|
Eduardo Alexander Rabel
|
An Artist's Work Is Never Done
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Alexandra Rowley at DINA MITRANI GALLERY
January 26th - March 29th
Posted
3/19/13
Alexandra Rowley's current show at Dina Mitrani Gallery brings together photography, ceramics and sound to create an appealing, personal meditation on the many small acts of transformation that make up our daily lives.
The first two images that greet the viewer are a striking pair of larger-than-life photographic prints, each depicting a colorful, ornate plate enlarged against a solid black background. These decorative plates are shiny and attractive, but what is most interesting about them is th... [more]
|
Tania Bruguera: Re-imagining Revolution, Re-creating Cuba
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Posted
1/18/13
A Cuban artist currently based in the U.S., Tania Bruguera has the distinction of having presented challenging political work in both countries, as well as in many others. Her ambitious and powerful oeuvre encompasses installation, performance, and long-term socio-political intervention. This is not art for spectators—it's for participants, truth-seekers, fellow-travelers. It is a psychic weapon for the oppressed, a subversive force against the narrow ideological confines of both socialist and capi... [more]
|
The Art of Small Things
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Charles LeDray at Bass Museum of Art
April 27th, 2012 - August 12th, 2012
Posted
7/4/12
A few years back I had the good fortune of being able to see Charles LeDray's grand retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. That exhibition was jam-packed with countless creations, each meticulously handcrafted with the artist's renowned attention to detail. In one sense, LeDray's current exhibition at the Bass Museum of Art might be considered the exact opposite, in that it consists of just four works, each set apart in its own ample space. Yet such an enumeration does not... [more]
|
Journeys of Body and Spirit
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
José Bedia at Miami Art Museum
May 24th, 2012 - September 9th, 2012
Posted
6/4/12
The English version of the introductory wall text uses the redundant-sounding term "Hispanic-Cuban" to describe José Bedia. This is jarring, since all Cubans are Hispanic according to the general usage of the word. Yet despite the awkward phrasing, there is an important point being made here: Bedia's bloodline comes from Spain rather than from Africa. (The Spanish wall text is clearer, stating that the artist is a "Cuban of Spanish origin.") The reason this matters is that so much of Bedia's work—e... [more]
|
Darkness and Light
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Edouard Duval Carrie at Bernice Steinbaum Gallery
April 14th, 2012 - May 31st, 2012
Posted
5/8/12
Born in Haiti in 1954, Edouard Duval Carrié is an established Miami-based artist who has lived in Puerto Rico, studied in France and Canada, and traveled to Benin, in West Africa. His ornate mixed-media works reflect both his cosmopolitan experiences and his strong connection to his Haitian roots.
Upon entering the gallery, one of the first things you notice is that the lights in half of the gallery are turned off, and that the pieces on that side shine seductively in the dark. Yet if you are... [more]
|
There's a Map for That
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Rosa Naday Garmendia, Regina Jestrow, Lucinda Linderman, Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin, Amanda Serrano, Carrie Sieh at Art Center / South Florida
February 24th, 2012 - April 1st, 2012
Posted
3/12/12
As objects and as subjects, maps hold a special appeal for contemporary visual artists, in that they portray data in a distilled graphic form, using color, line, and symbols to communicate information that helps us find our place in the world. A smart, thought-provoking little show at ArtCenter/South Florida offers viewers a glimpse into how seven artists approach the broad subject of mapping—from the spatial to the temporal, and from the external to the internal.
Curated by Lauren Wagner, Director o... [more]
|
Home / Body
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Erwin Wurm at Bass Museum of Art
December 1st, 2011 - March 25th, 2012
Posted
2/20/12
The Austrian sculptor Erwin Wurm has brought his surreal sense of humor to the Bass Museum of Art, filling up gallery spaces and walls with a playful exhibition that explores the relationships between the human body and the clothing and architecture that surround it.The exhibition takes its title from a comic book that the artist used to read as a child. He would hide this comic book in different spots within his bedroom so that his parents wouldn't find it. That childhood relationship to archite... [more]
|
Text and Context
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
José Ángel Vincench Barrera at ArtSpace / Virginia Miller Galleries
November 4th, 2011 - February 27th, 2012
Posted
2/6/12
To be a dissident in an authoritarian one-party state such as Cuba is no small thing: it takes great courage and conviction. Similarly, to be an artist living in Cuba and to make work that focuses directly on the themes of dissidence and exile—that also takes courage, as well as creativity. José Angel Vincench is just such an artist, as this outstanding solo exhibition—his first in the U.S.—ably demonstrates.
