Friday, September 18, 2015

From South Florida to South-Central Wisconsin.

There is an inevitable lag in the amount of information that can be transcribed by a person in motion. This is an attempt to "catch up" on some the most interesting things that I have encountered from a few months ago up to the present.
Wrestler by Dudley Vaill Talcott, Aluminum 1929

I wanted to say a word about the Woflsonian in Miami. This very cool museum and research center focuses on objects and how they influence change on culture. The collection is pretty much from the beginning of the industrial revolution to the end of WW2.The Wolfsonian is very much worth the visit.
Giant African Land Snail shells from the canals of Fort Lauderdale.

A walk along the canals in Fort Lauderdale on a sunny afternoon will treat the visitor with a show of exotic invasive species. From crowds of running iguanas to the empty shells of eaten African Giant Land Snails. It is another thing I recommend to anyone visiting South Florida. Just watch out for Nile Monitor Lizards! They bite.



The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami has had a recent history of struggle with its very own identity. The institution was recently thrown into a battle to remain where it physically is and continue to serve the community it exists in or be moved to Miami Beach. This battle was concocted by members of MOCA's own board of directors and a few cultural elites who viewed the multicultural and diverse neighborhood that MOCA calls home not as desirable as the Miami Beach neighborhood. Well, the gloves came off. One manifestation of this battle is the exhibition "Alternative Contemporaneity: Temporary Autonomous Zones" which was on display from March 21 - May 30th 2015.
Farley Aguilar, The Puppet, oil on canvass 87" x 77"

Guo Jian, Mock Tiananmen Square, meat, plexiglass box, 2015

Detail of Mock Tiananmen Square

Belaxis Buil, Nadiya, mixed media
Beatriz Monteavaro, Mother Superior Jump The  , photocopies, oil,spray enamel, spray foam, carpet glue , white glue on wood, 96" x 72"


This exhibition demonstrates a flexible and reflexive nature that I wish were more the norm in institutions that display art. A museum that reacts to issues that make a difference to the community that is it's audience is OK in my book.


Below are images from the Chazen Museum in Madison WI. This exhibition called "Tradition and Innovation: The Human Figure in Contemporary Chinese Art" represented artists trained at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing. Many of these artist had never been shown in the West and surprisingly the exhibition did not travel outside of Madison. My favorite artists from the show were- Xiang Jing ( the fiberglass stacked circus girls and the figure sticking its tongue out ) and Ma Shulin.





And finally- an image of brats. We have located a butcher shop that sells an incredible array of brats. Blueberry brats, beer brats, ghost pepper brats, cheddar and jalepeno brats, philly cheese steak brats, you name it. If you didn't know- brats are big in Wisconsin.