Mapanare.us Constantly.Consuming.Culture. - Art

Imaginerio Arte (Buenos Aires) Showed Work By Cristina Santander At Pinta Miami 2018

2/20/2019

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Imaginerio Arte (Buenos Aires) showed work by Cristina Santander at Pinta Miami 2018.

Santander is a native of Buenos Aires and works in plastics.

These pieces stand on that lofty divide between fine art and design. I say "lofty" here because of how often work that attempts this falls into a figurative abyss.

Find out more at cristinasantander.com.ar.

Laten - Artproject (Havana) Showed Work By Eduardo Roca (Choco) At Pinta Miami 2018

2/20/2019

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Laten - Artproject (Havana) showed work by Eduardo Roca (Choco) at Pinta Miami 2018.

Choco is a Havana-based painter, engraver and sculptor. These intricate pieces, as much of his work, have their roots in Afro-Cuban culture. Choco grew up in rural Cuba and his art reflects his roots. Of course these roots have been honed and focused by an high-end arts education. His work has been show all over the world: North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Find out more at www.chocotallersol.com.

Rojas-Ford Fine Art (Miami) Showed Work By Elmar Rojas At Pinta Miami 2018

2/16/2019

Temas de Violencia "La Mismas Bestias"

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Rojas-Ford Fine Art (Miami) showed work by Elmar Rojas at Pinta Miami 2018.

Rojas was a Guatamalan artist and architect. He also founded his homeland's Ministry of Culture and was that agencies first minister. He died in 2018. The artist was also a master of weaving the two main lineages of Guatemala together in his work. He was a student of not just art but history, literature and culture.

There often seems to be a dark figure even in his most brightly colored work. His work is rightly labelled magical realism, even when the realism takes a secondary role to the magic.

You can find out more at www.elmarrojas.com.

Nuevo Temas Pictoricos

Latin Art Core (Miami) Showed Work By Humberto Castro At Pinta Miami 2018

2/16/2019

The Battle

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Latin Art Core (Miami) showed work by Humberto Castro at Pinta Miami 2018.

Castro draws, paints, sculpts, is a printmaker, a ceramicist and an installation artist. He has also worked in design for theater and films. Castro was born and studied in Cuba. He moved to Paris in the late 1980s.

You can find out more about him at www.humbertocastro.com.

Lulu (Mexico City) Showed Work By Shana Sharp at NADA Miami 2018

2/15/2019

Lulu (Mexico City) showed work by Shana Sharp at NADA Miami 2018. Sharp is a self-taught, Sonoma-based artist.

One recent exhibit (her first solo exhibition with Lulu) was made up totally of paintings OF Lulu--the gallery facade, ladders in front of the building, etc.

These paintings are what I would call painterly realism. The works are almost, just a hair away from, photo-realistic. Yet there is artistry, style, "painterliness" here that is undeniable. Painterly is a word I am using haphazardly in the past few days but I will stand by it in this case.

Sorry We're Closed (Brussels) Showed Work By Robert Nava And Daniel Boccato At NADA Miami 2018

2/15/2019

Sorry We're Closed (Brussels) showed work by Robert Nava and Daniel Boccato at NADA Miami 2018.

Nava's shark piece is one of those that leaps out and bites you. This is especially true if you are drawn to the sort of primal art that comes from the minds of children. His work takes this and makes it all grown up (despite the oft uttered phrase, your kid could NOT actually do this).

But what kids conceive and the art they create is remarkable and valuable and it is a difficult thing for an adult to channel that and make it work. Of course this may not be Nava's intention at all and this should be something I discuss with a psychologist.

You can see more from the artist at robnava.com.

Boccato's work also uses memory but his work conjures more a sense of cultural deja vu. He sculpts in a variety of materials. This piece shows more of a direct reference to ceremonial masks than much of his work. His other pieces are more subtle. He studied at Cooper Union and lives in NYC.

You can see and read more at the gallery site linked above and at danielboccato.com.

Adams And Ollman (Portland) Showed Work By Katherine Bradford At NADA Miami 2018

2/15/2019

Adams and Ollman (Portland) showed work by Katherine Bradford at NADA Miami 2018.

Bradford was born in New York in 1942. She splits her time between the city and Maine. Human figures, as she creates them, are hard to miss as being her. They seem partially formed but in the midst of the cartoon, the childlike rendering, is ...something. It is hard to put a finger on but perhaps it is an understanding of form that is beyond a child.

Among her numerous honors is a 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship.

The Landing (Los Angeles) Showed Work By Yevgeiya Baras At NADA Miami 2018

2/15/2019

The Landing (Los Angeles) showed work by Yevgeiya Baras at NADA Miami 2018.

This untitled piece is oil and wood on burlap. At a first glance, both in person or of a photo, you might be forgiven for thinking this piece is textile. It has that sort of feel, in part because of the burlap. Her work often includes, wood, stones and fabric but the "painterliness" still shines through.

Baras has an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She also holds a BA in Fine Arts and Psychology and an MS in Education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Find out more about the artist at yevgeniyabaras.com.

James Fuentes (New York) Showed Work By Purvis Young At NADA Miami 2018

2/14/2019

James Fuentes (New York) showed work by Purvis Young at NADA Miami Beach 2018.

Young, a Miami native, was a self-taught artist whose work is Miami. It epitomizes South Florida in many ways. It is ramshackle, colorful, It can be subtle and exuberant in theme at the same time. His work often was part "found object." But as often he just worked with what was there. He painted on what was at hand.

His pieces, essentially, were first noticed when he nailed them to the boarded up buildings in Miami's Overtown. If there is a Florida artist who is more important and more unique I am not sure who it is. He is the sort of artist who can easily never be discovered by the "art world." Mercifully he was.

Showing work by Miami's Young was an inspired choice by the gallery.

Find out more at www.purvisyoung.com.

Tif Sigfrids (Athens, Georgia) Showed Work By Gracie Devito At NADA Miami 2018

2/14/2019

Tig Sigfrids (Athens, Georgia) showed work by Gracie Devito at NADA Miami 2018.

The use of color and the depth of Devito's work is almost starting. She works in painting, sculpture and performance art. You see more and more artists mixing diverse types of art and it is a welcome development.

You can find out more at this piece from Frieze.