Miami Art Week and Art Basel Miami Beach took to the center of the art world last week from Dec. 2 to Dec. 8, 2019, with a range of prestigious design fairs, exhibitions and events from artists all over the world, some from our very own FIU faculty, students and alumni. See how FIU made a vital impact on one of the most premier art fairs in the art world.
Miami Art Week Kick-Off in Doral
Doral Contemporary Art Museum (DORCAM) k
icked off Miami Art Week on Saturday, Nov. 30 by activating an entire block with artworks designed by 11 FIU alumni and over 40 national and international artists from the Miami New Media Festival and the PhotoAlicante International Festival.
PhotoAlicante / FIU: Body + Memory + City
PhotoAlicante / FIU: Body + Memory + City is the second iteration of the exhibition that took place earlier this year in March as part of the PhotoAlicante International Festival.
PhotoAlicante is a month-long festival taking over the coastal city of Alicante, Spain. FIU students, faculty and alumni participated in a group show sponsored by the Doral Contemporary Art Museum, City of Doral and the City of Alicante, Spain. Half of the forty-one artists participating in the show were FIU students, faculty or alumni. Their works were returned to Miami and put on display at the FIU Graham Center Art Gallery during the first week of December as part of the Miami Art Week / Art Basel activities on FIU campus.
FIU MBUS Art Talk Prof. David Chang and Prof. Miriam Mirrolla Conversation on Psychology of Art & Visual Experiences
FIU Art + Art History chair, David Chang, and FIU courtesy professor, Miriam Mirolla, from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and at Quasar Institute for Advanced Design in Rome, kicked-off Miami Art Week with a discussion of art and the visual experiences at Miami Beach Urban Studios.
Who Owns Black Art? Questions of Cultural Ownership Art Show & Studio Immersion
This year’s Art Basel displayed a four-day pop-up exhibit featuring FIU Art + Art History alumna, Rhea Leonard, and FIU Art + Art History MFA student, Chris Friday, along with dozens of other black artists and creatives from all over the world. They came together to generate compelling imagery that expressed their definition of Black Art, the value and meaning of creative expression, culture and heritage. The exhibition debuted on Dec. 4, 2019.
Rhea Leonard – In Morbid fashion
FIU Art + Art History alumna, Rhea Leonard, had her In Morbid Fashion (Bracelet) piece featured in the four-day pop-up exhibit Who Owns Black Art? Questions of Cultural Ownership Art Show & Studio Immersion. The piece is meant to “symbolize the commodification of black bodies and to make a statement about how people are so apt to want to take parts of black culture, but don’t want to engage in the trauma of it,” said Leonard.
Leonard and FIU Architecture alumna, Mikhaile Soloman, founder and director of Prizm, were both featured in a New York Times Article about the exhibition.
Chris Friday – Supplement Archive: Soul Food
FIU Art + Art History MFA student, Chris Friday, featured her work Supplement Archive: Soul Food at the Who Owns Black Art? Questions of Cultural Ownership Art Show & Studio Immersion exhibition. Friday was featured in a Boston Globe article for her pieces at the exhibition.
Debra Holt – Art Basel 2019 Artist Studio Visits
FIU Art + Art History alumna, Debra Holt, participated in Art Basel 2019 Artists Studio Visits on Dec. 5, 2019 where she was able to show visitors her work from her very own studio located in Wynwood. Artists Studio Visits were also held in studios around Downtown Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables and other areas around Miami.
Andrew Santa Lucia – Succulent: Recipes for Architectural Consumption
FIU Department of Architecture alumnus, Andrew Santa Lucia, participated in an exhibition entitled Succulent: Recipes for Architectural Consumption at Bakehouse Art Complex on Dec. 6, 2019. The project was an exploration of the process through which we digest the built environment.
Valeria Yamamoto – Archeology of Memory: The site and sound of ceramics
FIU Art + Art History alumna, Valeria Yamamoto, presented her work at the Archeology of Memory: The site and sound of ceramics exhibition held at the Bakehouse Art Complex and at the Pinta Miami Art Fair. The exhibition examines the history and use of materials in their raw form examined through the lens of material culture and utilitarian tradition.
Edison Peñafiel – Walgreens Windows Display
Land Escape, created by FIU Art + Art History alumnus Edison Peñafiel, is a site-specific installation depicting the act of immigration in its peril and absurdity. A scene bearing witness to the act of humans walking, carrying, searching, avoiding, seeking. The installation is an extension of a project created during Peñafiel’s 100 W Corsicana artist residency in Corsicana, TX.
Land Escape is on display at Bass Museum Walgreens Windows Display from Oct. 14 to Mar. 15.
Pepe Mar – Varla TV
FIU Art + Art History alumnus, Pepe Mar, presented his mixed-media installation, Varla TV at the David Castillo Gallery. The installation was part of Meridians, Art Basel Miami Beach’s new curated sector for large-scale works, videos and performances. For this installation, Mar printed, sewed, and painted vast swathes of fabric with images of his own past work as well as the late artist Craig Coleman’s, carrying with him a legacy of historically marginalized queer stories into wider attention.
Dan Evans – Neon Art Display
FIU Journalism + Media faculty member, Dan Evans, featured his neon artwork at Miami Art Mob on Dec. 4, 2019. Pieces included his newest creation, Funky Neon Cities, and other favorites like Los Angeles Subway, Entrance and Skull & Skyline.
FIU Associate Professor Pip Brandt – Premium Juried Show Art Basel 2019
FIU Art + Art History associate professor, Pip Brant, participated in Premium Juried Show during Art Basel 2019. Curator’s Voice Art Projects focuses on curatorial project sin cutting edge and contemporary art. CVAP is committed to fostering the contemporary arts and in presenting curatorial exhibitions focused on new art practices.
Learn more about FIU’s involvement with Miami Art Week 2019 here.
