With her many colorful collages, Erika King has been documenting histories and telling stories through photographs and paint since the early 1970s.
Known for her commemorative, corporate, celebrity, family and sports collages, King has been commissioned to create collages to celebrate many of Miami’s milestones, including the Miami Centennial, University of Miami’s 75th, Miami City Ballet, Florida Grand Opera, the Miami Heat NBA championships and, most recently, the Miami Beach Centennial and FIU’s 50th.
Between all these projects, she has put together a collection titled “Angels and Icons” that evoke feelings of harmony and disorder alike. Opening Friday, Oct. 7 and continuing through Oct.28, “Angels and Icons” will be featured at Books & Books in Coral Gables.
“We hope that collectors will come see the incredible works Ms. King has put together,” said Mitchell Kaplan, president of Books & Books and a co-founder of the Miami Book Fair International. “This display is unlike anything you have seen from her before, and I guarantee you won’t want to miss it.”
In her exhibition, King pauses to focus on her more spiritual side, using fragments of iconic images of Angels, the Statue of Liberty, American Indians, Venus DeMilo, stamps, foreign currency, and Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe, inviting the viewers to muse upon the muses.
With her signature splashes and gestures connecting the images, she evokes a feeling of nostalgia and peace in some, intensity and chaos in others. The many Chinese characters interspersed mean peace, love, harmony and joy, a message she desires to share.
For more information about King and her works, visit ErikaKing.com.
King’s corporate collages have graced the walls of many Fortune 500 companies from New York to Los Angeles, including Bank of America, American Express, AT&T, AIG, Blockbuster Entertainment, United Way, Beacon Council, Related Companies and Interval International. Her celebrity and family collages provide lasting joy and meaningful memories for generations, and for years to come.
Born in Philadelphia to a family of artists, King was educated in Germany, Switzerland and Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Her career path led her to the sunny coast of Spain where she first exhibited at the Casa de Cultura in Malaga. From there she went on to exhibit in Madrid, Munich, Beirut and London, eventually moving back to New York followed by a year in San Francisco. In 1970, she moved to Coconut Grove where she has since enjoyed living and creating her collages.
