Public
Access
District Galleries Host Artist Projects
Story by Debra Kronowitz
Photos courtesy of William John Kennedy, Lawrence Savage Galleries and
Miami Art Group Gallery
During Art Basel/Miami
Beach be sure to stop in the
Design District and explore the art gallery openings, restaurants and
clubs. The District’s galleries also curate installations to coincide
with Art Basel/Miami Beach,
making the South Florida area a multi-layered art-focused
spectacular.
Adamar
Fine Arts Gallery will be showing Andy Warhol: Then and Now and
Endangered Species from Nov. 28
through Jan. 23, 2009.
The exhibit showcases renowned photographer William John Kennedy’s rare
photos of Warhol. Alongside the photographs will be an exhibit of
Warhol’s important works, including
Endangered Species, a series
of 10 serigraphs published at “The Factory,” Warhol’s studio.
As a young fast-rising freelance editorial and commercial photographer
in New York City in the 1960s, Kennedy met Pop
artist Robert Indiana at a cocktail party. Indiana introduced himself to Kennedy and by
the end of the evening, had asked Kennedy to photograph him and his work
at his Coenties Slip studio.
Indiana
shared the images with Warhol, and in 1964, Warhol invited Kennedy to
photograph him at “The Factory” and on location.
Kennedy believes it was fate that began the working relationship
between him and Warhol. “I knew this guy was going to be ‘big time.’ The
day I walked into The Factory and saw what he was producing – I mean,
there was art everywhere – and what he was able to manipulate from his
own art, I knew this guy was a great innovator,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy photographed Warhol intermittently for one year. “It was an
enormous chore to shoot Warhol. His career was starting to blossom and
he was so busy. People were always there needing, wanting him. This went
on all day, everyday. I would shoot as fast as I could. I would get six
or eight frames, and undoubtedly a call from
Zurich
or Paris
or somewhere would come in. The assistants kept coming in and he would
have to leave. It was total fate we were able to get the results we did
of shooting him. Constant, constant interruption,” he recalled. |
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He shot Warhol in creative vignettes.
“I’m an idea person; my mind works that way. When I saw The
Factory I just knew how to shoot him,” he said.
With his own career on the fast track, putting in 18-hour
days and traveling around the world for top advertising
agencies, the images of Warhol were far from Kennedy’s mind.
The priceless collection – considered “the definitive one”–
remained tucked away in a closet at Kennedy’s
New York City
studio. They sat undisturbed for 40 years.
In early 2000, at another cocktail party, Kennedy once
again found Warhol the topic of discussion with a
Miami-based gallery owner. “That pulled the trigger in my
mind. I mentioned to this individual that I had shot Warhol
back in the 1960s and how marvelous an experience it was,”
he said.
The historic collection was brought out of storage and
displayed to the public in 2004. The show attracted a large
number of enthusiasts, collectors and fans. The Warhol
archives are just a segment of Kennedy’s extensive
photographic work. Kennedy has achieved great success in the
advertising agency arena and as a fine art photographer.
Two new galleries are opening in the neighborhood, Lawrence
Savage Galleries in the Design District and East Village
Gallery in Wynwood Art
District. Between the two,
curator Lawrence Savage unveils the work of Shie Moreno. For
Savage, Moreno’s work has the
energy, spark and edge of the streets, which compelled him
to broaden the scope of his galleries. “Shie’s work
masterfully incorporates the rawness of urban settings with
a refined essence ideal for our gallery settings,” Savage
said.
Moreno’s
work has represented the city for the past two decades with
public art displays flourishing in underground art scenes
found in the nation’s big cities. Since the millennium, he
has shifted his focus to creating
art to be enjoyed indoors while remaining active as a
street artist.
Savage will also be representing artist Steve Martin. Work
from Carmen Gusmáo, Mark T. Smith and Andrew Muggleton,
contemporary furniture designer and maker, will also be
showcased, as will jewelry by Rachel Mouial.
Two new collections by Ari Hirschman will be on view
at Miami Art Group Gallery. Hirschman’s work explores
different situations, including large and small gatherings,
the role of leaders and followers, the masses, the thinkers,
how the sexes view each other, the slow march of
civilization in modern societies. He also likes to attempt
to capture the dimension of time in some of his works.
Hirschman works in various media, but prefers bronze or
bonded bronze.
Hirschman’s soulful and often primitive
sculptures manage to combine the old with the new, with each
piece telling a story. He also paints in oil, as he has been
quoted as saying it makes him feel he has more control.
Hirschman’s art is filled with emotion and humor. His love
of science and fascination with time and space, and human
nature are also represented in his work.
Hirschman’s new collection,
As Time Goes By,
is comprised of 120 bronze heads attached to 22 containers
placed in carts. “When you look at it, you are looking
through time at human history. Each container can be viewed
as a period or year, a decade or century,” Hirschman
explained.
The second exhibit, yet to be named, is a large
bronze, rustic-looking book with a nail going through it.
The nail has facial expressions. Next to the book is a
hammer and nails. The work represents the hurried lives we
live. “Our lives are rushed. The book and nail represent
what we lose in this mad rush – individuality, knowledge,
time with children,” he said. “The nail represents the
closing of the chapters in life while the hammer and nails
next to the book represent the drive to live a hurried
life.” |
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