It bears mentioning that I myself am the son of a Cuban exile, so these issues... [more]
|
Industrial Evolution
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Enrique Gomez De Molina at Bernice Steinbaum Gallery
January 14th, 2012 - February 29th, 2012
Posted
1/23/12
The sculptures of Enrique Gomez de Molina must be seen to be believed. At once gorgeous and grotesque, they fuse the actual body parts of different animals into fantastic new creatures at whom we are compelled to look at in awe and wonder.
A hornbill-headed, hoofed bobcat with peacock feathers appears frozen in time as it flies across the wall with wings spread open. A monumental hog-moose with a feathered coat rears upright on two hind legs with hippopotamus feet. A goose-monkey holds a rope... [more]
|
Lost In Translation
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Christian Boltanski, Sophie Calle, Annette Messager, Bernar Venet at The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum
November 9th, 2011 - March 18th, 2012
Posted
1/9/12
In terms of this exhibition's parameters, the subtitle says it all. However, when it comes to the quality of the work on view, that's another story entirely. I should probably disclose upfront that I have never studied the French language and haven't had much prior familiarity with the work of contemporary French artists. However if this mish-mash of a selection is representative, it doesn't seem that I have been missing a whole lot. To be sure, there are some excellent standouts – most notably... [more]
|
Window into the People's Republic
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Jia Yu Chuan, Hua Er, Yu Haibo, Yang Yan Kang, Li Nan, Zhang Xinmin, Chen Yuan Zhong at The Lowe Art Museum
November 15th, 2011 - January 15th, 2012
Posted
12/18/11
China: Insights focuses on contemporary mainland China as seen by seven Chinese documentary photographers. Each utilizes a medium and a visual language that is relatively new as an art form in the People's Republic, since it was not until the 1980's that China began opening up to the outside world and to Western culture in particular. Even today, most of the artists in this show make their living as press photographers, which means that their editors and/or the Communist Party control what gets publi... [more]
|
Fast Pulse
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Posted
12/13/11
PULSE Miami The Ice Palace Studios1400 North Miami AvenueMiami, Florida 33136December 1-4, 2011
The PULSE Contemporary Art Fair takes place annually in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. Attending this year's seventh Miami edition revealed a diverse array of quality works that quickened my pulse – or at least piqued my interest.
Dan Gioia, Sphere, 2011, Conner Contemporary Art
Ewerdt Hilgemann, Irregular Columns (California Trees), 2010, imploded stainless stee... [more]
|
Change of Pace
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Posted
12/12/11
Fountain Art Fair2505 North Miami AvenueMiami, FL 33137December 1-4, 2011
Miami's scrappy, funky Fountain Art Fair took place in the cutting-edge art district of Wynwood, concurrently with Art Basel. I visited Fountain on its last day seeking something different than the other, slicker art fairs. I was not disappointed.
