Monday, March 25, 2024

NEON NAPKIN NOTES




Neon Art Exhibition by Elysa D. Batista Opens in the Design District. 


Neon Napkin Notes by Elysa D. Batista


Opening Reception: April 5th 6-9 pm.  Closing April 26, 2024


“Neon lights. Shimmering neon lights. And at the fall of night. This city’s made of lights”  Kraftwerk


Swampspace Gallery presents the premier of NEON NAPKIN NOTES by Elysa D Batista; a series of text-based installations made with neon signs that compel the viewers to maintaining an optimistic outlook upon shared uncertainties about the global Covid-19 pandemic. 


Focused on contextualization coupled with the healing properties of spectral vibrations, Batista’s work references the visible illusionary history of neon art and semiotics. In these recent works she draws from a universal language of healing as chronicled by the Sackner Collection of Concrete Poetry. Batista furthers the exploration of incorporeal illuminations etched by fellows luminaries Keith Sonnier, James Terrell, Dan Flavin and Tracey Emin. With Neon Napkin Notes, Batista offers a moment of solace and reflection at a time of transformative equivocation.  


This exhibition is made possible in part by the Ollite Arts, Ellies Recipient Creator Award 2021. About the Artist: Born in Panama City, Panama. Batista received her BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Miami (2009) and her MFA from Parsons the New School of Design (2013). Batista is a mixed media artist who works with language, specifically the multiplicity of meaning according to different contexts. Her three-dimensional work explores personal experiences with dynamics in power structures and nationality, and is interpreted through the use of semiotics. 


About Swampspace: Swampspace was founded in 2008 in the Miami Design District as an alternative art space presenting varied cultural events for the novice and the seasoned art enthusiast. 




Friday, November 10, 2023

Valley of Tears by Adlolfo Sanchez

 

SWAMPSPACE GALLERY - PRESS RELEASE 11/10/2023

VALLEY OF TEARS - PAINTING BY ADOLFO SANCHEZ OPENS IN THE DESIGN DISTRICT


Opening Reception: December 4th 5-9pm

December 2023 - January 2024


Swampspace present in memoriam the major formative work by Adolfo Sanchez Cuban American painter (1957-1990).

Valley of Tears is a monumental tribute to Mexican Foto Novelas of the 1970’s. The montage of ten lurid canvases is a mediation on popular culture rendered skillfully by Sanchez in the mid 1980's before succumbing to Aids.  

Swampspace presents this seminal work In tandem with Spinello Projects Gay Era series of Solo Exhibitions celebrating figurative works by painters in the prime of their development. 






Adolfo Rene Sanchez was a Cuban-American painter who died from AIDS related complications in 1990 at the age of 31 in New York City. Adolfo moved to NY from Miami Florida in 1977 to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. He worked as an illustrator for publications such as Essence, Conde-Nast and other major periodicals. With a natural gift for realism and figurative painting, he also worked as a portrait artist. His circle of friends grew to include fellow artists Bruno Schmidt, Kenny Scharf, Keith Haring, Tseng Kwong Chi in the Downtown 80’s art scene. His work was exhibited at Art Mart Gallery in the East Village, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, Gracie Mansion, Holly Solomon, Bacardi Miami and others. The work gained value with  positive reviews in ArtForum by critic Dan Cameron as well as by inclusion in public and private collections such as Margulies Collection. Adolfo had an active social life and enjoyed frequenting dance clubs such as Paradise Garage, Danceteria and Club 57. His gentle empathetic demeanor, congenial nature and talent as a painter quickly gained him accolades from his peers. Adolfo drew inspiration from latin culture, popular film, celebrity and literature. Sanchez’s artwork is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art MoMA in NYC. 

Swampspace was founded in 2008 in the Miami Design District as an alternative art space presenting varied cultural events for the novice and seasoned art enthusiasts.  

Spinello Projects is a Miami-based contemporary art program founded in 2005. It is a gallery, creative space and and innovative platform for nomadic, site-specific and curatorial projects.  


Contact: swampstyle@gmail.com

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

ADOLFOLAND by Lulu Sanchez

Please join us for the opening of Future Past Perfect featuring the first solo museum exhibitions by LULU SANCHEZ, Nathalie Alfonso, Susan Kim Alvarez, Joel Gaitan, Kandy G Lopez, Alejandro Piñeiro Bello, and Zoe Schweiger.



