The Studios of Key West will host the acclaimed Miami artist next week in partnership with Key West Symphony — public invited to reception at February 21 Walk on White
Contemporary art meets classical music at this month's Walk on White Street, when award-winning artist Alette Simmons-Jimenez presents her exhibition "Up Down Backward and Forward " at The Studios of Key West. The artist has mounted her show in support of the Key West Symphony, and proceeds will support our island’s spectacular orchestra. The public is invited to the special reception in conjunction with the next Walk on White, February 21 from 6 to 9 pm.
Alette Simmons-Jimenez is the founder and director of ArtFormz, a Miami gallery that seeks to reflect the diversity of voices found in today's contemporary art scene. Up Down Backward & Forward provides a visual analysis of Simmons-Jimenez’s career trajectory from 1976 to the present, comprising mixed-media, drawing, painting, and assemblage. The over 50 works on view at The Studios of Key West emphasize the pattern of changes leading to new discoveries that have made up the essence of the artist's work.
"I met the orchestra’s maestro, Sebrina Alfonso in 2000, when the Symphony was looking for an artist to showcase in a cultural program they were developing,” said Simmons-Jimenez. “She made a studio visit...we talked...and something in the chemistry just clicked. That was a great experience, and I am thrilled to be able to work with the Symphony and Key West again."
The current project developed after Alfonso met with the staff at The Studios of Key West in the fall of 2007. They began talking about new creative collaborations and interesting ways to expand artistic experiences on the island. The Armory’s busy season had a gap in late February, which also coincided with the popular third Thursday Walk on White reception and open studio tours.
"Alette's work is beautiful, with a keen sense of design, and this temporary exhibition really covers a broad spectrum of styles," said Alfonso. “It will look gorgeous in the beautifully renovated Armory.” The artist is generously donating one half of all sales in support of the Key West Symphony.
The opening night reception, sponsored in part by Studios Key West and the wines of Louis Jadot and St. Francis, is free and open to the public. The lively evening will feature Up Down Backward & Forward, music by the Key West Symphony quartet, open tours of the 12 upstairs artists’ spaces, and delicious catering by studio artist and local chef, Lisa Esposito.
The Studios of Key West staff keeps an open door, and always welcomes new cultural projects and creative proposals. To learn more about the organization and its season of creative opportunities, contact The Studios of Key West at 296-0458 or info@tskw.org. For more information about the Key West Symphony, please contact 305-292-1774 or info@keywestsymphony.com.
10 February 2008
01 February 2008
Local Artist Cricket Desmarais to Reveal the Cuban Spirit with her first solo Exhibition at The Studios of Key West
New body of work, poetic just is: Cuban spirit revealed, to be on View February 27 to March 27 at the Armory
Opening ceremony on 28 February from 4:30 to 5:30 pm featuring Tibetan healing ritual
Closing reception and party on 20 March from 6 to 9pm during Walk on White
The Studios of Key West presents an exhibition of bold new images and text gathered by writer Cricket Desmarais on journalistic visits to Cuba in 2007. The body of mixed-media works, “poetic just is,” will be on view at the Key West Armory from 27 February to 27 March. The pictures reveal Desmarais’s investigation and interpretation of the Cuban spirit, and the precarious balance and collective sense of courage she witnessed during her recent sanctioned visits there.
“My intention is to create a bridge of understanding and a sense of connect with the Cuban people,” she says. “And to create a forum for dialogue, beginning with art, for those that have their own history with our nearby island."
Over twenty new giclee images will be presented at The Studios of Key West, some traditionally stretched and others embracing the Cuban notion of “resolver”— to resolve, make it work (regardless of the lack of resources). Desmarais also utilizes multi-media effects, including photographic images printed on canvas strung and hung with sugarcane, images printed on rusty tools, large canvases with text.
“Cuba is so often misunderstood or misrepresented,” she continues. “I think it’s important to honor the truth of what is actually happening over there, but in a way that is subtle enough to allow room for people to have their own reflections of what they are viewing.”
Her first one person show, "poetic just is" also serves as a kind of inner retrospective for a woman who was born of Cuban culture but did not experience it growing up.