Hugh Lee Man, Fountain Art Fair, exterior wall
Danni Rash, M Diabetes, Kesting/Ray
Bob Clyatt, Man's Head in Red Frame, raku-fired stoneware, wood encaustic, steel, Lambert Fine Arts
Joseph Grazi, Frame 1, four taxidermy bats and acrylic on wood, Lamb... [more]
|
Something for Everyone
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Posted
12/10/11
Art Public 2011Curated by Christine Y. KimArt Basel Miami BeachCollins Park, Miami BeachNovember 30 – December 4, 2011
Public art is at its best when it communicates on multiple levels, attracting broad sectors of the general public and remaining accessible to them, yet at the same time challenging viewers to think and see differently, and never sacrificing intelligence nor integrity. Moreover, public art that takes into consideration the specific context of the site tends to be especially exciting a... [more]
|
Something for Everyone
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Posted
12/10/11
Art Public 2011Curated by Christine Y. KimArt Basel Miami BeachCollins Park, Miami BeachNovember 30 – December 4, 2011
Public art is at its best when it communicates on multiple levels, attracting broad sectors of the general public and remaining accessible to them, yet at the same time challenging viewers to think and see differently, and never sacrificing intelligence nor integrity. Moreover, public art that takes into consideration the specific context of the site tends to be especially exciting a... [more]
|
Clothes-Minded
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Guerra de la Paz at Praxis International Art - Miami
November 12th, 2011 - December 31st, 2011
Posted
11/20/11
The artist duo Guerra de la Paz is comprised of Alain Guerra and Neraldo de la Paz, both Cuban-born, U.S.-educated, and Miami-based. While their joint moniker is, on the one hand, simply a combination of their last names, it also has a deeper resonance, since it literally translates as "War of Peace." As befits such a name, the two are unafraid to tackle big, serious themes, and they do so with dignity and panache.
The centerpiece of Guerra de la Paz's current exhibition is a monumental cubic instal... [more]
|
If Memory Serves…
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Jose Manuel Fors at Pan American Art Projects
October 22nd, 2011 - December 5th, 2011
Posted
11/6/11
Cuban artist Jose Manuel Fors, born and based in Havana, has an elegant exhibition of new works on view at Pan American Art Projects. Most of these works use photographs as a raw material. Fors collects vintage black and white family photographs and postcards from his own family and friends—most if not all from the pre-revolutionary period (from the early 1900's to the 1950's)—and combines these images in various ways to create works of art that evoke personal and universal feelings of nosta... [more]
|
A Wonderful Art Fair for a Wonderful Cause
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Posted
10/23/11
Wynwood Art FairOctober 21-23, 2011Photographs & text by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
The first annual Wynwood Art Fair (WAF) took place over three days on five blocks of NW 6th Avenue. All admission proceeds from the fair go to support Lotus House, a shelter for homeless women and children which is located in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami. Not your typical short-term shelter, Lotus House provides free housing and comprehensive support services for up to a year, with the ultimate aim being to nurt... [more]
|
Changing It Up, Or Down
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Darren Bader, NINA BEIER, Karl Holmqvist, Adriana Lara, Natalia Ibáñez Lario, Jose Carlos Martinat, Amilcar Packer, Anders Smebye, Nicolás Paris Vélez at Museum of Contemporary Art - North Miami (MOCA NOMI)
September 23rd, 2011 - November 13th, 2011
Posted
10/10/11
This challenging yet playful exhibition at MOCA, North Miami brings together work by various international contemporary artists whose work involves interventions in, or modifications of, pre-existing cultural forms, objects, or materials. There is a deliberately oblique quality to much of the work, which can be either intriguing or off-putting depending on one's point of view. I found many of the works to be highly engaging, while others were less satisfactory. In any case, the museum's printe... [more]
|
Three for the Course
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
Cheryl Pope at Emerson Dorsch
September 2nd, 2011 - October 1st, 2011
Posted
9/25/11
On view now at Dorsch Gallery are three solo shows by artists whose work mixes seriousness and playfulness, lightness and darkness, in various ways.
Audrey Hasen Russell's exhibition, humorously titled Gold Slaw, fills the first two rooms, as well as a connecting hallway, with whimsically constructed sculptures that combine a wide variety of synthetic materials to create arresting three-dimensional "landscapes." The sole natural ingredients—found tree branches—are mostly smothered by artificial gree... [more]
|
All Aboard?
by Eduardo Alexander Rabel
George Sanchez-Calderon at de la Cruz Collection
August 13th, 2011 - October 8th, 2011
Posted
9/11/11
George Sanchez-Calderon's smart site-specific installation fills the project room of the de la Cruz Collection with a single old-fashioned train schedule sign, arranged diagonally in the dark space. The viewer is confronted with the size and physicality of a machine that would normally be looked at only from a distance and then only briefly by train passengers in order to quickly glean the necessary information to get where they are going. However, in this case the artist has taken the mechanic... [more]
|
|
|
|
|
add to mylist
email this artist
report abuse
contact us for help