|
|
"DIRT Yuta Suelo Udongo Tè"
curated by Onajide Shabaka
3815 NE Miami Court
Miami Design District 33137
*one block east of N. Miami Avenue and 39th Street
Opening Reception: 8 June, 2013 - 7-9 pm
Exhibition runs: June 1-28, 2013
Weekdays: Tue, Fri, & Sat 12 noon-6 pm
(also by appt.: editor@miamiartexchange.com)
 
Miamiartexchange.com is please to invite you to the exhibition "DIRT
Yuta Suelo Udongo Te," curated by Onajide Shabaka. This exhibition
investigates the notion of dirt, as a literal, physical substance
itself, as art material, and as a psychological notion pointing to
pollution, personally and ritually. The artists take on the notion of
dirt, or pollution, and investigate with a variety of media and
approaches. There is a challenge facing this exhibition. Statements
about life, death, history and the ephemerality of it all are loaded
with symbolic baggage before you do anything with them. Visual artist
and curator Onajide Shabaka wanted to ask artists to take up the
challenge and investigate various aspects of dirt, and certainly not all
on the physical level. After a recent conversation with artist William
Cordova, Shabaka felt a need to resurrect this material and all of its
various notions because he has been hoarding a supply of red oxide
colored dirt shipped back to Miami from the foundation of a demolished
building and mine shaft in Ely, Minnesota. That place, its dirt, and the
three fired clay bricks shipped back have a lingering resonance with
Shabaka’s art practice having spent nine summers there. Lugging the dirt
and bricks around since Shabaka’s visits to Minnesota, also carry
weighty references that are evoked in this exhibition, “Dirt Yuta Suelo
Udongo Tè.” These linguistic references are: English, Talaandig
(Philipines), Spanish, Kiswahili, and Kreole (Haiti). |
|
It’s hard to define “dirt,” since it represents the
dissolution of everything else, the final stop, the end of entropy, the
common conclusion of the thousand natural shocks that the flesh is heir
to. Our relationship to dirt is entirely mixed. Dirt became contemporary
art with the Earthworks of the late 1960s, a kind of formalism that
moved out of the gallery, into the ground and then out of town. Nature
is dirt, after all — as a timeless balm against the fragmentation of
media culture. The dirt salve is the subject of at least four recent
books and this exhibition.
Participating artists:
Dona Altemus - mixed media
Edouard Duval Carrié - painting
Robert Chambers - mixed media
William Cordova - mixed media
Veronica Scharf Garcia - sculpture, photography
Mark Hahn - photography
Alette Simmons Jimenez - mixed media
Lori Nozick - sculpture
Kim Nicolini - photography, drawing
David Rohn - photography, performance
Onajide Shabaka - mixed media, drawing
Jovan Karlo Villalba - painting, sculpture
Debra Wilk - poetry
Click here for more exhibition details
|
|
 Exhibition Venue: 3815 NE Miami Court, Miami Design District. OPEN on Second Saturday Art Walk.
Exhibition Curator: Onajide Shabaka is a visual artist, curator,
and writer. His art practice makes references to the anthropological,
geological, and biological through a challenging and visceral aesthetic,
with a grounding in African Atlantic culture. His writing and
curatorial practice focuses largely on contemporary art and culture, and
subject specific research. Since 1998 his practice has included art
writing and independent curatorial work, both of which are important
aspects of his art practice.
Miamiartexchange.com / Artlab33.com: Miami Art Exchange has been
online since October, 2000 focusing on the visual arts in Miami-Dade,
Broward and, southern Palm Beach counties with reviews, articles,
interviews, photographs and special events, podcasts, and studio visits.
Artlab33 is a nomadic curatorial project interested in exhibiting
strong contemporary art, and an experimental, collaborative environment
for artists. Miamiartexchange.com and Artlab33.com are sibling web project sites, collaborating and sharing information and goals.
Exhibition Venue: The Spear Building, Miami Design
District, a neighborhood dedicated to innovative fashion, design,
architecture and dining experiences. The Miami Design District is owned
by Miami Design District Associates, a partnership between Dacra,
founded and owned by visionary entrepreneur Craig Robins, and L Real
Estate, a global real estate development and investment fund,
specializing in creating luxury shopping destinations. Together Dacra
and L Real Estate have actively transformed the once-overlooked area of
Miami into a vibrant destination for residents and visitors by
presenting the best shopping, cultural and culinary experiences within
an architecturally significant context.
|
|
|
|
|
|
