Posts: 3

1. Un bosque de colores en Miami

   25.Apr.07, 18:50 EDT
   
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   Un bosque de colores en Miami KETTY RODRIGUEZ El Nuevo Herald Cuando venga al downtown de Miami por la salida de Biscayne Boulevard y la autopista I-95, se encontrará con algo sorprendente: un bosque de manglares pintado en las columnas, palmeras sembradas en las esquinas y dos inmensos manatíes dibujados en la rampa del puente. ¿Y cómo ocurrió esta transformación?. Cientos de voluntarios de la organización Hands On Miami Day, con la colaboración de United Way y Carnival Cruise Lines, limpiaron, sembraron plantas y embellecieron con arte, una de las puertas de acceso al centro de la ciudad que antes lucía abandonada y llena de vagabundos. ''La ciudad no tiene recursos y gracias Hand on Miami, hoy [ayer] se han podido limpiar varios vecindarios y embellecer con arte público estos lugares'', dijo el alcalde Manny Díaz mientras supervisaba el trabajo artístico del pintor cubanoamericano Xavier Cortada. El artista utilizó semillas de manglares --buena parte de la ciudad era antes un manglar-- para simbolizar el arraigo de miles de inmigrantes y el desarrollo en ciernes de una joven ciudad como Miami. ''Los inmigrantes que llegan a Miami son semillas que llegan a nuestras costas para crecer y esa es la idea que queremos representar con este bosque de manglares'', dijo Cortada. Además, de la misma forma como se entrelazan las raíces de los manglares para hacerse fuerte y soportar los embates de un huracán, los residentes de Miami pueden, explicó el artista, unirse para hacer de la ciudad un mejor lugar para todos. En cuanto a la presencia vagabundos que pululan debajo de los puentes, uno de los funcionarios de la Ciudad de Miami, aseguró que existe la esperanza de que ''se rompa el ciclo'' que los impulsa a quedarse en estos lugares. ''Ellos pueden volver, pero se encontrarán una zona limpia y pintada y sabrán que estaremos supervisando la zona'', señaló Eddie Padilla, administrador comunitario de la ciudad. Un total de 30 proyectos para limpiar, pintar y sembrar plantas en áreas de Miami Beach, La Pequeña Habana, El Pequeño Haití, Allapattah y Overtown contaron ayer con la participación de 3,000 voluntarios, quienes regalaron a la comunidad 15,000 horas de trabajo en un solo día. ''Es importante limpiar y mejorar nuestra ciudad. Es una forma de devolver algo de lo que nos ha dado'', expresó el juez Steve Leifman, mientras servía como voluntario en uno de los proyectos. La ocasión sirvió además para que los más jóvenes también colaboraran. ''Es mejor estar pintando estas paredes que estar viendo televisión en la casa'', dijo Chris Sowers, de 14 años, quien junto a su mamá Ana Sowers, decoraban la salida suroeste de la autopista I-95, a la altura de la Calle 8 y la 4ta avenida. Ayer, Hands on Miami, la organización más grande de voluntarios de la ciudad cumplía 10 años de servicio ininterrumpido. ''Las cuatro horas que hemos dedicado hoy [ayer] son un ejemplo fácil para todo aquel que quiera involucrarse y convertirse en voluntario'', indicó Julio Piti, miembro de la junta directiva de Hands on Miami.

