's why tonight, the folks at ArtCenter/South Florida (800 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach) are opening "I-95 South," a group show including creative types from the Big Mango and Gotham City. The show instead seeks to underscore the commonalities between the participants, who all reference homegrown influences as a departure point.
"These artists' works are influenced by their environment; whether by the underground art and music scene, the urban landscapes of Brooklyn or Wynwood, or their proximity to each other within the walls of their studio," says Susan Caraballo, ArtCenter's artistic director.
ArtCenter's tale of two cities features locals Johnny Laderer, Gustavo Oviedo, and Luis Pinto of Miami, and New York's Tyler Healy, Dean Levin, Evan Robarts, and Kyle Yanagihara, all of whom "have reinvented the 'canvas,' developed new languages and reinterpreted their heritages," Caraballo adds.
But that doesn't mean you won't discover plenty of oranges and apples on exhibit.
"Johnny Laderer has created a farm stand in our main gallery's storefront windows," Caraballo explains. "It's a conceptual piece that includes fake oranges and references the produce stands the artist encountered while driving through central Florida."
Caraballo says New York's Tyler Healy will be representing his home state with some small canvases he painted then photographed before sending the resulting pictures to be reprinted on canvas. When he got them back from the printer, Healy, who finds inspiration in the artificial, painted images of bogus apple cinnamon-flavored products over their surfaces.
Don't miss Gustavo Oviedo's Colada sculpture: In a hanging plastic bag, it holds all the containers of the Cuban coffee he drank while creating one of his periodic tables confected from the artist's trademark icons on view nearby in the gallery.
ArtCenter is also opening "On Location: Artha Project," a working open studio transplanting the Artha Project, a private residence program located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The shared Brooklyn collective of three of the New York artists, Healy, Levin and Robarts, share a studio space there back home; during their stint in the Magic City, they will be exhibiting additional works at ArtCenter's nearby Lincoln Road Project 924 space.
"We're giving these New York artists carte blanche to transport the electrifying energy of their studio collective to our Miami Beach space," says Caraballo. "Although these artists work independently at their shared residency space in Brooklyn, their proximity sparks inspiration and unexpected collaborations - precisely the scene we aim to create with the Studio Residency program at the ArtCenter."
"I-95 South," and "On Location: Artha Project" run through September 29. Event is free to the public. Call 305-674-8278 or visit artcentersf.org.
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