Miami ArtWeek’14 – Wednesday 12/3

We haven’t even hit the shows yet but have already stumbled upon some great discoveries.

While taking a stroll down Lincoln Road Mall in search of some dinner, we were quickly confronted with the “ArtCenter South Florida” and their retrospective exhibition “Thirty Years on the Road,” curated by Edouard Duval-Carrié.

Some standouts from this show were Vicenta Casan “It’s Difficult to be Spiderman’s Mom” a 66.5″x51″ 2008 C-Print Photograph.

And a 2012 piece by Kerry Phillips called “I’m The Worst When it Comes To…” this is a magnificent work of many multicolored, found sheets, folded neatly and stacked on a found table. You can see a different installation of this work on her site here: http://www.kerryphillipsart.com/stories

Also at ArtCenter South Florida are numerous artists’ gallery/exhibition spaces, and a walk through the well-lit labyrinth brought us to this large, humorous and savvy piece by Alejandro Vigilante.

But by far my most favorite discovery from today was another artist in residence at the ArtCenter, Babette Herschberger. Her minimalist paintings on canvas and cardboard absolutely blew my mind!

This quick snapshot doesn’t do justice to her subtile work. Seldom does something so simple make such a massive statement. I was really looking forward to seeing the EVOL works on cardboard at the SCOPE fair, but Herschberger’s “constructions” on cardboard are in a whole other (higher) class.
Here’s an example from her website:
babetteherschberger.com

“Tidbit #54″ (collage, found cardboard, packing tape. 9.125″x7.875”)

I was so impressed with her original work and the warm welcome in her studio/gallery space. I hope to speak with her again soon and do a more in-depth post on her brilliant work. So watch this space.

Later on Wednesday evening, (after excellent dinner at Bella Cuba on Washington Ave. at Lincoln Rd.) we happened upon the David Castillo Gallery Pop-up on Lincoln Road, which will be open through January 31, 2015.
The un-missable, 1971 neon piece, shining through the window by Rafael Ferrer “Artforhum (Red, White & Blue)”, was really the only thing that could be appreciated during their closed, evening hours.

But the reviews indicate it’s worth a trip back there to see the rest of the show. And the exhibition space definitely looked intriguing.

Okay, hitting the hay for tonight. Hoping to hit SCOPE & ArtBasil tomorrow!