Category: exhibition

Wild and everyday life

dig

The struggle to survive, beautifully, wild and wayward, expressed in the practice of everyday life.

Only the wayward appreciated her riotous conduct and wild habits and longing to create a life from nothing; only they could discern the beautiful plot […] she waged each and every day.

Selected from Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval by Saidiya Hartman.

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

dig

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.

mail

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

fb event.

Wander and Errancies at Crisp-Ellert Art Museum

dig
AG2020_1880571a

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.

Elizabeth Withstandley’s Searching for the Miraculous

dig

A trilogy of video-installation works by Withstandley that uses Bas Jan Ader‘s final work, “In Search of the Miraculous”, as an entry point for a new experiential journey. The exhibition opens tonight at AC Institute.

Searching for the Miraculous is a trilogy of video/installation works that uses Bas Jan Aders final work, “In Search of the Miraculous”,  as an entry point for a new experiential journey. The works explore identity, time, transcended experiences, and the romantic vision of a quest for something better.  The project uses video, audio, music and sculptural elements to create a contemporary version of the trilogy. It starts with  a cinematic short, then a connected journey between two people and finally concludes with a journey of a pair of glass jars floating across the sea.

Elizabeth Withstandley is from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. She is one of the co-founders of Locust Projects, a not-for-profit art exhibition space, in Miami, FL. 

Her work is routed in conceptual art taking the form of video installations and photographic series. Artifacts, individuality, and music are all central themes in her work. In addition to exhibiting her own work she has organized a number of exhibitions including Smoke & Mirrors at the Torrance Art Museum, 20/20 at Locust Projects and a the 2019 residency project, work from artists at The Curfew Tower.

Nádia Taquary

dig

The55Project and Bakehouse presented works by Nádia Taquary, [who] “raises questions related to the knowledge and practices of the traditions of Afro-Brazilian jewelry. In her work, she uses wood, gold, silver, beads, conch shells, and other materials representative of colonialism and African religions, investigating their symbolism and highlighting their hope for freedom in a transatlantic slave context.

By revisiting these symbols of African heritage, Taquary transforms them into empowered and affirmative sculptures that evoke the necessity to bring forth dialogues on the African Diaspora.”

AG2019_1870406a

The works of Nádia Taquary (born 1967, Salvador, Bahia; lives in Salvador) investigate the practices and traditions of Afro-Brazilian jewelry and body adornments. By using materials representative of both colonialism and African religions, Taquary investigates their inherent meanings and symbolism while exploring representations of freedom in an Afro-Atlantic historical context.
Oríki: Bowing to the Head pays reverence to the Yoruba culture-Ori meaning “head” and ki meaning “praise.” The sculptural hairstyles not only act as a metaphor for ancestral thought, but also point to the influence of African heritage seen in contemporary hairstyles. Living in Salvador-one of the first slavery ports in Brazil and now considered the center of Afro-Brazilian culture—provides Taquary with a rich history embedded in her daily life, allowing her to examine how ancient hair-braiding methods from African tribes, such as Fula and Himba,
are kept alive as a form of resistance, affirmation, and identity formation today.
As part of the Solo Project presented by The55Project, the artist spent three weeks in a studio space provided by Bakehouse Art Complex (BAC), where she further developed the Oríki series, creating the three sculptures seen at the center of this installation. Working in this space, which is adjacent to the Little Haiti neighborhood, the artist produced new works inspired by encounters she had while exploring the local diasporic experience and investigating how these
histories are translated into Miami’s black community.
Evoking both the beauty and symbolism of these ornate hairstyles, she celebrates African heritage by translating it into a contemporary language in her work, creating empowering and affirmative sculptures that conjure the necessity to bring forth dialogues on the African diaspora.


Text by Jennifer Inacío.

AG2019_1870421a AG2019_1870411a AG2019_1870439a

Paulo Darzé Galeria. A two-person show at Leme Galery with Ayrson Heráclito. A text on the show by Francisco Madeira. Catalogue from the artist’s exhibition at the Agnès Monplaisir Gallery. Axé Bahia: The Power of Art in an Afro-Brazilian Metropolis at Fowler Museum. Praises in a blog by Marcilia Castro.