Victoria Gitman, Eugenio Espinoza and Nicolas Lobo Set to Open Shows at PAMM
Pérez Art Museum Miami’s upcoming exhibition openings include three solo shows by Florida-based artists: Hallandale-based Victoria Gitman’s highly-naturalistic depictions of fur purses and beaded clutches will have viewers second guessing whether they are looking at a painting, a photograph, or the actual object; Gainesville-based Eugenio Espinoza brings the grid form to life with 50 exceptional works including paintings, photographs, sculptures, postcards and documentation of performances and interventions; and Miami-based Nicolas Lobo creates a new project, presenting a group of sculptures cast inside a swimming pool that point to the demands of private leisure activities on public infrastructural systems.
A series of public programs will accompany the exhibitions in a way that fosters engagement among adults, children and families. Each of the three show openings will be complemented with an Art Talk: Victoria Gitman and exhibition curator René Morales will discuss Desiring Eye on February 26, and art critic and poet Barry Schwabsky will host a lecture relating to Gitman’s work on April 9; Eugenio Espinoza will share in a conversation with guest curator Jesús Fuenmayor on Saturday, March 21; and Nicolas Lobo and exhibition curator René Morales will discuss The Leisure Pit on April 16. A variety of interactive studio and family programs are also planned for truly immersive hands-on experiences such as a giant group picnic on one of Espinoza’s signature black and white grids on Saturday, April 11. For more information about programs, visit pamm.org/calendar.
Victoria Gitman: Desiring Eye
February 26 – May 31, 2015
Victoria Gitman (b. 1972, Buenos Aires; lives in Hallandale, FL) creates highly naturalistic oil paintings that exude sensuality while bearing rich conceptual undercurrents. Desiring Eye features 19 works representing four phases in the artist’s career, spanning nearly 15 years of disciplined production. Gitman’s depictions of necklaces, beaded clutches and fur purses are painted from life and rendered in true scale. Working from items that she finds online or in thrift stores, she imbues these inexpensive objects with an air of luxury and refinement. The exhibition also includes a series of paintings of young women based on graphite drawings by French neoclassical artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867). Gitman meticulously reenacts every mark of Ingres’s pencil with oil and brush, introducing slowness, premeditation, and analytical scrutiny to a process associated with immediacy and spontaneity, in a way that amplifies the fetishistic aspect of the originals.
Victoria Gitman: Desiring Eye is organized by PAMM Curator René Morales.
Eugenio Espinoza: Unruly Supports (1970 – 1980)
March 19 – August 23, 2015
Eugenio Espinoza: Unruly Supports (1970 – 1980), features over 50 exceptional works including paintings, photographs, sculptures, postcards and documentation of performances and interventions by Eugenio Espinoza (b. 1950, Caracas; lives in Gainesville, FL). The exhibition focuses on his practice during the decade of the 1970s, highlighting Espinoza’s significance within the Latin American avant-garde of that period. Currently living in Gainesville, Florida, Espinoza is known for his nonfigurative, humorous and irreverent manipulations of grid forms, that he began developing in the late-1960s. These works were produced as a reaction to the dominant tendencies of geometric abstraction and Kinetic art in Venezuela during these decades. Unruly Supports (1970 – 1980) traces these seminal works, which include his large Impenetrable (1972)—an installation that subverted the modernist canon, challenged Kinetic art, and engaged post-minimalist strategies—and explores Espinoza’s active involvement in the evolution of abstraction during the post-war period. The title of the exhibition refers to the countless experiments Espinoza made to produce his emblematic black grid supports, as he folded, stretched, and cut to this geometric form, contaminating this iconic symbol of modern art.
Eugenio Espinoza: Unruly Supports (1970 – 1980) is organized by guest curator Jesús Fuenmayor and coordinated by Pérez Art Museum Miami Assistant Curator María Elena Ortiz.
Nicolas Lobo: The Leisure Pit
April 16—December 13, 2015
Pérez Art Museum Miami presents a new series of works by Nicolas Lobo (b. 1979, Los Angeles; lives in Miami, FL). Commissioned for one of PAMM’s project galleries, The Leisure Pit is a site-based installation encompassing a group of mixed-media sculptures, which the artist cast inside a swimming pool using an experimental process. The ensemble relates to Lobo’s interest in the intersections among cultural, technological, and corporeal systems of consumption. Lobo’s point of departure is a set of concrete forms derived from massive storm drain components, reduced to human scale. To produce the final sculptures, Lobo interlocks these forms with the molds that he used to make them. The outer shells of these molds comprise another level of imagery, including an outsized pill shape bearing the Versace logo—a reference to a legendary strain of the drug Ecstasy. By turning a swimming pool—the epitome of affluent suburban recreation—into a facility for industrial manufacture, Lobo points to the demands of private leisure activities on public infrastructural systems.
Nicolas Lobo: The Leisure Pit is organized by PAMM Curator René Morales.
RELATED EVENTS AND PROGRAMS
Art Talk: Victoria Gitman in Conversation with René Morales
Thursday, February 26, 2015, 7-8:30pm
In conjunction with the opening of Victoria Gitman: Desiring Eye, the artist will discuss her work with PAMM Curator René Morales.
Free with museum admission. Space is limited. First come, first seated.
Adult Workshop: “Observe the Detail: A Drawing Workshop” by Maria Lino
Thursday, March 12, 10am-1pm
Inspired by Victoria Gitman’s exhibition, Desiring Eye, participants will explore the concepts of observation and personal connection through focused drawing.
Fees vary. Space is limited. Pre-registration required
PAMM Free Second Saturdays: “Revisiting Representation”
Saturday, March 14, 1-4pm
Explore the gallery of Victoria Gitman and create your own still life to take home.
Art Talk: Eugenio Espinoza in conversation with Jesús Fuenmayor
Saturday, March 21, 2pm
Eugenio Espinoza will speak about his humorous and irreverent manipulations of the grid, a modernist icon, with Jesús Fuenmayor, curator of the exhibition Unruly Supports (1970 – 1980).
This talk will be in Spanish with English simultaneous interpretation. Free with museum admission. Space is limited. First come, first seated.
Scholl Lecture Series: Barry Schwabsky
Thursday, April 9, 7pm
Art critic and poet Barry Schwabsky speaks about ideas relevant to painting today with several examples including the work of Victoria Gitman. Schwabsky, art critic for The Nation and contributor to Artforum, has authored several books including Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting (2002) and his latest collection of essays Words For Art: Criticism, History, Theory, Practice (2013).
Free with museum admission. Space is limited. First come, first seated.
PAMM Free Second Saturdays: “Off the Grid, a picnic with artist Eugenio Espinoza”
Saturday, April 11, 1-4pm
Families play and picnic on Espinoza’s signature black and white grid in the form of a giant blanket by the bay. This interactive work will be on view this day only. Experience the limitless creative possibilities of the grid with hands-on art making activities facilitated and inspired by the artist. Bring lunch or pick one up at Verde.
Art Talk: Nicolas Lobo in Conversation with Curator René Morales
Thursday, April 16, 7pm
Miami-based Artist Nicolas Lobo speaks about his new project gallery installation, The Leisure Pit, with PAMM Curator René Morales.
Free with museum admission. Space is limited. First come, first seated.
Teen Workshop: “Reconstruct A Clutch: Design and Create Your Own Bag”
Saturday, April 18th, 1–4pm
Explore the work of Victoria Gitman and learn of her attraction to vintage purses as artifacts laden with personal history, social significance and aesthetic value. Sketch your design ideas for remaking your own handbag by changing, combining and recombining different parts of a vintage purse.
Fees vary. Space is limited. Pre-registration required
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