Miami Abstractions 2010 - Art Review

This is a review of the exhibit Miami Abstractions 2010 that is on exhibit from September 24th through October 15, 2010 at the Cultural Fridays Art Gallery in Little Havana, Miami, Florida. The opinions and views of this review belong to Angeline and solely express her opinions.

The Cultural Fridays Art Gallery is a small and simple space for art located in Little Havana, Miami, Florida, just off what is affectionately called "Calle Ocho" [cah-ye-o-cho]." Calle Ocho is Spanish for "Eighth Street," and refers to the main street of this southwest section of Miami. This modest art space a half a block away from some larger and well known art galleries in the area such as Cremata, Molina, and Mildrey Guillot. For September's Cultural Friday, a group of well recommended artists took over the art gallery. The Miami Abstractions 2010 exhibit was curated by internationally known artist Baruj Salinas, who is also a mentor to this group of artists.

The space of the Cultural Fridays Art Gallery is narrow with two main walls. The left wall has paintings by Emilio Hector: three large squares of abstracts, each concentrating on a single color. The most striking was green version of his series Ecclesiastes, with its rich textures and values (darks and lights).

The next paintings on the left and back walls are by Ina Esteva. Her painting are recognizable for the aspect of fire incorporated through her use of hot reds and yellows contrasting with cooler blues and purples. The most representative was titled Revieries and Passions.

Next are the paintings by Celia Reigle. Her landscapes are compositions of primary colors with lights. Genesis is an explosion of blues, reds, greens, and browns. Like the title, one feels as if something mysterious is beginning and ending.

The right wall shows Tony Nunez's incredibly abstract and romantic figures. Each art work is almost like looking through a window at a woman in a beautiful old fashioned dress. Of the three works on display, the most compelling is Castus Blue. The details of what could be corset strings and lace are elegant and provoking.

Blanca Caraballo's work is a series of collages evoking figures and based on paper patterns and shapes. The work titled Teorema is the best example of the series, with its defined and blurred lines and colors over paper. The art is transcendental and curious because one person may see a figure, and another may see a creature. 

Miami Abstractions 2010 had artist brochures, business cards, and biographical information available to peruse on a table. The labels next to each art work only contained the title and name of artist. The exhibit brochure contained further details about the art such as size, materials used, date of creation, etc. As with most gallery exhibits, most patrons did not realize the brochures had more information, and instead enjoyed conversing with the artists about their works.

A comment, paraphrased, by artist Sri Phabha sums up the Miami Abstractions 2010 exhibit: although each artist has their own style and theme, the exhibit is cohesive and flows pleasantly because of the common elements in their art. The similarity of colors, along with the flow from most to least abstract, or from figurative to non-figurative, makes the exhibit successful.

©Celia Reigle

 ©Ina Esteva

©Blanca Caraballo and Tony Nunez

Left to right, front row only: Blanca, Tony, Celia, Baruj, Ina, and Emilio.

©Emilio Hector Rodriguez

For more information about the artists involved in the exhibit, please view their websites by clicking on their name:

Baruj Salinas

Emilio Hector Rodriguez

Blanca Caraballo

Ina Esteva

Tony Nunez

Celia Reigle

For more information about the gallery, please contact Cultural Fridays Art Gallery at 742 SW 16 Ave, Miami, FL 33135 and at their website, http://www.viernesculturales.org/main.php?date=08/27/2010

Smiles,
Angeline Marie of
Angeline Marie Fine Art