Dust Specks on the Sea: Contemporary Sculpture from the French Caribbean & Haiti

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Little Haiti Cultural Complex and the Tout-Monde Festival present the exhibition Dust Specks on the Sea: Contemporary Sculpture from the French Caribbean & Haiti March 7 – April 25, 2020 at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex – Miami, Florida.

Exhibiting artists:
Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc, Raphaël Barontini, Sylvia Berté, Julie Bessard, Hervé Beuze, Jean-François Boclé, Alex Burke, Vladimir Cybil Charlier, Gaëlle Choisne, Ronald Cyrille, Jean-Ulrick Désert, Kenny Dunkan, Edouard Duval-Carrié, Adler Guerrier, Jean-Marc Hunt, Nathalie Leroy-Fiévée, Audry Liseron-Monfils, Louisa Marajo, Ricardo Ozier-Lafontaine, Jérémie Paul, Marielle Plaisir, Michelle Lisa Polissaint & Najja Moon, Tabita Rezaire, Yoan Sorin, Jude Papaloko Thegenus, Kira Tippenhauer.

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Dust Specks on the Sea focuses on sculptural works by over a dozen contemporary artists from Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and Haiti and addresses the various positionings of the postcolonial condition in this region. The exhibition’s title—Dust Specks on the Sea—is derived from a quote by former French President Charles de Gaulle, describing his view of the French Caribbean islands from an airplane in 1964. De Gaulle’s description speaks to the almost otherworldly mystery of an aerial view of the Caribbean archipelago, while at the same time calling into question a deep-seated hierarchical perspective stemming from France’s history as a powerful colonizing force in the Caribbean. In 1902 the eruption of the volcano Mount Pelée on the island of Martinique, destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre, killing approximately 30,000 people in a matter of minutes. Poignant photographic images of the “worst volcanic disaster of the early 20th century” show the volcano’s dusty plume looming above the sparkling waters of the Caribbean; these visual documents allude to the complex and loaded sentiments of de Gaulle’s quote—the duality of perspective. The French Caribbean cannot be defined solely by its beauty nor by its historical trauma; through this exhibition, we aim to contribute to a contemporary, multi-layered understanding of this region.

This exhibition was generated by Hunter East Harlem Gallery at Hunter College in New York City, an institution dedicated to creating projects that build on the complicated circumstances of being a human in today’s world and bolstering the voices of creative people and thinkers. Through presenting a sculpture-based exhibition in a distinctive way—in many cases, the artworks will physically interact with one another, we hope to build a visual dialogue about how artwork can be one of the most powerful tools for personal and political expression. The second iteration of this exhibition will take place at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex, located in the heart of Miami in the historically recognized “Ti Ayiti” (Little Haiti) neighborhood.  The mission of the Little Haiti Cultural Complex is to present and preserve Afro-Caribbean culture, train the next generation of leaders while leveraging arts and culture as tools for transformation and community building.

Dust Specks on the Sea: Contemporary Sculpture from the French Caribbean & Haiti is curated by Arden Sherman with curatorial assistance by Marie Vickles and Katie Hood Morgan. The exhibition is made possible from support generously provided by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States and Hunter College. Additional sponsorship provided by the Directions of Cultural Affairs of Martinique and of Guadeloupe.   Generous support for the artwork Bananas Deluxe, by Jean-Marc Hunt, has been provided by Chiquita Brands. Tabita Rezaire’s artwork, Peaceful Warrior, was made possible by a loan from John Speier of The Crystal Cave Rock & Gem Shop, Davie, FL.

Public Programs & Gallery Hours:
March 7, 2020: Opening Reception and Tour with Artists, 3-7pm
March 7 – April 25, 2020: Exhibition open to the public
Monday – Friday, 10am – 8pm
Saturday, 10am – 4pm
Sundays, Closed

Organizing Institution: Hunter East Harlem Gallery: Hunter East Harlem Gallery is a multidisciplinary space for art exhibitions and socially-minded projects. Located on the ground floor of Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work at 119th Street and 3rd Avenue, the gallery presents exhibitions and public events that foster academic collaborations at Hunter College while addressing subjects relevant to the East Harlem community and greater New York City. The gallery seeks to initiate partnerships with publicly-oriented organizations and focuses on showcasing artists who are engaging in social practice, public interventions, community projects, and alternative forms of public art. Since its inception in 2011, all exhibitions and programs at Hunter East Harlem Gallery have been and remain free and open to the public. www.huntereastharlemgallery.org

Hosting Institution: Gallery at Little Haiti Cultural Complex in collaboration with the Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance: The Little Haiti Cultural Complex (LHCC) offers a unique opportunity for residents and visitors to gain exposure to Afro-Caribbean culture, expand their knowledge of the arts and develop new talents. Since 2006, the complex has been committed to fostering imagination, creativity, and positive experiences for visitors year-round. The mission of the City of Miami’s Little Haiti Cultural Complex is to present and preserve Afro-Caribbean cultures‚ inspire the next generation of leaders and leverage arts and culture as tools for transformation and community building. The LHCC is a cultural hub, where the community can create dialogue and collaborate towards building an equitable reality for Afro-Caribbeans and their descendants. www.littlehaiticulturalcenter.com

The Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance (Alyans Atizay Ayisyen,Inc.) was founded in 1994 as a nonprofit, 501(c)3 tax- exempt organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Afro-Caribbean culture, with a focus on Haiti, for the benefit and enrichment of the local community. It is HCAA’s objective to become a one-stop information, recreation, and research center for Afro-Caribbean history and art enthusiasts that contributes to develop a strong sense of community awareness, individual pride, self-worth, commitment, and involvement in the Afro-Caribbean community of Miami. HCAA invites you to join and support our organization so that through our joint endeavors we continue to achieve this objective. The Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance (Alyans Atizay Ayisyen,Inc.) is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Afro-Caribbean culture, with a focus on Haiti, for the benefit and enrichment of the local community. www.haitianculturalartsalliance.org

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A place where time has crossed and left a breathy stain

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Here. We Are, here. Here, we are at a place for blck Longevity. Here, we will be.

All summer connotations fill this light,
a symmetry of different scales—the site
of fibrous silence, the velvet lace
of iris, alders the moon can ignite.
One feels the amplitude of grief, the pace
of oscillating stars, power in place
where time has crossed and left a breathy stain.
A body needs the weight and thrust of grace.
I want to parse the logic, spin and domain,
the structure mourning will allow, the grain
of certainty in two estates, the dance
of perfect order, flowing toward its plane.
That bird you see has caught a proper stance, 
unfaithful to its measure, a pert mischance
of divination on the move, the trace
of sacred darkness true to light’s advance.

Jay Wright, “Light’s Interrupted Amplitude” from The Guide Signs. Copyright © 2007 by Jay Wright. 

poem via PF – Black Arts Movement.

Wander and Errancies at Crisp-Ellert Art Museum

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Untitled (blck longevity on the Matanzas) i, 2020, Enamel paint and xerography on paper. Courtesy of the artist and David Castillo Gallery, Miami.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Adler Guerrier: Wander and Errancies

March 6 to April 18, 2020

We are pleased to announce our upcoming exhibition of new works by Miami-based artist Adler Guerrier. The exhibition, entitled Wander and Errancies, will include photographs, prints, collage, and objects that are informed by a line of thought set adrift in Saint Augustine. The artist will give a walkthrough of the exhibition on Friday, March 6 at 5pm, followed by an opening reception until 8pm.  

Guerrier speaks to Saint Augustine as being “the most Florida of all places,” not only in terms of its geography or territory, but also in its relationship to history. During his research, the artist explored how those historical narratives give structure to what we know about Saint Augustine, as well as how they continue to shape our perceptions of the city.  He is drawn to Fort Mose and Lincolnville, in particular, as places in which emancipatory gestures and the strives of the Civil Rights movement contended to claim the space for the thriving of black social life. This exhibition proposes to tap the still resonant energy in those places.

While in residence at the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum in Fall 2019, Guerrier walked through Saint Augustine’s historical neighborhoods, visited various local historic sites, and undertook research about the history of our city. As the artist wanders he documents details in the landscape, often through photography, which become the basis for other prints and drawings. For Guerrier, the act of drawing is also an act of wandering, allowing for the development of the poetics of a particular place or landscape. 

Guerrier also takes inspiration from Saint Augustine’s popular ghost tours and is fascinated by the way in which the city has created its own haunted atmosphere, perpetuating its phantom myths by telling variations on the same  stories over and over again.

Adler Guerrier, born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, lives and works in Miami, Florida. Guerrier received a BFA from New World School of the Arts/University of Florida. His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad, including Coffee, Rhum, Sugar, & Gold: A Post Colonial Paradox at Museum of African Diaspora, Dust Specks on the Sea Contemporary Sculpture from the French Caribbean & Haiti at Hunter East Harlem Gallery, and Adler Guerrier: Conditions and Forms for blck Longevity at California African American Museum. Guerrier recently organized the group exhibitions Between the legible and the opaque: Approaches to an ideal in place, presented at Bakehouse Art Complex and Notices in a Mutable Terrain at Fundación Pablo Atchugarry.

Guerrier’s practice is best known for works in photography, drawing, and installation, that explore the poetics and politics of place.

We are grateful to The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida for their support of the CEAM Artist Residency through a grant from the JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Art Fund.

The Crisp-Ellert Art Museum is located in an accessible building. If you are a person with a disability and need reasonable accommodations, please contact Phil Pownall at 904-819-6460. Sign Language Interpreters are available upon request with a minimum of three days’ notice. 

For further information on our programming, please visit the website at www.flagler.edu/crispellert, or contact Julie Dickover at 904-826-8530 or crispellert@flagler.edu. The museum’s hours are Monday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, and Saturday, 12 to 4pm, while classes are in session.