MIAMI 3D, Design District, December 2013
Exhibition: MIAMI 3 D
Location: 3900 N Miami Ave, Miami, FL, 33127
Dates: December 2, 6-10PM / Dec 3-15, 2013.
To mark the occasion provided by the International Sculpture Center hosting their annual symposium at The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at the Florida International University campus in early December, independent curator Ombretta Agró Andruff has organized an exciting exhibition focusing exclusively on Miami-based artists who work pre-eminently in a three-dimensional format.
The show includes artists spanning three generations, going from those active since the late '60s, such as Robert Thiele, through to the up-and-coming such as Loriel Beltran and Felecia Chizuko Carlisle. A few of the artists were born and raised in Florida, while others moved to the Sunshine State at a later time, but they all made of Miami their primary home. Some of the artists have created site specific installations responding to the peculiarity of the site, while others are showcasing existing works representative of their most recent sculptural practice.
The exhibition took place in the heart of the famed Design District in a beautiful vacant store at 3900 N Miami Ave generously donated by DACRA, the real estate company owned by renowned contemporary art collector and patron Craig Robins.
While the exhibition was not designed around a specific curatorial concept, there are many interesting similarities, however not necessarily obvious at first sight, that connect the artworks featured in Miami 3D.
Many of the artists in the show merge traditional crafts with new technologies and synthetic materials: Alex Trimino's sculptures combining neon lights and found objects precariously assembled with knitting, crochets and weavings; and Robert Thiele's small, intimate and highly textured wall pieces created with wood and canvas, along with resin and Plexiglas are two of the most obvious examples.
Light seems also to be a recurring element having a strong presence not only in Trimino's installation, but also in Felecia Chizuko Carlisle's Pink Chandelier and Lori Nozick's light sculptures.
The use of recycled material and interest in architecture and design is evident in Nozick's works; Loriel Beltran's totemic sculptures built with recovered marble counter tops and stucco architectural details; as well as Ernesto Oroza's installation combining a sculpture made with discarded 16-mm film and modular lamps made with Napalm B (polystyrene and gasoline) designed and built by the artist. Michael Loveland's site-specific installation created using existing glass surfaces found in the space and painted by the artist, and Kerry Phillips' sculpture assembled with all of the drawers recovered in the exhibition venue speak to the artists' interest with collecting and repurposing existing objects through their practice.
A strong reference to imagery from mass media and popular culture is yet another common thread that recurs in the works by Loveland, Thiele, and Oroza; while a preoccupation with the formal qualities of repurposed objects and materials, along with a strong attention to process and labor are embedded in Ralph Provisero's large scale sculpture specifically created for this exhibition, as well as in Don Lambert's site-specific installation designed within a series of existing shelving units that speak to the former identity of the hosting venue, a vacant furniture store located in the heart of the Design District.
Participating Artists
Loriel Beltran; Felecia Chizuko Carlisle; Don Lambert; Michael Loveland; Lori Nozick; Ernesto Oroza; Kerry Phillips; Ralph Provisero; Robert Thiele; Alex Trimino.