Havana meets the Hudson, an amphitheater of sand and other must-see Miami oddities
By Anne Tschida, Barry Fellman and Jane Wooldridge
A 1939 work from “Woven Conversations” by Colombian Maria Angelica Medina, at the “Women Weavers: The Warp of Memory” show at Aluna Art Foundation through Nov. 15, 2018.
Barry Fellman
No need to wait until December’s Art Basel week to engage in art. Around the region, galleries, museums and alternative art spaces are bubbling with shows. Here are a few you shouldn’t miss this month.
Ariel Cabrera’s “Wet Campaign No. 1,” oil on canvas, from the “Kindred Spirits” exhibit through Dec. 9, 2018, at the Coral Gables Museum. Courtesy of Coral Gables Museum
Havana meets the Hudson
Miami may be the center of mainland Cuban culture, but the New Jersey side of the lower Hudson River is home to its own tightly knit community of Cuban Americans — musicians, doctors, academics, Realtors, visual artists. North and South meet in the work of 10 artists featured in “Kindred Spirits: Returning Havana to the Hudson,” an exhibit at the Coral Gables Museum organized by collector Jose Valdes-Fauli (brother of the city’s mayor). Among the works are intricate drawings of the material detritus of life — Purex detergent jug, Buddha statue, flamingo planter — by Jairo Alfonso; sensuous sculptures by Armando Guiller; dreamy underwater scenes by Ariel Cabrera; subtle white-on-white recreations of Versailles in “Ruins,” paintings by Douglas Arguelles. More than 1,800 packed the show on its opening days; through Dec. 9, visitors can contemplate these exquisite works in relative peace. Bonus: Go before Nov. 6 and you can also see “Sacred Ground: The Rise, Fall and Revival of Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery,” final resting place for African-American lynching victims, millionaires and many of the workers who built the City Beautiful.
Rendering of “Sand: Amphitheater at Collins Park” by Miseal Soto, art in public life resident at ArtCenter/South Florida. The exhibit will be open in Collins Park in Miami Beach from Oct. 28 to Nov. 17.
‘Castle’ in the Sand
Miseal Soto is the first ArtCenter/South Florida Art in Public Life Resident, and for the inaugural installation Soto has focused on sand. The material that literally created Miami Beach, piled up, imported to make one of the first global tourist destinations — and what a fragile landscape that is. Soto has created an amphitheater, the ancient Greek structure that not only produced plays but also served as a public forum for discussion — philosophical, creative, political — about our place in the world. Using several tons of Miami Beach sand, the Amphitheater will be a temporary home for such dialogue, with guests that included writers, architects and artists.
Misael Soto’s “Amphitheater,” Oct. 28 to Nov. 17, Collins Park, 2100 Collins Ave., Miami Beach. The main events are Nov. 3 from 3 to 7 p.m. and Nov. 17 from 3 to 5 p.m. artcentersf.org; 305-674-8278.
Virginia Leonard’s “It Only Hurts When I Bend” ceramics show is on display at Mindy Solomon Gallery through Nov. 24, 2018.
Pain management
For some time now, the art of ceramics has moved from its old pigeonhole of a “craft” to the world of fine arts, and Mindy Solomon has been here to prove that. Among her adventurous shows highlighting the latest in the form is the current exhibit featuring Virginia Leonard. The New Zealand artist has molded tactile, bold and at times disturbing sculptures that come deep from within, from the pain cause caused by a serious motorcycle accident. As the artist writes, “chronic pain lacks both the language and voice — and the language of my clay making is my attempt to rid my body of trauma and reduce my level of pain.”
“Virginia Leonard: It Only Hurts When I Bend” at Mindy Solomon Gallery, through Nov. 24. 8397 NE Second Ave., Miami. 786-953-6917; mindysolomon.com.
Xaviera Simmons mixes media in collages that reference the history of slavery. Her “Sundown” is on display at David Castillo Gallery through Nov. 17, 2018.
Constant conflict
Xaviera Simmons mixes together painting, photography and text into her collages that reference the complex and tragic history of slavery, Jim Crow, migration, the civil rights struggle, even the early writings of Christopher Columbus — really, she creates historical artistic documentation of the constant conflict from the beginning of the New World. Her fifth solo show at Castillo, Simmons has been widely exhibited in museums in New York, Boston and Chicago to name a few; and was resident at The Studio Museum, Harlem. The sculptures and collaged works here are her latest pieces.
Work by Miami-based Marina Font at “Women Weavers: The Warp of Memory” show at Aluna Art Foundation through Nov. 15, 2018. Barry Fellman
Threads of Life
Organized by Aluna Curatorial Collective, “Women Weavers: The Warp of Memory” showcases large-scale works created over the past 40 years by 20 noted textile artists of the Americas. Maria Angelica Medina’s woven sculpture hangs like a vine, creating its own jungle. Hawaii-born Aikio Jackson uses long black hair braid to express her ethnic heritage. Other sculptures recall disappearing traditions, the fragility of life, and the initial thread that gives us life: the umbilical cord. Miami-based artists included are Marina Font, Agustina Woodgate and Mira Lehr.
“Women Weavers: The Warp of Memory,” at Aluna Art Foundation through Nov. 15. 1393 S.W. First Street, Wynwood, alunartfoundation.com; 305-305-6471.
This story was originally published November 1, 2018 at 7:00 AM.