2. Art Basel to attract thousands of artists to South Beach

   25.Apr.07, 18:49 EDT
   
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   Art Basel to attract thousands of artists to South Beach By Ginelle G. Torres Miami Bureau Posted December 1 2004 Amidst the oil-slicked, sun-kissed muscular bodies on trendy South Beach, connoisseurs of modern art might seem out of place. But when the world's most fashionable art exposition invades the beach, intellectuals become the fabulous crowd. For the third year, Art Basel will lure thousands of talented artists to Miami Beach for an eye-catching extravaganza that runs from today through Sunday. The event showcases virtually every mode of visual art: paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, performances and video art. Artwork from established artists and vibrant newcomers is on display in the Miami Beach Convention Center where art lovers can admire the unique creations, just steps away from the Beach's posh hotels. "It's a wonderful cultural event in South Florida," said Nat Chediak, a Grammy-winning producer and Miami native. Art Basel visitors can stop by booths for 190 galleries from the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa that have brought extraordinary pieces for the public to see -- and buy. Prices for the artwork range from a couple hundred dollars into the millions. The show is an offshoot of Art Basel Switzerland, a 34-year-old institution which in 2002 expanded to South Florida so its beautiful people could gawk at beautiful art. "Some of the people that are involved with Basel visited Miami Beach and it occurred to them that it would be great to have the baby sister here," said Bob Goodman, the Florida representative of Art Basel. But the Beach show is no baby. Almost 60 percent of the galleries that participate in Switzerland are also making an appearance at this show -- each with its own twist. "We don't want the same show here; Miami is more cutting-edge and contemporary," said Peter Vetsch, communications manager for Basel. The Swiss show encompasses classic modern art, while the local show exhibits the city's chic and eclectic roots. Renowned Cuban-American painter Xavier Cortada of Miami, who created the Nike mural at the Shops of Sunset Place, is unveiling his latest work, Miami Mangrove Forest, to coincide with the fair. The mural beneath the I-395 underpass at Biscayne Boulevard to Northeast Second Avenue will debut at 9 p.m. Friday. "The community isn't singular and interdependent so I called it a forest, floating on water with mangrove seedlings because Miami is a very young city," Cortada said. Both fairs have successfully elevated the Latin American and U.S. presence. "It's a win-win situation; best work and best collectors and galleries can sell a lot of the pieces," Vetsch said. Along with the pricey art are five glorious nights of swanky parties for the scene-makers perfectly in tune with the vibe. The Delano and Shore Club Hotel will host events to entertain the art-lounging crowd. There is one-of-a-kind interaction between artists and the public with Art Basel Conversations, where collectors, museum directors and curators give an insider's look at art. Also part of the Swiss show is Art Statements, a launching pad for young artists that has successfully kick-started many careers over the years. A new addition to the art-packed program is Art Sound Lounge, audio pieces by musicians and interviews with artists, curators and collectors from all over the globe that will flow live from the cabanas at the Delano every day. With all the events filling up the days and nights on the beach, businesses are expected to cash in. David Kelsey, president of the South Beach Hotel and Restaurant Association said upscale locales particularly should benefit. "People can only look at so much art and we have a variety of shops for them to visit," he said. About 30,000 people, including many from Palm Beach and Broward counties, will visit the fair. Kelsey said business will likely trickle into other areas such as Bal Harbour, Aventura and Coral Gables. Goodman said the fair has been successful because the galleries want to come back again. "They sold a lot of art and made it a permanent and popular event," he said. Ginelle G. Torres can be reached at ggtorres@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5001. Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

