PROCESS, JUXTAPOSITION, AND COMMUNITY: THE FROST ART MUSEUM SUMMER ‘23 EXHIBITIONS

“DRAW: Point to Point” features a dynamic display and eclectic mix of artists, styles, and mediums that are reminiscent of the artistic touch and process. (Photo credit Isabel Rivera)

The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, nestled in the Modesto Maidique campus of Florida International University, has opened three dynamic and diverse exhibitions this summer, becoming a haven for art aficionados from Miami’s innumerable exhibition choices and sweltering heat.
This summer at the Frost, there truly is something for everyone from historical to contemporary, photography to drawing, and more.

Upon entering, visitors are met with “How We Remember,” a meditative photography exhibition centered around the archival of memories and the contemporary desire to document impressive and ordinary moments.

Opened in early May, recognized artists from the museum’s permanent collection such as Joel Meyerowitz and Ruth Orkin are displayed in tandem with local Miami artists Roscoè B. Thickè and Christine Cortes.

Christine Cortes, Las Brisas (Madrugando, Guacheta), Colombia, 17”x24”, Hanhemühle Fine Art Satin Baryta Paper, 2019 will be featured in the “How We Remember” exhibition until its close in September. Image courtesy Frost Museum of Art.

The former’s photojournalism of exceptional events such as post-9/11 America and Tel Aviv during the formation of modern Israel are juxtaposed alongside the day-to-day of Thickè’s family and friends in Liberty City and Cortes’ sentimental visit to Colombia, creating the rich and varied exploration of street photography that chief curator Amy Galpin aimed for.

“Something we try to do a lot at our museum is mix historic and contemporary art and break down hierarchies,” shared Galpin. “We feel that by bringing together all four (artists) around a conversation of human connections with place, street photography, and, of course, around the notion of memory, we’re hoping for a meaningful exhibition.”

The entryway of the “Allegories of Learning” exhibition showcases a map of Italy as part of the exhibition’s emphasis on how a drawing’s appearance can reflect its geographical origin. (Photo credit Isabel Rivera.)

As visitors journey up to the second floor, they’re immersed into what Galpin calls “the summer of drawing,” the adventurous and attractive pairing of two exhibitions, “Allegories of Learning” and “DRAW: Point to Point.”

On loan from the Georgia Museum of Art, “Allegories for Learning” brings a slice of 16th-18th century Italy to modern-day Miami. It centers around the medium’s newly-acquired fame as an independent art form within that period and its ability to fingerprint a geographical region and artist.

Displayed on vibrant garnet walls in a manner reminiscent of the early period, the exhibition transports visitors to the Italian Rennaissance in both ambiance and information, bringing historical art to audiences that are hard-pressed to find in Miami’s saturated contemporary scene. Moreover, the exhibition was selected for the summer 2023 program with college students in mind – a target audience the Frost consistently serves and keeps at the core of its mission.

A display of drawing tools commonly used in the 16th-18th centuries such as charcoal, soft chalk, paper smudge tools, a quill, a mortar and pestle, and more. (Photo credit Isabel Rivera)

“There were several students in the Art and Art History departments that studied abroad this summer in Italy and France, which is amazing, but not everyone can do that,” noted Galpin. “We definitely like to offer our audiences something different.”

The newest and final addition to the Frost summer 2023 program, “DRAW: Point to Point,” marries all three exhibitions together with its variety of works in period and medium and its emphasis on process.

Curated by artists Tomas Vu and Brian Novatny to be a traveling series, the Miami iteration features permanent and local works from artists of various origins, recognition, and approaches to drawing, aiming to feature new ideas relating to the “ephemerality and urgency of the medium of drawing.”

This interactive wall space installed in “DRAW: Point to Point” invites the average visitor to trace or sketch protest photography through referencing projected transparencies to spur community engagement. (Photo credit Isabel Rivera)

Lively, eclectic, and textured, the immediacy of the medium is conveyed through the use of every bit of wall space available with works crawling up the walls or hung in unsuspecting corners.

Its most notable and admirable quality? The sense of community it’s fostered since its opening in mid-June.

Interactive wall spaces encourage visitors to sketch, trace, and participate in the act of drawing. A monthly educational programming series will be provided alongside the exhibition making the space a fun, must-visit community hub to stop by this summer.

WHAT: The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum’s summer exhibitions
WHEN: Now through September 17, 2023
WHERE: The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University MMC, 10975 SW 17th St, Miami, FL 33199
COST: Free
INFORMATION: frost.fiu.edu or (305) 348-2890

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit source of dance, visual arts, music, and performing arts news. Sign up for our newsletter and never miss a story.