RE will open at MAC Fine Art on Saturday, June 28th, during the Flagler Village Art Walk. The exhibition is curated by College of Architecture + The Arts alumna Rochi Llaneza (BFA ’04) and includes FIU faculty and alumni. In the exhibition is featured Associate Professor Pip Brant, College of Architecture + The Arts Artist-In-Residence Xavier Cortada, Venessa Monokian (MFA ’07), Julie Friel (MFA ’99), Kerry Phillips (BFA ’00), Martin Casuso (BFA ’01), and Magdalena Ortiz (BFA ’02).
Curator Rochi Llaneza provided the following statement about RE.
R3 (Reduce, reuse, recycle) is sometimes called the waste hierarchy, the three components of environmentally responsible consumer behavior. In the spirit of alchemy, I would like to add to the many more visual RE concepts to exemplify a broader perception of how artists interpret this idea.
After reading Robert Sapolsky’s statement on the wisdom of the crowd, I was inspired to gather a group of artists whose algorithms consist of reusing, recycling, reforming, etc., materials, ideas, imagery, to create something new or to point us in a new direction.
To post some examples, Nestor Arenas REthinks the traditional landscape, Julie Friel – an ordinary sketchbook; Jamey Morrill and Pilar Batlle and Lucinda Linderman REuse materials creating sculptural pieces with an ecological message; Jerry Bleem, Jonathan Rockford, Detourbutterfly, Ryan Farrell, Duane Brant REpurpose other people’s ‘garbage’; Ali Miranda REforms a photograph of Obama; Judy Polstra REwinds time with REclaimed watches; Venessa Monokian and Pip Brant REwork books to create new concepts; MILCHO REarranges an action verb to make you REthink its meaning while Karelle Levy and Martin Casuso do the same with their knitted materials. In another realm, Troy Simmons makes us REflect on the impact we are having on our planet; Randy Burman, Sandra Ramos and Xavier Cortada REview profound concepts of our contemporary society with traditional REused materials. Ruben Ubiera, Magda Ortiz and Kerry Phillips REclaim ordinary supplies with loaded connotation to REgain their worth. These artists, like ants, are working together to sway the general public to REdefine R3.
The opening reception of RE will take place on Saturday, June 28th, 2014 at MAC Fine Art: 833 NE 4th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304. Free and open to the public.
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