Urbanism Perceived and Interpreted

Since I was a kid, I've loved city life.  New York, Barcelona, Chicago, Paris, . . . the hustle and bustle of daily urban life energizes me and always leaves me wanting more.  My earliest memories are of Chicago, a city that is pretty much accessible by anyone on foot.  I remember the buildings and the pedestrians wherever I looked.  The city was busy and the people all looked like the had somewhere to go.

Most of all, though, I remember the buildings.  These were mostly midrise, 4 and 5 story brownstones scattered through Lincoln Park and Wrigley Town, where we lived. The downtown, however, was and still is magnificent.

I felt an extreme disappointment when we moved to Miami.  Having been accustomed to the hustle and bustle of America's Second City, Miami in those days was nearly rural.  Slow, hot and virtually inaccessible except by automobile.

In the ensuing years, I've seen Miami grow to the urban center it now is.  I still would not compare it to the major metropolises of the world, but it's certainly head and shoulders above where it used to be in my youth.

The photo above is entitled Terraces.  It was shot in the Brickell area of luxury condo, essentially a large box comprised of may smaller boxes in which individuals store their stuff and live their lives. Here's the thing, though, with enough of those boxes you have a viable city.  That's Miami today.

Terraces is my contribution to Urbanism Perceived and Interpreted, a group show at the Coral Gables Museum.  Along with Terraces, the works of 17 other artists will be on exhibit as well.  The opening reception will be held on February 7, 2014 from 6 to 9PM.

15 Hoods, Redux

15 Hoods, ©2013

The premier of 15 Hoods went very well.  Despite the event coinciding with Yom Kippur, we seemed to have plenty of people in the studio and throughout the Bakehouse as well.  Both the photo and the installation drew favorable responses from visitors and three inquiries for possible future shows.  Not bad, I think.

The photo, shown above, is about 30x40 inches as currently displayed.  However, because each portrait is a distinct image ranging from 10 to 12 megapixels after cropping, the image should be indefinitely scalable.  Projection on the side of a building anyone?

The models in the photo range in age from toddler to middle age, male and female and yes, the guy second from the right in the lower row is me.  The idea of the piece was to render 15 nearly identical images in black & white, except the middle image which is clearly identifiable as a young African American male and is rendered in full color.  Essentially, each of us can look nefarious in a hoodie under the right conditions but society's attention is still drawn to the black male above all others.

Along with the piece, the installation also included out-takes and informal portraits of the models intended to show that they are really just people in hoods and that at heart we are all the same. Rounding out the installation is a series of images from the vigil for Trayvon Martin at the Torch of Friendship earlier this year.

The installation will remain on exhibit through October, 2013 in the Bakehouse Art Complex, Studio 3U and by private viewing by appointment.

Tomorrowland

Urban, hip, gritty, gentrified, artsy, blue-collar, new, and decaying. Wynwood is a place that defies description and one that presents us with a paradox.

Wynwood had it's origins in the great Puerto Rican migration of the 1950's. People came here in droves seeking a better life for themselves and their families, seeking a better tomorrow. Like immigrants before them, they founded a neighborhood that met their needs and reflected their character, all within the limited resources available to them. Through the years, Wynwood remained an island of genuineness in a city that was constantly being remade. It was an area apart.