3. Fair takes art to the street with outdoor exhibits

   25.Apr.07, 18:49 EDT
   
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   Fair takes art to the street with outdoor exhibitsBY DANIEL CHANG dchang@herald.com Posted on Fri, Dec. 03, 2004 in the Miami Herald From colorful murals on highway underpasses to towering sculpture on oceanside parks, dozens of artists are striking up community conversations through public art projects for Art Basel Miami Beach, which runs through Sunday at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Much of the effort is motivated by the third annual fair, with some artists creating works specifically for Art Basel and others eager to give voice to their hometown at a moment when tens of thousands of residents and visitors are focused on art. Some of the most visible works will be part of Art Projects, a showcase of bronze sculpture, mosaic murals, video projections and other original work produced by 13 artists specifically for Art Basel. Independent artists, both local and out-of-town, also have chimed in to the dialogue with murals, interactive exhibits and other creations. Taken together, these projects create a patchwork of public art laced with the individual perspectives of artists from South Florida and abroad. Miami muralist Xavier Cortada has been busy transforming dingy highway underpasses in Allapattah, Miami and Little Havana into Miami Mangrove Forest. His past public art projects include mosaics and murals at the State Capitol in Tallahassee, Nike Town at Sunset Place, the Miami-Dade Department of Juvenile Justice and elsewhere. With every public art project, Cortada said, he aims to start a community conversation, usually about who we are, where we come from, and what we aspire to become. To that end, Cortada designed nearly 300 unique mangrove seedlings -- representative of the individual -- and several idyllic murals of manatees and alligators in psychedelic swirls. Cortada called mangrove seeds ``the perfect metaphor for an immigrant and the perfect metaphor for a Floridian.'' Mangroves establish roots, he said, but they also grow in clusters symbolic of a community. And because the seedlings were painted onto concrete columns by volunteers from Hands On Miami and students from Miami International Art University, Cortada sees yet another metaphor -- of volunteers connecting neighborhoods like the intertwined roots of the mangrove. Cortada chose to create his murals on freeway underpasses, he said, because these are often the concrete barriers that divide neighborhoods. ''I needed to come up with . . . a way of unifying these disparate places,'' he said, ``unifying these people and honoring the volunteers that helped paint these. ``This is about giving Miami its own voice.'' DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES Art Basel's public art exhibits, Art Projects, combine a variety of perspectives from international artists exploring universal issues, said spokesman Peter Vetsch. The works, most of them near the Miami Beach Convention Center, provide people with a chance to ''walk around the city and discover art,'' Vetsch said. Among the works in Art Projects: Sculpture by the Cuban duo Los Carpinteros (The Carpenters), whose work explores issues of surveillance with three, 12-foot-high watchtowers that will be placed on the beach behind Collins Park. Brazilian artist Raul Mourao describes his sculpture Casa/Trincheira (House/Trench) -- made from 2,070 sandbags stacked into a 9-foot-high, 12-foot-wide, 18-foot-deep building -- as ``a house that doesn't shelter, a trench that doesn't protect. A house without an inside, just an outside.'' And artist Simon Lee of Brooklyn will cover the rear section of a bus with black, plastic sheeting peppered with small holes. As the bus moves, the holes create images that flow into each other and create a two-dimensional image of the world outside. ''Some of them are funny. Some of them are more serious,'' Vetsch said of the works. ``People can discover.'' Discovering communities is a central theme in Yellow Arrow, an interactive public art project by New York artist Michael Counts. The project invites people to place specially coded yellow arrow stickers (available through yellowar row.org or at some local art galleries) on favorite places and objects -- a view of the city, an unusual fire hydrant, a local bar -- and create a text message, via cellphone, using the sticker's code. Persons who place stickers are also encouraged to photograph the object and upload it to the website, where Counts is building a global gallery. When someone encounters a yellow arrow sticker, they call 646-270-5537, enter the unique code on the arrow sticker and receive the text message associated with the arrow. Jesse Shapins, a creative collaborator on Yellow Arrow, said the objective of Yellow Arrow is ``to say the city of Miami is an artwork, to curate the city itself.'' Counts launched Yellow Arrow in New York City in the spring and has taken it across the country and around the world. The Miami version of Yellow Arrow premiered Thursday, with Counts curating an exhibit at the former Versace Mansion, Casa Casuarina, with 75 large light boxes placed throughout the Mediterranean marvel on Ocean Drive for a party hosted by Piaget jewelry and an international group of art collectors and personalities. Beginning today, the lightboxes will be placed on prominent buildings and locations in Miami Beach, the Design District, Wynwood and downtown Miami for the remainder of Art Basel, which closes Sunday. On Saturday, Counts will present an outdoor slide show of Yellow Arrow stickers placed around the world -- from Basel, Switzerland, and Berlin to Miami, New York and San Francisco -- at Glottman Anteprima, a gallery on 270 NE 39th St., Miami. Perhaps the best part about Yellow Arrow, Shapins said, is that it will remain in Miami and other cities indefinitely. ''It's creating a structure where every person has an opportunity to be an artist,'' he said, ``and be part of an artistic act.''