Cultural Spotlight
Art on the Cutting Edge
The MDC Museum of Art + Design (MOA+D) is showcasing history in the making with a series of notable exhibitions by important contemporary artists.
To start off a busy spring exhibition season, works by award-winning author and artist Bernard Cooper filled the Museum with vibrant juxtapositions of imagery in Fountains & Galaxies. Cooper, a recipient of the PEN/USA Ernest Hemingway Award, O. Henry Prize, Guggenheim grant and National Endowment of the Arts fellowship in literature, was on hand at the opening for a book signing and reading from his latest memoir, My Avant-Garde Education. The show remains on view through June 7.
Simultaneous exhibitions in other parts of the Museum put the spotlight on some of Miami’s most talented local contemporary artists.
Order Out of Chaos
The swing/SPACE/Miami alumni exhibition series focused on the works of Alma Leiva, an alumna of New World School of the Arts at MDC. Melding elements of modern life with ancient Mayan symbols, Leiva tells stories of violence in her native Honduras through QR codes she incorporates into her art that, once scanned, take viewers to websites with stories of brutalities in her hometown of San Pedro Sula, the most violent city in the world outside of war zones.
Miami artist Odalis Valdivieso explores abstraction with ephemeral images in Arrhythmic Suite. Born from a recent month-long residency in Berlin, Valdivieso’s works achieve balance and order through mixed media, varied textures and a wealth of color. The exhibition will remain on view through May 3.
Meaningful Installations
Exhibitions by Susan Lee-Chun and Carlos Alejandro were filled with meaning. In History of (In) Curiosity, Lee-Chun dug deep into an archeological theme with sculptures representing excavated “artifacts” begging viewers to trace origins and meanings. Lee-Chun’s elegant and playful work can be seen at MOA+D through April 26.
Alejandro wove a literal yarn long enough to reach Cuba in 90 Miles, a multimedia installation hosted in collaboration with WAIL (Word and Image Lab) and the Center for Writing and Literature at MDC.
Alejandro crocheted multicolored yarn 90 miles in length – equaling the distance between Key West and Cuba – to spark a dialogue on immigration and human rights. The installation will be on display through April 19.
One With the Community
The MDC Museum of Art + Design is innovating the way art institutions engage with the community with new events that forge strong connections between the Museum, local artists and South Floridians of all ages.
The newly launched Bazaar Bar recently brought area designers and artisans out of the woodwork to sell their creations to the public in a successful day in support of local talent. And at MOA+D’s monthly GOGO MOAD events, children learn about art and artists in a fun and educational way, exposing school-age kids to the works of both local artists and art history greats.
To bolster such important programming, MOA+D will present An Evening With Las Hermanas Peláez, a benefit event featuring cookbook author Ana Sofía Peláez and her sister, actor-director-playwright Carmen Peláez. The engaging event will include a book talk and cuisine pairing by Ana Sofía followed by a ferociously comic and moving selection from Carmen’s one-act play Rum & Coke. For more info, visit mdcmoad.org.
— MR