Lulu Sanchez
ADOLFOLAND
 
This exhibition sees artist Lulu Sanchez (b.1992, Miami, FL; lives and works in Miami, FL) respond to the work of her late uncle, artist Adolfo Rene Sanchez (b.1957, Camagüey, Cuba; d.1990, Miami, FL), a fixture within the eighties East Village art scene, the epicenter of what came to be known as the New Wave art movement. Mining the family's archive, Sanchez located Adolfo’s source material, and artworks left unfinished as he succumbed to a premature death from AIDS-related complications. 

 

Appropriating these found images, Lulu Sanchez inserts her own narrative, resulting in the formation of an iconographic palimpsest. In this, Sanchez is not only exploring the makings of her own selfhood, but the innumerable approaches to mimetic representation offered through painting.  

 

The works within this exhibition present a spiritual exchange between two family members, who though they never met, are brought together by their creative force, offering a new legacy to the New Wave.


 

Friday, March 31, 2023

Swampy's Souvenirs Gift Shop

SWAMPY’S SOUVENIRS OPENS IN THE DESIGN DISTRICT

Opening Reception:  April 14, 2023  4-8pm


Swampspace Gallery is thrilled to announce the opening of Swampy’s Souvenir Gift Shop, a pop-up installation featuring eclectic items from Florida history and art-centric collectables that celebrate diversity in Miami. Our curatorial team has compiled a sampling of classic artifacts and curios from nostalgia to the new exciting items from the magic city.  From the River of Grass to the local urban vernacular, our selection of collectables is a treasure trove of memorabilia from the dynamic wellspring. Browse through our library of books, vintage postcards and posters. Groove to the tunes of Miami music. Marvel at the plethora of unique artifacts by local makers; crafts, photography, jewelry and fashionable indigenous garments made right here in South Florida. Tap into the local scene with concierge advice from Swampy’s 305 Visitor Information Center. Support the local environmental efforts by giving a charitable donation to help save the Everglades and Biscayne National Park. Take home a few souvenirs as mementos of your time in the tropical cosmopolitan destination loved the world over. 


  


Sunday, October 30, 2022

Archipelago of Dreams by Meme Ferré

Archipelago of Dreams

By Meme Ferré & Copperbridge Foundation


Opening Reception: November 19th  6-9pm.     

November 19, 2022 - December 17, 2022


With a delicate balance of heart and purpose, the portraiture works by Meme Ferré dovetail perfectly with the remarkable contributions to civility of the Copperbridge Foundation. Together they forge a bond that spans millennia among the ancestry of the Caribbean basin and pop culture of today. These two influential forces converge to focus the energy of leadership and celebration for Pan-American cultures and the dreams of its people from Borinquén to Hispaniola and beyond.


Join us in celebration of Meme’s commitment to her family legacy and the Maurice Ferré Institute of Civic Leadership at Florida International University FIU.   


Also featured during Miami Art Week is Copperbridge ambassador, Donna Freeman with her Spirit & Beyond boutique of salubrious vendibles celebrating mind, body and soul.


“Meme weaves a thread tying art and community together and is reflective of her commitment that bind people and place to each other.” Carlos Ferré. 





Meme Ferré is an artist working in Miami. She is also a retired Arts Educator with Miami-Dade Public Schools. 


Copperbridge is a non-profit foundation established by Geo Darder in 2010 to foster cultural relations among the artistic communities of the Pan-American nations with a focus on Cuba and the diaspora in Miami. 


Swampspace is an alternative cultural venue in the Miami Design District. Founded in 2008 by artist Oliver Sanchez, Swampspace is a known destination for seasoned arts enthusiasts, the novice and the avant-garde community.

Monday, July 11, 2022

WLRN interview on Haring/Alechinsky at NSU Museum

 


...Miami-based creatives Oliver and Min Sanchez have direct connections to the exhibition. They witnessed the creative peaks of the East Village scene during the height of hysteria brought upon by the AIDS epidemic.

“The AIDS crisis affected not only the art that came out of the creative community, it affected the community as a whole,” Oliver said. “New York City was a very depressed city.”

Oliver’s older brother Adolfo was an artist. The two moved to New York from Miami in 1980. Oliver met Min soon after and became engrossed in the art surrounding them. They went on to befriend Keith Haring and witnessed history unfold....


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