Media Contacts:
Gabriel Riera: 305.375.1706
griera@miamidade.gov
Maile Rodriguez: 305.375.1705
maile@miamidade.gov

Miami Art Museum Presents Light And Atmosphere,
A New Exhibition Inspired By Recent Acquisitions

Three Site-Specific Installations by Artists Ivan Toth Depeña,
Magdalena Fernández and Mark A. Koven on View for the First Time

Large-Scale Outdoor Light Projection by Miami-Based Artist Wendy
Wischer on View One Block West of MAM Starting April 5th

April 23 – September 19, 2004

Miami Art Museum presents Light and Atmosphere, an exhibition that examines the diverse ways that artists use light — and the atmosphere it evokes — to explore the physical, psychological and metaphorical possibilities of their chosen subjects. The exhibit features 32 works by 27 artists from 10 countries and is drawn from MAM’s permanent holdings and private collections. It includes drawing, painting, photography, sculptural objects, and video, mostly dating from the early 1980s to the present. The earliest work in the exhibition is a 1922 watercolor by the Russian avant-garde artist Ivan Kliun, which was recently acquired by MAM. Light and Atmosphere is organized by MAM Associate Curator, Cheryl Hartup, and will be on view from April 23 to September 19, 2004.

The theme of the exhibition was inspired by two recent gifts to MAM’s collection: Eclipse (2002), a wall sculpture by Teresita Fernández, which the artist created as part of a larger installation for MAM’s New Work series; and Sean Scully’s painting Wall of Light Rain (2003), which is being exhibited for the first time at MAM. Light and Atmosphere has three thematic threads — light and the figure, light in the natural world, and the light of architectural spaces.

“Artists give life to their subjects in many ways, and the use of light is one of the most evocative,” notes Ms. Hartup. “This exhibition demonstrates how artists use light to affect color, mood, or meaning.”

Artists featured in Light and Atmosphere include José Manuel Ballester, Christopher Bucklow, James Casebere, Ralston Crawford, José Dávila, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Rineke Dijkstra, Gertrud Goldshmidt (Gego), Kira Lynn Harris, Anthony Hernández, Todd Hido, Paul Hodgson, Craig Kucia, Brad Lachore, María Martínez-Cañas, Wilhelm Moser, Joel Meyerowitz, Richard Pasquarelli, César Paternosto, and Robert Wilson.

The exhibition also features three new site-specific installations created exclusively for MAM by Ivan Toth Depeña and Mark A. Koven from Miami, and Magdalena Fernández from Caracas, Venezuela, who is exhibiting for the first time in the U.S. Depeña’s video installation, Incidental Antinomies, explores the effects of artificial light at night on nature. The artist is a keen observer of details in his environment and he drawn to saturated colors and the sounds of unseen urban machineries, such as the humming of electrical wires.

Mark A. Koven works with three-dimensional lenticular photography that presents multiple perspectives in a single image, one changing into another as the viewer moves across the work. His new installation, Turn, features images of the sky and sand on the floor and ceiling of a small room. The sound of wind is heard circulating throughout the space. The piece is based on the artist’s reading of the biblical book of Ecclesiastes at an unsettled period in his life. He was especially drawn to the text’s philosophical questions and observations of natural cycles.

Magdalena Fernández uses common, mass-produced materials to create poetic explorations of space and human perception. Her installation for Light and Atmosphere, entitled 1i004, is a room in which small glass mirrors cover the walls, fracturing and multiplying the visitor’s view. For the artist, the atmosphere and meaning of the piece exist in the interaction that occurs between the viewer and the work.

Another component of Light and Atmosphere is a large-scale outdoor light projection of the phases of the moon over a 28-day cycle by Miami-based artist Wendy Wischer. Recently acquired by MAM, Full to Wailing and Back Again (2002) will be projected on the wall of the Central Support Facility in downtown Miami at 50 NW 2nd Avenue, one block west of the Museum, starting April 5—the night of a full moon—and continuing through May 4. The projection, a mirror image of the moon in the sky, faces north and can be seen traveling south on I-95.

”We are delighted to have this opportunity to share with the South Florida community several recent acquisitions to MAM’s collection, many which are being exhibited for the first time,” states MAM Director Suzanne Delehanty. “We are particularly pleased to own Wendy Wischer’s project, which will travel around Miami-Dade County throughout the coming months.”

About the Curator
Cheryl Hartup is Associate Curator at Miami Art Museum. Before joining MAM in September 2000, Ms. Hartup served as the McDermott Curatorial Assistant at the Dallas Museum of Art from 1998-2000. Since her appointment at MAM, Ms. Hartup has organized Visual Poetics: Art and the Word (2003), New Work: Cildo Meireles (2003), and New Work: Odili Donald Odita (2002), among other exhibitions. She is currently working on commissioned projects with artists Jac Leirner and Fabian Marcaccio for 2004. Ms. Hartup received a M.A. in Latin American Studies and Museum Studies from New York University and an M.A. in art history from University of Texas at Austin.

Light and Atmosphere is organized by Miami Art Museum as part of its continuing series of permanent collection installations and is supported by MAM’s Annual Exhibition Fund.

Light and Atmosphere Related Programs

Curator’s Talk with Cheryl Hartup
Illusion and Abstraction: The Interplay of Light and Atmosphere
Saturday, April 24, 10am–12pm
Sustaining members and above. Meet the artists in the exhibition following the lecture.
Continental breakfast will be served. To reserve call Laura Krisko at 305.375.1704 or email MAMRSVP@miamidade.gov.

JAM at MAM
Thursday, May 20
Happy Hour with an Artful Twist
Every third Thursday from 5 to 8:30pm
Live music, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres
Members free; non-members $5

6:00pm Guided tour of Light & Atmosphere

6:30pm Artist Talk with Wendy Wischer

7:00pm Visual and Sound Installation by Rene Barge

Group Tours by appointment

Private tours led by museum guides are available in English and Spanish. For details and reservations, call 305.375.4073.

Sundays are Free at MAM from 12 to 5pm.

Museum admission is free every Sunday, which includes admission to special exhibitions, MAM’s collection, the MAM Store, and free guided tours at 2pm. Sponsored by The Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald.

Publications

Gallery Notes
This free four-color, take-home brochure with text by MAM Associate Curator, Cheryl Hartup accompanies the exhibition. Available in the galleries.

For press images please contact Maile Rodriguez at 305.375.1705 or maile@miamidade.gov.

Secure parking is available adjacent to the museum at 50 NW 2nd Ave.

$3 with MAM validation.

Accredited by the American Association of Art Museums, Miami Art Museum is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts; with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners.

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