More than Meets the Eye,” opening on Friday, Apr. 19, 7-10 p.m., at Prints Giclée Shop, 8747 SW 134 St., presents a fun new twist on art shows — no piece of artwork will be hung or exhibited any higher than three feet off the ground, thus “lowering” the art to young children’s eye level.
“The artwork won’t be ‘childish’ — it will be PG-13 — but it will be displayed so children as young as 3 to 5 years old can easily see it,” said show creator, co-curator and Miami artist Christine Lyall.
She added that children of all ages are welcome to attend. Also curating are Miami artists Aida Tejada and Gerardo Gonzalez- Quevedo, who owns and operates Prints Giclée Shop.
Lyall said she thought of the show’s concept when she noticed a young boy at an art show straining to see a piece of her work hanging on a wall. The boy’s father could see the piece just fine. The boy could not.
“I thought, ‘What if an entire professional art show were designed specifically for children?’ It seems so simple, and yet, I’ve never seen it done before,” Lyall said. “Children have a natural appreciation for and curiosity about art, and they often see things in art that adults, who tend to be more critical, don’t see. And yet, most art shows automatically exclude children as viewers because everything, unless it’s big, is too high for them to see.”
With governments cutting back on arts funding and school districts slashing their arts education budgets, “it’s increasingly important to find other ways to cultivate children’s appreciation for art,” Lyall said. “We hope this art-show concept helps.”
More than a dozen South Florida artists representing a diversity of styles and media (so children can see the many ways in which art can be rendered) are participating in “More than Meets the Eye,” including:
Aduni Abu Bakar — Sumi Ink Painting
Leonel D’cröix — Digital Painting
Jose Luis Dias Montero — Mixed Media
Jaime Ferreyros — iPhonography
Sandra Garcia-Pardo — Sculpture
Raciel Gomez — Mixed Media
Rigoberto Rosales Jalil — Colored
Pencil Painting
Marilyn Lemay — Watercolor
Adriano Nicot — Painting
Jose Luis Dias Montero — Mixed Media
Adriano Nicot — Painting
Jee Yung Park — Mixed Media
Edilberto Pelegrino — Painting
Daniel Portnoy — Photography
Clara Varas — Mixed Media
Katarina Vicenova — Oil
Marivi von Feretova — Painting
Prints Giclée Shop is an artist-owned and operated, full-service, fine-art digital printing company, offering high-quality giclée printing on archival paper, canvas or acrylic substrates. Open since 2004, Prints Giclée Shop also offers framing services, and it has a gallery where it showcases the work of local, national and international artists.
For more information, call Gerardo Gonzalez-Quevedo at 305-282-9154, or visit the Prints Giclée Shop at 8747 SW 134 St. or check out the studio’s website at www.printsgicleeshop.com