“The process of putting together the pieces and writing the text has allowed me to explore a new connection with that side of my family,” says the half Cuban artist, whose father and his family escaped political turmoil there in the early sixties. “I try to live with a poet’s heart,” says Desmarais, “which helps develop my ability to reflect on the world, transcend the politics of place, and celebrate the simple beauty and truth of being human.”
Desmarais was trained as a writer, where she learned to use words to cull through the superfluous and go straight to the core. Many Key Westers also know her as the editor of the popular cultural periodical the secret of salt: an indigenous journal, and as a frequent literary voice on the island. For her first major one-person exhibition, she wants to do the same with a newly discovered visual language.
“This show, for me, is also about giving the Cubans a sense of the poetic justice they’ve long deserved in the best way I know how.”
The Studios of Key West will present "poetic just is" from 27 February 27 March, and the public is invited. An opening Tibetan healing ritual is planned for Thursday 28 February from 4:30 to 5:30 to honor the opening of the show and the Cuban people it represents. A closing reception and public celebration is planned for the 20 March Walk on White from 6 to 9pm. That event will also feature a few short readings by Desmarais, live music, refreshments, and open tours of The Studios of Key West facilities. For more information, contact TSKW at 296-0458. To learn more about "poetic just is," contact Desmarais at 923-6013.
Opening ceremony on 28 February from 4:30 to 5:30 pm featuring Tibetan healing ritual
Closing reception and party on 20 March from 6 to 9pm during Walk on White
The Studios of Key West presents an exhibition of bold new images and text gathered by writer Cricket Desmarais on journalistic visits to Cuba in 2007. The body of mixed-media works, “poetic just is,” will be on view at the Key West Armory from 27 February to 27 March. The pictures reveal Desmarais’s investigation and interpretation of the Cuban spirit, and the precarious balance and collective sense of courage she witnessed during her recent sanctioned visits there.
“My intention is to create a bridge of understanding and a sense of connect with the Cuban people,” she says. “And to create a forum for dialogue, beginning with art, for those that have their own history with our nearby island."
Over twenty new giclee images will be presented at The Studios of Key West, some traditionally stretched and others embracing the Cuban notion of “resolver”— to resolve, make it work (regardless of the lack of resources). Desmarais also utilizes multi-media effects, including photographic images printed on canvas strung and hung with sugarcane, images printed on rusty tools, large canvases with text.
“Cuba is so often misunderstood or misrepresented,” she continues. “I think it’s important to honor the truth of what is actually happening over there, but in a way that is subtle enough to allow room for people to have their own reflections of what they are viewing.”
Her first one person show, "poetic just is" also serves as a kind of inner retrospective for a woman who was born of Cuban culture but did not experience it growing up.
“The process of putting together the pieces and writing the text has allowed me to explore a new connection with that side of my family,” says the half Cuban artist, whose father and his family escaped political turmoil there in the early sixties. “I try to live with a poet’s heart,” says Desmarais, “which helps develop my ability to reflect on the world, transcend the politics of place, and celebrate the simple beauty and truth of being human.”
Desmarais was trained as a writer, where she learned to use words to cull through the superfluous and go straight to the core. Many Key Westers also know her as the editor of the popular cultural periodical the secret of salt: an indigenous journal, and as a frequent literary voice on the island. For her first major one-person exhibition, she wants to do the same with a newly discovered visual language.
“This show, for me, is also about giving the Cubans a sense of the poetic justice they’ve long deserved in the best way I know how.”
The Studios of Key West will present "poetic just is" from 27 February 27 March, and the public is invited. An opening Tibetan healing ritual is planned for Thursday 28 February from 4:30 to 5:30 to honor the opening of the show and the Cuban people it represents. A closing reception and public celebration is planned for the 20 March Walk on White from 6 to 9pm. That event will also feature a few short readings by Desmarais, live music, refreshments, and open tours of The Studios of Key West facilities. For more information, contact TSKW at 296-0458. To learn more about "poetic just is," contact Desmarais at 923-6013.
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