After finding a sponsor for a venue to host their art fair, Life Is Art quickly moved to put out a call for artists. Given the short time span, and the fact that it was a new organization, they expected to receive a few artists showing interest. Instead, the applications came pouring in rapidly. “The response was overwhelming,†states James Echols, one of the founders of the non-profit organization designed to promote and support the Miami arts scene.
“We had originally planned to host ten or a dozen artists,†Echols said, “but we had so many excellent submissions that we expanded it to nearly twenty.†However, there were many good artists that had to be turned away for this first fair. Fortunately, Life Is Art plans to produce numerous events and hopes to be able to work with many more artists in the future.
Life Is Art is hosting a wide variety of Miami-based artists, sculptors, painters, and photographers, from those with much experience to those for whom this is their first show.
The unique and exotic nature of South Beach with it’s diverse mixture of life was so eerily familiar to Scott Branch’s childhood in Saudi Arabia that he found himself wanting to photograph every bit of life around him when he relocated to Miami in 2007. Today, Scott shoots primarily models, from fashion to erotica, street photography, and anything that catches his eye in the place he now calls home.
Dianne Romero Buitrago’s work is based on drawings of fears and things in this world we reject to see. The drawing of mutilated, distorted lines embodies a web of lust, birth, destruction and fear. They are scrolls of the world thru her eyes.
Angelica Clyman is a native of South Florida whose work centers around introspective experience and the search for the sacred in the most ordinary places. Her paintings explore the shifting perceptions of her changing environment, and express stillness, solitude, and a sense of private adventure. She has received her BFA from New World School of the Arts and her MFA from Florida International University, and currently is an artist-in-residence at the Art Center / South Florida.
Diana Contreras believes that art is a form of worship and therefore Christianity influences much of her work. Masters such as Frida Kahlo, Gustav Klimt, and Salvador Dali have been an inspiration to her artwork. The ability to work in many mediums including charcoal, watercolor, and oil has given Diana freedom to experiment in mixed media.
Nathan Delinois has numerous influences including his Haitian background and the use of color in a lot of Haitian art, as well as much of the graffiti of Marc Ecko, Tat’s Cru and The Inkheads. The design quality of African art and the drama of Greek art from the Hellenistic period can also been seen in his work. Additionally, he takes some influence from the new pop surrealists also known as lowbrow artists.
In her work, Natasha Duwin explores the ideas of female-ness and womanhood using non-traditional materials, such as metals and organic matter, in traditionally “feminine” techniques, such as weaving and embroidery. She has shown extensively, and is included in several prominent collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. She holds an MFA in Visual Arts from Florida International University and is an Artist-in-Residence at ArtCenter South Florida.
Daniel Fiorda is self-taught and has exhibited widely throughout the U.S. including OK Harris Gallery, Allan Stone Gallery in New York as well as Heriard-Cimino Gallery in New Orleans and Lelia Mordoch Gallery, Paris France. Daniel was one of the winners in the 7th Annual Sculptures Competition (2003) held at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. He is an alumni Artist of ArtCenter/South Florida.
Ania Moussawel took an early interest in the arts. After taking her first course in photography, she was smitten and felt it allowed her to express her ideas better than any other medium. She studied photography at Parsons School of Design in New York City and Barry University in Miami Shores. In this series, Ania uses nightgowns to explore the fundamental nature of women.
Grateful Dan uses ambient backgrounds, colors and form inspired by artists such as McGee, Klimt and Rivera, as well as music and poetry to reflect certain moods and/or to tell a short narrative whose cause and effect is open to speculation.
Emilio Hector Rodriguez uses art to help him grow younger. Originally from Cuba, he moved to Miami in 1982. A life-long artist, in 2005 he began painting with acrylic guided by the well-known Cuban painter Dominica Alcantra.
Andres Dominguez Saavedra’s project conveys a vision typical of Chilean culture. This artistic design reveals this identity and in hi interpretation of it he evokes certain characteristics from classical art in which the study of drawing and sketch are developed within the finished artwork.
R. E. SANCHEZ is a Miami-based artist whose work has been exhibited regularly in non-profit organizations and gallery venues. He is a Salvadoran expatriate who relocated to the U.S. to pursue his passion for art in 1989. He received his Bachelor of Art (BFA) from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2000. Since 1994 he has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. His work can be found in many private collections. R. E. SANCHEZ’s work offers cultural commentary on the personal, social and political events of the human experience.
Wagner Schneider is a self-taught artist who expresses himself without boundaries, against the norm and in constant search for the “boredom breaker” as he calls it. Wagner opposes learning through art schools, as he believes the artist should be found from within, free and never molded by the teachings of any institution.
Since 1999, the bulk of Dan Vidal‘s photographic work has focused on the nightlife culture of the major cities of the U.S. During this time, the nightlife photographer has risen from being a marginal player in the scene to an integral, almost ubiquitous documentarian. With an eye towards getting away from that ubiquity, Vidal utilizes all the elements within the events and locations where he shoots, existing lights, reflections, fog, smoke, and expression for that elusive “right†look.
Adding new dimensions to abstract painting and expanding the essence of emotions, Felicia Warren blends or blurs conventional methods of using materials while creating on the canvas. Her fingers often become the paintbrush and the canvas becomes the palette while she is searching for the representation of her thought.
Kacey Westall Keogh received her B.F.A from F.I.U. and has exhibited work and performed live drawings throughout South Florida including The Wallflower Gallery, Kevro Art Bar, Edge Zones Gallery, SCOPE Art Fair and Miami Art Space. Her work deals with ephemeral thoughts and the perplexity of the conscious and unconscious mind.
For Daniela Wicki, art is an aesthetic, ethical and ultimately spiritual force; a challenge made in the experience of finding in each and every creation, a self realization, a self portrait of her own energy, a landscape of forces, life in motion rather than still-life. Art speaks for itself.
Hosting all these artists, the fair is being held at the historic 1926 Seminole Building, also called the Terminal Lofts, in the Wynwood Arts District at 120 Northwest 25th Street on March 7th from 2:00pm to 10:00pm. The venue is kindly sponsored by Lombardi Properties. The fair is also being supported by Henry Stone Music and SoulOfMiami.org.
The visual arts are accompanied by music, fashion, performance, food, and, of course, drink. Complimentary beverages are provided by Grolsch Beer, Barefoot Wine, with eco-friendly cocktails courtesy of VeeV, and espresso to keep everything hopping by Oro Coffee & Tea Services. The Lounge is provided by the Miami Rescue Mission through their Bargain Barn thrift store. Soho Studios Miami is providing technical support. Promotional support provided by Yelp.com.
Chef Zane is preparing an amazing, yet reasonably priced menu of light fare. Bringing the delicious desserts is D’leecious Bake Shop with a wide variety of tasty treats. Local DJS Soozin, Diaga, Sebastian, David Kerns, and Lumin will provide music, with a wide variety of styles for all tastes. There are even a few exciting surprises in store for fairgoers.
About Life Is Art, Inc.
Life Is Art is a new non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of the artistic and creative community in Miami and beyond through arts events and business coaching. For more information, visit their website at www.lifeisartfest.org.
