ArtCenter/South Florida, welcoming more than 100,000 visitors per year, launches its 30th anniversary initiatives during Art Basel in Miami Beach by debuting a new Visiting Artist and Curator Program that begins with Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), Spain’s international agency dedicated to the promotion of Spanish heritage and culture around the world.
Madrid artist Juan López is the first of five artists from Spain invited to create and present their work in Miami Beach, alongside two Spanish curators. The work López creates during his ArtCenter residency opens the new Visiting Artist Program at the international level with his exhibition “Between Walls” (on view at the Richard Shack Gallery, 800 Lincoln Road, Nov. 16-Jan. 12 and during the week of Art Basel in Miami Beach).
The Opening Reception for “Between Walls” is Wednesday, Nov. 20, 6:00-10:00 p.m. and is open to the public. Concurrently, López will also exhibit a project as part of Temporary Contemporary in collaboration with the Bass Museum, on view at ArtCenter’s windows located at Lincoln Road and Meridian Avenue.
Four other artists and two curators from Spain have been invited by ArtCenter for residencies in Miami Beach, each for 4-6 weeks, through May 2014.
The other artists are Hisae Ikenaga, Dosjotas, Rosell Meseguer, and Esther Mañas and the curators are Guillermo Espinosa and Cristina Anglada.
Throughout all of 2014, ArtCenter’s 30th anniversary year, the organization aims to continue its new initiatives by inviting artists from other cities and countries for residencies in Miami Beach and plans to send ArtCenter resident artists abroad.
ArtCenter’s Executive Director María del Valle says: “This is a bold exchange of art across borders. We have traveled nationally and internationally and conducted extensive studio visits to develop our Visiting Artists Program.”
“These international artists bring fresh new perspectives to the art communities in Miami and the United States. We hope that by sending our artists from Miami to work and exhibit in other countries they can also impact artistic landscapes abroad,” adds del Valle.
“Spain is thrilled to select ArtCenter/South Florida for this new cultural exchange with the United States,” said the President of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), Teresa Lizaranzu.
“ArtCenter/South Florida helped pioneer Miami Beach’s evolution into a global art destination, and continues to shape its future with innovative programming. The unparalleled visibility of its landmark location on Lincoln Road makes ArtCenter the perfect place to launch Spain’s new international partnership with the U.S. during Art Basel in Miami Beach,” adds Lizaranzu.
Juan López’s work has been featured in many international art fairs, and will be showcased again this year at Art Basel in Miami Beach by Nogueras Blanchard, a prestigious gallery based in Madrid and Barcelona.
He is known for playing with spaces and exploring urban environments via designs of complex iconic buildings, mixing video projections and installation, and even drawing directly on the surface of walls to alter perceptions of space and architecture. In his work lies a deep interest in direct contact to the language developed in the street with different artistic codes – within the scope of both the private and the institutional.
Lopez’s productions are filled with elements that reference urban space, including the use of tape, waste, graffiti, placards, posters, stickers, photocopies and fanzines. His work has been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries including La Casa Encendida (Madrid); Fundació Joan Miró (Barcelona); Centrum Linz (Austria); National Museum of the Republic (Brasilia); Tokyo Wonder Site (Japan); and Liste Art Fair (Basel).
“While ArtCenter strives toward greater international reach, we are proud to continue our legacy of commitment to South Florida-based artists,” adds Maria del Valle.
Concurrently and throughout the week of Art Basel in Miami Beach, ArtCenter’s Project 924 will host a series of exhibitions featuring two ArtCenter resident artists (Xabier Basterra and Laz Ojalde) plus four alumni (Rosemarie Chiarlone, Peter Hammar, Regina Jestrow and Alex Trimino).
The Great Balancing Act)
Project 924 is dedicated to experimentation and innovation in exhibitions, performances and site-specific installations.
“Experiments in Geometry + Other Projects” is on-view Nov. 30-Jan. 19.
The opening reception is Wednesday, Dec. 4, 6-10 p.m. at Project 924, located at 924 Lincoln Road, 2nd Floor.
The work of these six artists explores the notions of space, shape and time.
ArtCenter opened its doors in 1984 and has provided more than 1,000 artists with space to create and exhibit work on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.
In its first 30 years, ArtCenter has provided residencies to artists from throughout the U.S. and abroad, and alumni include such artists as Carlos Betancourt, William Cordova, Luis Gispert, Beatriz Monteavaro and Jen Stark.
The Richard Shack Gallery, located at 800 Lincoln Road, is free and open to the public.
Hours during Art Basel Miami Beach:
Wednesday: 12:00 pm – 10:00 p.m.
Thursday-Saturday: 10:00 am – 10:00 pm
Sunday-Monday: 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
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About ArtCenter/South Florida
The cultural epicenter of South Beach’s Lincoln Road, ArtCenter/South Florida welcomes more than 100,000 visitors every year and is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2014. The mission of ArtCenter/South Florida is to support the artists and advance the knowledge and practice of contemporary arts and culture in South Florida. ArtCenter creates opportunities for experimentation and innovation, and encourages the exchange of ideas across cultures through residencies, exhibitions, outreach and education. Since its founding in 1984, ArtCenter has been home to more than 1,000 resident artists. ArtCenter also offers over 100 studio and artist development classes per year at its South Beach location and satellite venues. More information is available at 305/674-8278 and artcentersf.org.
About Acción Cultural Española (AC/E)
Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) is a public institution whose purpose is to further and promote Spain’s culture and heritage within and beyond Spain’s borders through a wide-ranging program of activities including exhibitions, conferences, cycles of lectures, cinema, theatre, music, audio-visual productions and initiatives designed to encourage the mobility of professionals and artists. Boosting the internationalization of Spanish creators and artists is one of the strategic courses of action of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E). As Spanish culture is a thriving sector—not only in the traditional areas of culture but also in the new modes of production and distribution—AC/E should foster its internationalization. For this purpose AC/E has devised the Program for the Internationalization of Spanish Culture (PICE) featuring different tools for enabling it to travel abroad, acting as facilitators.
The PICE is based on two pillars, a Visitors Program that enables influencers and planners from different artistic disciplines to learn about the situation of their sector in Spain in order to incorporate Spanish creators into their program; and a Mobility Program that makes it possible for benchmark public or private cultural institutions interested in including a Spanish artist or creator in their programs to receive an economic incentive to encourage them to do so. Both tools are thus complementary and need to be coordinated. More information www.accioncultural.es
