The Frost Art Museum Presents
2011 Aesthetics & Values Exhibition An art exhibition curated by FIU Honor’s College Students
March 23, from 6 pm to 9 pm
Target Wednesday After Hours
The Frost Art Museum
10975 SW 17 Street
Miami, FL 33199.
Writing done with fly pigment, ping pong balls in the shape of clouds and paper shapes that seem to go on forever are just a few of the objects that bridge the line between the real and surreal, the natural and man-made and the figurative and abstract works in the next installation of Aesthetics & Values Fine Art Exhibition (A&V) at The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University (FIU). Sixty-four FIU Honors College students worked with 10 of Miami’s most notable artists at the sixth annual A&V exhibition. This event, which is free and open to the public, runs from March 8, 2011 through April 17, 2011. The opening reception is March 23, 2011 during Target Wednesday After Hours from 6 pm to 9 pm at The Frost Art Museum located on 10975 SW 17 Street, Miami, FL 33199.
“This collaboration has proven to be quite successful,” said Carol Damian, Director and Chief Curator of The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum. “Now in its second year at the museum, this is a unique experience for students to learn the intricacies of curating an exhibition within the confines of a true operational museum.”
Each of these works will have visitors challenging the concept of reality. The A&V 2011 exhibition will feature the works of Daniel Arsham, José Bedia, Ivan Toth Depeña, Jacin Giordano, Fabian Peña, Karen Rifas, Cristina Lei Rodriguez, John Sanchez, Jen Stark and Antonia Wright. Several of the artists have created works specifically for this year’s exhibition.
“Most of my recent pieces are made with insect parts in a process where I transform these repulsive creatures into other anatomies. I re-context these organic elements into significant objects that address existential matters. The questioning of the artwork as a cultural product happens through an image of death and resurrection. The viewer’s perception is relocated; it is a “re-awakening” to place the spectator in an ambiguous perceptual trap. The artwork becomes both a map and a detour,” says artist Fabian Peña, whose work for the exhibition is a phrase written with fly pigment across the windows on the first floor of The Frost Art Museum.
The Aesthetics & Values seminar teaches students about the role art plays in the social and cultural events in history and our daily lives. Taught by artist and Honors College John Bailly, the class aims to show how artists have enforced or challenged authority and ideas on controversial social and cultural issues. Students participate in the art community and learn how art makes people see the world differently. The students, who major in many different fields, then act as curators and work closely with established local artists to create their own increasingly prestigious contemporary art exhibition. The Aesthetics & Values class is respected not only locally, but across the nation. A&V students have annually presented at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference (NCHC) since 2007.
A&V will provide student-run tours of the exhibition on March 22, 2011 from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. at The Frost Art Museum. The opening reception will be during the museum’s popular Target Wednesday After Hours event on March 23, 2010 from 6 to 9 p.m. Target Wednesday After Hours is intended to supplement The Frost Art Museum’s exhibitions and grant visitors the opportunity to meet contemporary artists and connect with thought-provoking art of all mediums, live music, dance, films, and talks.
Image Credit: Daniel Arsham, Pixel Cloud (Miami), 2010, Plastique, peinture / Plastic, paint, 21 ¼ x 27 ½ x 31 inches
Courtesy of Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin
The Aesthetics and Values seminar, taught by artist and Honors College Fellow John Bailly, examines the vital role visual art plays in the social and cultural dialogue surrounding controversial issues. It investigates how artists have challenged or enforced authority by creating new aesthetics. It further explores how art is used to initiate, accelerate, or combat social change. Website: http://www.avexhibition.org.
