Articles: 2016
Free Art
“Put that in your story, bro. Put that in your friggin’ story. I do this for free, you get me? Free.” I had just fallen off the top of a 9-foot ladder while helping Hec One Love, a local Miami artist, paint one of the walls in the Wynwood Art District — an expansive wall with an abstract background and lettering that read, “Love Harder.” We had been working since 9:00 am, putting up chalk lines and painter’s tape to create straight, crisp, and clean white lettering on an abstract spray-painted background. ...
read moreTabitha Vevers:
Climate Change at Art Miami Fair
“Several of my paintings being exhibited in the Clark Gallery booth at Art Miami are about climate change (and sea level rise) as are many of my paintings over the past decade or so, starting with my “Eden Series,” which depicted a new species struggling to evolve in a post-apocalyptic Garden of Eden. The lobster paintings reference Shiva, the many-limbed Hindu god of both creation and destruction. The lobster is also a metaphor for the male stereotype, with its protective exo-skeleton and soft interior. I’ve also been...
read moreA Sea Change:
An Interview on the
Theater of Sea Level Rise
A Sea Change is a multifaceted theatrical experience primarily motivated by the global rise of sea levels and the search for solutions. By exploring aspects of global sea level rise through an immersive experience that incorporates dance, art, poetry, history, journalism and even virtual reality, A Sea Change features the work of Florida International University (FIU) students, faculty, and staff who are dedicated to addressing environmental challenges. Conceived and directed by FIU theatre professor Philip M. Church and...
read moreLeonard Cohen (1934-2016)
The week of November 7th, 2016, was a startling week in America. An unlikely candidate ascended to the presidency of the United States, and an unlikely Canadian troubadour ascended to heaven. As a teenager in the early 1960s, I was a fan of Peter, Paul & Mary. I actually saw them perform in a tiny bowling alley bar in Cincinnati, Ohio. When I arrived for my freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania, I was greeted on my first day of dorm life by the jarring sounds of Bob Dylan, who changed my notion of what...
read moreThe Paintings of Rodolfo Arellano
The paintings of Rodolfo Arellano are like him – joyful and roaring, but without sacrificing their serenity. The lines are sensual and gentle, never sharp. Each work denotes a long and happy effort with no other aspiration than to participate in the enjoyment of beauty. “I paint things as I wish them to be,” he says, sitting in his wheelchair directly across from me. We are in his studio, a modest wooden rancho on the island of La Venada, part of the archipelago of Solentiname in Nicaragua’s great Lake...
read moreRemembering Zaha Hadid
Reflections by Alastair Gordon Architect Zaha Hadid (1950-2016), who died in Miami in March, was a complex woman who made complex designs and introduced a sometimes baffling disregard for gravity and everyday conventions of Euclidean space. In many ways, she was just starting to find her rhythm as a designer while simultaneously balancing her role as global design diva. I remember the 2014 groundbreaking for 1000 Museum Tower in downtown Miami. She entered the throng like a rock star and was quickly swarmed by fans who...
read moreArquitectonica Then (1981)
Editor’s Note: The Miami News was an evening newspaper in Miami, Florida, for most of the 20th century. The paper started publishing in May 1896 as a weekly called The Miami Metropolis. In 1925, the newspaper moved into a new building called the Miami News Tower. This building later became famous as the Freedom Tower. The Miami News ceased publication on December 31, 1988. On Monday, October 12, 1981, the Miami News began publishing a five-day series of stories about Miami architecture, with the following introduction: “Beginning...
read moreFive Poets
Poetry from Miami reflects the diversity of the city itself. We don’t just mean writers’ nations of origin, ethnicity, and subculture. There is no single style one could identify as a Miami school of poetry. There are no factions either. One dip of the stick into the poetic wetlands and up comes narrative drama, fragmentation, spoken word, formalism, and more. Such factions and schools are foolish anyway. Miami is an organic case in point. — Annik Adey-Babinski — Michael Martin ArtSpeak Poetry Editors Ricardo...
read moreA Prophet in Our Own Land: A Personal Reminiscence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”. – Martin Luther King Jr. The day Martin Luther King Jr. died–April 4, 1968–my father was cradling his right hand with his left. Somehow, he’d injured his thumb. “What’s going on?” I asked. “Shot!” He shook his head. “Assassinated! Just like that.” He was weeping, turning his...
read moreFrom the Spanish Inquisition to Miami:
The Art & Journey of Jonatas Chimen
Themes of identity are often an integral part of artwork and aesthetic production. But it’s probably not the case that the expositions on identity span six centuries and five countries. “At 16, I came to the U.S. from Brazil,” Jonatas Chimen told me as we chatted in his studio/apartment, “and people started asking me if I was a Jew.” These questions were strange for Chimen (why would somebody ask him if he was a Jew?), yet they were also incredibly relevant. For as long as he can remember, Chimen told me, there was a mixture of rites,...
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